Who Is Next?

[GiGi]

If Hopkin does not come you can take it that there is no change in the ambition of the board and we will be a middle of the road team again next season.

Pish. First you don't know that Morton have even offered Hopkin anything. And even if they have and Hopkin says no he is surely well within his rights to decide against dropping a level when he's just won promotion out of it.

 

Managers are allowed to be ambitious too. We don't have a right to expect guys like that to choose Morton when realistically they may have much better options.

[LargsTON]

McKinnon faced Duffy's Morton with both a much smaller budget and a comparable budget (at Brechin and Raith respectively) and owned him on the park in direct matches as well as in the league campaign of 2015/16. I am far from being the chairman of the Ray 'Ray' McKinnon fan club, but the idea that he needs to excel to be an upgrade on Duffy's truly mediocre skill set in management is laughable. If the club's ambition is to slither into the play-offs more often than not then either McKinnon or McIntyre are indeed upgrades on what we had. 

 

The only chance of the club getting a manager capable of achieving a higher ambition though - getting promotion and establishing the club in the top flight for some time at least - would be to gamble on someone outside the usual Scottish management merrygoround. That fact hasn't changed at all in the past four weeks, nor has the reality that the club can't actually end the current state of apathy in the fanbase by opting for another 'safe pair of hands' appointment. The only rightful candidate waits patiently across the North Sea for the call. 

 

Fuck off with this Wake pish. It's boring everyone to tears.

[cmdc]

There's a few big "ifs" here, but...

 

It should have been clear from about February (at least) that Duffy had to go, and should have been as clear then that Hopkin was the prime target, if that's what he is. There's been half a season to make this happen, even if it the club were waiting to see what happened in the play-offs we still knew months ago that Livingston were there with a manager who was out of contract.

 

If Hopkin (and it's a big if) rejects us this far down the line and we end up with the second or third choice then it's been an appalling recruitment process and the chief executive needs to offer a seriously good explanation.

 

The sacking of Duffy wasn't unexpected, this isn't a surprise vacancy. It's been coming for a long time, it really shouldn't be taking this long to sort it.

 

The sacking of Duffy might not have been a surprise to fans but it was done on day 1 of the new chairman taking over, and done on the last day of the season. It was only at that point that a formal process could start, at which time Livingston had a chance of promotion. It's one thing identifying Hopkin as a target, another thing convincing him to come, and another thing entirely convincing him to come when it means dropping down a division. Personally I don't think there's an awful lot to explain (and you don't need to read to closely between the lines to rach the conclusion that Hopkin has given us some encouragement), and I wouldn't expect the chief executive or anyone else to say 'sorry we're only presenting this guy we took a while trying to get someone else'. If we appoint our second or third choice the only thing that should be explained in public is why that person fits the bill and what the vision is under the new manager.

[Mr Toon]

Pish. First you don't know that Morton have even offered Hopkin anything. And even if they have and Hopkin says no he is surely well within his rights to decide against dropping a level when he's just won promotion out of it.

 

Managers are allowed to be ambitious too. We don't have a right to expect guys like that to choose Morton when realistically they may have much better options.

Absolutely correct. We can't make anyone join us and as long as we get an upgrade on Jim Duffy the recruitment process will have been OK.

[dunning1874]

If we come out on Monday or Tuesday and announce someone other than Hopkin then fine, the board have been turned down by their number one target, waiting for him to be in a position to decide being no fault of their own, while they've had a clear idea of the backup plan and moved quickly to secure their second choice as soon as Hopkin looked elsewhere.

 

If however this rumbles on to late next week, especially if that involves an announcement of Hopkin staying at Livi or going elsewhere in the meantime, then it does look really bad. Not because Hopkin decides against dropping a division, which you can't blame the club for, but because it would suggest they've devoted all their attention to one candidate who always had a significant likelihood of turning it down and not given a thought to what they would do in that entirely realistic scenario.

 

We're not there yet so there's no need to panic or criticise now: they could well be announcing someone else or even Hopkin on Monday and they're just finalising the details of the contract over the weekend. There can't really be any doubt though that they were waiting for Hopkin all along: we wouldn't be having this discussion three weeks after applications closed otherwise.

[vikingTON]

**** off with this Wake pish. It's boring everyone to tears.

 

You're the one who green dotted it.

