Cathal Dervan, Editor
Imagine telling Cork’s very own Henry Ford how to build a car? Imagine telling Henry Ford how to drive a car? Imagine telling Henry Ford how to sell a car?
Yeah, you’d be wasting your time if the great Henry was around today. He knew a thing or two about combustible engines, chassis construction and gearbox ratios so I wouldn’t be taking him on in the motoring section of the pub quiz - even if he might struggle with the concept of electric cars or self drive vehicles.
So if the pub quiz was on in that quaint little establishment near Bandon and Clonakilty and a resurrected Henry was there, I’d tip my hat to him and said job well done sir.
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Refs need the love too…
If his great-great grandson walked into the same bar tomorrow, I’d get up and leave based on the insult he just delivered at the feet of an Irish icon and one of the most honest sports people you will ever meet.
Calvin Ford - no, I never heard of him either - is the latest American investor in ‘soccer’ to prove that Gianni Infantino thought he saw an easy hit when he targeted Wall Street for the great World Cup sell-off.
Now I am not a genealogist or a mathematician so excuse me if my guess that this man is three generations removed from his great-great grandfather Henry Ford is incorrect. But I’d say I’m close enough for this exercise.
There’s little on Google search about Calvin other than to suggest that he does a lot of charity work and is a shrewd philanthropist according to those who know such things.
According to the internet, his investments in football include a small stake in the German club SSV Ulm - no, never heard of them either - and Livingston where he bought 100 per cent of the shares from a man called John McIlvogue last year.
Calvin came to my attention yesterday when he sacked former Ireland captain Glenn Whelan as manager after just nine games and 98 days in charge of a side that played only five times in the league under Glenn’s tutelage, winning two and losing three, and currently sit in fifth place in the Scottish Championship table.
That’s not good enough seemingly for Calvin or his Director of Football David Martindale - incidentally he was manager for most of last season when they were relegated from the Scottish Premier. Now Martindale is in interim charge and back in the dug-out and Glenn is back in Manchester and out of work.
Yep. Less than a hundred days into his first managerial role, Glenn has been sacked. A guarantee for any manager, regardless of their age or their experience and one that Glenn knew would come his way one day.
Getting the sack is not the issue here. How it was handled is and not just the vulgarity of sacking your boss after less than a hundred days. It’s the words Calvin used in his excuse making statement that add weight to the theory that most American investors know sweet FA about football.
“Looking ahead, we have already begun the process of securing the appropriate search firm to help us find our next head coach,” wrote Calvin in his letter to the fans that was more JCB than Ford Mustang.
“Our net will be cast far wider than it was in our previous search, and the focus of the search will be via data analytics that fit in with the clubs game model, and other important criteria’s that will aid Livingston FC in finding the ideal candidate to lead our Club forward.
“Mediocrity is not an acceptable solution, and we will continue to work to find the leader that delivers on the ambitions and aspirations of sustained, high-level success that we expect at Livingston. Nothing else is acceptable.”
Ford - and whoever advises him - should ask any Ireland fan about Glenn Whelan’s standards. He is far from mediocre. He is a player who dedicated his professional life to improvement via hard work, determination and honesty.
You don’t earn 91 caps for your country without knowing your way around football. You don’t play for Giovanni Trapattoni by being mediocre.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of his reign at Livingston, Glenn Whelan deserved better from a Yank landlord than to have the word mediocrity attached to his name.
Calvin’s letter to the fans stinks. I hope they see through this American bull***t. The Glenn Whelan I know deserves better.
How Katie Taylor turned down senior football with UCD, Stephen Kelly bingo, the vulgarity of modern coaching terminology including left tilts and the funnel press - it's all on this week's Coaching Corner with the great Larry Mahony from www.bigpicturecoachingireland.com.
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