What Could or Should Have Been Done Differently ?

[Dr Slippy]

Lots of questions have been asked since it all went belly up.

What could/should have been done differently ?

Stopping Alex going to Norwich was never going to happen. I thought Ronnie handled the move really well, & Accies got a lot of positive coverage on the back of it. It would have been awful if Alex was forced to publicly resign and there were messy public arguments over compensation.

I do believe that we could have made it a condition of Alex going to Norwich that he could not come back for any players during the current season. That could have prevented us losing our best player and top scorer unless anyone else came in and offered the right money.

MAC's behaviour at Firhill made it impossible for him to stay, and I personally have never really rated him and would prefer to see Brophy given the main striker role until the end of the season with Jason & Nigel in supporting roles.

As far as Jason re-signing is concerned, I think that may have been a panic measure when MAC had his tantrum. Jason will always be a hero at the club for his contribution last season, but I think he is done at this level. I would love to be proved wrong.

When the new coaching structure was announced I was initially quite pleased with the additions of Beuzellin & Swales. I thought that they would offer different things - Chris as a player was hard & no nonsense and Beuzy was classy and creative- their skills seemed to complement each other.
The unknown for me was Martin as the player manager. I don't think he is a good enough player to be credible as a player manager. On his game he is a great stopper, but in a team of passers, he can't pass and frequently gives the ball away with his long floaty passes to nowhere.i think this undermines his credibility with the players I have also been really concerned how the togetherness shown by the players has evaporated as soon as things started going wrong. The body language from some players is terrible at the moment, and It's a long time since I've been aware of so many players having a go at each other.

If Martin is to make it through this incredibly difficult period he has to change things now.

He should take himself out the team & play Devlin and Tena in central defence( I'm not sure if Lucas is ready from the couple of matches I have seen). He should concentrate on managing the players and reassembling the team spirit. He should get Daz out of the team until he can rediscover his form and discipline. If things are not going well in a match he and his coaches need to learn to change things using tactics and subs. His subs have been terrible - replacing Daz with 2 mins to go on Saturday. What was that about & it's not the first time recently I have been left scratching my head over his use or non use of subs.

I would have Danny Redmond back in the starting 11 and give him all the dead balls in attacking positions. I'm still not sure what to do about Hendrie as we seem to lose a heck of a lot of goals from the LB position, probably on balance I would give McDonald a run in the team to see what he can do.

Like all on here I am stunned how the best season in living memory has morphed into the worst run in years, and if things continue as they are I can't see where the next goal is coming from let alone the next win. I really want Martin to turn things around, but at the moment I just can't see it happening.

[really?]

should have put MC in temporary charge while considering any external candidates before making a decision - we WERE a club that a lot of managers wanted to manage and we should have taken advantage of that because who will want to manage us now?

[Alfie Olek]

A really good analysis and post Dr Slippy

As to Alex not coming back for players. Its been tried elsewhere. Did Swansea not say to Liverpool that Rodgers was not to comeback but he did. The offer for Andreu was a really good one and the move to a championship club that could be promoted a good move for Andreu. Accies could have held onto him till the summer but I wonder if the Hendrie on/off/on move to West Ham influenced Ronnie. Initially he was going for £2 million (supposedly) which would have financed the Dome. When that fell through and compensation of a million was agreed there is a cynical side of me that thinks they sold Andreu in January to ensure they had the necessary funds for the dome?

My concern re Daz is Canning can’t seem to control him. That says more about Canning than Daz.

Was resigning Jason panic? If they hadn’t signed him surely the salary saved would have gone towards paying Dean Shields salary for 5 months?

As to the coaching structure, like you I thought this looked good but it isn’t working. Surely that can be fixed unless Martin has told swailes I’ll make the decision re subs. I’m not ready to see that structure thrown out yet but as you have identified it comes back to Martin and I agree he needs to take himself out of the team and manage. We did alright defensively earlier in the season when he was out through injury so no reason why we can’t again.

[Dr Slippy]

There seems to be a misunderstanding that we are getting £1M for Hendrie. The actual figure is £400k,
The reason I know is that I was speaking to Ronnie at an u20's match & he volunteered the information. I am not convinced that £2M or anything like that was realistic and was the club just talking up his value. I still think £400k is a good deal for us, because I don't think that Hendrie has lived up to the potential he showed at 16-17, and I am not convinced he will do anything down south. Having said that, I really hope he proves me wrong and makes it at West Ham.

[Alfie Olek]

There seems to be a misunderstanding that we are getting £1M for Hendrie. The actual figure is £400k,

Interesting and sounds more like a realistic figure however that reinforces the argument that Andreu went now to make up the necessary funds for the dome and why we didn't up the ante for loy. The money wasn't there !

[Accies4ever]

There's many things in retrospect that we could have done differently and I suppose until you try them, you never know.

The setting up of the new management team, was in principle a very good idea, except the major element of that was missing, an experienced manager who demanded respect, had tactical knowledge and knew how to get players working hard for him.
Basically someone who knew the ropes.

Canning, Swailes, Beuzey, etc would have benefited from that situation, if it had been set up that way.

Looking at the present management set up they look like men lost.
Unsure what to do to fix the problems and totally lacking confidence.
That's hardly surprising bearing in mind their inexperience in these roles.
The players likewise, with no real direction coming from the dugout.

I've made the point before about 22. Did we have to sell him at the end of the window.
I don't know the answer, but it appears to me that the board wasn't prepared for an offer that the rest of us knew, and feared, was coming.

I'm going to look back on this season with regret.
For one that started like a dream, it's quickly turned into a nightmare.

The most important thing for the board to realise is that they have made a major mistake in their reading of the situation and to correct it properly, if more for next season than this one.

Otherwise we will end up like a yo-yo club, exactly what the board didn't want to happen.

