The Ballad of Charlie McGhee – 2nd Stanza

mask0991 said:
Congrats on avoiding relegation. Things can only get better for McGhee and Peterhead from here on.

Are you sticking with Peterhead for a few more seasons, or are you looking to move?
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At this stage happy to see out at least another couple of seasons with Peterhead - would love to get them into at least the Scottish Championship.

PatrickLFC said:
Congrats on a brilliant turnaround, hopefully you can start implementing your style next season! :)
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Yep - will be a very different squad next season mate.
 
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30 April 2016 - Stuff it...


Seeing as this was the final game of the season for Peterhead McGhee decided to dispense with the narrow diamond and see what players might be worthwhile keeping around next season when he moves back to the wide diamond.

The wide shape itself seems to be conducive to more possession and shots than the narrow version but seeing as the team weren't as familiar with it they didn't get the result today despite their play being much better.

Faissal El Bakhtaoui was the Dunfermline hero today with a well taken hatrick.

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Peterhead would dominate the second half of the match and Connor Murray would continue his good form to finish the season finding the net in the 80th minute.

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That would be it for Peterhead though - despite their general dominance in this game there were no more goals forthcoming. A disappointing third loss on the trot then to finish the season, on the plus side McGhee now has a few months to instill his own style and bring in his kind of players.

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Following the match McGhee realised he is going to have to find a number of replacements though. He was handed the list of players coming off contract and was told that the vast majority of them have indicated that they are unwilling to re-sign. 'In all honesty,' McGhee thought to himself. 'Some of these guys have a far too inflated opinion of themselves!!'

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McGhee then began focussing on the best players in league 2 who were coming off contract. Whilst he was communicating with them and scouts an email appeared in his inbox from Socceroos head coach Ange Postecoglu. Ange had seen the work Charlie had done at the Jets and wanted him to apply to be the Australian Under 23's or Olyroos manager.

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McGhee soon applied for the job and shortly after it was official - in addition to his responsibilities as Peterhead manager he would be taking on the Under 23's role.

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30 July 2016 – Offseason Musings



Given the significant turnover Charlie spent the entire preseason working on implementing the 442 wide diamond that he wants to play with both Peterhead and the Olyroos squad. With Peterhead there was definitely mixed results but in Charlie’s mind there wasn’t much to be concerned about. He had deliberately scheduled a number of away friendlies at much larger opposition with a view to testing where Peterhead stood and raising some much needed funds. The highlight of the preseason was undoubtedly the draw at Ibrox against Scottish giants Rangers where Peterhead were every bit their equal.


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Leading up to the Olympics in Rio McGhee agonized over his squad selection. Able to field a total of 3 overage players he settled on selecting those that ‘filled the gaps’ in his squad the best and ended up deciding to take Matt Ryan, Jason Davidson and Ryan McGowan along with the others.


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Prior to the Olympics themselves that take place almost concurrently with the season opening for Peterhead they played 3 friendlies, the Tunisia result was disappointing but the Olyroos played well in their matches against Brazil and the current gold medalists Mexico.


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During the Olyroos preparation though the team was beset with injuries. No less than 5 players picked up either knocks or injuries that will keep them out of the Olympics. Of those, the injuries to the players McGhee could least afford was the knock Matty Ryan picked up that will likely sideline him for the group matches and the unfortunate injury to probably Australian Football’s brightest young talent Daniel Da Silva that will see him miss the entire tournament…


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Prior the season proper starting for Peterhead McGhee had 2 cup games to navigate. The first saw them handily beaten in the Challenge Cup away at Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers. Given they are from the league above Peterhead McGhee wasn’t too hard on the boys but in reality Peterhead had dominated this game and only some very average goalkeeping had allowed Raith the victory. All in all though there were plenty of positive signs to take out of this game for Charlie.


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Next up Peterhead welcomed Airdire to Balmoor Stadium for the first round of the league cup. Again Peterhead dominated but this time the also ended up on the right side of the scoresheet. Much better from the Blue Toon.


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Finally the odds were released for this year League 1. Like last season when in charge of the Jets Charlie couldn’t believe what the bookmakers where thinking and promptly went down and placed a reasonably large bet on Peterhead to win the league.


