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Leckie On Murray


shull

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Great Column in The Sun today by legendary Saints supporting Journalist, Bill Leckie.

He reckons Murray has alienated the Fans with his comments last week.

Unlike Fergie in the 1970's who got the fans on his side almost immediately.

Maybe somebody could post the Article here, please?.

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Also agree with Leckie..

A Knighthood for Andy Murray is now due.

An absolute credit to Great Britain.

Legend

Could start a Knighthood Thread in General Nonsense or maybe just stick it in the The Tennis Thread which is surprisingly in General Nonsense also. Edited by shull
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Murray is hugely overpaid for playing a boring niche game that he enjoys and is quite good at.

Apart from the fact that I think he is sufficiently moral to knock back all such blandishments from the establishment, what has he done that is better than Jocky Wilson or the Scottish snooker players?

Or the boolers or curlers...?

Such people get rewarded for being gifted or lucky at playing games. They are honoured simply by their country selecting them as representatives of their sports. They shouldn't need baubles.

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" WHEN Alex Ferguson realised the scale of the shambles he’d inherited at St Mirren he came to two conclusions.

One, that he had to shake the place up from top to bottom, no matter how many players or directors it riled.

And two, that wherever he wanted to take the club, he’d get nowhere unless he dragged the fans along with him.Now 41 years on, a new Saints manager facing similar challenges has blown the second before he’s given himself a proper crack at overcoming the first.

It’s a mistake from which Ian Murray might never fully recover.

Because when he told the freezing band of travelling supporters who’d booed Tuesday’s scrambled 1-1 draw at Raith Rovers that “I know more about football than they do”, he lost the best allies any gaffer can have.

Ask Fergie. In his early days, when the team was rank rotten and the directors were stuck in the 1930s, he went round Paisley bawling through a megaphone to sell the idea that we WERE worth watching.

I’ve been listening to his memories of these times in the audio version of his latest book — though, to be honest, it’s all as fresh as new paint in my mind, because I was there.

As a 13-year-old, I was one of those who hung on a budding genius’s every word as he turned gates of 1,500 into close on 15,000, turned chumps into champions.

Fergie genuinely did create a 12th man. Murray, unfortunately, has left today’s side down to ten.

See, just as the self-styled office joker turns out to be the unfunniest person in the universe, and anyone who starts a sentence “no offence, but...” is about to offend everyone within a five-mile radius, a true expert doesn’t have to tell you how much of an expert they are.Yet that’s what a young guy under pressure has tried to do.

Prefixing his statement by saying he “wasn’t being patronising” only made punters feel more patronised. Later admitting he picked his words poorly only made him look desperate.

Sorry if he reads this and feels like I’m having a pop, but it’s just the way it is.

I was at Stark’s Park on Tuesday and not even the last-gasp free-kick from Stevie Mallan that rescued a point could disguise how poor a display it had been.

At times like these, a smart manager pulls the punters closer to him. He asks them for patience. He thanks them for giving up their time and their money to be there for a horrible midweek fixture.

Even if he doesn’t believe it, he tells them how wonderful and invaluable they are.

It’s either a sign of just how much pressure Murray is feeling right now, or how little he gets the situation, that he misjudged his post-match comments so badly.

As for the assertion itself, that he does know better than the fans? Well, it’s another argument altogether. And one you’d need to be a very confident man indeed to win.

I mean, how does he know who’s in the away end? How does he know he’s not being booed by a Uefa Pro-Licensed Coach?

The assumption that all fans are less educated about football than someone who happens to earn a crust from the game is a dangerous one indeed.

For instance, the previous Friday I’d been at another fairly woeful 1-1 draw, this time at home to Morton.

Within half-a-dozen seats of me were Tony Fitzpatrick and Tommy Turner, two guys who skippered the club to titles, who played more than 1,000 career games between them — and who were both raging at what they’d just witnessed.

Does the manager know better than them? Do THEY have the right to complain?

Fact is, it doesn’t take a professional to know the most basic things are going wrong; like a team going in 1-0 up at half-time, as we did against Morton, then coming back out 15 yards deeper and inviting an equaliser which eventually came.

You don’t need badges to understand this, just as you don’t need to have been in the dugout to know how meekly St Mirren went down at Ibrox on Saturday.And you don’t need the manager’s permission to shout the odds about it.

