McGhee's Brighton rock
PAUL FORSYTH
AS THE sun creeps up from the horizon, Mark McGhee is contemplating the day ahead. The Brighton & Hove Albion manager is gazing out across the English Channel, as he does every morning from the front window of his swish apartment, content to head for training a little later than usual, and then spend his afternoon on the golf course. Tomorrow will be his day off. "I’m sure it’s manic down at the ticket office, but I don’t feel that way," he says. "There is only so much you can do."
Play-off final or no play-off final, it is too late to make a difference now, just as it was in the semi-final a few days earlier. His team were hopeless in more ways than one against Swindon Town when, with a minute left, they extended the tie into extra-time and, in a penalty shoot-out, secured a thrilling victory. McGhee, who had all but given up on his side, later said that they might as well have worn bandit masks.
The straight-talking Scot, who made his name as a player with Aberdeen and Celtic, had never known anything like it in 13 years as a manager. "In terms of drama and shock, it is right up there with anything I have experienced. Never in a million years did it look as though we would score. Some managers would come out and say they never stopped believing, but I thought we were out. I just stood back and turned it over to the Gods."
Which is not to say that McGhee doesn’t care. Reaching today’s Second Division play-off final against Bristol City at the Millennium Stadium means the world to Brighton, more even than promotion itself. Since selling the Goldstone Ground in 1995 and escaping non-league football by the skin of their teeth two years later, fans have pleaded for a new stadium that would enable them to escape their poverty. As their long- running quest for a 25,000- seat venue awaits approval by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, the journey to Cardiff of nearly 30,000 supporters will send out an important signal.
Brighton’s need is urgent. Their temporary home, the Withdean Stadium, a converted athletics arena which holds just 6,960 spectators, is mostly uncovered and has portakabins for dressing-rooms. "There is a running track which spoils the atmosphere, but they fill the place every week, even when they have to sit out in the pouring rain," says McGhee. "It is an absolute joke in this day and age."
These, though, are not the kind of battles McGhee was expected to be fighting at the age of 47. When he was recommended to Reading by Sir Alex Ferguson in 1991, and made such an impact that he was head-hunted by Leicester City and then Wolverhampton Wanderers, few thought that his stage during the "peak" of his career would be a ground built in the 1930s for Britain’s Davis Cup team. What will be will be, though, as he has long since come to accept.
McGhee was on the fast track, too fast in fact. His decision to quit Reading for Leicester, then Leicester for Wolves, in the space of a year, had him branded a heartless mercenary by those who were left in his wake. When he failed to win promotion to the Premiership at Molineux - despite finishing third in his first full season there, and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in his second - his history came back to haunt him.
He spent two years out of the game as chairmen admitted that, while they admired his abilities, his appointment would not go down well with supporters. Then, with his tail between his legs, McGhee accepted an offer from Millwall, guided them to the Second Division championship, just as he had Reading, and a season later to the First Division play-offs. After a disagreement with chairman Theo Paphitis, he resolved to do the same with Brighton, where he succeeded Steve Coppell in October. Having inherited a side who were third after 16 matches, his team finished the season fourth, five points behind Bristol City and six behind second-placed Queen’s Park Rangers.
McGhee maintains that he has improved the team. He has invigorated them with young players, most notably full-backs Adam Virgo, who scored the late goal against Swindon, and Dan Harding, 21 and 20 respectively. "They bring energy and vitality," he explains. "It worked for me at Millwall and it is working for me here. We’re not a great passing team, and we’re not the most prolific scorers around, but we are hard to beat."
McGhee, who has learned the virtues of loyalty, intends to complete the job at Brighton. His ambition is still to manage in the Premiership, if possible against Ferguson, but he does not obsess about it now, and certainly doesn’t raise the matter unprompted. His track record, he says, is proven, but he is helpless if others choose to ignore it.
"I can’t do any more than I am doing. If I can get Brighton into the First Division, it will have been against the odds, and I will have done my job again. All I can do is keep repeating that success until somebody takes notice, but I am not prepared to go and bang on chairmen’s doors or go around the press begging for a chance."
His fear is that, with a reputation as something of a Second Division specialist, he has limited opportunities to impress the people he wants to impress. "I see big jobs coming up, any Tom, Dick and Harry is mentioned, and I am not getting a shout, even though I have been successful wherever I have been. I have thoughts that maybe I will go overseas and get myself a half-decent job in Germany or Spain. I could prove myself at a higher level in another country."
In Scotland, perhaps, where he has never been a manager? "I would never rule anything out," he says. "I will always have an open mind."
"Celtic would appeal to me," he replies.
McGhee applied for the vacant post at his old club Aberdeen in 1999, but was pipped to it by Ebbe Skovdahl. "I had an interview, but was told in polite terms that I had hit the crossbar because they were determined to have a foreign manager. Ebbe came in, and the rest is history. I have absolutely no doubts that I could have helped them.
"I always have a great deal of sympathy for Aberdeen’s circumstances. Things have changed in Scottish football. It’s not like the situation at Leeds United, where they were ridiculously wasteful. None of what has happened to Aberdeen is their fault. Circumstances have conspired against them. Aberdeen, in a sense, are where they should be in the modern game, which is a reminder of what an unbelievable job Fergie did."
He and his former manager do not speak any more, reputedly because of his reluctance to play Ferguson’s son at Wolves. McGhee’s life has been like that. The Seagulls may be on the up and up, but his managerial career has never quite taken off. "I will get on with my job and, if nobody wants me, well maybe I should be realising that every manager has his time. Maybe my time has been and gone."
