MARK McGhee was on the verge of boarding a plane to Lithuania when he decided to break off negotiations with Hearts and to remain with Motherwell instead. An improved salary offer from his present employers was one of the factors which influenced the 51-year-old to stay where he was, but he also said yesterday that he had been influenced by a look back over the early stages of his managerial career, and some of the hasty decisions he made then.
"I felt a move to Hearts would have been premature for me," McGhee said. "It smacked a bit of what I did earlier in my managerial career. When a bigger job came up, I went.
"Hearts was a bigger job, but make no mistake I would never say it was a b
etter job. I couldn't allow myself to go this time because I have to give a little more back."
Best known as a player for successful spells with Aberdeen and Celtic, McGhee entered management at the start of the 1990s with Reading. He was player-manager there for two years, then just manager for another season, before he moved to Leicester City.
Roughly a year after arriving at Filbert Street, he moved on to Wolverhampton Wanderers. The departures from Reading and Leicester, in particular, were widely seen as ambitious but badly timed, and McGhee now appears to recognise that moving on to a bigger club is not necessarily progress in every sense.
"As much as Hearts was a fantastic opportunity I have to stick it out at Motherwell a bit longer," he continued. "I was at the door of the plane and would have been the last passenger on board. But I turned round and said, 'I can't do this.'
"We are in Europe and I have always wanted that on my CV. I want to have that experience.
"I've a fantastic little team at Motherwell.
"Even on the last night of the season when we won at Hibernian the performance excited me. I just found it impossible to draw myself away from that."
The Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov had expected to hold meetings with McGhee today with the aim of reaching a swift and successful conclusion to negotiations. One of Romanov's chief negotiators had been due to greet McGhee off the plane from London on Monday night, but long before that flight had touched down Motherwell had released a statement saying McGhee had agreed to stay.
That decision left Hearts in disarray. At first some figures at Tynecastle thought there might be a chance of resurrecting the deal, and that the Motherwell statement might amount to no more than McGhee playing hardball in order to secure a better contract with the Edinburgh club. Yesterday, however, brought the slow realisation that the man who had emerged as their only target was staying put, and that even the offer of a salary of around £350,000 was not enough to lure him away.
"Hearts today confirmed that Mark McGhee will not be interviewed for the vacant managerial position at Tynecastle," a brief statement on the club's website read. "The club continues its search for a new manager who can meet the aims of the board in delivering on-field success for Hearts."
With no-one else on their shortlist, Hearts will either have to restart that search from scratch, or go for a stop-gap appointment. Either way, time is against them as they seek a manager who is either willing to come to some sort of accommodation with Romanov's interference in team matters or is able to persuade the owner to take a hands-off approach to on-field matters.
Hearts' disappointment contrasted with the delight felt by the Fir Park staff at the news that McGhee and his assistant manager Scott Leitch are to stay. "It's good news for me and it's good news for the club," the forward David Clarkson said.
"Part of my game has been helped by him coming in and changing things around. It's been the same with a lot of the players. It's good to know he is going to be here next season and that will help settle myself and a lot of the other players down.
"We have done very well this season and it's good to know that he will still be here next season, so hopefully we can carry on. We have the Uefa Cup games, which will also be a big experience for us, and it's good to know the manager will be there to help us along.
"He has come in and instilled a lot of confidence in players, especially myself. He brings a lot of life into the dressing room. Everybody enjoys going into training every day and looks forward to the games.
"He is a really nice guy and he likes to have a laugh and a joke and I think that's really important. Everybody relaxes. He has helped a lot of people."
STORY SO FAR11 May: Celtic defeat Hibernian 2-0 at Parkhead to seal third place in the SPL and a Uefa Cup spot for Motherwell and manager Mark McGhee.
20 May: McGhee rubbishes claims he is poised to be unveiled as Hearts manager.
23 May: Hearts make official request to speak to McGhee.
25 May: In his Sunday newspaper column, McGhee says he is entitled to speak to Hearts
26 May: McGhee rejects Hearts in favour of staying at Fir Park.
The full article contains 920 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
