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Welcome Home Saints Legend , Tony Fitzpatrick


shull

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I really think this is a great appointment, he brings spirit, determination and a love for the club which, if mirrored in some of the playing staff, would see us in a much better position than we currently are.

Is he looking after the bar as well. whistling.gif

Welcome back.

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In his first spell in charge he took over a declining team but it was David Hay who got us relegated in 91/92 and we were mid table when he was sacked after a couple of poor results in Dec 97 - and for the bulk of that second spell he worked without an assistant to help the club. He wasn't a great manager, probably not even a good one, but he left Saints pretty much where he found them after both of his spells in charge. As a manager he was distinctly average - maybe not the best testimony but there it is.

His top priority must be to regrow that magnificent pornstar's moustache.

to be fair, in '96 he wasn't supposed to get it, he jumped in because the board had called a press conference to announce the new manager and Iain Munro then told them he wasn't coming after all! Tony got the gig at 5 minutes notice, to bail the club out. (at least that's how I remember it!!)

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Tony F was my Roy of the Rovers. My idol as a kid.

Man of the match against Liverpools European Cup holding side and an all round good guy.

He loves St Mirren. Fans love him.

He is a genuinely nice guy with the patience of a Saint.

I believe he is the perfect ambassador for the club and we should have tried to employ him in some role many moons ago.

I'm just concerned that this particular role won't suit Tony's strengths and we could sour a relationship in a way that even two failed management attempts (albeit at too young an age) couldn't.

Without Brian Caldwell's knowledge and contacts, Gary Teale would never have signed for Saints.

The CEO role at Saints is an all encompassing, all consuming role that none of us fully appreciated.

Tony will give it his everything and I truly hope it works out, rather than being an appointment by the BoD that sees them absolved of all blame should it not work out.

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Just like any signing, need to give the guy a chance. What if the BoD had announced some unknown guy in a suit was coming who had experience running a, oh let's say, a successful website design company, and his CV impressed the BoD. We'd be saying, aye, but what does the chunt know about football and what about his contacts?

I'm not sure there is much of a downside to this appointment. Brian Caldwell is there to help Fitzy get his feet under the desk, and I'm sure will only be a phone call away if Fitzy needs a wee bit of help with something in the first few months.

I remember when I started my last graphics job. I spent a week with the guy I was taking over from before he moved to another company. He gave me his e-mail address and said not to hesitate to contact him if something came up that was causing me trouble. I was in contact with him maybe three or four times with some queries about particular pieces of software and some unforseen network issues. Then I cracked on and was there for five years.

Best of luck Tony. Get that fcuking Hall of Fame panel sorted!

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Tony F was my Roy of the Rovers. My idol as a kid.

Man of the match against Liverpools European Cup holding side and an all round good guy.

He loves St Mirren. Fans love him.

He is a genuinely nice guy with the patience of a Saint.

I believe he is the perfect ambassador for the club and we should have tried to employ him in some role many moons ago.

I'm just concerned that this particular role won't suit Tony's strengths and we could sour a relationship in a way that even two failed management attempts (albeit at too young an age) couldn't.

Without Brian Caldwell's knowledge and contacts, Gary Teale would never have signed for Saints.

The CEO role at Saints is an all encompassing, all consuming role that none of us fully appreciated.

Tony will give it his everything and I truly hope it works out, rather than being an appointment by the BoD that sees them absolved of all blame should it not work out.

Why wouldn't the role suit his strengths, Brian?

Every individual in any post brings their own approach, style, and attributes to the job.

Tony has many attributes that will serve the club well, chief among them is his love of St Mirren. We have a guy in post who would never intentionally do anything that might damage the club, who will engage with supporters in a very positive way, and who probably knows the club better than anyone else who could have been considered for the role.

I don't know all that is involved in being the CEO for a football club (I imagine few of us do) but I know one man who does, and that is Brain Caldwell. Brian knows Tony well, and will no doubt have had an influence in the appointment of his successor. Tony will also benefit from the appointment of the new club accountant, so its looking pretty good from where I'm sitting.

Edited by Drew
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I would say Welcome Home but Tony has never been away! Great to see him back at the Club in a meaningful capacity.

And congratulations to Allan Gallagher as well. A died-in-the-wool Buddie and season ticket holder. The coffees are on you on Saturday :)

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Are we sure it's as CEO that Sir Tony is returning? As a player he would appease the "Agnew is shite" fans, would appease the "midfield cant pick a pass" fans and best of all would appease the "coloured boots are for fannies" fans. C'mon Rae get him signed.

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Excellent appointment by the board, it's also worth noting that he had a really successful spell in youth development at Livingston since his last stint as manager with us.

Robert Snodgrass for one cites him as a massive influence.

Tony is a real legend and those who class Mehmet and the likes as such would do well to understand what the man has achieved.

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Tony is too nice a guy to be CEO.

Just think how many things he's said over the years like Lennon to stay , gillies to ac Milan. I'm sure he even said tommy craig would turn it around

He's always positive I think you need a ruthless streak in you to be a CEO

Funny you should say that cos his main problem when he was manager was that he was everyone's friends and too soft on the players. Don't think a ruthless streak is quite as important in a CEO role though.

Welcome back Tony, hope you help the club move forward!

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This is looking like it's shaping up for Stevie Malcolm to buy out the consortium.

Taxi driver as assistant manager.

Taxi boss as as CEO.

Oh ohh...

ETA - :P

Stevie and Tony are very good friends so wouldn't surprise me! I heard a rumour a good while back Stevie was interested.

As a PR person within the club I'm sure he will do a great job. Having some knowledge of his previous business ventures, I don't think day to day management of the club is the best fit, but maybe that's where the appointment of an accountant comes into it.

Hopefully he will at least bring some enthusiasm around the club.

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I was originally very pleased with this appointment, however it is now some 7 hours since Tony was appointed and yet he still hasn't signed any new players.

Mon to f**k Fitzpatrick, pull the finger out !

On the other side

I noticed Falkirk sold another youngster to an English side

I expect going past experiences Fitzy will get us decent money for ours instead of the bag a balls and set of bibs we normally get

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