 

[LargsTON]

You're the one who green dotted it.

 

Fat fingers.

[Flyerton]

We're now at the end of the fortnight Crawford Rae mentioned the new manager should be appointed by.

 

Is the delay due to: It was going to be Hopkin but they were waiting to see if Livingston got promoted, they did get promoted and he turned the job down?  So they've had to look elsewhere?

[irnbru]

We all know that McKinnon had a great record against Duffy, but picking out particular head to head records doesn't exactly give a great overall picture. Duffy has edge in guys head to head record with Jack Ross - it doesn't make him a better manager.

It wasn't just a great record though. We normally started on top and he made tactical changes in games that turned them. This happened in at least 3 or 4 games against us that I can remember which is more than Duffy did overall.

 

Not that it matters in the slightest but he was some player too.

[Mr Toon]

It is difficult in the present situation to avoid wishful thinking and to be entirely objective.

 

However attempting to do so it is difficult to conclude anything other than David Hopkin is still very much in the frame.

 

Of the others who have been seriously mentioned, it is difficult to identify one who is presently employed and who could not therefore already be in post sorting out the squad etc.

 

According to the Livingston chairman Hopkin has said that he will sit down with him and look at what they can offer for next season in terms of the budget for players etc. but one might suspect that with Livi already in debt to the tune of over £700K, the budget will remain really tight and that David will already be well aware of that.

 

If we are in discussion with him as many suspect he will already know what will be on offer at Cappielow.

 

Now the wishful thinking:

 

He has committed to listening to what Livingston have to offer, and will honour that commitment and then will, with all of the right words about how hard a decision it has been announce that he is coming to us.

 

That would be good and it just MIGHT happen.

[Madton]

You can understand why we are all getting frustrated what with the amount of time it is taking, but I dont doubt for a second the club feel the exact same. They will be as keen as us to get it sorted.

 

A blind man can see that Hopkin is number 1 target and he simply must have given some sort of indication that he was interested, but no doubt before they won the playoffs. If he had said he wasn't, I'm convinced a manager would be in place by now, so if there is still a possibility of him coming, we should allow him the time to decide. Would be gutted to appoint McKinnon last week only to learn Hoppy would have taken it next week after his budget meeting with Livingston.

 

You sense had they not won the playoffs, he would probably be our manager but now they are a premiership club, the decision to leave is probably 10 times harder.

 

I'm sure he wants it sorted ASAP as he will want to start planning for next season, regardless of which club he is at. If he does decide to stay where he is, I dont think the club can be blamed for that as long as we have a good plan b ready to come in quickly!

 

Surely next week, it will be all sorted one way or another!

[LargsTON]

If Hopkin managed to get us to the top flight for the first time in 30 years that'd be an even bigger achievement than taking Livi up.

[big B]

Pish. First you don't know that Morton have even offered Hopkin anything. And even if they have and Hopkin says no he is surely well within his rights to decide against dropping a level when he's just won promotion out of it.

 

Managers are allowed to be ambitious too. We don't have a right to expect guys like that to choose Morton when realistically they may have much better options.

I am not for one minute saying he has been offered the job what I am saying is he knows full well the Rae's lack of ambition in the last few years and IF he feels there is no change of direction on that front he won't come again if he has been offered the job.

[GiGi]

I am not for one minute saying he has been offered the job what I am saying is he knows full well the Rae's lack of ambition in the last few years and IF he feels there is no change of direction on that front he won't come again if he has been offered the job.

That is not what you said. You said if we don't get Hopkin then we have no ambition and will be mid table fodder next season, which is plainly just wild supposition at this point.

 

We might offer Hopkin the job and get knocked back, sign another good manager and do well anyway.

 

Some folk are really setting themselves up to be disappointed by pinning all the club's hopes on one particular manager. There are plenty of good candidates capable of getting the job done.

 

Must admit I'm a getting a bit bored waiting though.

[big B]

That is not what you said. You said if we don't get Hopkin then we have no ambition and will be mid table fodder next season, which is plainly just wild supposition at this point.

 

We might offer Hopkin the job and get knocked back, sign another good manager and do well anyway.

 

Some folk are really setting themselves up to be disappointed by pinning all the club's hopes on one particular manager. There are plenty of good candidates capable of getting the job done.