[Alexander the Great]

don't think stopping neil signing andreu would have done any good, the main cog in neil had been removed and martin canning was playing andreu far too deep, especially against celtic.

[DC United]

There was nothing wrong with appointing Canning as interim manager, however after three defeats - particularly the drubbing by Thistle, the board should have realised he wasn't the man to take the club forward.

Selling Andreu for £1m+ is a great bit of business, disappointing as it was to see him go. Being able to sell Hendrie for anything is even better! A few signings would have been nice, however the problem lies with the management / coaching situation.

[redandwhite1874]

We couldn't have knocked back the offer for Tony - the deal is come and do well and move on if the deal is right for the club and the player. That offer hit all those criteria and we would have been robbing tony of a life defining transfer as well as undermining our chances of good players signing 2 year contracts.

Jason was always an investment in the past.

In football there are countless examples of how hard it is to take over from a hugely successful manager; so not sure who else the board could have picked as they were always going to face a huge task to get the stars to align the way Alex did. It was never sustainable let alone sustaining it after the 4 hardest to replace people at the club left in a matter of weeks.

[Accies4ever]

I really hope the board don't do some sort of compromise deal as far as the management team is concerned, as some sort of face saving exercise.

What I mean by that is bring an experienced manager in as say "Head of football" and keep the management structure exactly as it is.
That would lead to even more confusion than exists already.

If the board do change the management and personnel, it needs to be crystal clear amongst the players and the fans, who calls the shots.

[Whiskeytown]

As soon as Norwich came in with an incredibly generous bid for Andreu, what could we do? It's an amazing opportunity for the guy and one that might never have came again. Remember that he played in the atrocity at Firhill, his value may well have plummeted had he stayed and we had still slumped, though probably not to this extent. My gripe with the club is who we have signed. Foreign gambles who have yet to start and old boys. Meanwhile, others pick up guys like Dayton, De Vita and Marcus Fraser or tap the English loan market. Shades of the Billy Reid policy that failed so badly.

[H9crx]

The management team appointment is old school BR lets get 3 and hope one works! This is the les and Ronnie Style as they are the pupet masters and call the shots!

[redandwhite1874]

The management team appointment is old school BR lets get 3 and hope one works! This is the les and Ronnie Style as they are the pupet masters and call the shots!

Even if your huffy and wild rubbish was true - you can't argue with the success periods Ronnie and Les have brought to us on and off the pitch.

[H9crx]

Not saying they have not done very well for the club! But canning and co are yes men appointments and I don't think they will get a say in the transfers!

Possibly why subs don't get warmed up as they can't here the shout from the directors box!

[redandwhite1874]

Was Alex Neil a yes man?

[Accies4ever]

The management team appointment is old school BR lets get 3 and hope one works! This is the les and Ronnie Style as they are the pupet masters and call the shots!

Think you are being a bit unfair there, but maybe a re-think is overdue.
To me Canning & co, was a genuine hope by the board that lightning would strike twice.
It was a high risk strategy that appears (to all but the blind) to have back-fired dramatically.

I've called for an end-of-season meeting with the fans, so the board can explain their vision of where Accies are going over the next season and mid-term.
That above all, should include their plan to rectify the current situation.

[H9crx]

Was Alex Neil a yes man?

Yes one that worked out for the club after a few years. The "Ethos" of the club will always mean we have yes men and why we will never bring in anyone who is experienced! which is the falt of the ethos as we need experience people on and off the pitch! Yes the ethos will work but will always have a 3/4 year turn around. I don't think we need to develop players, managers shop assistant ball boys. we should stick with players that have experianced staff around them.

[redandwhite1874]

I don't recall you pointing out the yes man scenario and highlighting its dangers before now, like say in September or last May?

Or are successful yes men ok? Still you can see that the yes man Alex Neil is really struggling without the real decision makers behind his success.

[porcupine]

Other than H9crx's usual negativity, this is an excellent thread with sound opinions throughout. As said by me two weeks ago and many others, Canning HAS to see the game from the sidelines and preferably from the stand where he can see the play developing/ mistakes being made etc. etc. With Tena available for the next game, there is no excuse for the Manager to be playing himself. We COULD not play any worse than Saturday. Canning has to have the balls to manage the situation and the current problems. It is now long overdue that he stamps his authority on the players. If he cannot, or is unwilling to change being one of the 'boys', then he is dead in the water. Whilst some will not like it, most groups of staff, footballers included, are looking for strong leadership, and our team at Accies are no different, whether they know that or not.

Most of our squad have not become bad players in six weeks. All are clearly suffering a massive lack of confidence in their own ability. This CAN be managed by the right person. I am far from sure that, what looked like an excellent back-up team of Swailes and Buezellin, are gelling with everyone else, and the lack of decision making regarding the need of early substitutes on Saturday, is a clear example.

One other point. Did many others note that we had no width for most of the game? Other than the goalkeeper, EVERY player was in one quarter of the pitch on too may occasions? Almost like a schoolboys game where everyone wants a touch of the ball!!!! As a result, we failed to stretch St Mirren on the flanks. The next two weeks with a resurgent Ross county coming to town, are going to the the make or break of our complete Management team.

[Accies4ever]

Was Alex Neil a yes man?

Yes one that worked out for the club after a few years. The "Ethos" of the club will always mean we have yes men and why we will never bring in anyone who is experienced! which is the falt of the ethos as we need experience people on and off the pitch! Yes the ethos will work but will always have a 3/4 year turn around. I don't think we need to develop players, managers shop assistant ball boys. we should stick with players that have experianced staff around them.

Don't think anyone would categorise Neil as a "Yes" man.
Above all, Alex always did things his way and he made it clear before taking the Norwich job, that he wouldn't accept it any other way.