Official - Malpas is new manager

[Summerof69]

I'm quite happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm just glad we haven't got Martin Allen, Paul Simpson, et al. Personally, I couldn't see the benefit of possibly paying £250k in compo for Martin Ling. I would rather use that money, once the takeover is complete, on the team, buying a few players, or get a number of loan players in, to help maybe, get us to the play-offs.

[kaufman]

I'm quite happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm just glad we haven't got Martin Allen, Paul Simpson, et al. Personally, I couldn't see the benefit of possibly paying £250k in compo for Martin Ling. I would rather use that money, once the takeover is complete, on the team, buying a few players, or get a number of loan players in, to help maybe, get us to the play-offs.

hmm you have a point there

[Sussex]

Maurice  

[ronnie21]

not going to get the crowd back tho is it .. fair play to Fitton if hes sorted out the finances .. and certainly given us a club to actually support but this seems a very poor appointment - im 100 percent convinced Malpas is a crap manager

And I'll bet you said the same thing when a certain Arsene Wenger was appointed at your beloved Arsenal!!  By the way Bushey, Fatters lives in Highworth so a season ticket to watch Hellenic League football may work out cheaper than Supermarine, then again they've just lost John Fisher and appointed a supposedly "crap" manager!

[kaufman]

maybe now fitton has saved money by not paying out a managers contract we can afford a decent bid for cox?

[fatbury]

on the positive side .. yes I can be positive!! .. hopefully Malpas will use his Under 21 Scottish contacts to sign up some of the brightest Scottish talents there are on offer

im not that up on Scottish youth football but surely there must be some talent up there we can poach!

[Bushey Boy]

I just wanted to get a bite but you havent, would you prefer Highworth or supermarine fatters?

[juddie]

Like most people I didn't see Malpas's appointment coming... and at first I was disappointed. I was firmly behind the potential appointment Lingy - but the cost of getting him out of his Orient contract might have been a stumbling block.

But Fitton is no mug and if he thinks Malpas is the man for the job, then with the work he's done recently in saving us from extinction - I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Wise and Sturrock were both good appointments but neither stayed for that long - fitton seems to use words such as 'loyalty' a lot in his praise for Malpas - maybe stability is what Fitton is after - I just hope he has the nous as well.

I do think Fitton has missed a trick, though. What an opportunity to get the place buzzing again following the takeover, than by appointing someone like a lingy. Like someone said, Malpas isn;t a name that will get people flooding back. Yet...

For the time being I'll wish him the best of luck... he's the manager and whatever we all think we can't do owt about it - so lets get behind him. He could turn out to be awesome.

Good luck Mo Mo!

[Simon Pieman]

And I'd rather have a club with Malpas in charge than no club at all...

The statments and interviews offer detailed justification into the appointment. Would we have seen that level of justification before, I doubt it. I don't think any of us can say we're not surprised by the appointment but we've got 3 years to get into the championship. If it doesn't work out in the near future there's plenty of time for another manager. If it does work out it could be inspired.

Malpas is very experienced in football terms and not in management terms. Maybe that's the 'experience', who knows? I think like Wise when he joined Leeds, Motherwell were really in the shit when he took charge. We can't really judge until he's been given a stable footing.

A lot of people would have moaned if it was anyone but Ling. In my view I just want a team that plays good successful football. I don't care who brings it as long as the manager isn't a twat in a McMahon-esque way.

[Lumps]

He's not exactly got a stunning managerial record has he? One season in charge at Motherwell where they finished third from bottom, winning a staggering 10 league games all season, and out in the third round of both cups, the first time they played any decent opposition.

Meh. He's going to have to convice us I suppose.

[kaufman]

fitton does make a very good case for appointing him.

Fitton: "Trust us and wipe the slate clean"
Exclusive By Andy Cryer
Comment | Read Comments (1)
 
ANDREW Fitton has urged Swindon Town fans to wipe the slate clean and start trusting their football club again, after making his first big decision in a new era at the County Ground.

The chairman designate confirmed yesterday Maurice Malpas will be Paul Sturrock's successor once his consortium's takeover is complete and exclusively told the Swindon Advertiser why the Scot was "head and shoulders" above the rest.

Since the rumours of Malpas' imminent arrival came out after Saturday's cup draw, there have been murmurs of discontent from Town's supporters, but Fitton has appealed for calm and trust for his consortium.

He insists Malpas is one of the best qualified coaches in the country and expects him to bring loyalty, intelligence, stability, experience and passion to the County Ground.

He said: "One key issue is the fans have to learn to trust the board.

"This is something they have not been used to doing but they can't judge this board by the same criteria.

advertisement"We start with a clean slate, and while I accept I have to earn their respect, they must remember we have had nothing to with previous boards.

"From my point of view I would only make an appointment if I can improve what we have already got in place and that is what we have done with Maurice.

