GG Riva

Yogi may have "stepped down" but he's not a happy bunny, S'Ally. I believe he was ready to stay on but was raging when he heard the Pars were talking to other managers about "his" job. While it's understandable that he would find this upsetting, it should not have come as a total shock. He was set the modest target of keeping us in the Championship and given a budget to bring in a number of new players in January. He failed spectacularly.

Bobby Moore is a good shout but I was thinking about Noble's one club career. Moore went on to play for Fulham for a few seasons when he left West Ham and finished up playing in the USA. I know Norrie played a handful of games for the Blue Brazil before arriving at EEP, but they're not significant enough to bar him from One Club Legend status. 😀

West Ham's Norrie.

It absolutely would be more toxic than Grant's final days in charge, Ross. That's why I was only half serious in throwing AJ's name in the hat. Besides, there's an old saying you should never go back. AJ ignored that and went back to QOS and look at what happened to him.

Stuart Petrie is a good shout, but I know for a fact he didn't apply after Grant was sacked. If he doesn't apply again, should the Board head hunt him? Ooerr..... I also know that Dick Campbell did apply last time but wasn't interviewed. Will he apply again and would he be interviewed this time? I doubt it. I don't know myself how serious this is but Alan Johnston skooshed League 1 with both QOS and the Pars so he knows what it takes. He also did relatively well in a stronger Championship than we had last season, until the wheels came off in his last season at EEP. He's unemployed now and would probably jump at a 12 month contract. Petrie would be my first choice if he can be persuaded to come.

Right decision. He failed to keep us up. Many fans saying they wouldn't be buying a ST for next season.

We're often fed the narrative that the fans of Sellick and Sevco are two cheeks of the same @rse. It was recently pointed out that Celtic fans were given a Fair Play award by UEFA when they played Porto in the 2003 EL final. Apparently, their behaviour was relatively harmless, even though copious amounts of alcohol were consumed. Some of those who follow the Ibrox club cannot make similar claims. Think back to their two previous finals in Manchester and Barcelona, where gratuitous violence and wanton destruction of property was the norm. Eta. Not saying Celtic have no idiot fans because clearly they do, but they're just not at the level of the idiots who follow Rangers.

According to the BBC, who have been going into overdrive with excitement this week, as many as 100,000 Rangers fans will have descended on Seville for tonight`s Europa League Final with Eintracht. I sincerely hope I`m wrong, but - win or lose - I fear Scottish football`s image could well take an international battering tonight, with the Follow Follow legions either celebrating their team`s success or drowning their sorrows. My apprehension appears to be shared by Ibrox legends John Grieg and Graeme Souness, who have felt it necessary to come out and ask the fans to remember they are ambassadors of the club and to behave themselves. If Barcelona and Manchester are anything to go by, their appeal will fall on deaf ears.

Every chance Dom is doing a bit of **** stirring. He and Hughes obviously didn't get on. Why would he know what's happening when no official announcement has been made. I can't imagine any director tipping him off.

The guy who told me Owen Coyle was going to Queens Park also told me Dundee had lined up Jack Ross.

Why today? Can you no wait till Monday? Patience laddie, patience. 🙂

Hughes' now notorious rant at Raith gives a clear insight into his character. He was rightly angry at his players' pathetic performance in Paisley, when they lost 5-0 to fellow relegation strugglers, St Mirren, but to call them out publicly (and on film) in the way he did, was always going to be counter productive. Why did he do that? Perhaps he just couldn't help himself or he knew that he wouldn't be at Starks Park the following season, no matter what, so he just gave the players both barrels. I initially thought his bluntness was quite refreshing and even funny, but soon after I realised he'd lost any chance of keeping Raith in the Championship. Are there some echoes of that this season? Did he **** off a number of players who then didn't give 100% when he needed them to, or he couldn't risk playing for fear of exactly this?

The statement is totally non committal, but I tend to agree with you in that if Hughes was staying it would have said as much.

Heard the same stories about Thomas and Cole, RP. My source has been reliable in the past.