I hope Ian Murray turns things round and at the very least gets into the promotion play-offs, because the last thing we need is more upheaval.

But if he does, he’ll have to go at least as far as reading the title of Fergie’s manual on management. It’s called Leading. Not Ostracising." Bill Leckie's view in today's Sun

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Can't disagree with any of that.

I was at all three games in the last week and we were abject pish in every one of them.

The fans have been patient, but there is absolutely no sign of any progress being made under Ian Murray and for that reason he's got to go.

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Great Column in The Sun today by legendary Saints supporting Journalist, Bill Leckie.

He reckons Murray has alienated the Fans with his comments last week.

Unlike Fergie in the 1970's who got the fans on his side almost immediately.

Maybe somebody could post the Article here, please?.

He hasn't alienated me with his comments

He has by the way he sets out our team,the way we play and having no tactical nous

He has produced the worst St Mirren i have ever seen

I'm struggling to believe he actually thinks it's acceptable

What is Miller doing,the players have they no professional pride.

I have witnessed players unable to pass to each other or make themselves available for a pass

What do they do at Ralston apart from injuring each other

Fitness levels shocking

Murray has given up and awaiting his pay off but the players should ask themselves i'm better than this and do something about it

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He hasn't alienated me with his comments

He has by the way he sets out our team,the way we play and having no tactical nous

He has produced the worst St Mirren i have ever seen

I'm struggling to believe he actually thinks it's acceptable

What is Miller doing,the players have they no professional pride.

I have witnessed players unable to pass to each other or make themselves available for a pass

What do they do at Ralston apart from injuring each other

Fitness levels shocking

Murray has given up and awaiting his pay off but the players should ask themselves i'm better than this and do something about it

You've hit the nail square on the head as regards to all you say in this post. It's pretty much how the majority of us feel. The fitness point is a real concern for me. I see a team who look slower and second to every ball against all the opposition we've been up against all season.

John McGinn is an example of a player when he played against us for Hibs, looked fitter sharper and a different player from when he was at Saints.

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Murray is hugely overpaid for playing a boring niche game that he enjoys and is quite good at.

Apart from the fact that I think he is sufficiently moral to knock back all such blandishments from the establishment, what has he done that is better than Jocky Wilson or the Scottish snooker players?

Or the boolers or curlers...?

Such people get rewarded for being gifted or lucky at playing games. They are honoured simply by their country selecting them as representatives of their sports. They shouldn't need baubles.

Indeed , what about that other Scottish hero that won two world hour records and two world pursuit championship wins. He will never get a knighthood and if he is anything like what I think he is he would turn it down anyway. . they couldn't even name the National Stadium after him. .

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This is difficult for Murray to counter and could be the beginning of the end. Once one journo gets on your back the vultures begin to circle and it won't be long before the vicious hacks start to publish similar, damning articles. I've never read anything to suggest he has friends among the sports writers so he has nobody to champion his cause (except perhaps wee Chico who is never hyper-critical of people in the game). Wonder how the board will cope if there is a press hounding of Murray in the two weeks leading up to the AGM?

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Murray is hugely overpaid for playing a boring niche game that he enjoys and is quite good at.

Apart from the fact that I think he is sufficiently moral to knock back all such blandishments from the establishment, what has he done that is better than Jocky Wilson or the Scottish snooker players?

Or the boolers or curlers...?

Such people get rewarded for being gifted or lucky at playing games. They are honoured simply by their country selecting them as representatives of their sports. They shouldn't need baubles.

I wid give them all Knighthoods including the fabulous Andy Murray.

Hendry, Wilson, Watt and many more.

Jock Stein also and not forgetting Tony Fitzpatrick, Tom Hendrie and Danny Lennon.

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This is difficult for Murray to counter and could be the beginning of the end. Once one journo gets on your back the vultures begin to circle and it won't be long before the vicious hacks start to publish similar, damning articles. I've never read anything to suggest he has friends among the sports writers so he has nobody to champion his cause (except perhaps wee Chico who is never hyper-critical of people in the game). Wonder how the board will cope if there is a press hounding of Murray in the two weeks leading up to the AGM?

What is interesting, though, is when you think of the attention Tommy Craig attracted from hacks and 'pundits'. From an earlier stage in the season last year, his position was being discussed very widely, and he had very few, if any, allies. They really put the boot in - not without justification, it has to be said.

