Unfounded Optimism?

It is hard to tell exactly why things are better this time than on other occasions when we have appointed a new manager. The most logical explanation is that in earlier times things seemed destined to get worse. Now we have hit such a depression that the arrival of Mark McGhee will surely lead to better things. The appointment of Billy Davies in 1988 was such a shock everyone worried (rightly as it turned out) he was too inexperienced. By the time Eric Black took over the third force dream was bust and we were heading for financial collapse. When Butcher got the job people were more concerned about our continued existence and then when Malpas claimed the manager's seat there was a feeling that a decent team had run its course and would break up.

There was no thought that we would do quite so badly but Malpas was viewed as a continuation of the previous, declining, regime rather than a new broom. So for the first time since Harri Kampmann was given the hotseat at Fir Park we have a new manager that we can be genuinely excited about - given that was nearly 10 years ago it is not surprising we aren't used to the feeling!

There is a strong view that says things cannot possibly be worse than last year. We have an awful lot of work to do but St Mirren, Inverness and Falkirk all have to replace important players. Gretna look old and weak for this level and Dundee United are undergoing major surgery. That means that even if we are in for a transitional season we are starting from a basis which is not that much worse than a lot of other clubs. Equally, the board finally seem to be giving some backing to the manager. Not the stupid money of before, clearly, but Mensing was a good signing that would have interested other teams and we are making a serious bid for Dargo. If it turns out he goes to St Mirren for silly wages we should not be critical, as it does seem as though we have used the recent monies we have received to make a proper offer for once rather than pleading poverty. If someone outbids us by going way beyond our wage structure we need to shrug our shoulders and get on with it.

And, of course, the actual appointment of Mark McGhee is significant. He does not have a 100% success ratio but he has not failed in a big way at any of his previous clubs, with the possible exception of Wolves and he is far from being the only manager not to have met expectations at Molineux. We wanted an knowledgeable manager and the experience gained from mistakes is important in the learning curve. Naturally no manager with a flawless career would be interested in us so it really seems that, all things considered, McGhee is as good as it could get. The fact we have been given a dream start in the league is simply another bonus. Should we take advantage of this we can take a huge amount of pressure from our shoulders and look to take some points off the tougher teams with a view to consolidating a top six place.

It is possible that everything will go wrong and it is certainly true that the chances of things being fixed overnight are slim. But fans will be patient so long as progress is being made and Mark McGhee will surely let us move forward from the debacle of last year. If he does that we will go into 2008/9 feeling very confident and, depressingly realistic as it is, that is probably our target at the minute. At least we are looking forward to the season again and that, for now, is a big positive.