Tonight, I listened to Clyde for the LOL’s. I knew it would be hilarious, I knew there would be delusions and accusations and a whole lot of hurt. What I didn’t expect was a story, but there was one there nonetheless, and since nobody else is talking about it I thought that I might.
Do I believe it? Yes and no. It is brilliant, but almost too much so.
The caller in question was a Sevco fan, and he claimed that he attended Dundee where he got into a conversation – a long conversation – with Jim Traynor. He asked about the manager’s job, as everyone would have.
What he says the former newspaper sports editor and current unscripted comedian with a crap PR firm allegedly told him is amazing.
According to this guy, Traynor said that the managerial appointment is still weeks away. How many weeks? Around four to six. And whilst you are trying to process that ponder this; he says Traynor told him the first choice is still Derek McInnes, the guy who very publicly thumbed his nose at the job this very week.
And it is too good to be true, although Hugh Keevins was virtually wetting his pants over the idea that someone had shared the details of a private conversation with his former Lord and Master live on the radio.
“Jim will not appreciate that,” he said, with the faintest whimper in his voice, doubtless scared to death that the phone could start ringing any minute.
Imagine Sevco’s board had, for whatever reason, decided McInnes was the man but were holding off even making their moves for two whole months. And then imagine when they did, and McInnes turned them down, forcing them back to square one and in the meantime options which otherwise might have been available slip away one at a time?
Maybe it’s just as simple as Traynor being such a toe-rag that he’s willing to tell brazen lies to people who have paid their money to watch their team. Or maybe this is a ridiculous ploy, whilst they work on appointing some loser like Alex McLeish.
But tantalise yourself with this possibility; what if it’s true?
There’s a chance that it is, you know; there’s a chance that it might be.
There’s a sensible reason why it may very well be the case and to understand it you have to go back to last season when Pedro Caixinha was about to be appointed. He arrived shortly before the 1-1 draw at Celtic Park; there was no way he was going to be allowed to walk into that game and start his tenure at the club with a defeat.
In the event, Murty surprised people by snatching a late draw, but with that tie out of the way it gave Pedro a relatively easy run of games before the first real test, against Aberdeen at Pittodrie. That actually turned out to be the highlight of his time at the club; they won 3-0 as McInnes folded the hand as per usual. In between times, though, they dropped points against Motherwell and Kilmarnock. The writing was already on the wall.
Imagine they’d appointed someone this week, as many thought they would after Hamilton beat them. The guy would have faced two games against Aberdeen, one against Hibs, a match against Motherwell and one against Celtic before December ended. With the current squad and an obvious settling in period, the guy’s jacket might have been on a shoogly peg before his first month had even elapsed. Perhaps the board wants to avoid so rough a ride.
Of course, the fans might have forgiven a new boss, realising what he had to work with and giving him a brief honeymoon period … the board may well have overlooked that, understandably bearing in mind they are dealing with lunatics, but the risk of not appointing someone until the New Year has even more dangerous possibilities; the fans would, and quite reasonably, go absolutely bananas if the club failed to act for another month as bad results piled up.
Either way they are in soapy. Appoint someone now to take on this run and the guy might be out of friends before January. Let this matter fester until then and there might not be any prospect of even qualifying for Europe by the time we hear the Bells.
Just when you thought they couldn’t look more amateurish.