Mark is never slow to list his famous football contacts and their advice combined with his long experience of management means that he is well placed to deliver a few public pronouncements ahead of this vital game.
He started last week after the loss to Rangers. His rant in the post-match interview was out of character and it surprised the few hundred Well fans who had travelled to Govan. The team had battled hard and lost by the relatively respectable score of 2-1.
The quote - "It was the worst performance we've had since I came to Motherwell — my players should be embarrassed after that" seemed to be over the top. Only Jamie Murphy was singled out for a pat on the back.
Following the win over St Mirren the manager heaped more praise on the young striker; "He is the first one on the sheet I can assure you. There is no question. I mean I don't think we need any kidology to the French team or anything like that. Murphy will be playing".
He then seemed to retract his Ibrox remarks by pointing out that both Strachan and Smith had suggested that a reaction from the French trip was to be expected. McGhee even suggested that he had got the tactics wrong in the first leg.
The latest lurid headlines have been generated by McGhee whipping up the tension between the managers. ""Because of the contempt he showed us, I have not remembered it and I'm not going to give him the courtesy of learning it. When
There are still couple of days to go before the teams take to the field. We can expect a few more carefully calculated words from the manager before kick off.