Mark Allen - Will History Be Kinder To Him?

Most aspects of the club improved during his tenure, so I think we can say he did a good job. We’ve upgraded now and have improved further.
 
Drumchapel-Bear said:
Agreed but would we have preferred a nice guy who didn't rebuild the club as effectively as Allen did?

His personality is of no relevance to us as fans.
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May or may not have relevance to fans but may effect how he is remembered in history by people in the game.
Some of his signings may prove better than initially expected by some have not made their mark Grezda , Sadiq , Jones, Stewart and people quickly forget his inability to move on unwanted players.
So in short the jury is out for me.
 
RabSpackman said:
As with most people employed in any role at a club, Allen made some kind of a mark... did some good things, did some bad things... the club carries on.

He certainly did a few things that improved us at the time.. I never get the unholy rush to slate ex-employees of Rangers.
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He's a bit of a management speak blowhard who rubbed people the wrong way so politically it is the done thing to minimise his successes and inflate his failures whilst wishing him a long and successful career in a galaxy far far away, appears to be the subtext.
 
Drumchapel-Bear said:
He wasn't very popular when he was with us and took a lot of stick from a lot of our fans for our recruitment but will history be kinder to him?

McGregor
Goldson
Barisic
Helander
Davis
Arfield
Kamara
Aribo
Kent

The vast majority of our key players were guys brought in by him. You could even give him Roofe as well because we were keen to sign Roofe when he was leaving Leeds if Alfie left at the time.

Obviously there have been a few misses as well in the transfer market but that is bound to happen when you are shopping in the bargain basement. The only player we spent a decent fee on under him who has bombed was Grezda I think?

Mark was the guy who identified Gerrard as a potential candidate to become our manager as well.

Did he get far too much stick in hindsight when you look at the market value of some of the players he brought in now and how far the club has progressed under the manager he identified?

Wherever he is down South at the moment, I'm sure he's looking on from afar very pleased with his work at us.
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His signings could possibly make us around 100 m so surely in history will be looked at as doing good buisness
 
insanicdrunk said:
Dont know if it was Ufa he was definitely on the pitch at one of the games. He also was at the training camp. Dont think I've seen video of Ross Wilson other than the interviews he has done. In the background working away for the team, I prefer that.
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I couldn't remember which game but he ended up on the park and I think a few people where thinking wtf... I never really bothered just shows harmony throughout the Club but I take your point too mate. Need to say he did not bad with some signings though?
 
David Edgar said:
He built an infrastructure that wasn’t there before so for that I think he deserves credit.

I think RW is a step up but that’s probably understandable given his CV.
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This is something that is missed, yes he may have rubbed folk the wrong way, but he inherited pretty much nothing and laid the foundation for Wilson to come in. Am I right in saying we approached Wilson first but he wasn't interested in starting from scratch? I remember a few things flying about at the time rumours or otherwise.
 
I'm probably stating the obvious but from where we were pre Gerrard to where we are now i'm eternally grateful to everyone man woman and child who's pitched in along the way to get us here.

When finally the time comes to celebrate and the prizes are getting handed out I'll be raising a huge glass to all, no questions asked. I think it's monumental what is being achieved and i cant express the depth of gratitude to have the club we love here now and forever more into the future. Doesn't answer the question directly but it sort of does.
 
David Edgar said:
Yes he did. Publicly.

I may well be wrong but it’s always going to be subjective. I’d give MA 6/10, could be talked into a 7. Certainly wasn’t a failure but I don’t think he could have taken us to the level we’re at.
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That’s how I remember it. He done a necessary and important job starting to build the infrastructure which Wilson needed/wanted to build on both with recruitment and the academy.
 
David Edgar said:
Yes he did. Publicly.

I may well be wrong but it’s always going to be subjective. I’d give MA 6/10, could be talked into a 7. Certainly wasn’t a failure but I don’t think he could have taken us to the level we’re at.
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basically this for me but equally I don't think we'd have been able to move onto this level without his initial influence (appointing Gerrard, creating the structure to interest RW etc).
 
David Edgar said:
No.

King brought in Gerrard.

