I like Mark McGhee. There, I said it. It’s an opinion that would draw similar looks of incredulity in Motherwell these days as someone cutting about Brandon Parade in a Hamilton Accies top, and goodness knows it is one that I would dare not vocalise within Pittodrie either, but I’ve always had a lot of time for him.
Egotistic, arrogant, even rude are some of the politer adjectives I’ve heard used to describe the Fir Park gaffer over the years, but I’ve always found him pleasant and engaging in the flesh.
His utterings to the media are of course 24-carat-gold for journalists like myself, and while I can understand that some of his opinions can upset supporters, I’ve always found that when he offers a controversial thought, he does so with a twinkle in his eye and full knowledge of the headlines he will create.
I also understand that Motherwell fans are upset when their manager, as he did before the recent drubbing to Aberdeen, offers opinions on the goings on at other clubs like Celtic or Rangers. In his defence, these are questions that are put to him by the assembled media. He doesn’t have to answer them, of course, but in contrast to his public persona, he’s more accommodating than perhaps his image conveys.
But none of this would matter if he was winning football matches.
He is the same Mark McGhee who came into Fir Park almost 10 years ago now and revitalised a club that had finished 11th the previous season with a quite frankly dismal side put together by Maurice Malpas.
He is the same Mark McGhee that took those players and had them playing the most exciting brand of football I have seen in my many years attending Fir Park, leading them to a third-place finish and their first jaunt into Europe in 13 years.
He is the same Mark McGhee that led the club with such dignity and class through its darkest days in the immediate aftermath of the death of club captain Phil O’Donnell.
And he is the same Mark McGhee that picked Motherwell up again last season to haul them from yet another relegation battle to finish fifth in the table.
You never heard the slightest mention of his personality then, and the man has not changed. Unfortunately for him though, fortunes on the field have altered dramatically.
His charge sheet of embarrassing results is almost as exhaustive as the rap sheet on him that sits in Tony McGlennan’s drawer at the SFA. And that is why, regrettably, I feel the time has come for him to either step down, or be put out of his misery.
McGhee has openly discussed his acceptance of the fact that the squad he has will at times, take an absolute cuffing, but fans are much less likely to accept such defeatism. Most can take a loss, even a heavy one, if they can see the proper application and never-say-die attitude from their players.
Can all of the Motherwell players who shipped seven at Pittodrie and five at Fir Park in the past 10 days really look themselves in the mirror and say that was their best shot? If so, then it is a damning indictment on their ability, and if it wasn’t, it is a damning indictment on their attitude.
And such results are not isolated incidents. During McGhee’s second reign at Fir Park his side have lost six goals at Tynecastle, seven goals and then another five in separate games at Celtic Park, another four at their happy hunting ground Pittodrie and even three without reply at home to Inverness.
The results against the league’s bigger clubs could just about be tolerated, but when a club of a similar size is banging five past you at your own ground before half time, then the gig is really up.
The buck, as always in football, stops at the door of the manager, and rarely do you see any coach coming back from even the relatively modest protests that broke out at Fir Park’s main entrance on Saturday both at the break and after the game.
But what should worry the Motherwell board, who must have watched this scene unfolding through the cracks of their fingers, is the growing sense of apathy around the club.
At a time when fan ownership should be revitalising engagement between the boardroom and the terraces, they cannot afford such a disconnect between themselves and the fans to be caused by backing their man at all costs.
The alarm bells are already ringing. If Motherwell lose at Kilmarnock on Saturday, it may not only be that McGhee has no way back at the club, but that the club have no way back from their tailspin towards the Championship.
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