PAUL FORSYTH
AS THE sun creeps up from the horizon, Mark McGhee is contemplating the day ahead. The Brighton & Hove Albion manager is gazing out across the English Channel, as he does every morning from the front window of his swish apartment, content to head for training a little later than usual, and then spend his afternoon on the golf course. Tomorrow will be his day off. "I’m sure it’s manic down at the ticket office, but I don’t feel that way," he says. "There is only so much you can do."
Play-off final or no play-off final, it is too late to make a difference now, just as it was in the semi-final a few days earlier. His team were hopeless in more ways than one against Swindon Town when, with a minute left, they extended the tie into extra-time and, in a penalty shoot-out, secured a thrilling victory. McGhee, who had all but given up on his side, later said that they might as well have worn bandit masks.
The straight-talking Scot, who made his name as a player with Aberdeen and Celtic, had never known anything like it in 13 years as a manager. "In terms of drama and shock, it is right up there with anything I have experienced. Never in a million years did it look as though we would score. Some managers would come out and say they never stopped believing, but I thought we were out. I just stood back and turned it over to the Gods."
Which is not to say that McGhee doesn’t care. Reaching today’s Second Division play-off final against Bristol City at the Millennium Stadium means the world to Brighton, more even than promotion itself. Since selling the Goldstone Ground in 1995 and escaping non-league football by the skin of their teeth two years later, fans have pleaded for a new stadium that would enable them to escape their poverty. As their long- running quest for a 25,000- seat venue awaits approval by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, the journey to Cardiff of nearly 30,000 supporters will send out an important signal.
Brighton’s need is urgent. Their temporary home, the Withdean Stadium, a converted athletics arena which holds just 6,960 spectators, is mostly uncovered and has portakabins for dressing-rooms. "There is a running track which spoils the atmosphere, but they fill the place every week, even when they have to sit out in the pouring rain," says McGhee. "It is an absolute joke in this day and age."
These, though, are not the kind of battles McGhee was expected to be fighting at the age of 47. When he was recommended to Reading by Sir Alex Ferguson in 1991, and made such an impact that he was head-hunted by Leicester City and then Wolverhampton Wanderers, few thought that his stage during the "peak" of his career would be a ground built in the 1930s for Britain’s Davis Cup team. What will be will be, though, as he has long since come to accept.
McGhee was on the fast track, too fast in fact. His decision to quit Reading for Leicester, then Leicester for Wolves, in the space of a year, had him branded a heartless mercenary by those who were left in his wake. When he failed to win promotion to the Premiership at Molineux - despite finishing third in his first full season there, and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in his second - his history came back to haunt him.
He spent two years out of the game as chairmen admitted that, while they admired his abilities, his appointment would not go down well with supporters. Then, with his tail between his legs, McGhee accepted an offer from Millwall, guided them to the Second Division championship, just as he had Reading, and a season later to the First Division play-offs. After a disagreement with chairman Theo Paphitis, he resolved to do the same with Brighton, where he succeeded Steve Coppell in October. Having inherited a side who were third after 16 matches, his team finished the season fourth, five points behind Bristol City and six behind second-placed Queen’s Park Rangers.
McGhee maintains that he has improved the team. He has invigorated them with young players, most notably full-backs Adam Virgo, who scored the late goal against Swindon, and Dan Harding, 21 and 20 respectively. "They bring energy and vitality," he explains. "It worked for me at Millwall and it is working for me here. We’re not a great passing team, and we’re not the most prolific scorers around, but we are hard to beat."
McGhee, who has learned the virtues of loyalty, intends to complete the job at Brighton. His ambition is still to manage in the Premiership, if possible against Ferguson, but he does not obsess about it now, and certainly doesn’t raise the matter unprompted. His track record, he says, is proven, but he is helpless if others choose to ignore it.
"I can’t do any more than I am doing. If I can get Brighton into the First Division, it will have been against the odds, and I will have done my job again. All I can do is keep repeating that success until somebody takes notice, but I am not prepared to go and bang on chairmen’s doors or go around the press begging for a chance."
His fear is that, with a reputation as something of a Second Division specialist, he has limited opportunities to impress the people he wants to impress. "I see big jobs coming up, any Tom, Dick and Harry is mentioned, and I am not getting a shout, even though I have been successful wherever I have been. I have thoughts that maybe I will go overseas and get myself a half-decent job in Germany or Spain. I could prove myself at a higher level in another country."
In Scotland, perhaps, where he has never been a manager? "I would never rule anything out," he says. "I will always have an open mind."
"Celtic would appeal to me," he replies.
McGhee applied for the vacant post at his old club Aberdeen in 1999, but was pipped to it by Ebbe Skovdahl. "I had an interview, but was told in polite terms that I had hit the crossbar because they were determined to have a foreign manager. Ebbe came in, and the rest is history. I have absolutely no doubts that I could have helped them.
"I always have a great deal of sympathy for Aberdeen’s circumstances. Things have changed in Scottish football. It’s not like the situation at Leeds United, where they were ridiculously wasteful. None of what has happened to Aberdeen is their fault. Circumstances have conspired against them. Aberdeen, in a sense, are where they should be in the modern game, which is a reminder of what an unbelievable job Fergie did."
He and his former manager do not speak any more, reputedly because of his reluctance to play Ferguson’s son at Wolves. McGhee’s life has been like that. The Seagulls may be on the up and up, but his managerial career has never quite taken off. "I will get on with my job and, if nobody wants me, well maybe I should be realising that every manager has his time. Maybe my time has been and gone."
