Imrie to Raith

[Mr.Blue]

6 hours ago, Gordon Ritchie said:

I worked closely with Dougie during his time at the club, and I think it’s a mistake to let him leave. He was far from a perfect manager (is there such a thing?) but he was a good tactician and an outstanding motivator. During his tenure, we created an atmosphere within the squad that meant that players wanted to come to Morton (sometimes for less money than was on offer elsewhere). From what I’ve heard, that atmosphere has been destroyed in recent months.

Some fans have criticised his recruitment, and commented on his failure to get the most out of his increased budget. I’d respond with two comments. Not every signing was Dougie’s. I believe that some signings were done at the insistence of a Chair and GM who exceeded what I believe should have been their role. 
 

Secondly, there is only a limited pool of good Championship players available. When you don’t get a budget on time, most of the quality talent has signed elsewhere. He cannot be blamed for that. I don’t know who was at fault for the late budget, but I can make an educated guess.

Dougie was responsible for turning around many careers at Cappielow. Muirhead, Oakley, Grimshaw, Crawford, Quitongo and others were on a downward trajectory until they came to work with him in Greenock. Dougie made them better players. I don’t think any of them have improved since they left.

The decision to let Millen leave had undermined Dougie. Andy and I were never friends at Cappielow, but I respected his talent and knowledge of the game. His greatest value to a manager was that he had no ambition to be a manager himself. He was happy to be the assistant, and so never threatened the manager’s position. When he left, and Dougie was denied his choice as a replacement, the writing was on the wall.

The club supported Dougie through his compliance issue for gambling, and through his pro license. He was always grateful for that support, and for us giving him his chance at management. I wonder if he thinks he had the same support in recent times.

I am sorry to see him leave. He was not the finished article, and at times could be a stubborn b****** to work with, but his commitment to his players could never be questioned. 

Given that it has taken the board 18 months and counting to find a new finance director since Harkins announced he was leaving, does anyone have confidence that they will get this process right? I was regularly telling them that they should always have a shortlist of managers ready, as Dougie was certain to leave at some point. Their statement does not inspire confidence of a quick resolution.

Will we choose the best candidate, or will it be one of Laird’s buddies that gets the job? But of course, that can’t happen as he (apparently) plays no part in the decisions!

Dougie’s success on the pitch has papered over many of the cracks behind the scenes. 

Finally, ask yourselves this question. If everything was good at Cappielow, why was Dougie applying for almost every job that came up? I can understand Inverness (at the time it happened) and Partick. Raith? Not so much. But I’m told he made an approach to Airdrie. How desperate must he been to leave Morton? And it wasn’t for money. Dougie was well paid at Cappielow. 

 

 

What has caused this atmosphere to be destroyed?

[standman]

So, why did we not keep Andy Millen on and why was he dismissed right after that Dunfermline match?

Clearly Dougie wasn’t part of that, which has been part of the problem.

Why wasn’t Dougie allowed to bring in his own number two after Andy left?

Who were the players signed he didn’t want?

No wonder he was fed up at Morton.

 

 

[ConTon74]

46 minutes ago, standman said:

So, why did we not keep Andy Millen on and why was he dismissed right after that Dunfermline match?

Clearly Dougie wasn’t part of that, which has been part of the problem.

Why wasn’t Dougie allowed to bring in his own number two after Andy left?

Who were the players signed he didn’t want?

No wonder he was fed up at Morton.

 

 

Did he not want to bring in Frankie mcavoy then he ended up going to Carlisle instead?

[vikingTON]

49 minutes ago, standman said:

So, why did we not keep Andy Millen on and why was he dismissed right after that Dunfermline match?

Clearly Dougie wasn’t part of that, which has been part of the problem.

Why wasn’t Dougie allowed to bring in his own number two after Andy left?

Who were the players signed he didn’t want?

No wonder he was fed up at Morton.

 

 

If it was such a big problem, then Imrie could have walked away in May - or taken the Partick job when this club was beyond a zoo. 

People love to make these 'ordinary job' comparisons - well okay then, do you get a divine right to insist that your work keeps on a colleague? 

Imrie has been applying for jobs elsewhere long before any decision was made about Millen, it's such an obvious red herring. 

[DaftTon74]

The WhatsApp voice message going round at the moment about Imrie’s departure is grim. (if true and not been fabricated of course). 

[irnbru]

Just now, DaftTon74 said:

The WhatsApp voice message going round at the moment about Imrie’s departure is grim. (if true and not been fabricated of course). 

Mental. 

[Brian Skelton]

17 minutes ago, DaftTon74 said:

The WhatsApp voice message going round at the moment about Imrie’s departure is grim. (if true and not been fabricated of course). 

If it is true Laird can fuck right off now

[Madton]

Laird needs to fuck off out our club.

He can take Sam with him.

[macca937]

17 minutes ago, DaftTon74 said:

The WhatsApp voice message going round at the moment about Imrie’s departure is grim. (if true and not been fabricated of course). 

Who is the msg supposedl

 

Just now, Brian Skelton said:

If it is true Laird can fuck right off now

Ohhhh get it posted 

[port-ton]

Haven’t heard the WhatsApp message but the best thing about Dougie leaving is hopefully the truth about the conditions he’s had to work under for a long time will now come to pass and the snakes in the boardroom can be ousted once and for all. 
 