I appreciate that the difference this year might well be down to the fact that we are no longer a top flight club, but I am still quite surprised at how little notice has been paid of Murray's wretched tenure to date. He has got off lightly so far.

ETA: is he possibly avoiding the full glare on account of being a 'younger manager', and being cut a bit of slack as a result?

Edited by Drew
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Murray is hugely overpaid for playing a boring niche game that he enjoys and is quite good at.

Apart from the fact that I think he is sufficiently moral to knock back all such blandishments from the establishment, what has he done that is better than Jocky Wilson or the Scottish snooker players?

Or the boolers or curlers...?

Such people get rewarded for being gifted or lucky at playing games. They are honoured simply by their country selecting them as representatives of their sports. They shouldn't need baubles.

So who should all the money that Murray generates go to?

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Whilst we chastise Murray for leading a bunch of hopeless clowns, all blame certainly does not sit with him. The club has plummeted since they relieved Danny of his services, and although many criticized Danny, a national trophy and top 8 are billuions of miles away from where we are heading. Don't think this has bottomed out, and anyone who witnessed our recent form know far well that Sons and Alloa are a better footballing team than we are. We are appalling. My pal told me that early 70s we were dreadful, but I have never seen a Saints team that cant make more than 3 passes, and certainly no more than 2 forward. I have never been so embarrassed as I was Saturday.

Does Murray ask the players to line up on the 18 yard line, does he ask them to thump the ball anywhere, does he make us the most predictable shower of tossers to play against. Simple- how to beat St Mirren, play high and press, don't worry they have no pace, no ability and no fight. Said it before, the BOD watch this piss, and they seem happy, so why do we give a flying. The only way is down, and yes of course we can get relegated, looking at the unwashed, they went from title challengers to rock bottom in a year, with that muppett Kenny Sheilds, we are that bad. Hell knows what Miller brings to party, he just sits there with his armed folded, and what will the BOD do, well, if they sack Murray, they will appoint him. Miller asked for this role, he got it and he is appalling, Craig asked for the role as did Teale. Its obvious our BOD have no clue who to appoint. Since Danny, who won back to back promos and has tremendous work ethic, when we play them in two weeks its a 6 pointer and I hate to say it, but we are not favs.

Whilst I hear what Leikie says, it is a point, but not the main point. Murray is our 3rd Manager in 15 months, in that time, we lost first 5 without Scoring , we then got relegated with a complete novice at the helm, and now Murray is showing he is out of his depth also. Its not rocket science, we are unfit, no tactics and losers in mentality, Hope I am wrong but I see Peterhead on fixtures next year at this rate

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What is interesting, though, is when you think of the attention Tommy Craig attracted from hacks and 'pundits'. From an earlier stage in the season last year, his position was being discussed very widely, and he had very few, if any, allies. They really put the boot in - not without justification, it has to be said.

I appreciate that the difference this year might well be down to the fact that we are no longer a top flight club, but I am still quite surprised at how little notice has been paid of Murray's wretched tenure to date. He has got off lightly so far.

ETA: is he possibly avoiding the full glare on account of being a 'younger manager', and being cut a bit of slack as a result?

I think Craig annoyed the journalists by walking out of interviews and telling them not to ask him certain things. You'll get a harder time if you upset the journalists than upsetting the fans.
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I think Craig annoyed the journalists by walking out of interviews and telling them not to ask him certain things. You'll get a harder time if you upset the journalists than upsetting the fans.

Aye, that's true enough. His throwing the mic down in a strop antics set the tone very early on, and the general belligerent manner wouldn't have won him many fans in the press and media.

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Well summed up by Leckie, hard to argue with any of it.

A guy I work with is a big Dumbarton fan, he was making the point of why sack Murray now as we won't get relegated and he will sort it out enough to beat Alloa Dumbarton Morton etc and finish mid table and then make a promotion charge next season. I told him when he sees us play in 2 weeks time he'll no longer think we are too good to go down!

Edited by irvine_buddie
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Part of the problem with Murray is that we still have Danny Lennon fresh in our mind - whether you thought it was time for him to go or wanted him to say its fair to say that he fully respected the fans and that was mutual, very similar to Fitzy in that respect.

Id love to see Murray turn it around but the football this year is even more boring than last year with arguably a better squad in a poorer division.

I dont know who the answer is - we are in freefall.

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