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OLYMPICS UPDATE
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Group B Game 1 – Portugal


Wow, Portugal aint messing around!! By including Christiano Ronaldo in the squad Portugal had made a statement of intent – they were here to play and here to win. Unfortunately they didn’t quite account for the famous Aussie spirit that seems to come to the fore whenever we seem like the most under of underdogs. Great win here and not just that - we had done it playing nice football as well!


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Group B Game 2 – South Africa


Charlie lead his men out here knowing that there was every chance that they could be certain of qualification with a win. They left it late, and until they were a man down, to score the winner after allowing the South Africans to fight back from 2 goals down.


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This then mean they had qualified for the knockout stages with a game remaining.

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Group B Game 3 – Canada


McGhee then rung up the changes for the following match against Canada. Matt Ryan passed a late fitness test but McGhee decided to hold him out seeing as he knew there would be tougher tests ahead. As such, despite being by far the better side, the Olyroos never quite hit the heights of those first two game and could only draw. It would be good enough to take first place in the group – an amazing achievement in itself – and lock in a matchup with current goal medal holders Mexico in the quarter finals who the Aussie’s already have a bit of experience against!


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Quarter final – Mexico

Unfortunately this one was over at the half hour mark when Antonis received his second yellow for a bad tackle. There really isn't a whole lot more to say - we tried hard but being a man down against a quality Mexican outfit meant it was a bridge too far for us today...

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Being that the Olyroos don't play that often this mean it was the end of the road for McGhee as coach of the Under 23's. It was apparent though that he enjoyed his time and, should the opportunity arise to be involved with the national teams again in the future it is definitely something he would consider.

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6 August 2016 – Dour Draw



Despite being in Rio for the Olympics Charlie was very much in charge still of the Peterhead match. He had meticulously planned out the match and provided new Assistant Manager Craig Johnstone with a subs plan and contingencies in case the overall formation and scheme wasn’t working


Unfortunately though this didn’t make a lick of difference and nothing he did could convert the general dominance Peterhead enjoyed in this game to goals. Whilst it wasn’t the worst of starts it certainly feels more like 2 points dropped here rather than a point gained.


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10 August 2015 – Good, our first catch of the day



Next up in the league Peterhead played host to Airdrie. Unlike the Brechin match McGhee was able to stay in constant communication with Craig Johnstone and by watching on BBC Alba the BBC iPlayer service so he was more active in calling the shots.


This time round the dominance did result in 3 points as Rory McAllister got on the scoresheet in the 14th minute when he tucked away a McNeill cross. Ewan McNeil, who signed on a free transfer after his Berwick Rangers contract ran out at the culmination of last season, has been somewhat of a revelation so far at this early stage of the season and Charlie will be looking for that to continue.

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So that was Peterhead’s first three points of the season locked up. More pleasing though was the performance, Peterhead, buoyed on by their new signings, seem to be dominating matches much more easily this season.


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Impressive effort with the Olyroos, and promising start to the season for Peterhead!
 
PatrickLFC said:
Impressive effort with the Olyroos, and promising start to the season for Peterhead!
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Cheers mate! Was a bit gutted in the QF of the Olympics as even losing Antonis early in that match it still took until the 80th minute for them to score against our 10 men...

Peterhead are looking good this season. Improved the overall quality in the squad and, frankly, anything less than the playoffs would be a huge disappointment.
 
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13 August 2016 – Gggrrrrrr….



“YOU DO REALISE YOU COST THIS TEAM 3 POINTS HERE DON’T YOU!!! WHEN YOU GET BACK FROM YOUR SUSPENSION YOU’D ****** BETTER MAKE UP FOR THIS! A RED CARD FOR UNGENTLEMANLY CONDUCT – ARE YOU KIDDING?! AT LEAST KICK SOMEONE IF YOU ARE GOING TO GET SENT OFF!!!” McGhee was apoplectic.


Earlier McGhee had watched his team work their way into a game winning position after falling behind at promotion favourites Dunfermline. McCluskey had put Dunfermline ahead in the 34th minute, firing home from close range.


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After that it was all Peterhead. They were dominating and it was only a matter of time until things were even. It ended up taking half an hour through until Shane Sutherland made the breakthrough – McGowan did some nice lead up work down the left before laying off to Sutherland who couldn’t miss.



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5 Minutes later and Peterhead were deservedly in the lead. Goal machine Rory McAllister found himself on the end of a through ball and slotted home.