 

Must admit I'm a getting a bit bored waiting though.

I should have worded it better at the start.

[Mr Toon]

That is not what you said. You said if we don't get Hopkin then we have no ambition and will be mid table fodder next season, which is plainly just wild supposition at this point.

 

We might offer Hopkin the job and get knocked back, sign another good manager and do well anyway.

 

Some folk are really setting themselves up to be disappointed by pinning all the club's hopes on one particular manager. There are plenty of good candidates capable of getting the job done.

 

Must admit I'm a getting a bit bored waiting though.

I will be disappointed if we don't get Hopkin, but you are right that there are other capable managers around who could do a good job for us.

 

I just feel it would be a great boost for the club and for the feel-good factor if we got our preferred candidate.

 

If indeed he is as many, including myself are assuming our preferred candidate.

[EanieMeany]

The sacking of Duffy might not have been a surprise to fans but it was done on day 1 of the new chairman taking over, and done on the last day of the season. It was only at that point that a formal process could start, at which time Livingston had a chance of promotion. It's one thing identifying Hopkin as a target, another thing convincing him to come, and another thing entirely convincing him to come when it means dropping down a division. Personally I don't think there's an awful lot to explain (and you don't need to read to closely between the lines to rach the conclusion that Hopkin has given us some encouragement), and I wouldn't expect the chief executive or anyone else to say 'sorry we're only presenting this guy we took a while trying to get someone else'. If we appoint our second or third choice the only thing that should be explained in public is why that person fits the bill and what the vision is under the new manager.

 

I've actually read my post back there and I probably didn't really quite explain myself very well...

 

If we come out on Monday or Tuesday and announce someone other than Hopkin then fine, the board have been turned down by their number one target, waiting for him to be in a position to decide being no fault of their own, while they've had a clear idea of the backup plan and moved quickly to secure their second choice as soon as Hopkin looked elsewhere.

 

If however this rumbles on to late next week, especially if that involves an announcement of Hopkin staying at Livi or going elsewhere in the meantime, then it does look really bad. Not because Hopkin decides against dropping a division, which you can't blame the club for, but because it would suggest they've devoted all their attention to one candidate who always had a significant likelihood of turning it down and not given a thought to what they would do in that entirely realistic scenario.

 

We're not there yet so there's no need to panic or criticise now: they could well be announcing someone else or even Hopkin on Monday and they're just finalising the details of the contract over the weekend. There can't really be any doubt though that they were waiting for Hopkin all along: we wouldn't be having this discussion three weeks after applications closed otherwise.

 

It's more this hypothetical situation I was getting at...*if* that's how it pans out then it looks a huge balls-up.

 

As it is, I'm mostly ambivalent about the delay, but again it depends on how it goes. If we get our main target, then it's well worth waiting; if we start getting to the end of next week and ending up with somebody as uninspiring as McKinnon then it really isn't a great start at all for the new regime. That said, how long can you realistically wait on somebody? Again, this has all been in the pipeline for almost a month so Hopkin must know if he wants it or not.

[TONofmemories]

Duffy on BBC radio Scotland this afternoon alongside Robbie Neilson.

 

Infrastructure getting slightly criticised.

 

Neilson reckons we'll be begging for Jim back in 6 months suggesting we've ideas above our station. Currently over performing etc.

 

Then some daft bint from the woman's game asked if Morton are even attractive to any credible candidate atm having sacked jim

 

Usual rhetoric

[LargsTON]

Duffy on BBC radio Scotland this afternoon alongside Robbie Neilson.

Infrastructure getting slightly criticised.

Neilson reckons we'll be begging for Jim back in 6 months suggesting we've ideas above our station. Currently over performing etc.

Then some daft bint from the woman's game asked if Morton are even attractive to any credible candidate atm having sacked jim

Usual rhetoric

There are clubs of smaller stature currently plying their trade in the top league so Nielsen is talking shite. If any one of these "experts" had watched Morton over the past 18 months and witnessed the mismanagement we've seen under Duffy I guarantee they'd change their tune. There's no balance to the reporting on Duffy, merely wagon circling. I'd love our new man to ram their words back down their throats!

[LargsTON]

Out of curiosity what did they say about the infrastructure?