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Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
The Review: When it comes to boardroom bungling, last season's Championship takes a bit of beating
The inept, hapless way a number of Championship clubs have gone about their business these last 12 months goes some way to explaining why they are there in the first place. Sure, they are strapped for cash in the lower divisions, stretched to the limit and therefore more prone than most to human error, but last season's catalogue of boardroom bungling takes a bit of beating. It got off to an inauspicious start when Raith Rovers decided after one match to get rid of the manager, Ian Murray, who had taken them to the Premiership playoff final the previous season. Pretty soon, Dunfermline were matching them for incompetence - not necessarily with the sacking of James McPake but with the appointment of a young successor, Michael Tidser, who lasted only 59 days. Then there was Queen's Park, who dismissed Callum Davidson a month after his team had beaten Rangers at Ibrox. On and off the pitch, the club went into freefall, losing their main financial backer, as well as any semblance of the ambition they had shown since turning professional. Nor did it stop there. As the summer approached, an 'administrative error' led FIFA to ban Morton from registering players. And Hamilton were relegated amid a row over stadium ownership, which means that they and Clyde are ready to effectively swap grounds. Last week, Partick Thistle continued the theme by contriving to lose the manager who had guided them so skilfully to the playoff semi-final in his capacity as interim boss. Having been captain, top scorer, women's manager and now successful first-team caretaker, Brian Graham was steeped in the Firhill club, but somehow they couldn't sell him the job. Graham said no, which doesn't just mean that Thistle have lost a promising manager. They have, in all probability, lost a striker who was rattling in the goals and still has a year of his contract to run. It is not exactly a flying start for Ian Baraclough, who came in as sporting director in April. In the end, Thistle (who also spoke to Morton's Dougie Imrie) settled for Mark Wilson, who had been alongside Graham during that temporary period. All in all, they don't sound like a club with their ducks in a row, ready to go one better this season than they did last. The impression is that they and too many others in the Championship don't have the wherewithal off the pitch to fulfil their potential. At least Dunfermline seem to have emerged from their mid-season brain freeze, and indeed the apathy of recent years, by welcoming new owners who have made Neil Lennon a permanent appointment and promised to give him the backing he needs. Assuming the US analytics firm who took over in January do not repeat the mistakes made in their first transfer window – a handful of data-based project signings did for Tidser - there is no reason why the Fife club cannot become promotion challengers under Lennon. If they do, they will have two or three obvious rivals to contend with, all of whom have a plan that involves joined-up thinking, a vision from top to bottom and a decent transfer budget into the bargain. Ayr United are among them. Their manager, Scott Brown, seemed to cast doubt on his future after their playoff defeat by Thistle, but he is still there, as are the people upstairs who are getting so much right at Somerset Park. So, too, will St Johnstone and Ross County be among the contenders, if only because they have just come out of the Premiership. They have got a lot wrong in recent years, and have paid the price with relegation, but they have a clear idea of what they want to be and how they want do it. In an attempt to rebuild themselves on and off the pitch, St Johnstone appointed Simo Valakari last October and are to be commended for standing by him. It might not work, but he is central to a project that will be given every chance. So, too, have County kept faith in Don Cowie, despite his team's catastrophic end to the season, which culminated in a playoff defeat by Livingston. As ever, club owner Roy MacGregor will provide the funds needed to turn it around. Reports suggest that MacGregor is intending to recruit former County and Inverness manager John Robertson as an assistant manager. The idea is to provide Cowie with an experienced sounding board, as Jim Duffy will for Sean Crighton at Queen's Park. Rather than get rid of the manager, the thinking in both cases is to give him the best chance of succeeding. It makes perfect sense in a division not known in recent years for its rational thinking. Who knows, maybe it will catch on.
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Saints add Raith forward Gullan on two-year deal
Relegated St Johnstone have continued their squad revamp by adding Raith Rovers forward Jamie Gullan on a two-year 25, spent a year with League of Ireland side Dundalk before returning to Rovers in January where he scored four goals in 18 appearances."I am over the moon to be here. As soon as the club were in touch and I had chats with the gaffer, I just wanted to get things done as quickly as possible," said Gullan."I am looking forward to working under him. Hopefully he can improve me as a player and hopefully I can help improve the squad too."Gullan is Saints' third new recruit this week after the arrival of Morton defenders Jack Baird and Morgan Boyes.
The Courier
4 days ago
- The Courier
Fife derby football thug who attacked disabled fan gets second chance at community payback
A thug who battered a young football fan with disabilities in a Fife derby day attack has been given a second chance to do his community payback after he 'did not enjoy' the past month spent behind bars. Mackenzie King, 21, was sentenced in January this year to 240 hours of unpaid work, as a direct alternative to custody, for his role in a group assault on a 17-year-old at a Dunfermline bus stop after the match at East End Park on January 2 2024. The young Raith Rovers fan was taken to hospital with concussion after the attack and his hearing aid was broken. A victim impact statement also revealed he suffers nightmares and flashbacks, missed school exams and gave up playing football. King – a former soldier who was discharged from the Army due to mental health issues – appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on April 25 this year to admit breaching his CPO by failing to do the unpaid work hours. Sheriff Susan Duff remanded him in custody. King, of Dunfermline, reappeared in the dock from custody for sentencing this week. Sheriff Duff noted it was a 'particularly horrible case'. She told King: 'Because of your failure to take the chance I gave you in the community, you have had four weeks in custody and I can see from the (social work) report you did not enjoy it. 'You only avoided jail for this horrible assault because of your young age and for that reason and that alone, I will re-impose the order of 232 hours… you have got left but will also take account of the four weeks on remand and will impose a further 20 hours to reflect the breach'. The sheriff told him he 'will do two shifts a week' and fixed a review for July 30. She said it is up to King whether he remains at liberty and gave him six months to complete the 252 hours. King replied: 'I'm going to stick to it'. King and 18-year-old Callum Beautyman previously pled guilty to the assault to injury while acting with others. Prosecutor Annie Henderson told the court that after the game – a 2-1 win for Raith – away fans were making their way to Dunfermline's Queen Margaret train station and were approached by a group of teenagers. The pair were verbally abusive and then 'picked up' their victim and threw him to the ground, where he 'landed on his head'. They continued to batter him as he lay on the ground. The attack drew widespread condemnation from across the Scottish footballing community at the time. Sentencing King and Beautyman in January, Sheriff Duff told the pair it was a 'nasty, violent assault' and they should be 'utterly ashamed'. Beautyman, of Kelty, was placed on an eight-month curfew. They were each handed a three-year football banning order.
