Welcome back, Gus MacPherson.

[billyg]

As I said previously , when he was being mentioned for the manager's job , Gus  and young players with talent don't mix , he would plump  for a Wyness  or a Hamilton , over a McLean or a Morgan , every day of the week !

[boomboomyards]

8 hours ago, pozbaird said:

Aye, but with the transfer window system, unless it's some waifs and strays free agents, not much recruiting going on. If it's a full-time position, buggered if I know what he would be doing every day, bar playing Wee Anxious Birds on his PC.

 

FTFY.

 

 

 

[Drew]

8 hours ago, Big Yards said:

The bit I don’t like the most is the “constant at the club”. Managers will come and go but wee baldy will be there forever!

Well, at least until I can't leave the hoose for fear of shitting/pissing myself

[div]

How many people do we actually need in the setup?

We have Oran Kearney, Brian Rice and perhaps now Gus MacPherson.

We also have Jamie Langfield, Andy Webster and Alan McManus.

We have Tony Fitzpatrick and we have Martin Christie (head of recruitment).

That’s a lot of people and that costs a lot of money.

[pozbaird]

Just my opinion, but I don’t see why Gus returning should engender feelings of unbridled joy, or deep despair. If GLS and Tony think he’s the experienced hard-nosed guy ideal for the role they have in mind - fine by me. Having met Gus a couple of times, I liked him. Maybe Oran & Gus could be the ‘good cop, bad cop’ team. I don’t know...but GLS and Fitzy know just how badly Stubbs conducted his business, so having moved quickly to bag the Scouse dud, are now moving quickly to assist Oran.

One of the best things I’ve ever read on here - if Gus comes in, I’m out. Aye, right ye’ are... on your way out, take Brasso and a duster to Gus’ three pieces of silverware. 

[Stu]

8 hours ago, ulysses said:

 

Based on his interviews, it’s something OK feels he needs at the club - someone who knows the lay of the land and can help provide advice and help with recruitment in Scotland.

OK will still be picking the team, the tactics, and have the final say on signings by the looks of it.

 

Scott has decided we're having a technical director so Kearney is hardly going to come out and say it's a shit idea.

6 hours ago, Kemp said:

As you will see from Gordon Scott's quotes the primary problem they are trying to solve here is that of recruitment. GS mentions Stubbs "having to rely on other people" to know if players are good enough - something that clearly went wrong and lead to the change of manager.  I had actually just posted this on another thread, we need to make sure we are not left vulnerable by managerial changes again and end up with these terrible Craig / Rae / Stubbs transfer windows.

I'd imagine therefore the primary brief would be to build a network of contacts across the UK and Ireland and a database of players that we realistically could make a move for once we have a position to fill or once we see them as a sound investment.  I would also imagine as this is a full time paid position there would be an expectation for players aged between 16 and 23 to be scouted who we could generate transfer fees from, i.e the TD role pays for itself over time.

Possibly it also includes video analysis work and monitoring our normal opponents as well. There is so much information available now that it is too big a task for one person to manage themselves.

I think these are both areas we need to invest in and as the role requires someone who will stick with it long term Gus could be a very good shout indeed. 

I'd have thought that was a job for our head of recruitment and the scouting network he has assembled - unless they're all getting emptied after the disastrous summer we've had.

If he's going to be involved in the recruitment he definitely wouldn't be my choice based on how things ended with us. Will be interesting to see how his safety first approach works with Tony wanting us to finish top four!

Edited September 12, 2018 by Stu

[ALBIONSAINT]

9 minutes ago, Kemp said:

Gus MacPherson took one of the worst St Mirren teams ever - the John Coughlin duds - that was bound for the third tier, won the league, and established us in the top tier. He was just about the longest-serving manager in Scotland by the time he left. I think he deserves a bit more respect than he is getting on this thread, he was a tremendous servant to the club.

 

Spot on. If football management was a beer..... no too far. He kept us in the top league for several years by making us hard to beat, we got lots of 0-0 s and won by the odd goal. I would take that this season. Yes the majority of the games were dull, but I remember a few classics also when we were fighting relegation (3-2 away to Motherwell) plus the 2 most memorable saints games in decades (Rangers cup final defeat, beating Celtic 4-0) it could be said he was actually more successful than JR? 

[pozbaird]

2 minutes ago, div said:

How many people do we actually need in the setup?

 

We have Oran Kearney, Brian Rice and perhaps now Gus MacPherson.

 

We also have Jamie Langfield, Andy Webster and Alan McManus.

 

We have Tony Fitzpatrick and we have Martin Christie (head of recruitment).

 

That’s a lot of people and that costs a lot of money.

 

The basis of a decent starting XI there Div. With GLS slotting into left midfield and Campbell Kennedy shoring up a leaky defence, we’d be sorted. Easy the Mirren.

[Kemp]

15 minutes ago, pod said:

and he loved the fans. 

Even the fans don't love the fans if this forum is anything to go by.  PR wasn't his strong point, but he was a good manager and would be an asset to the club in a Technical Director role.

[Isle Of Bute Saint]

Quite an eye opener reading the views here . Recruitment was a mess in the summer everyone agrees with that you would like to think. Scott say's Stubbs was relying on other to tip him off regarding players. Given it's been unsuccessful having your own employee running the rule over potential players makes perfect sence passing information to the manager. Gus has experience as long as his arms to me it's makes perfect sence. 

[Kemp]

7 minutes ago, div said:

How many people do we actually need in the setup?

 

We have Oran Kearney, Brian Rice and perhaps now Gus MacPherson.

 

We also have Jamie Langfield, Andy Webster and Alan McManus.

