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That manner of departure sums up perfectly the transition the club has undergone with Butcher at the helm. While we may never be forgiven in some quarters for our administration period, it now seems that we have retained our dignity as a respectable club, comfortable with both our expenditure and league placing. It was not all a one man job – and we needed a large slice of luck – but Terry has done more than play his part and given that he decided to seek a new Australian challenge, everyone wishes him well.
After a questionable start to his managerial career it looked unlikely that Butcher would ever be given the chance to manage again, even if he still wanted the challenge. But the fateful day in April 2002 when we plunged into administration changed all that. Terry led the team to a wonderful 4-1 away win at Kilmarnock before overseeing the departures of several high earning players. The next season was a challenge – at times we were good, very good in fact, but frequently we were appalling as our young and woefully undermanned squad fought unsuccessfully against relegation. The loss of a cup semi final was only a minor irritation compared to the prospect of playing in the First Division but Falkirk's dilapidated ground did us a favour and we survived.
From this.....
Having been given a second chance we did not look back. The sale of James McFadden allowed the club to emerge from administration but it cast a long shadow over our prospects for the season. However, other players stepped up a gear – notably David Clarkson, producing a career best 14 goals – and we deservedly finished in the top half of the league.
....to this
The dark side was a loss on penalties to Forfar and Inverness out-defending us for 80 minutes in a depressing Scottish quarter final loss at Fir Park. It is perhaps one criticism of Butcher that despite having lost in this way to ICT years ago, every match against them at Fir Park now takes the familiar path of us battling in vain but losing to a superbly organised team that can pick us off on the break.
Season 2004/5 was another year of relative success. A top half finish culminated with world wide attention when we stopped Celtic winning the league in the last three minutes of the season. Another good cup run took us all the way to Hampden but a disastrous day all round saw us crushed by Rangers.Before the game Terry's comments seemed unnecessarily harsh about our chances – a tactic he has used in front of most old firm games, usually without success. Again, a question mark hangs above this part of his Motherwell career.
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Terry's last season was an ultimate ‘what might have been' year. The table doesn't lie and eighth is what we deserved but oh, what if we could have defended better at the end of matches! A top six place and probably a top four finish would surely have been ours for the taking. Then we have the cup semi final, a game we should have had wrapped up long before Kaiser's mistake.
There is no denying Terry has done well but it looks like this current side is moving on. Terry moving on with it may well be the best for everyone. We get the chance to see if someone else can take us higher – unlikely, while Terry gets the chance to prove he does still have what it takes to become a great manager. Moving to Sydney will mean giving up a lot, so it is not a decision to be taken lightly.
And us? The fans will remember Terry leading us out of the darkest days and leaving with a job well done. A rare thing in today's game and something of which we (and he) should be proud!