I’M NO JUDAS
McKinnon defends his sudden move from Morton to Falkirk
LOCAL newspapers in Scotland tend to stick by a tried and trusted formula. Daffodil tea parties and petty squabbles over planning applications.
The celebration of significant birthdays. A parent’s joy as little Johnny passes his piano exams with distinction.
The age-old unwritten rule is that a safe distance from red-top excess should be maintained at all times.
In the case of Ray McKinnon’s defection from Morton to Falkirk last Friday, the organ of record in Inverclyde was prepared to make an exception.
‘JUDAS’ screamed the back-page headline above a mocked-up picture of the Dundonian resplendent in a red cloak while grasping his 30 pieces of silver.
If its designer did, indeed, speak for the wider community, October 20, when McKinnon takes the Bairns to Cappielow, might generate enough friction to power the local area until Christmas.
Even by the standards of Scottish football, the move was a showstopper. McKinnon had only been unveiled by Morton on May 30. The side he fashioned were sitting second top of the Championship while Falkirk, a club of similar stature, sat bottom without a point to their name.
You could well understand the betrayal and bemusement felt at a career move that was both untimely and, to a large extent, illogical.
But if there was an ulterior motive behind the former Dundee United manager jumping ship so early, it’s not something he’s keen to put into the public domain.
‘It’s very, very simple,’ said the 48-year-old. ‘Morton gave me permission on Friday afternoon to speak with Falkirk.
‘I then drove here and spoke with Margaret (Lang, the chairperson) at length. She really impressed me with the vision for the club. I thought I wanted to be part of that.
‘Having taken everything into consideration, I made a very tough decision to become the new Falkirk manager.
‘People are faced with tough decisions every day in life. You have to make them sometimes.’
That may be true. But generally people make such changes after many years in a post because they desire a fresh challenge. And normally, a sudden change of scenery is only countenanced due to far great remuneration.
With all due respect to Falkirk, this seemed a peculiar, sideways step. One which suggested there was more to it than met the eye.
‘It’s unusual but it does happen,’ insisted McKinnon. ‘Jimmy Nicholl left here after a few months to go to Rangers.
‘There’s always going to be bad blood when people are leaving. It happens every day when people move jobs. I never made the decision lightly but I made it and that’s why I’m sitting here today. We just have to get on with it.’
He may be the pariah figure in all of this but from Morton’s point of view it doesn’t look too clever.
Jim Duffy was ‘mutually consented’ in May, despite boasting a fine record over four seasons before McKinnon opted to move on after three successful months. Those events do not suggest all is well behind the scenes.
‘The Morton job will be an appealing one to anyone,’ said McKinnon. ‘The chairman is a great man and backed me when I needed it.’
The resentment on Morton’s part does not just appear to stem from what has happened. It’s how they feel it happened.
Addressing his supporters over the weekend, chairman Crawford Rae suggested underhand tactics were at play by stating: ‘To me, it is clear there could have been discussions with our manager ahead of their call to me.’
In short, he felt McKinnon was tapped up.
‘It’s certainly not the case that I spoke to the club without Morton’s permission,’ insisted McKinnon. ‘I have a great relationship with Crawford Rae. I have huge respect for him as a chairman and as a human being.
‘He gave me permission to come to Falkirk to hold talks and we had a very emotional conversation at 6pm that night.
‘It was a tough decision to come here and he said to me: “Good luck, sometimes you have to make tough decisions in your life”.
‘Then I got sent the photo in the local paper the next day and that knocked me back a bit!’
Ah, that back page. As humorous as it was in one sense, it left no room for ambiguity in terms of the regard in which McKinnon is now held in those parts. He accepts the flak which comes with the territory but refutes the suggestion he is habitually disloyal.
‘Criticism is part and parcel of the job,’ he said. ‘I’ve been called worse over the years. But anyone in football I’ve worked with knows me. I was disappointed by it. I thought it was pretty poor.
‘Anyone who knows me and who knows the backstory wouldn’t have put that in their paper. They are trying to get the fans onside — I know that — but I thought it was a poor shot.
‘If you speak to anyone I worked with — Lochee United, Brechin, Raith Rovers and Dundee United — I was loyal to everyone. It hasn’t affected me.’
Anyone playing devil’s advocate would point to the harsh nature of McKinnon’s sacking at Tannadice. When the game is so unrelentingly cruel, isn’t it reasonable to expect its protagonists to be driven by a degree of self-interest?
‘Loyalty goes both ways,’ said McKinnon. ‘Football is a brutal and volatile business. Anything can happen at any time,.
‘You just have to make good decisions when they come along.’
With the Bairns still awaiting their first point of the season, McKinnon already has more on his mind than the many toes he has trod on. Everything blows over eventually. Come his return trip to the tail o’ the bank next month, though, he’ll know what to expect.
‘It should be fun, yeah,’ he grinned. ‘From the staff and everyone there, I’ve had a brilliant response. From the fans, I understand they’ll be upset. I get that.’