 

We have Tony Fitzpatrick and we have Martin Christie (head of recruitment).

 

That’s a lot of people and that costs a lot of money.

Is Martin Christie a full time employee?  If he is "head of recruitment" he should probably follow Stubbs and Jackson out the door.

Is Webster still with us? I had assumed he had moved on.

[Drew]

Hmm.

Bit of a head scratcher for me.

My tuppence worth is that we would have been better with a Brian Caldwell type in this role (albeit the exact nature of the role isn't clear).

One thing I will say, though, MacPherson seemed to be pretty popular with our players during his time at the club. DVZ, for example, won't hear a bad word said again him.

My main issue is how this appointment impacts on our new manager being able to stamp his identity on things.

 

 

[Magic Monkey]

I certainly hope he doesn't go signing any more duds such as Michael Higdon, the young John Sutton, Charlie Adam, or this absolute waster:

If this happens I'd buy a season ticket just so I could throw it at the BoD.

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, Kemp said:

Is Martin Christie a full time employee?  If he is "head of recruitment" he should probably follow Stubbs and Jackson out the door.

Is Webster still with us? I had assumed he had moved on.

Webster's still working with the youths. Kearney mentioned him in the YouTube interview on Monday. Dunno if Christie is full time or how much attention was paid to him over the summer. Kellerman seemed to be one of his, not sure about the rest.

1 minute ago, Magic Monkey said:

I certainly hope he doesn't go signing any more duds such as Michael Higdon, the young John Sutton, Charlie Adam, or this absolute waster:

If this happens I'd buy a season ticket just so I could throw it at the BoD.

And we can look forward to more signings like Dennis Wyness, Tom Brighton and Mo Camara. It can be spun both ways

[pozbaird]

7 minutes ago, Drew said:

Hmm.

Bit of a head scratcher for me.

My tuppence worth is that we would have been better with a Brian Caldwell type in this role (albeit the exact nature of the role isn't clear).

One thing I will say, though, MacPherson seemed to be pretty popular with our players during his time at the club. DVZ, for example, won't hear a bad word said again him.

My main issue is how this appointment impacts on our new manager being able to stamp his identity on things.

 

 

Last night I watched a superb Los Angeles Rams side administer a gubbing to Jon Gruden’s Oakland Raiders. The Rams head coach is 31 year old Sean McVay. One of his main assistants is 71 year old defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips. A guy who has been in the game for fifty years and has had head coaching jobs himself. However, this is very much Sean McVay’s team, and he is a smart cookie...with experience around him.

So, to summarise, it’ll be Oran’s team, but Gus will be handy for advice on third downs and spreading the field in red zone situations.

I’m all over this.

Edited September 12, 2018 by pozbaird

[Callum Gilhooley]

Is Martin Christie a full time employee?  If he is "head of recruitment" he should probably follow Stubbs and Jackson out the door.

Is Webster still with us? I had assumed he had moved on.

Webster is most definitely still here , he was doing most of the coaching with the Reserve team on Monday , strangely AM was very subdued and sat arms crossed for most of the game ( unlike him ) we do seem to have coaches galore. Monday we had AM , AW , langfield and Ross Paterson in the dugout

[munoz]

29 minutes ago, pod said:

and he loved the fans. 

And the youth academy 

[Kemp]

1 minute ago, Callum Gilhooley said:

Webster is most definitely still here , he was doing most of the coaching with the Reserve team on Monday , strangely AM was very subdued and sat arms crossed for most of the game ( unlike him ) we do seem to have coaches galore. Monday we had AM , AW , langfield and Ross Paterson in the dugout

Two to run the academy seems fine, McManus was assistant to Longwell before taking over.

Who is Ross  Paterson though?

[lenziebud]

Brilliant move for Gus McPherson, perfect for the role and a good move by the club. Will be a huge help to Kearney and whoever follows Kearney in time.  Club for me now seems to be going in the right direction since JR left

[proudtobeabuddy]

As a manager no chance but this might work. We can only give it a go and see if it works. Overall Gus did a good job for us but that’s in the past if he thinks that he can do a good job in this role and GS and TF think so too then I’m all for giving it a go.

[Magic Monkey]

12 minutes ago, Stu said:

And we can look forward to more signings like Dennis Wyness, Tom Brighton and Mo Camara. It can be spun both ways

My point was more that most people criticise Gus for his natural caution, but he signed plenty of exciting players. Plus, if he's not the one putting the team out, his preference for defensive football might not be quite so apparent.

[bazil85]

9 hours ago, pozbaird said:

Aye, but with the transfer window system, unless it's some waifs and strays free agents, not much recruiting going on. If it's a full-time position, buggered if I know what he would be doing every day, bar playing Wee Angry Birds on his PC.

I imagine he'll have more to his role than just active player recruitment. Scouting and preparing for player recruitment doesn't just happen in the summer and January, it's ongoing. GLS said as much in his quote about preparing for the future. the more information we can get on potential targets for the future the better and that can be time consuming. 

Part of it could be other aspects as well like analysis of opponents and tactics. Bottom-line is no one knows for sure. Although I would be massively surprised if they wasted a full-time  wage on someone only working a few hours a week.

[Isle Of Bute Saint]

43 minutes ago, billyg said:

As I said previously , when he was being mentioned for the manager's job , Gus  and young players with talent don't mix , he would plump  for a Wyness  or a Hamilton , over a McLean or a Morgan , every day of the week !

Picking the team will not be his role Billy. 

[bazil85]

2 minutes ago, Isle Of Bute Saint said:

Picking the team will not be his role Billy. 

Think Billy is talking more about the players he would be recommending. 

[delpierro]

I'll be going to the cinema a lot more!