"They will have to learn to trust. Remember that conversation between Kevin Keegan and Newcastle fans when he sold Andy Cole.

"He went out in front of baying fans and said trust me'. I know the background to the decision and it was the right one I can tell you."

Fitton revealed he had seven names on a "high-quality shortlist", including caretaker manager Dave Byrne, but the moment they had finished interviewing Malpas they knew he was the man for Swindon Town.

He will become Town's fifth manager within two years and Fitton is keen stop the recent managerial merry-go-round that as all too often disrupted progress in Wiltshire.

"A key issue for me was loyalty," said Fitton.

"He played 600 games for Dundee United and was a real one-club man.

"We want stability after constant managerial upheaval, not a manager who will move on in the next 12 months again.

"He is very well qualified. He has been in charge of Scotland under 21s on and off for the last 10 years, which has seen him working with people like Archie Knox.

"He is experienced as a coach and experienced at working with younger players and developing them.

"We wanted a manager who could communicate properly and who was intelligent, some managers out there were not capable of those qualities. He is hard working, passionate and tactically aware and is very keen to impress."

While Fitton would not be drawn on the identity of the other managerial candidates, the Swindon Advertiser understands Leyton Orient boss Martin Ling, Colchester number two Mickey Adams and Southampton youth team coach Dave Hockaday were others in the running.

For many appointing a younger manager, with relatively little managerial experience, will be a surprise but Fitton insists every factor was considered before making their decision.

He said: "You don't interview people for fun, you do it for a purpose.

"We drew up a shortlist and it was very high quality although there were one or two names that people expected to be on it that were not because I knew I could not work with them and that is an essential part of it.

"They were all excellent candidates and every one of them could have done the job in their own way but some had issues we were not happy with.

"One asked for far too much money and I said you are probably ruling yourself out of the job.

"The other thing is we ended up in a situation where we had a jigsaw we wanted to make the right picture with.

"Maurice Malpas is one of the best qualified coaches in the land and is widely acknowledged as a truly great coach.

"He worked under Jim McLean for 10 years and he was one of the best tactical managers of all time.

"He has played in the UEFA Cup final, the European Cup semi final, played in two world cups and if you think about it he has a similar CV to Paul Sturrock.

"He had the right credentials and let me tell you the decision was night and day with regards choosing him. It was clear to us the minute we finished interviewing him we had found the right man to take Swindon Town forward."

Malpas's stint in charge at Motherwell between May 2006 and June 2007 in the Scottish Premier League was not the most successful period but Fitton has urged Town fans to look at some of the reasons why.

He said: "Some people might say he did not have a great time at Motherwell but he had a successful time under Terry Butcher then they went through a bad period.

"But if you look at some of the factors during that time, like administration and takeovers, you would think Swindon Town fans should understand what that does to a club."

[Barry Scott]

I'm quite glad we haven't appointed a "name". Not because they will end up doing a runner, but because the expectation level is lower. If we go and appoint someone like Ling, we'll expect results instantly. With someone like Malpas i'd like to think we'll subconsciously have less expectation and will therefore put less pressure on the players.

I like the idea of no-one being sure what to expect and that we don't know how good he could be. As with any relatively unknown manager, i find the whole appointment quite exciting. He could turn out to be amazing, we just don't have a clue.

Sure a big name manager is exciting, but it would appear their football is not. It's a big generalisation, and perhaps it's due to caution from experience, but football under both Luggy and Wise was pretty boring and nothing like the sometimes enjoyable and often highly watchable roller-coaster King provided.

Stay-aways will still stay away, but let's be honest, they'll use any old bullshit excuse to continue on their path of not going. Most stay-aways are only fans in their own minds and through their own constant bitter declarations about the club they "support".

I'm pleased, but then whomever was appointed (they could have appointed Steve McMahon for all i care), my support for the club wouldn't have changed.

[thepeoplesgame]

He's not Martin Allen and he's not Andy King. That's good enough for me to begin with. He will have to win some matches, of course, if he wishes to retain such undying levels of loyal support.

And I echo sentiments expressed elsewhere that Fitton has earned the right to appoint whoever he likes by virtue of the small matter of saving the club from extinction.

[SWINRICH]

Good to see a Scottish appointment. I will give him the benefit of the doubt Macari and Hoddle were not proven when they first came here. Lets support him and the new era. The main thing is we have financial security.If it doesn't work out we could always get rid of him.


Whos that taking over the club. Its Andrew Fitton!!

[SwindonTartanArmy]

Fatbury you really are a tit!

Out of all the managers that were linked with the job, which ones were going to excite the fans and bring them flocking back? none of them! THe problem is, there are too many arseholes in Swindon that would rather support Chelski, Man Yoo, The Arse or the Scousers and see proper football as being beneath them.