Mark McGhee

[London Irish]

I 100% agree that we needed a target man and that is why I have maintained all along that we needed to use Super Mac more just because he has pyhsical presence and height. But at the same time I do understand why MM didn't just want to get in any old journeyman striker. So yes Iwelumo or Owusu may have helped us but looking at Super Mac at BC it is probable that they wouldn't have helped us much, no more then him anyway. Its a mistake by MM not to have used him or another target man but I can understand why he done it. As much as it does frustrate me.

You know that I have defended Big Mac on here and wanted him to stay if at all possible. But he had to be offloaded to free up money for GNW.

 

[Les Biehn]

You know that I have defended Big Mac on here and wanted him to stay if at all possible. But he had to be offloaded to free up money for GNW.

I'm not disbuting that we have benefited from freeing up the money to bring in GNW, he is a better player than McCammon. In an ideal world with our situation we would have played Big Mac until we could loan him out to get in GNW. Who knows what would have happened if Big Mac had played all year we might not have needed to bring in GNW. Still his injuries haven't helped.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Mark McCammon is a completely different kettle of fish to Noel-Williams.

McCammon struggled to dribble, control the ball, shoot or pass.

He would have been no better then anyone else we have tried upfront which is why McGhee, who lets not forget clearly rated him enough to sign him TWICE, did not persevere with him.

 

[Les Biehn]

Mark McCammon is a completely different kettle of fish to Noel-Williams.

McCammon struggled to dribble, control the ball, shoot or pass.

He would have been no better then anyone else we have tried upfront which is why McGhee, who lets not forget clearly rated him enough to sign him TWICE, did not persevere with him.

I think it was more to do with personal problems between him and MM. If he is fit he is nowhere near as bad as people make out and the point is, as we have seen with GNW, a target man has helped the whole team play better, not just banging in goals themself.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Being big does not make you a good target man.

Noel-Williams links the play, brings others in to the game and takes the pressure off the other forward.

McCammon used to get the ball and run after his miscontrolled touches until he reached the corner flag.

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

I don't recall anyone saying Henderson was good while he was with us.

Very underrated player while he was with us; worked well with Leon and led the line well.

 

[bhaexpress]

Very underrated player while he was with us; worked well with Leon and led the line well.

I don't know, I seem to recall that when he was here he wasn't rated and clearly Coppell (or was it Pardew ?) didn't rate him either hence he flogged him off cheaply to Gillingham. Several other players worked well with Knight too though. The real problem was Knight's attitude.

 

[Les Biehn]

Being big does not make you a good target man.

Thank god your here to tell us these wonderful insights. I suppose being tall is why he has got a goal every other game for BC.

 

[London Irish]

I think it was more to do with personal problems between him and MM. If he is fit he is nowhere near as bad as people make out and the point is, as we have seen with GNW, a target man has helped the whole team play better, not just banging in goals themself.

Have to disagree with that - there was no real "personal" problems between McGhee and Big Mac. McGhee always picked him in the squad whenever the big guy was fit, which alas wasn't often this season (two operations).

The problems only started when McGhee told Big Mac that he wanted him out on loan (and off the wage bill to bring in a new striker). Big Mac had every right to disagree with McGhee's decision but the manager's decision was final. And in protesting so much in public against a loan spell that other players like Jarrett and McPhee have accepted, Big Mac was essentially saying he no longer wanted to be a Brighton player. Fair play, he has done well at Bris and will end with a deal at a bigger club than Brighton.

Like you, I wish he had accepted the loan spell quitely and allowed himself a way back here. But he has essentially done what Kuipers has done and there is no way back from that.

 

[Edward Scissorhands]

Have to disagree with that - there was no real "personal" problems between McGhee and Big Mac.

No? I suppose it's perfectly normal for a manager to throw a player off the team coach?

Actually, I suppose it is normal at Brighton.

 

[London Irish]

No? I suppose it's perfectly normal for a manager to throw a player off the team coach?

Actually, I suppose it is normal at Brighton.

One isolated incident from last season, not this. Did McGhee refuse to pick Big Mac in the squad when he was fit any time this season? No, and that's the telling thing, the real evidence - not until McGhee had decided that he had to be the one to go to free up wages for the new striker.