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Then came Scott Ross’ moment of madness. He has been practically an ever-present in Charlie’s lineups since McGhee took over at Peterhead but he let down his boss here. From the free kick awarded for Ross’ misdemeanor Dunfermline equalized through an Andy Geggan volley.


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Peterhead tried to stay in touch and immediately went into a defensive shape – it made no difference though as 3 minutes later Dunfermline were ahead as McCluskey had his second of the day.


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“GARBAGE, F*!KING GARBAGE!!!” McGhee wasn’t happy with Ross and boy was he letting him know it in the dressing rooms.


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20 August 2017 – Back on track



Prior to the match against Livingston McGhee saw that Brazil had in fact ran away with the goal medal at the Olympics for football beating Mexico in the final. That made McGhee feel a little better as the team that had needed 60 minutes against his 10 men to win had made the final. In truth though McGhee couldn’t help but feel that he could have lead his men to at least a silver medal – Oh well some unfinished business in 4 years maybe then…


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Livingston had been relegated from the Scottish Championship last season so McGhee was expecting a tough match here. Although the overall shots were reasonably close the match was always in Peterhead’s control. They took the lead in only the 7th minute when wide midfielder Kyle Wilkie stole in at the far post and tucked home a McAllister flick on.


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10 minutes later and goal machine Rory McAllister was at it again. McGowan picking out the striker with another key pass and McAllister thumped it in.


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At this point Peterhead was doing it easy but on the hour mark a moment of complacency cost them when Dylan Easton scored a neat header from a Cooper cross.


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‘Keeper Caraux had a few saves to make for Peterhead but they too could have extended their lead but for the Livingston shot stopper so the 2-1 win for Peterhead was a fair result.


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27 August 2016 - Bit better


Peterhead's league cup run had come to an end earlier this week when they were dispatched by Scottish Premiership side Ross County. It was actually McGhee's Australian Under 23 starlet Jackson Irvine who did most of the damage with two goals.

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Peterhead then took on Forfar - their third away game on the trot. In what was a relatively dour struggle it was goal machine Rory McAlister who broke the deadlock in the 70th minute after being played in by McCluskey.

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Another solid win then for the Blue Toon that sees them climb up to 4th on the table.

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10 September 2016 - Underwhelming...


Newly promoted East Fife were the next opponents for the Blue Toon. Fife, playing with an enthusiasm that comes from finishing the previous season on a high against a team whose season didn't end so well, started brightly and took the lead in the 10th minute when Kevin Smith got on the end of a Murray cross. To this point it had been all East Fife.

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That was it for them though - from this point on Peterhead were on the ascendancy, and took the lead a minute later through left back Steven Noble after he bamboozled the Fife defense with a silky run.

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Unfortunately, despite their general dominance from that point on, Peterhead couldn't find the winning goal and had to settle for a point. Disappointing then for Charlie who realises he needs to find a way to get this team to convert their control of games into goals.

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Just caught back up with this, Charlie seems to be doing a great job at Peterhead!

Congrats on the Aussie appointment & performance too!
 
Lippo255 said:
Just caught back up with this, Charlie seems to be doing a great job at Peterhead!

Congrats on the Aussie appointment & performance too!
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Cheers mate! Definitely doing much better this season.
 
Also just caught up :p Brilliant Presentation makes mine look like its done by a 5 year old :p

Keep up the performances looking good :)
 
thejoshster said:
Also just caught up :p Brilliant Presentation makes mine look like its done by a 5 year old :p

Keep up the performances looking good :)
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Thanks Josh - really hoping we can win through to the Championship this season!
 
Looking good, hopefully get promoted next year. Random question but, is Caraux still your starting keeper, I'm a massive fan of him?
 
ninjaskill said:
Looking good, hopefully get promoted next year. Random question but, is Caraux still your starting keeper, I'm a massive fan of him?
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Yeah - he's been injured a bit lately but when fit he is first choice.
 
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20 September 2016 - Stalemate


Following the Alloa spectacle McGhee and Peterhead next faced Stenhousmuir away at Ochilview Park. The match was an extremely even affair.

In the 27th minute Stenhousmuir took the lead when James Campbell couldn't get out of his own way and he managed to score an own goal with really no one pressuring him.

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Minutes later and Peterhead were level. Anton Brady reacted quickest and got on the end of Cheyne cross before tucking home and restoring parity.

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That would be all the scoring at the teams played each other to a standstill. The draw was really a fair result and reflection of the game.

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