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Still going for Forster as i think he is more realistic to our club,and where our club is right now,my worry over hughes is,where is his contacts i remember Plymouth bringing in a load Scottish players a few season's back they did not last 5 minutes before they all were homesick and wanted to go back.

Also i wonder if our club is to small for Hughes,Forster understands the level we play at,and has cut his teeth in management at our level so i am sticking with him having said that,of course whoever of this list gets the job they will have my full support.

1.Hughes/Bullen
2. Russell
3. Forster
4. Hargreaves
5. McParland
6. Holdsworth

forevertufc wrote:
Also i wonder if our club is to small for Hughes,Forster understands the level we play at,and has cut his teeth in management at our level so i am sticking with him having said that,of course whoever of this list gets the job they will have my full support.

Agreed!

westbaygull wrote: Agreed!

I see you've cast your vote Jane! Couldn't leave him stuck on zero !

Not me, Chris!! But I can't divulge who I voted for, although for Nicky and Saint, what a combo....oops

It was a good point earlier that Bobby Williamson didn't do a very good job at Plymouth, in particular quite a few players he brought with him from Scotland didn't work out at all. Hughes had an awful time at Hibs earlier this year, but the SPL is a nightmare to manage in at the minute. The other slight concern I have with Hughes is that he doesn't have experience in England, and it's extremely difficult to equate Scottish players and clubs into what level they'd be at in England (although that doesn't stop fans trying all the time). There's quite a few players playing in even the SPL, such as Chris Humphrey and Cleveland Taylor (just gone back to Burton Albion), who aren't anything special by L2 standards. Not all of the 1st divison in Scotland is full-time, so there's no guarentee at all that players who have shined playing for or against Falkirk would be able to make it in L2.

That said, everyone on the shortlist represents a risk in some way.

Hargreaves, Russell, McParland, Bullen and Holdsworth are 'no' for me. I'm torn between Forster and Hughes - very different candidates but I think both could do well here. Forster may actually be less of a gamble, even though he has less experience.

Just come off the phone with a friend of mine who is a long term Falkirk season ticket holder and, I think, a shareholder. He was less than complimentary about Hughes and commented that his record does not tell the full story. He thought Hughes inherited a good (and big) squad when getting Falkirk promoted but in trying to raise their level brought in ageing cronies on long contracts that eventually left them in a poor financial position from which they have not yet recovered.

He thought Hughes's main attribute was that he was a very hard worker but he was stubborn; bullied the players; only had a plan A; and when things were going well was constantly touting himself around for bigger jobs. My friend does have some knowledge of TUFC and thought that Hughes would be disastrous for us in our current state but he did think he wouldn't get the job as he wouldn't be able to string a coherent sentence together in an interview. He also felt, for some reason, that Hughes had burnt his bridges in Scotland and was unlikely to find another reasonable job there.

There are always two sides to every story and I have been on the Falkirk fans website (onefinfalkirk) and, as usual, there are many varying opinions of his managerial capabilities.

As for Lee Bullen my friend said he was brought into Falkirk by Hughes and has stayed on as coach but would be a complete unkown as a manager.
Mind you being a complete unkown as a manager would also apply to several other of our candidates and our previous manager.

Of interest my friend was telling me that Falkirk's crowds in the SPL averaged around 11,000 and are averaging around 4 - 5,000 in Division 1. So even now their crowds are double ours. Another point of interest is that Jack Compton, who was born in Torquay and had a trial with us a couple of years ago, made 23 appearances for them last year.

Although Scottish this friend has spent a great deal of time in the southwest London area and knows many Brentford supporters who think Forster would be a good choice.

Many thanks for bringing this information to the site Klink,i know i am not the one chosing the the new manager,maybe a good job to ,however i have stated my concern's about Hughes above,and after reading the above post,i have just leaned even further towards Forster.

Only has a plan A?

Well we're all used to that already.

YellowMurphy wrote:Hughes, but I feel that he would represent the most 'expensive' option

true, but he knows what level of club we are and the limitations we have, so he should surely realise when applying for the job that we arent going to be able to offer him a fortune. his contacts would probably be quite valuable too. i actually picked forster in the poll earlier, but this guy sounds quite exciting.

KlinK wrote:Just come off the phone with a friend of mine who is a long term Falkirk season ticket holder and, I think, a shareholder. He was less than complimentary about Hughes and commented that his record does not tell the full story. He thought Hughes inherited a good (and big) squad when getting Falkirk promoted but in trying to raise their level brought in ageing cronies on long contracts that eventually left them in a poor financial position from which they have not yet recovered.

He thought Hughes's main attribute was that he was a very hard worker but he was stubborn; bullied the players; only had a plan A; and when things were going well was constantly touting himself around for bigger jobs. My friend does have some knowledge of TUFC and thought that Hughes would be disastrous for us in our current state but he did think he wouldn't get the job as he wouldn't be able to string a coherent sentence together in an interview. He also felt, for some reason, that Hughes had burnt his bridges in Scotland and was unlikely to find another reasonable job there.

There are always two sides to every story and I have been on the Falkirk fans website (onefinfalkirk) and, as usual, there are many varying opinions of his managerial capabilities.

As for Lee Bullen my friend said he was brought into Falkirk by Hughes and has stayed on as coach but would be a complete unkown as a manager.
Mind you being a complete unkown as a manager would also apply to several other of our candidates and our previous manager.

Of interest my friend was telling me that Falkirk's crowds in the SPL averaged around 11,000 and are averaging around 4 - 5,000 in Division 1. So even now their crowds are double ours. Another point of interest is that Jack Compton, who was born in Torquay and had a trial with us a couple of years ago, made 23 appearances for them last year.

Although Scottish this friend has spent a great deal of time in the southwest London area and knows many Brentford supporters who think Forster would be a good choice.

Funny as I have just posted on another thread that I would want Hughes but at the back of my mind I did wonder whether he might represent a tactical genius or a blood and thunder bellow and shout at the players type of manager, which of course, we would not want to see here.

Really confused now...as I don't know the candidates...if Hughes is not that type of manager and is a bit more considered, then his record and pedigree is promising and I would go for him. However, if his approach is a bit bullying and draconian, then someone more enlightened like Forster is meant to be would be my preferred choice...even though on this, I did initially vote for Hughes.

Hargreaves all the way for me, seems to have so much passion for TUFC and it is so good to see. Obviously not got any managerial expertise but I think we should give him a shot. He gets my vote.

'Sadly I cannot be there but I will be wearing a T.U.F.C shirt, the flag will be flying at the shop, and my fingers will be crossed that the cup is lifted.'

KlinK wrote:He thought Hughes's main attribute was that he was a very hard worker but he was stubborn; bullied the players; only had a plan A; .and when things were going well was constantly touting himself around for bigger jobs.

NickGull wrote:Only has a plan A?

Well we're all used to that already.

All sounds very familiar...we're not talking the former manager here are we?

:~D

Can i just say, talking to a hibs supporting mate, he's clearly not a fan of Hughes. Poor man-management and hasn't got a great eye for signing a player.

Also, he tends to bring Darryl Duffy everywhere he goes, and he's a free agent if i remember correctly? Doubt we could afford him however.