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Why does he have a reputation for a great scout?

See no reason why not if they were prepared to allow AT to sign nine players before sacking him after three games.

We know that as every transfer window came around, the fanbase would melt down after making assumptions that SISU would flog off Westwood and Gunnarsson. Instead of selling at peak values, bringing in income, they were kept until contract expiry. We don't know what contract bumps they were...

Are we still using that charming phrase? Westwood, Gunnarsson and King all self-removed.

Black and Nilsson, but I don't think either would return.

Well, have there been many high-credential managers who have dropped down to the third tier to manage clubs with restricted budgets? Oh sure, to some extent. Most managers in L1, L2, the non-leagues would jump ship to call the Ricoh their home, as would a lot of washed-up managers. The issue...

Those with "credentials" tend to have jobs in the Premiership or with upper Championship clubs. The unemployed among them have earned the right to - and expect - substantial transfer budgets and payroll to work with. Fisher took pride in saying that the club is among the top two for payroll...

It doesn't matter whether they are experienced or not; there is just no way of telling how a manager will do, especially at this level. The one advantage to experienced managers is that they provide clearer reasons for not making a shortlist (e.g. Megson - unattractive football to upset the...

He could have his pick of Championship jobs. No chance.

Add Dublin to the list.

We need a manager who is unafraid of aggressive attacking football. Goals, goals, goals. The tendency of most (people as well as managers) is to conserve rather than dare.

While the timing of the sacking is certainly ripe for discussion, I don't see how it is at all indicative of SISU being in "big trouble"?

Nobody is saying that. There is this bungee effect where we see a reversion to the all-in-one excuse of "no resources" when examining Thorn's record. But there's no avoiding it - there are very questionable things to ask of Thorn based on both eyeball opinions and cold, hard, black-and-white...

None of which explain the disparity between the home and away records. Had we sucked at home too, you may have had a point.

Lots of people. Some truth to this. Emotional and baseless. AT had outstanding support for the vast majority of his tenure. And again - lots of people would want to come here for this job.

No, it is not as simple as that. Do you not remember Strachan's refusal to play guys like Breen and Edworthy and Aloisi, insisting instead on the likes of Barry Quinn to play full-back? Gordon's stubbornness had a lot to do with his decline at CCFC.

You're actually going there? That somehow these professional footballers become lesser beings when they play away from home? Maybe the question you ought to be asking yourself is why they were having to defend so much away from home...

Resources don't account for the disparity between home and away results. To focus on resources is to overlook the factor that really did him in - the away record.

I'm not sure that will explain the massive contrast between home and away results.

This is generally true. However, let's not forget Jim Smith's reputation at the time of his hiring. He was no 'assistant' type - he'd had a long career as the boss, the 'bald eagle'. I remember at the time of his hiring people questioning who the players would be reporting to. Either way, the...