Thanks for the clarification, mate. Maybe I should have headed my post In a perfect world and it would have made more sense. Nor did I mean to imply that only the top managers have all the necessary attributes, although given they're managing elite footballers with egos to match, they're perhaps even more essential. By that, I mean that managing a team like the Pars has to be easier than managing Liverpool or Man City because you have a smaller squad and a larger proportion of younger players who should be more malleable than a large, star studded squad of experienced players, who may feel they know better than the gaffer. This thread was aimed at our current situation. I believe that this past season the club assembled a squad containing a significant number of players who weren't easy to manage and that both PG and JH fell a bit short in trying to get the best out of them. Not their fault perhaps, although some managers do their homework very thoroughly and try to ensure that the players they sign will be an asset on and off the pitch.

I've read and re-read your post, Digs and I can't for the life of me work out what you disagree with. (Maybe I'm a bit dim.) I agree that man management and psychology are paramount, but a manager cannot be tactically naive, or he can only take a team so far. Jim Leishman is a case in point. Btw, the greatest manager of them all, imo, was Jock Stein. He was brilliant wherever he went, working with the players he inherited, spending the odd bag of peanuts to supplement his squad.

Well of course it is, Raymie, you cynical old git! It's ironic that Celtic were the last Scottish team to play a EL final in Seville. Although the number of fans who made the trip increases exponentially every time it's mentioned, reports at the time suggested they were generally well behaved in spite of almost drinking the city dry. I wish I could feel similarly optimistic about the behaviour of the True Blues.

the manager of a football club would have an impressive array of skills in man management, tactical acumen, psychology etc. He would assemble a squad of talented footballers who all had a great attitude, worked hard and never knew when they were beaten. In addition, they would always put the needs of the team before their own and never behave in a way which would disrupt dressing room harmony. Furthermore, the manager would ensure that every player in his squad was happy, including those who weren`t regular starters. Perhaps the only managers who come close to this ideal in these islands are Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. It`s an almost impossible remit, so they`re worth every penny of their considerable salaries.

Hughes obviously likes midfielders who are "comfy on the ball." Unfortunately, none of them seem able to play incisive passes or get up and support our lone striker, meaning we have almost zero penetration.

I'd been telling myself, we'd been lucky to squeak into the play offs and we'd be OK because they're weighted in favour of the highest ranking team, with the 2nd leg at home. I didn't see that coming yesterday after getting a draw at Firhill, but thought Airdrie would run us close next week. In retrospect, our relegation was confirmed yesterday, but the writing was on the wall as far back as last October. I looked the other way. As gutted now as I was when the Pars were relegated from the top flight 50 years ago, after a decade of unparalleled success.

I can almost guarantee there will be a bonus and it will only be payable if we stay up, rather than on any individual game. We could, in theory, win 3 of the 4 games and still be relegated.

Can't argue with your logic, Berry, but that's not how it works in the real world. If the players aren't on a bonus, they'll still try hard but if there's a decent bonus, they'll try even harder. That's how it works even for elite footballers. As has been said further up, you'd be cutting off your nose to spite your face. You only pay if we stay up and it'll cost us a lot more if we go down, so nothing to lose by offering one, even if it can be argued that they don't really deserve one.

I'm glad you're not doing the motivational, pre-match team talk, RP. 😃 The players gave up in the 2nd half v QOS when they heard Ayr score, which is unprofessional but understandable. I don't believe they will take that into tonight's game. The focus will be completely different. The players know they have a job to do and unlike Friday, their destiny is in their own hands. I'd be surprised if there isn't a nice little bonus on offer for staying up. Relegation would cost the club a lot more. I don't think there will be more than a goal either way tonight. For some reason, I think it could even finish 0-0

Given the club isn't exactly rolling in money, it's odds on Lewis will be allowed to leave, PP. Good player though he undoubtedly is and able to play right across the back, he would be invaluable if he could stay fit and injury free. Unfortunately, his time at EEP has been bedevilled by a combination of bad luck, illness and injury. As you point out, the Pars have been very supportive of him, in the hope that he could put these issues behind him, but they'll now probably feel that they can no longer continue to pay him for sitting on the sidelines.

Fan power. 💪 😃