Mark Edward McGhee (born 25 May 1957 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a former professional footballer and current manager of Aberdeen. McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and since then has spent spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, Celtic, IK Brage and Reading. McGhee was part of the Aberdeen side who won the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup and 1983 UEFA Super Cup.

[edit] Playing career

McGhee played for a host of Scottish and English clubs, before he had to abruptly retire because of injury. He started his playing career at Greenock Morton before moving on to Newcastle United - where he scored 36 goals in 99 appearances, including a fantastic last minute winner against Bradford, Aberdeen, Hamburg, Celtic, IK Brage and Reading and won the Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1982 as well as four caps and two goals for the Scotland national football team. His greatest career moment came in 1983 when he was in the Aberdeen side that defeated Real Madrid 2-1 to lift the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup. He also scored as Aberdeen won the 1983 UEFA Super Cup.

[edit] Management career

[edit] Early years

McGhee's management career began as player-manager at third tier Reading in 1991, succeeding Ian Porterfield, after being recommended for the post by his ex-manager Alex Ferguson. He officially retired as a player in 1993 and won the Division Two title with the Royals the following season and quickly adapted to the second flight during the next campaign, taking the team as high as second place by December 1994.

This spotlighted him as an up-and-coming young manager and he was offered the chance to move to Premier League Leicester City. His move in December 1994 came despite having agreed a long term contract to remain at Reading. However, he joined with the Foxes adrift in the relegation zone and was unable to keep them up, finishing second bottom.

He remained at Filbert Street post-relegation and set about launching a promotion campaign but did not see the season out after being approached by Wolverhampton Wanderers. He left to take control at Wolves in December 1995, less than 12 months after arriving at Leicester. This was the second successive time he had walked out on his post, creating a media image of him as being disloyal and ruthlessly ambitious.

[edit] Wolverhampton Wanderers

McGhee moved to Wolves on 13 December 1995, taking his assistant Colin Lee along with him, following the sacking of Graham Taylor. The club's hopes of promotion lay in tatters at the time after just 5 wins from their previous 21 games, and his first game saw another loss, as they went down 0-1 to Port Vale at Molineux.

He quickly added midfielders Simon Osborn and Steve Corica and tried to implement a more passing game than the direct tactics of his predecessor. The team enjoyed a strong start to 1996, and had lifted themselves to the verge of the play-offs by March. However, their early season form returned in the final months and they failed to win any of their final 8 fixtures, ending in 20th, just 3 points clear of relegation, marking their lowest finish since returning to the division in 1989.

McGhee was given further funds to invest in the summer and brought in Iwan Roberts and Dougie Freedman to boost the attack. The 1996/97 season duly saw them launch a promotion campaign, with ambitions of an automatic spot. However, a poor string of results in the final 10 games, allowed surprise package Barnsley to snatch second place behind runaway champions Bolton Wanderers, condemning Wolves to the play-offs. McGhee saw his team concede two late goals in a 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace in their semi final tie, which ultimately cost them the chance of reaching the Premier League, despite a 2-1 victory in the home leg.

His failure to reach the top flight prompted a tirade from Wolves owner Sir Jack Hayward, who moaned that he would no longer be "the golden tit", supplying the club with endless finance. He cut McGhee's spending power and both Freedman and Roberts, McGhee's previous big money buys, were quickly sold off. Hayward also fired his son Jonathan as chairman, who had been instrumental in bringing McGhee to the club, thus undermining his job security.

The 1997/98 season saw the club largely outside the play-off places, ending in 9th. McGhee's high point of the campaign was their FA Cup run which saw them make the semi finals for the first time since 1981, and marked his best Cup run as a manager. However, his Wembley dream was dashed by Champions-elect Arsenal as they edged past the Midlanders 1-0 at Villa Park.

The following season started well for McGhee as he won his opening four games, but the following twelve brought just two victories. This prompted Wolves to fire him on 5 November 1998. His assistant Colin Lee took over the reigns on a temporary basis, later made permanent.

[edit] Millwall

On 6 July 2000 McGhee joined Coventry City, who were at the time managed by Gordon Strachan, as a scout.^[1] After only two months he was appointed manager at third flight Millwall in September 2000, replacing the duo of Keith Stevens and Alan McLeary. McGhee swiftly won the Division Two title in his first season and led the club to the Division One play-offs in the following campaign. Here, he suffered more play-off agony as the club lost to a last minute Birmingham City goal to deny them a place in the final.

The 2002-03 season saw McGhee take the club to 9th, falling eight points short of another play-off finish. The next season saw things take a downward turn as his relationship with chairman Theo Paphitis strained and players began to be sold. McGhee left The New Den on 15 October 2003, following a 0-1 home defeat to Preston North End.^[2]

[edit] Brighton

McGhee was appointed manager of Brighton and Hove Albion on 28 October 2003, just 13 days after leaving Millwall. Here, he inherited the team left by Steve Coppell who moved to one of McGhee's former clubs, Reading.

The club had been relegated to League One the previous season, but McGhee managed to regain promotion to the Championship in his first season as they won the play-offs, after beating Bristol City 1-0 in the final. He managed to keep the club in the Championship the following season in 2004/05, finishing 20th, their highest league division in 14 years.

However, he led the club to relegation the following season, when they were finally mathematically condemned at home by Sheffield Wednesday. McGhee was sacked as Brighton manager on 8 September 2006 after nearly three years with the club, following three consecutive defeats in the 2006–07 season.^[3]

[edit] Motherwell

In 2006, he was linked with the vacant managerial post at Irish club Bohemians^[4] and in February 2007 was reported to have applied for the manager's position at Swansea City^[5].

However, on 18 June 2007, he was appointed new manager of Motherwell and to be assisted by Scott Leitch^[6].

McGhee transformed Motherwell from a team that just avoided relegation to finishing 3rd in his first season in charge, which meant that Motherwell qualified for the UEFA Cup. This is the first time in 13 years that Motherwell have qualified for European competition. Pundits believe this is due to a fluent, attacking style of football that McGhee has introduced.

Gordon Strachan, a longtime friend and former teammate of McGhee, recommended him for the then-vacant Scotland manager's position in November 2007 due his success in previous managerial positions. However, despite making the shortlist of candidates, he eventually missed out on the post to George Burley.

His sensitive handling of the death of player Phil O'Donnell during a game with Dundee United enhanced his profile within the club, Lanarkshire and Scotland.

[edit] Hearts approach

On 23 May 2008, Hearts made an official approach to Motherwell asking them permission to speak to McGhee about making him their new manager, which Motherwell refused^[7]. It was reported that McGhee wanted a meeting with Vladimir Romanov to seek reassurances about team selection and squad control at Hearts before moving. McGhee was expected to move^[8], but on 26 May, Motherwell put a statement on their official site stating that McGhee will stay with them.^[9].

[edit] Aberdeen

On 12 June 2009 McGhee was confirmed as the new manager of Aberdeen F.C. after being considered the favourite for the job by both bookmakers and fans alike.^[10]

His first competitive match in charge turned out to be a complete disaster as Aberdeen were beaten 5-1 at home by Czech team SK Sigma Olomouc in the Europa League on 30 July 2009.^[11] On 6 August 2009, they lost the return leg 3-0.^[12] This 8-1 aggregate defeat is Aberdeen's heaviest in UEFA competition.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mark McGhee's WTFC.net manager profile
• Mark McGhee management career stats at Soccerbase
• McGhee has point to prove, stv interview, 18 June 2007
• Leitch glad to be back at Well, stv interview 18 June 2007