Goldson, Aribo and Kent were initially identified by Andy Scoulding. Barisic and Kamara came to attention playing against us.
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Since you rightly give Andy Scoulding credit on some of the player purchases, I am surprised you didn’t recognise his role in sourcing Steven Gerrard. It was Andy who recommended him to Mark Allen. After Mark met him he was interviewed by Stewart Robertson and Dave King was only involved at the final stage to seal the deal.
 
David Edgar said:
No.

King brought in Gerrard.

Goldson, Aribo and Kent were initially identified by Andy Scoulding. Barisic and Kamara came to attention playing against us.
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I might be wrong but I seem to remember hearing that Barisic had been on our radar before we played Osijek. MA had some knowledge of Croatian football which is why we picked up Katic.

I would agree that MA wasn’t a roaring success. Better than what we had before but we’re in a far better place now with Ross Wilson.
 
Bianconeri Bear said:
I might be wrong but I seem to remember hearing that Barisic had been on our radar before we played Osijek. MA had some knowledge of Croatian football which is why we picked up Katic.

I would agree that MA wasn’t a roaring success. Better than what we had before but we’re in a far better place now with Ross Wilson.
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I thought so too.
 
I am the least ITK person ever but in this one instance I have actually heard first hand from someone who worked with him during his time at the club that he was "difficult" and apparently self motivated.

Apparently the rumours of him wanting to get involved in training sessions aren't wide of the mark either.
 
SouthLDNBear said:
I am the least ITK person ever but in this one instance I have actually heard first hand from someone who worked with him during his time at the club that he was "difficult" and apparently self motivated.

Apparently the rumours of him wanting to get involved in training sessions aren't wide of the mark either.
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Pissing myself at this, can just imagine him rocking up giving it “right lads, what’s the plan”.
 
Surely if Ross Wilson continues the work he's doing so far history will look less kind on Allen by comparison
 
SouthLDNBear said:
Can you imagine

There was a bit of noise about it at the time. From what I was told it was not too far off the truth so who knows.

Bizarre stuff and an abrupt ending, not mentioned or seen since. Strange.
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Aye I mentioned earlier in the thread that there were rumours he was a bit “too involved” with the first team.

I think the board gave him a dignified out (can’t remember the exact reason they states). Then they approached their main target, Mr Wilson.
 
Bit of a mixed bag tbh. Kamara, Davis, Arfield, McGregor, Defoe, Aribo ,Katic, Barisic, Helander, Goldson, Kent have all been great signings. Give him a 7/10.
 
erskine bear said:
Aye I mentioned earlier in the thread that there were rumours he was a bit “too involved” with the first team.

I think the board gave him a dignified out (can’t remember the exact reason they states). Then they approached their main target, Mr Wilson.
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Interesting, sorry i hadn't read the thread through. Totally agree that it seemed to be a dignified exit for someone who probably hadn't done much wrong but ultimately wasn't a fit for the role

Harsh to vilify him, I dont think anyone really is calling him out for being a bad cùnt but perhaps just had a different perception of what the role entailed

To be 100% honest I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being announced as CEO of a budget supermarket chain. Never spoke convincingly and had a shit haircut.

Those are my metrics.
 
I always remember him and SG hugging and celebrating at UFA when we qualified. I suppose he helped get us there and into that position. We move on
 
David Edgar said:
Yes he did. Publicly.

I may well be wrong but it’s always going to be subjective. I’d give MA 6/10, could be talked into a 7. Certainly wasn’t a failure but I don’t think he could have taken us to the level we’re at.
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This, although he was like Mochi compared to Frank "Best in the Business" McParland.

Not sure whose decision it was to sign McGregor, but that was really good, decisive management. I think a lot of us had become desensitized to the averageness of Wes.
 
Bianconeri Bear said:
I might be wrong but I seem to remember hearing that Barisic had been on our radar before we played Osijek. MA had some knowledge of Croatian football which is why we picked up Katic.

I would agree that MA wasn’t a roaring success. Better than what we had before but we’re in a far better place now with Ross Wilson.
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I mean, there would be something up if we didn't make a move after the way he played against us.

Guy Mowbray - the BBC/MOTD main commentator - was doing our game in Germany last night and he wouldn't shut up about Barisic. I think he mentioned, literally, four times about how class his left foot was.
 
prenzlauerbear said:
This, although he was like Mochi compared to Frank "Best in the Business" McParland.

