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Mark McGhee: ‘I won’t leave unless club supports it’
Graham Spiers
Mark McGhee said yesterday that he did not intend to leave Motherwell in the lurch or betray the intentions of those who appointed him at Fir Park should the SFA come calling on him to be the next Scotland manager.
McGhee, following an exciting but now tragedy-tainted season at Motherwell, is one of the hot tips to become Alex McLeish’s successor, though the recent death of Phil O’Donnell has complicated the possibility of him leaving Fir Park for the international job.
It is widely believed that the SFA want to interview McGhee shortly, though the Motherwell manager says he is mindful of the tender state of his club following the O’Donnell tragedy.
Yesterday, McGhee, while evidently interested in the Scotland position, said that his first thoughts were not to let Motherwell down.
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Phil O'Donnell
“I will not compromise my reputation or my integrity by walking out on this job prematurely,” McGhee said. “If it ever came to me leaving Motherwell for the Scotland job or any other job, it will only be, first, if I have been offered anything in the first place, and secondly, if I was convinced that I had the wholehearted support of everybody here at the club to go and do it.
“There is no dilemma for me – I will not do anything that let’s anybody down. I wouldn’t want to leave here if it meant leaving anyone feeling resentful towards me for going. If that requires me to reconsider what I would do if I’m offered the Scotland job or any other job, then I’ll make that decision. I won’t leave here with people feeling bitter in any way.”
McGhee insisted that, for all the media’s chatter, he had had no contact so far from the SFA about the Scotland position. But that would seem an inevitability very soon as McGhee vies with Tommy Burns, Billy Davies and Craig Levein to land the international job.
The O’Donnell tragedy, he admitted, made any consideration of life beyond Motherwell quite delicate. McGhee has also spent years – some claim unfairly – trying to recover from his decision to walk out on Leicester City for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the mid1990s, at a time when he was one of the hottest young managers in British football. It is not an episode he wishes to repeat.
“I intend to show every respect to Motherwell, and I am thoroughly enjoying my current job,” McGhee said. “So I know how tough these calls can be. Sometimes you do get these tough decisions in the game, and everyone knows the tragedy we’ve suffered here in the past ten days with Phil dying.
“In my career in the past there were some decisions I made which, perhaps retrospectively, I wasn’t so proud of. I deserved some of the criticism that I got in the past. What I learnt from leaving Leicester, for example, was that, regardless of my own ambition, I do have to consider other people, and that sometimes you have to sacrifice certain opportunities.
“Obviously, I don’t want to give Gordon Smith [the SFA chief executive] a reason not to approach me over the Scotland job. As far as I understand, Scotland don’t have a competitive game until after the summer, so there are all sorts of possibilities. But whether I’m invited to speak with the SFA or not, I intend not to disappoint anyone at Motherwell.”
The Fir Park side return to action on Saturday for the first time since O’Donnell’s death when they take on Heart of Midlothian in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup at Tynecastle.
“I want us to go and get back to playing football with a smile on our face,” McGhee said. “We will never forget Phil, and will continue to honour Phil as a club, but it is time to get back playing again.”
Graham Spiers
Mark McGhee said yesterday that he did not intend to leave Motherwell in the lurch or betray the intentions of those who appointed him at Fir Park should the SFA come calling on him to be the next Scotland manager.
McGhee, following an exciting but now tragedy-tainted season at Motherwell, is one of the hot tips to become Alex McLeish’s successor, though the recent death of Phil O’Donnell has complicated the possibility of him leaving Fir Park for the international job.
It is widely believed that the SFA want to interview McGhee shortly, though the Motherwell manager says he is mindful of the tender state of his club following the O’Donnell tragedy.
Yesterday, McGhee, while evidently interested in the Scotland position, said that his first thoughts were not to let Motherwell down.
Related Links
McGhee teaches Motherwell to celebrate the game
Smith relishing the search for next manager
Phil O'Donnell
“I will not compromise my reputation or my integrity by walking out on this job prematurely,” McGhee said. “If it ever came to me leaving Motherwell for the Scotland job or any other job, it will only be, first, if I have been offered anything in the first place, and secondly, if I was convinced that I had the wholehearted support of everybody here at the club to go and do it.
“There is no dilemma for me – I will not do anything that let’s anybody down. I wouldn’t want to leave here if it meant leaving anyone feeling resentful towards me for going. If that requires me to reconsider what I would do if I’m offered the Scotland job or any other job, then I’ll make that decision. I won’t leave here with people feeling bitter in any way.”
McGhee insisted that, for all the media’s chatter, he had had no contact so far from the SFA about the Scotland position. But that would seem an inevitability very soon as McGhee vies with Tommy Burns, Billy Davies and Craig Levein to land the international job.
The O’Donnell tragedy, he admitted, made any consideration of life beyond Motherwell quite delicate. McGhee has also spent years – some claim unfairly – trying to recover from his decision to walk out on Leicester City for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the mid1990s, at a time when he was one of the hottest young managers in British football. It is not an episode he wishes to repeat.
“I intend to show every respect to Motherwell, and I am thoroughly enjoying my current job,” McGhee said. “So I know how tough these calls can be. Sometimes you do get these tough decisions in the game, and everyone knows the tragedy we’ve suffered here in the past ten days with Phil dying.
“In my career in the past there were some decisions I made which, perhaps retrospectively, I wasn’t so proud of. I deserved some of the criticism that I got in the past. What I learnt from leaving Leicester, for example, was that, regardless of my own ambition, I do have to consider other people, and that sometimes you have to sacrifice certain opportunities.
“Obviously, I don’t want to give Gordon Smith [the SFA chief executive] a reason not to approach me over the Scotland job. As far as I understand, Scotland don’t have a competitive game until after the summer, so there are all sorts of possibilities. But whether I’m invited to speak with the SFA or not, I intend not to disappoint anyone at Motherwell.”
The Fir Park side return to action on Saturday for the first time since O’Donnell’s death when they take on Heart of Midlothian in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup at Tynecastle.
“I want us to go and get back to playing football with a smile on our face,” McGhee said. “We will never forget Phil, and will continue to honour Phil as a club, but it is time to get back playing again.”
