Gannon was named Manager of the Month for October 2009, but he warned of a clear out in the January transfer window. His young team impressed, but proved to be inconsistent. Gannon had a dispute with the SFA head of referee development Hugh Dallas, following Gannon's criticism of Scottish referees. Gannon had claimed the standard of refereeing was "bringing the game into disrepute". He suggested a league table for referees. He then felt the official response to his criticisms to be disrespectful. Following this he temporarily refused to speak to the media, claiming he did not wish to cause further controversy. He also criticised his predecessor Mark McGhee, after McGhee speculated in the press on possible transfers of Motherwell players. As well as this he had a public-falling out with club captain Stephen Craigan.