The table below shows just what Stuart McCall has delivered for the Motherwell support at the start of 2011/12.
League position after 10 SPL fixtures 2007-2011
|
|
Manager |
Position |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
2011 |
McCall |
2 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
13 |
13 |
19 |
|
2010 |
Brown |
3 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
14 |
12 |
16 |
|
2009 |
Gannon |
4 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
12 |
9 |
17 |
|
2008 |
McGhee |
7 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
14 |
16 |
13 |
|
2007 |
McGhee |
5 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
11 |
11 |
16 |
It is accepted that our current standing is a little overstated as Celtic currently have a game in hand but the 19 points already in the bag is an impressive total when compared to our best efforts in the last few years.
Mark McGhee (whatever happened to him?) thrilled us with a flying first half of season 2007/8 that produced a brand of energetic football that had not been seen at Fir Park for many years. That fine team, led by Phil O'Donnell, restored our pride following the disaster of the Malays era. That tragic season ended with us qualifying for European competition for the first time since the1991 Cup win yet McCall has got off the mark three points better after ten games.
The following season Jim Gannon gave us a very encouraging autumn on the park but the rumblings behind the scenes were to lead to his downfall. By ten games we had lost only once (we lost the second in game fourteen) and his simple philosophy of keeping the ball and not conceding fouls brought us early success. By the second cycle the opposition had learned how to counter our style but with the arrival of Brown and Knox we still managed a top half finish.
This season, with no European games to give us an early edge and with little expectation, Stuart McCall has marshalled his compact squad into an effective team that can claim to be ‘best of the rest’. The months ahead will reveal if we have the staying power needed to make this season a special one.