 

[Tubes]

Sack the fucking board. This needs addressed right away.

[RossMcC1874]

Whats the whatsapp message and what exactly has been said?

[irnbru]

27 minutes ago, RossMcC1874 said:

Whats the whatsapp message and what exactly has been said?

Didn't want to go, offer accepted without him knowing, forced out by Laird, couldn't get in touch to speak to anyone on the board, bit of a dodgy statement when he eventually spoke to Robinson when he went into Cappielow on Monday to say it was for the best given circumstances. Sounds like Laird behind it but hiding. 

Actually pretty disgusting behaviour if it's true. 

Edit to add - also showing Laird as a bare faced liar again after saying he just gave advice. 

[SpoonTon]

The club statement in the summer that Imrie was staying annoyed me a bit, and I think it was because they said they were delighted he was staying but I wasn't really sure how delighted anyone actually was by the situation. 

I don't know if any of this message stuff is true, but it's a feeling I've had for a while. 

[TonFan89]

I haven’t heard the message, but that does also chime with how Dougie has come across in his Raith interviews since joining them.

Feels quite telling that one of the first answers he gave was around how nice it was to be “wanted”; heavy implication being he felt he wasn’t wanted here.

[Tubes]

There is quite alot of very specific information given in that voice note and also feel like it rings true with other things I’ve heard, so I would say it’s authentic. Hopefully we get a clearer picture of what’s going on behind the scenes now and straight from the horses mouth too. 

If that’s the way things have been done behind the scenes then they can all fuck off. 

[Jamie_M]

4 hours ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

Don't think they had much choice, to be fair. If an employee is determined to leave and can't be persuaded otherwise, there's no point in standing in his way. At least this way we'll be entitled to compensation (I assume).

Counter point - Dougie is on record this seson saying he'd like to stay longer and was ready to sit down and discuss a contract extension which seemingly hasn't happened.

Then in his first interview at Raith he makes a comment about it being nice to feel wanted...

[vikingTON]

7 hours ago, Jamie_M said:

Counter point - Dougie is on record this seson saying he'd like to stay longer and was ready to sit down and discuss a contract extension which seemingly hasn't happened.

Then in his first interview at Raith he makes a comment about it being nice to feel wanted...

Counter point - he has also been applying for just about any rancid job opportunity for the best part of 2 years now. I mean Inverness, really? 

Imrie did a very good job as manager - and also did a lot of additional work and commitments that weren't required (see the evening with a Davies a few weeks ago. 

Butt he also did an excellent job managing his own reputation, not least by playing the workie writing in the Tele like a fiddle as and when needed. 

[dunning1874]

If it's true then it's absolutely a resigning matter for both Laird and Robinson and a support hounding them out the club matter if they don't go, but while it's a rumour doing the rounds on WhatsApp referred to in vague tones on here and social media the club are going to ignore it and dismiss any questions about it with not lowering themselves to responding to unsubstantiated gossip etc. I think you'll find it hard to find anyone in the support who trusts either of them after the summer and that's going to make everyone more inclined to believe this, but as it stands they'll be able to bat this away.

If Imrie goes on record with a journalist and says even half of it publicly then the club can't ignore that, but that's a difficult thing for Imrie to do both for his own reputation in the game generally as clubs might view him as a loose cannon if he goes nuclear on a previous club, and more significantly in the short-term his standing with the Raith board and fans. He can't say "I didn't want to leave Morton and was forced to go to Raith" then expect anyone at Raith to be happy about it.

This is also a wider difficulty with Laird and Robinson, because if it was up to the support/MCT membership alone they'd both have been gone in the summer, but Brian Bonar wanted them both there for whatever reason. My own view was that Bonar genuinely means well but had the wool pulled over his eyes a bit about by some on the board about where the problems at the club lie and that's why he supports Laird and Robinson.

Robinson now being a Dalrada rep on the board rather than MCT means it's really in Bonar's power whether to remove him or not, and I think most of the support had grudgingly accepted that while some board members now aren't trusted after the summer it was time to move on, accepting the relationship both between the two boards and between the GMFC board & support needed to be reset and see how that went. This being true would smash that patience to bits.

Who knows if Imrie going on record would change Bonar's mind about the two of them, but once again having the support up in arms about people on the board at Dalrada's behest when the deadline for the sponsorship deal to be committed to is approaching would be a whole new shambles.

[InverAlly]

3 minutes ago, dunning1874 said:

Who knows if Imrie going on record would change Bonar's mind about the two of them, but once again having the support up in arms about people on the board at Dalrada's behest when the deadline for the sponsorship deal to be committed to is approaching would be a whole new shambles.

Or has Bonar put pressure on the Board to get rid of Dougie for pissing away his budget and not getting the desired results? Have they done the right thing? I'm in no way defending the current custodians of our once proud club, I've made my feelings clear elsewhere, but getting compensation for a guy they would perhaps sack in the near future may have been a shrewd move.

Dougie Imrie was never the Messiah, he just had credit with the fans which was diminishing at such a rate that many, if not the majority, were happy for him to move on.