Kingsmills

It does indeed seem that the shortleet consists of Warnock, Coyle and Brewster. For what it's worth, my views are as follows; WARNOCK; Still not convinced that he is a serious candidate but if he is my view is that he would be the best appointment out of the three. He is a vastly experienced manager who has managed at a very high level but also in the english lower leugues where the financial constraints and style of play are not dissimilar t the SPL. His lack of knowledge of our game in Scotland could be compensated for by retaining Donald Park as his assistant. While he has never enjoyed spectacular success he has consistently achieved well over his long running career and would be a goo bet to lead us to mid table security or better. Another big plus would be his enormously high profile which would project the club onto the UK stage and directly and indirectly generate income as a result. There is a risk that he might not stay long but bear in mind that that's hardly without precedent since Pele left. OWEN COYLE; A close second in my view. He knows the game well in Scotland and will hae good contacts in the central belt. His managerial record so far is very good especially in the cup competitions particularly given the financial constaints he is operating with inder Goeff Brown's tightly budgeted regime at St Johnstone. Despite that he very nearly pipped cach rich Gretna to the first division title and might well have done so had it not been for the extra strain of reaching two national semi finals both of which they played well in and could quite easily have won. Coyle's teams also appear to play an entertaining style of football which might put a few extra bums on seats at the TCS. I appreciate that he's untried as an SPL manager and that we would have to pay compensation to secure him but, in my view, his potential is so high that it would be well worth it. CRAIG BREWSTER; In my view, far and away the weakest of the three candidates. I've no problem with the fact that he left to "better" himself. By all accounts he conducted himself well and as a result helped the club secure maximum compensation. What does concern me greatly is his record and ability as a manager. It's true to say that he did relatively well during his stint at the TCS but in retrospect his contribution was more as the best forward in our history rather than for his frankly often naive and one dimensional management skills. At the age of 41 he now has little to offer on the playing front. I believe the true worth, or lack of it, of Brewster as a manager was exposed during his tenure at Tannadice. The fact of the matter is tha if Dundee United hadn't sacked Brewster when they did they would have been relegated. I very much fear that if ICT appoint him we will be facing the same prospect.

I am not concerned about the fact that Brewster left with a view to " bettering " himself. Both Steve Paterson and John Robertson left for the same reason and I woul be reasonably pleased to see Robbo return and delighted to see Pele back in charge. The only reason that I have serious concerns about Brewster his his managerial record and ability. While it's true to say that he did reasonably well in his sint at the Caledonian Stadium his style of football was one dimensional and would not serve us well now. He never appeared to have a convincing plan B and he had the distinct advantage of being able to field the most talented and effective forward at the club namely himself. In my opinion his true ability as a manager, or rather the lack of it, was cruelly exposed during his time at Tannadice. To be fair to Eddy Thomson if he hadn't sacked Brewster when he did Dundee United would have been relegated and I genuinely fear that if ICT appoint him now we will all be watching first division football next season. I would srtress again that my opinion has nothing to do with the manner of his leaving, who wouldn't want to manage the team they supported from the terraces as a boy ? but everything to do with the fact that out of all our former managers his record since leaving has been far and away the worst. I hope that the board are not considering appoiting him simply because he represents he cheapest and most easily available option. ?150,000 to St Johnstone might seem quite a bargain as he cost of securing SPL football and its relative riches next season.

There's little point in rushing to have someone in place when we've still got Donald Pasrk at the helm.

I tend to agree with Caley D on this one. If the players are strongly in favour of Brewster you have to ask why ?

You could be right so let's get in there first.

The only previous manager I would like to see reappointed is Steve Paterson.

It's an ill wind as they say.

Congratulations.

Despite the fact that the tranfer window is about to close it's better to take whatever time it takes to make the right decision rather than acting in haste just to get someone in place by the end of the week.

I agree with Mantis.

So the one thing we all appear to agree on is anyone but Malpas.

That's right " mutual consent" We'll consent to pay you some money if you consent to keeping quiet about the fact that we wanted to replace you despite the fact that you would have prefered to have stayed.

If Warnock wants to speak to the club then the club should certainly speak to him just as soon as possible. He clearly has much to offer but can we afford him even if he is willing to downshift in terms of salary expectation ?

Ian McCall would be a good appointment based on ability but, given his character and personality, I would be very unhappy at the thought of him managing our club.

My preferences, for what it's worth are; 1. Warnock ( Assuming he's a serious candidate) 2. Coyle ( an ambitious young manager with a decent track record ) 3. Pressley ( Fits the profile of an ICT manager who would give us a boost on the field as well as off) 4. Paterson ( An experienced manager who knows the club well and has a point to prove)

Now that does concern me !

I suspect that any compensation due would be fairly modest.

Ironic that we've had such a high turnover of managers considering that we havn't sacked one since Baltacha.

If McCoist didn't want to come before I can't see him comin now that he's formed a successful partnership with Walter Smith at Castle Greyskull.

Seems like no more than uninformed speculation filling space in a local paper.

I would back Warnock if I thought for a moment that he was a serious contender but I don't. Then again I thought that there was no serious prospect of us signing Niculae !

As you say Caley D it can do no harm.

At least there would be some continuity. However, although Robbo took us into the SPL he has the worst record by far of any ICT manager in the top division.

He wasn't given sufficient time.

It looks like the major casualty of Charlie Chritie's resignation is likely to be Donald Park. The trend these days is for incoming managers to bring their own backroom staff which means that Donald might be made redundant at an age when it might prove difficult for him to get another position in the game. That seems to me to be great shame given the loyalty he showed to the club when he had the opportunity to team up with Robbo at Livingston much more convenient for his Edinburgh base. I would like to think that the club will give due consideration to retaining the services of this competent and respected coach in some useful capacity when the new regime is in place.