Scotsman
5 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Finlay Pollock doubtful for Hearts pre-season as he reveals help from a Tynecastle legend
SPFL loan at Raith Rovers helped the Riccarton kid develop Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hearts midfielder Finlay Pollock is doubtful whether he will be ready for new manager Derek McInnes' first pre-season programme. The 20-year-old suffered a season-ending hamstring injury on loan at Raith Rovers in April and underwent surgery. He is now in a race against time to be fit for pre-season training. McInnes was appointed by Hearts last week and is currently assessing and reshaping the first-team squad. Pollock is eager to prove himself to the new head coach when players report to Riccarton in the middle of next month, but he admitted he may need to wait a little longer. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It's touch and go whether I make pre-season,' he told the Hearts website. 'Hopefully I can make sort of mid-July or the end of July. That's the aim, if all goes well, to try and get back for then. I'll need to make sure I'm right before I come back.' Six goals in 25 Raith appearances amounted to a productive loan spell for Pollock in the Scottish Championship. He was moved from midfield to attack by Raith and is grateful to the club's assistant manager, Colin Cameron, for helping him develop. Cameron is an iconic Hearts figure who won the 1998 Scottish Cup with the club. SPFL Championship move helped by Hearts Scottish Cup winner 'Obviously he is a bit of a legend here [at Hearts],' acknowledged Pollock. 'My whole family know that and my dad reminds me how lucky I was to be with him each day. But he taught me on the pitch as well. Even if it was after training when we'd go out for second sessions. He just showed me where to be, different positions to keep and to hold and when to run, when to stay, when to come short, when to go long – all these different things. That just helped me on the pitch and it just improved me as a whole.' Pollock adjusted quickly to life as a striker after Raith shunted him forward from midfield last autumn. 'They [Raith] definitely saw my pace,' he said. 'That's one of my strengths and they saw that I could probably outrun centre-backs in the league, fairly comfortably. They always wanted me to stretch the game. They really wanted me to try and utilise my pace as much as possible against these defenders. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad '[Cameron] let the rest of the team know that as well. That was sort of the main message for me to do that – and I got a lot of goals out of doing that as well. I learned a lot. The Championship was very tight, it was very competitive, very physical. So, you've got to adapt when you're on the pitch and use different parts of your body to protect the ball and keep the ball. And learn when to go forward, when to come short, all different aspects like that. Just getting a run at games like that helps you to learn and understand.'
The Courier
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Courier
Finlay Pollock picks out 'legend' as Hearts kid hails Raith Rovers loan
Finlay Pollock has hailed the influence of 'legend' Colin Cameron in his rapid development at Raith Rovers. The Hearts youngster moved to Stark's Park on loan in September and went on to score six times in 25 appearances for the Kirkcaldy club. However, his campaign was cut short by a serious hamstring injury sustained in the 1-0 victory over Ayr United in April and he returned to Tynecastle prematurely. It meant the on-form attacker missed the final four games of the season as Raith fell agonisingly short of landing a shot at promotion through the play-offs. Despite that bitter disappointment, Pollock looks back fondly on his spell across the Forth in Fife and has detailed the improvements it helped him make to his game. 'They definitely saw my pace,' he said of his time at Raith, where former Jambo Cameron is assistant-manager. 'That's one of my strengths and they saw that I could probably outrun centre-backs in the league, fairly comfortably. 'They always wanted me to stretch the game. They really wanted me to try and utilise my pace as much as possible against these defenders. '[Colin Cameron] let the rest of the team know that as well. That was sort of the main message for me to do that – and I got a lot of goals out of doing that as well. 'Obviously he [Cameron] is a bit of a legend here [at Hearts]. My whole family know that and my dad reminds me how lucky I was to be with him each day. 'But he taught me on the pitch as well. Even if it was after training when we'd go out for second sessions. 'He just showed me where to be, different positions to keep and to hold and when to run, when to stay, when to come short, when to go long – all these different things. 'That just helped me on the pitch and it just improved me as a whole.' In an interview with Hearts TV, Pollock added: 'I learned a lot. The Championship was very tight, it was very competitive, very physical. 'So, you've got to adapt when you're on the pitch and use different parts of your body to protect the ball and keep the ball. And learn when to go forward, when to come short, all different aspects like that. 'Just getting a run at games like that helps you to learn and understand.' With Pollock's season ended prematurely by injury, his focus has turned to next term and successfully completing his lengthy comeback. 'It's touch and go whether I make pre-season,' added the 20-year-old. 'Hopefully I can make sort of mid-July or the end of July. That's the aim, if all goes well, to try and get back for then. 'But I'll need to make sure I'm right before I come back.'
