Peter Grant made his views on Motherwell appointing German boss Michael Wimmer perfectly clear.
He started off with: “We wish him all the best” but went on to say: “I think there’s other people closer to home that deserve an opportunity”, and added in “I’d hold myself with anybody on the training pitch, I don’t care if they’re German, French, whatever.
He wished him well with his opening gambit but it soon became clear his comments were laced with bitterness as he struggled to comprehend why Well would choose Wimmer.
Grant is the latest to bemoan a Scottish club for daring to appoint a foreign manager – it happened when Aberdeen brought Jimmy Thelin in as boss last summer.
The view of the former Dunfermline boss, and others, seems to be that there is no way a foreign boss can be better than the options already in this country.
Why are rules on foreign bosses different for Celtic and Rangers?
So they’ll have said the same when Celtic brought in a Northern Irish manager and Rangers a Belgian? Oh wait, they didn’t.
And the list of ideal replacements for Philippe Clement should he be sacked is full of Scots – nope once again.
For some reason, every time a club outside of Glasgow appoints a manager from overseas it is a ‘risk’ to take on someone who doesn’t know the league but those two are allowed to play under different rules.
Why? Because they’re bigger clubs with bigger demands and global appeal?
Well, if the league is so difficult and managers need to have prior knowledge of it, wouldn’t that requirement be even more imperative at the two clubs which have the biggest demands and pressure placed on them, and who need to win every game?
Pundits suggested Malky Mackay, Neil Lennon and Stephen Robinson should have been given prominence ahead of Thelin for the Pittodrie hotseat.
In the cases of Mackay and Lennon, they had been failures in their previous jobs but are apparently classed as ‘safe pairs of hands. In what world?
The Swede then went on to lead the Dons to a 16-game unbeaten run and, briefly, the summit of the Premiership. After a wobble, he still has them sitting third. How on earth did he manage that when he doesn’t know the league?
Grant also claimed there’s “no doubt” some of the Scottish managers ignored could do equally as competent a job as Wimmer at Motherwell. Another question here – how could he possibly know that when he doesn’t appear to know anything about the German?
The 44-year-old has managed in the top flight in Austria, had a 50 per cent win rate in the Bundesliga as a caretaker and was identified as the outstanding candidate for Bristol Rovers in League One. But managing in Scotland is seemingly beyond him.
Lots of questions there, but one thing is clear. Grant wouldn’t have been saying any of that if his beloved Celtic, or Rangers for that matter, were the ones appointing a foreigner.
What did Grant say about Motherwell boss Wimmer?
Speaking on Go Radio, he said: “We wish him all the best but I’m disappointed because I think there’s other people closer to home that deserve an opportunity, spent a lot of money on their coaching badges, and I think there’s guys out here that are equally as good. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind about that.
“And I think we need to get back to that because if we’re talking about producing young players, producing young coaches, we have to do that and give it to your own.
“I’m talking for everyone because it’s different if there’s no young guys out there that are good enough. But I think there’s a lot of good ones here.”
Asked about the current Partick Thistle vacancy, he said: “I would always be interested. I’m not going to chap their door because if they’re doing their work properly they look at your CV, see your teams, how they played and how you’ve worked. Sometimes results are a wee bit skew-whiff.
“I’d hold myself with anybody on the training pitch, I don’t care if they’re German, French, whatever. I would put my hand up and say I could go on the training pitch with any coach and put something on.
“But then it comes down to the man-management of players, how you handle players.
“But if you don’t get the opportunity, there’s nothing else you can do about it.”