 

[Les Biehn]

Have to disagree with that - there was no real "personal" problems between McGhee and Big Mac. McGhee always picked him in the squad whenever the big guy was fit, which alas wasn't often this season (two operations).

The problems only started when McGhee told Big Mac that he wanted him out on loan (and off the wage bill to bring in a new striker). Big Mac had every right to disagree with McGhee's decision but the manager's decision was final. And in protesting so much in public against a loan spell that other players like Jarrett and McPhee have accepted, Big Mac was essentially saying he no longer wanted to be a Brighton player. Fair play, he has done well at Bris and will end with a deal at a bigger club than Brighton.

So thats not personal? He got a cob on because MM wanted him to go out on loan. Also it was more than just a loan he was on the transfer list. There were also the bus incident and the recall from Watford,

'McCammon then criticised McGhee for recalling him early from a loan spell at Watford “for no apparent reason”. He added: “I think I was hard-done-by.”'

So none of this was personal. You can't tell me when we were crying out for a target man MM's non-use of McCammon had nothing to do with the friction between the two. Reading between the lines I think this must have surely played a part in him being put on the transfer list. If not why was his loan extended until the end of his contract with us?

 

[LANGDON SEAGULL]

Dont forget that phone call to Harty's phone in

 

[Edward Scissorhands]

One isolated incident from last season, not this. Did McGhee refuse to pick Big Mac in the squad when he was fit any time this season? No, and that's the telling thing, the real evidence - not until McGhee had decided that he had to be the one to go to free up wages for the new striker.

And why did he put him up for loan?? Because he isn't good enough, and he opnely criticised the manager and team on radio.

He also admitted then that there were problems between him and Mark McGhee.

 

[London Irish]

So thats not personal? He got a cob on because MM wanted him to go out on loan. Also it was more than just a loan he was on the transfer list. There were also the bus incident and the recall from Watford,

'McCammon then criticised McGhee for recalling him early from a loan spell at Watford “for no apparent reason”. He added: “I think I was hard-done-by.”'

So none of this was personal. You can't tell me when we were crying out for a target man MM's non-use of McCammon had nothing to do with the friction between the two. Reading between the lines I think this must have surely played a part in him being put on the transfer list. If not why was his loan extended until the end of his contract with us?

I don't understand what you are saying. Are you implying that McGhee's decision to loan out Big Mac was motivated by personal dislike, or other "personal" reasons, rather than just footballing judgement? If so, I think you are very wide of the mark.

McGhee gave Big Mac plenty of game-time over the Christmas and New Year period but in the end decided that he was the one of our strikers who had to make way to free up cash. It was a football/business decision, not a personal one, no doubt in part motivated by Big Mac's higher wages in relation to the likes of McPhee, etc.

Yes, it then became a bit personal on Big Mac's side as he overreated and let himself down a bit. But that has nothing to do with McGhee.

I agree that we were crying out for a target man but we needed to get Big Mac off the wages to fund one.

 

[London Irish]

He also admitted then that there were problems between him and Mark McGhee.

No, he said he had disagreements with McGhee over the kind of club that McGhee wanted to loan him out to. McGhee was the realist, knowing that only a League 1 club were likley to take him, not the likes of Watford. Again, McGhee was proved right.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

a target man but we needed to get Big Mac off the wages to fund one.

yep - agree - gnw is fair better

 

[Les Biehn]

MM also put Leon in the squad at times when they had fallen out. The point is the friction between MM and Big Mac was not just fleeting and this surely contributed to his omission from the side on a number of occasions.

“Myself and Mark McGhee, I’ ll be frank, we’re having our differences at the moment. He wants me to go on loan to a lower-league team and I think I’m better than that.”

Also this situation could have been building up over a length of, remember he came back to fitness in December and the phone in was end of Jan so it is likely that it wasn't a spur of the moment thing, no doubt MM had wanted to send him out on loan and this was the contentious issue.

 

[Edward Scissorhands]

No, he said he had disagreements with McGhee

No. He had a problem with Mark McGhee trying to get rid of him.

These problems restricted first team oppurtunities.

 

[London Irish]

“Myself and Mark McGhee, I’ ll be frank, we’re having our differences at the moment. He wants me to go on loan to a lower-league team and I think I’m better than that.”

Eaxctly, that's what I just said - that's not a personal disagreement, that's a football disagreement.