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7pm
Teletext reports that Motherwell have been "inundated"
with offers to replace Billy Davies, with applications coming from as far afield
as Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. Pat Nevin confirmed that former
Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga was one of those who had applied, but said that
it might be well into next month before an appointment is made. He said:
"We have got a number of candidates, over 20 serious ones, and it is
going to take a little while."
Miodrag Krivokapic and John Philliben are in charge for the next
two games.
9.15am
A few snippets of news taken from this morning's papers:
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Pat Nevin says that Motherwell have already had "four
or five" serious enquiries for the manager's job. The Daily
Record claims that former Italian World Cup goalkeeper Walter Zenga is
of of those who have applied. The 41-year-old former Inter Milan star
has spent time in the USA as a player/coach and is now in charge of Brera in
the Italian sixth division.
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The Sun reports that Craig Brown, Gordon Strachan and
Tommy Burns are top of Motherwell's wish list, while other candidates
mentioned include Billy Stark and Ian McCall. It has been revealed
that McCall currently re-signs with Airdrie and the end of every month
therefore compensation wouldn't be an issue.
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BD's contract will be honoured in full, although John Boyle
denied that he had recently signed a lucrative extension tieing him to Fir
Park until 2004. He said: "Billy had a rolling contract with
us and it is complete nonsense to suggest that he had signed a new deal
taking him up to 2004."
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Boyle hinted that the new man will have little money to
spend: "We believe the majority of the squad has been assembled and
I won't discuss any amounts of money that would be available for a new
manager but he will have to be given time to introduce his ideas and freshen
things up."
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Pat Nevin added: "This is a really sad day and I am
truly fed up with the events but things have happened so quickly.
Billy was a personal friend of mine and we stuck by him during the good and
bad times - he worked his socks off for this club. There have been
four of five serious enquiries for the post and that has been the only
bright spot. I take some comfort from the fact there are people out
there interested in being the new manager of Motherwell Football Club.
"It was an amicable split - Billy offered himself as a solution to our
problems. The decision was made by Billy and we agreed. I'm a
great believer in people and I believe in Billy. He worked his socks
off for this club."
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Boyle added: "We are in no worse position in terms
of finances or calibre of playing staff than many other Scottish Premier
League clubs. We also have an excellent crop of youngsters coming
through. We will be making a timely decision. Opportunities at Premier
League level don't often come up and already we have had a flurry of
enquiries. We will sift through them and vet them but we won't be
doing anything in haste. I don't think there will be any shortage of
quality applicants."
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JB says he has no plans to quit Fir Park: "I
am not looking to get out of football - absolutely not. It is my firm belief
and desire to restore the fortunes of Motherwell Football Club as best I
can. I hope that when we appoint a new manager it will give us a bit
of new impetus, as these things tend to do."
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Billy Davies said in the Sun: "I'm not
bitter. We went down a certain road but last season we had to change
that. We brought in new players this season but we obviously had a
mountain to climb as we tried to sort things out. That's
football. I will now get on with my life."
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One report suggests that BD might have unwittingly
interviewed his own successor as Motherwell manager. It is believed
that the favourites to succeed him will come from those who applied for the
vacant Youth Development Manager's job. It looks as though JB
attracted a higher quality of candidate for that position than he first
anticipated...
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Former 'Well goalkeeper Andy Goram had the following to
say: "It is sad to see Billy go. He gave me a chance when
nobody else really did three years ago and I was very happy about that.
The wee man is a very good coach and I have always liked what he did.
His ideas for the game are good but he has become a victim of circumstances
at Motherwell. I don't know what is behind it all - you can only
guess. But whoever replaces him will face the same problems. He will
have the same bunch of players and it does seem strange that Motherwell let
Billy sign all these players in the summer then this happens. But like
Gordon Strachan down here at Coventry City, he needed to get a good start to
the season. Unfortunately, it didn't happen for them. With the
situation Motherwell were in, the last place they would have wanted to go at
the weekend was Ibrox. It is sad to see anyone go that way and the
thing for me is that I have never been at a club where the manager has been
sacked. Now Gordon leaves Coventry and my old gaffer Billy leaves
Motherwell in the same week! Both of them are too good to be out the
game but I know Gordon will get a job. As for Motherwell, I don't
know who will take over. But I certainly have not applied!"
Who should be the next Motherwell manager? Cast
your vote now!
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