GLF 67: GB is happy with the new Scotland manager & frustrated at call offs.
SCOTLAND MANAGER - what a stressful few weeks that was as we waited to see who the new manager would be, and if it meant we lost Mark McGhee to the SFA!
On a selfish note I was delighted we managed to keep our own manager and the position was handed to someone else who had some Fir Park experience in George Burley.
The whole process seemed to drag on forever after Big Alex decided to jump ship for the big bucks of the Premiership, although SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith always insisted he would have the new man in place by the end of January.
I think Burley will prove to be a good choice given what he has achieved in the game, as a player and a manager. I always remember when he was at Fir Park the word that came out was that he was a great help to the younger players as a positive role model.
This was shown through all the good habits he picked up working with Bobby Robson at Ipswich. This was something for any youngsters to learn from at Motherwell.
As for our own man, I hope he stays for at least another season and gets some support from Mr Boyle to build on the squad for next season and let's see where that can take us.
We will have the McFadden windfall and a transfer fee of some sort for Ross McCormack who looks certain to move in the summer. Let's use this money wisely and build on the "success" of this season.
CALL OFFS - January has been a frustrating month with games being called off for various reasons.Much has been written about our pitch over the years and it has been under close scrutiny this season given the ground-share with Gretna.
I don't think there has been much wrong with the state of our pitch this season, the problem seems to be the amount of rain that has fallen in the month.This seems to be too much for the drainage system to cope with.
I was pleased when one other SPL game was postponed on the same day as our Inverness game was cancelled as it shows that it is not only Fir Park that can't cope with the water that has come down.This was also on top of St Mirren and Rangers losing games thanks to waterlogged pitches.Of course,Rangers could then go and lay a new pitch without thinking about.
The cancellations are always followed by the clamour for a winter break or summer football,I think this has happened for as long as I can remember.
Even when we did have a winter break people complained about and some teams went away and arranged games anyway!!
Our sport has always been a winter sport, there has always been postponements, so why don't we just get on with it and play the games when we can.
PS - I heard the reason football is a winter sport was down to the fact that many of the original teams were formed by Cricket clubs looking for something to do to fill the winter months.
TRANSFER WINDOW - I get less and less convinced the January transfer window is a sensible idea.There seems to be fewer and fewer players moving in this time frame and those who do seem to have to pay through the nose to get the people they are looking for.
For example, nearly £6m for James McFadden, an offer of £9m for Alan Hutton - both of these fees seem over-inflated to me.
Closer to home, a player we are constantly being linked with is McAllister of Morton.We were quoted with an interest in August when the price for the boy was about £70k, but now it is £250k.
I am not aware of him tearing up the First Division to allow his fee to have grown 3-4 times!Maybe we should just go back to allowing clubs to trade players all year round.
PHIL O'DONNELL - I don't want to say too much about Phil apart from to pay tribute to the way he played the game in an honest and hard working manner, his goal in the 1991 Cup Final and the way he approached any contact I had with him for either the programme or website.Thanks Phil.
Graham Barnstaple
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