Mark McGhee insists he should never have been sacked by Motherwell as he prepares to return to Fir Park this afternoon with his Dundee side.
The new Dens Park gaffer was at the helm in ML1 between 2007-2009 and 2015-2017 and during his last spell he helped the team qualify for European football and took them to a fifth place finish in the top-flight before a dip in results saw him sacked the following season.
Today he returns to his former stopping ground aiming to haul Dundee away from the bottom of the table and as he reflected on his time with the Steelmen, he insisted he should never have been given the boot a second time and launched a defence of his tenure, which included bringing through the likes of Chris Cadden.
McGhee said: “I was really disappointed and I felt let down.
“I was given a brief by Les (Hutchison) and I was given 18 months to fulfil it.
“I did it in five months and then when it got a little bit sticky the following season, as far as I am concerned we had injuries and were weakened and I got sacked.
“They got me in because they were worried about the state of the place and the club going down.
“They gave me a list of objectives and every single one I fulfilled, including keeping us up and we finished mid-table.
“There was all sorts of stuff, like balancing the books, getting young players in the team, which we did with Chris Cadden and others.
“They wanted to find an identity for the club and I came up with pride, the personal responsibility in developing excellence and I was trying to weave that into the young boys.
“At the same time I felt pride was a word that Motherwell could really associate with the steel and all that.
“I balanced the books, got the young boys in the team and kept them up.
“The season before could have only been a success and to leave the way I did was disappointing.
“It just didn’t make sense to me at all. It came as a surprise and I was disappointed.”
Despite his exit, the 64-year-old former Scotland assistant manager stressed he has no hard feelings towards the club.
He added: "I am also not someone who holds grudges.
“I have spoken to Alan (Burrows, the Motherwell chief executive) and I will be looking forward to seeing all the boys that were there when I was there.”
Meanwhile, McGhee's men have been his with a setback ahead of the clash following two positive Covid tests and a number of close contacts being forced to isolate.
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