Not sure whose decision it was to sign McGregor, but that was really good, decisive management. I think a lot of us had become desensitized to the averageness of Wes.
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I can't believe I forgot about Frank. He seemed to have no idea of what level the SPL was and a very strange guy.

It was MA's first DoF appointment and we had no infrastructure in place. How much of what's there now did he put in place? He did at least as well as could be expected and the squad was worth an awful lot more than it was when he arrived. A stepping stone but I expect just a footnote.
 
I suspect winning the title this season will exorcise a few ghosts for us and perhaps make some of us feel differently about certain players & staff that were with us during our journey back to the top.
 
As usual the truths probably somewhere in the middle. Not as bad as some make out, but not at the standard we have now either. I dont think I remember him bad mouthing us, so good luck to the guy.
 
Average DoF who was alright at his job,nothing more,nothing less.

Quite a few people around the club thought he was a bit of a plonker.

Didn’t cover himself in glory along with Murty & Traynor during the situation with Miller & Wallace.

He might have been credited publicly with suggesting Gerrard as manager but it’s my understanding it was King & Dalglish’s baby.
 
Haining84 said:
Average DoF who was alright at his job,nothing more,nothing less.

Quite a few people around the club thought he was a bit of a plonker.

Didn’t cover himself in glory along with Murty & Traynor during the situation with Miller & Wallace.

He might have been credited publicly with suggesting Gerrard as manager but it’s my understanding it was King & Dalglish’s baby.
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There’s a name I’ve not heard for a while . Is he still involved?
 
Drumchapel-Bear said:
Nice spin that David but Gerrard wouldn't be here without Allen planting the seed in Dave Kings head.
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I may be wrong but I thought it all came about because of Kings support for Liverpool. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that King was at a Liverpool march just before the Gerrard rumours started.
 
BoyciesDa said:
who‘s Wilson sold
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Fee’s for

Grezda
Atakayi
Houston
Herrera
Rudden
Finlayson (potentially)
Docherty
McCrorie
Polster


All players we’ve managed to get fees for as opposed to paying them off previously.

Now the money isn’t millions but that’s not possible when you look at those names. I’d hazard a guess that’s brought in between £1.5-£2m, probably more once we get the Ross & Greg add ons.

It’s all about getting as much as we possibly can for these guys who are deadwood.

Wilson seems to be very good at that.
 
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GovanFront4 said:
I may be wrong but I thought it all came about because of Kings support for Liverpool. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that King was at a Liverpool march just before the Gerrard rumours started.
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King’s English team is Liverpool so there’s been quite a few times over the years he’s been in the directors box at Anfield.He’s also big pals with Kenny Dalglish.
 
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David Edgar said:
He left the club in a better place than he found it and for that I’m grateful. I just don’t think his reputation will significantly strengthen with time. Wish him all the best in future, think the change has had a benefit.
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As David says he left the club in a better place than he found it so for that he will always have some gratitude in the bank from me. I dont know much about the guy other than what I seen of him through interviews and him being around the touchline during big games which I must admit did come across a bit strange.

Im sure over time more will be said about his time at Rangers by the people who worked alongside him so I will leave judgment until that time comes, if it ever does.

But for now I will just sit back and keep enjoying being a Rangers fan again and seeing us in the media for all the right reasons.
 
Haining84 said:
King’s English team is Liverpool so there’s been quiet a few times over the years he’s been in the directors box at Anfield.He’s also big pals with Kenny Dalglish.
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yeah mate I always thought that’s where the link to Gerrard came from. Surely it can’t be a coincidence?
 
Haining84 said:
I was told it was King & Dalglish who came up with Gerrard mate and Allen getting credit at his unveiling was just lip service.
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Interesting, I wonder if it was something that just came up in conversation, or either approached the other for advice.
 
RenfrewBear72 said:
Think it was more him as a person than his work that put a lot of people off him.
IIRC he was on the park celebrating in UFA and a lot of folk were wondering wtf was going on, also rumours he was a bit of a dickhead towards certain people at Rangers (unsure how true).

He laid the foundation for Ross Wilson to come in though and as you pointed out was involved in laying the groundwork for many key players for us. Clearly someone who is very good at what he does and isn't scared of a long term project, fair play to him.
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I know a lad who’s involved in the IT side at Ibrox and Auchenhowie and he told me Mark Allen was a bellend who was almost universally hated by all the staff.
 
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