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Macpherson Parts Company With St Mirren


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Not sure what evidence there is for that ... apart from guys you talked to and you could talk to different guys and get a different opinion. Lambie was always unpopular with some guys because of the style of football we played under him at times. Every manager/player is unpopular with some fans to some degree.

 

Auld made us hard to beat, Lambie made us hard to beat in some ways similar style managers with similar style teams. (Apart from the 1st division winning team under Auld, that was different).

 

I also get annoyed with all the guys (usually fans of other teams) who go on about how defensive we were under Auld. At the period he managed us, almost every team outside the Old Firm and Aberdeen - then a good team, anyone remember these days? - came to Firhill and defended, hitting on the break. It wasn't because we were that brilliant it was just the way your average team played then.

I go along with about all of above. I think tho' there's enough truth in us playing rather negative (defensive if you prefer) football under Auld but we most certainly weren't alone or any more negative than most other sides.

I feel what got us tagged with that defensive label by media, opposition fans and others inside football was more to do with the fact that we had a manager who was intent in shaking off the great unpredictables image. Fine manager that he was, that was something that Davie McP hadn't managed to do.

As for Auld being unpopular with a sizeable minority of Jags fans that may be less to do with the we we played the game and more to do with Bertie's persona. Today it's almost the norm to have a cocky showman type manager but back then it was hardly commonplace. I think there was a wee bit of initial resentment about Auld and the negative play criticism amongst our own was more an excuse for that resentment.

In truth I was a bit biased against Bertie but not for his flamboyant managerial style. I detested Auld as a player. He had undoubted skill but was a vicious tackler who seriously injured quite a few players. In my mind Bertie was a mirror image of Johnny Giles, a very good ball player who resorted to over the top tackles too consistently while themselves being protected on the pitch by their sides real hard men (Reaney, Hunter, Gemmell, Murdoch etc).

While others were still critical of Auld it didn't take me long to warm to him. Bertie showed that the League Cup win earlier in the decade was not so freakish. Very good manager for us at an important time in the Club's history.

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