the saline hill puma Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 (edited) 57 minutes ago, SanguinePar said: Don't agree at all about a clearout being essential if we get promoted - on the contrary, I think what we need is a bit of continuity from season to season. Starting again from scratch at the same time as moving up a level sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. McPake has built a team who are solid defensively, and just lacking that creativity up front and in midfield to really take the next step - if we go up, then that squad will largely have eared their shot at playing at the next level, and there's every reason to think that they can shine if bolstered by a little bit of extra quality. personally for next season if we go up id keep very few of the team, currently my team list would be (assuming we stick with the systems we have used most of this season): New GK Comrie (if he wants to stay) Fisher (assuming we can keep him) New Middle Centre back New left centre back Edwards (if he wants to sign a new deal Hamilton New Cm New Cm New wide attacking player New wide attacking player New Striker Subs Mehmet Benedictus + one other central defender New Full back cover Todd New midfielder plus New attacking options Edited December 7, 2022 by the saline hill puma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Par_fect Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 4 minutes ago, the saline hill puma said: personally for next season id keep very few of the team, currently my team list would be (assuming we stick with the systems we have used most of this season): New GK Comrie (if he wants to stay) Fisher (assuming we can keep him) New Middle Centre back New left centre back Edwards (if he wants to sign a new deal Hamilton New Cm New Cm New wide attacking player New wide attacking player New Striker Subs Mehmet Benedictus + one other central defender New Full back cover Todd New midfielder plus New attacking options so completely obliterate this seasons team and start from scratch, that thinking would get us relegated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the saline hill puma Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 6 minutes ago, Par_fect said: so completely obliterate this seasons team and start from scratch, that thinking would get us relegated A large part of this squad did get us relegated and imo are not good enough to get us towards the top of the championship, which will be our aim if we do go up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymie Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 I'd suggest a season of consolidation would be the target unless we are prepared to throw a lot of money at it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymie Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 On 06/12/2022 at 11:44, Par_fect said: Well there you go what do you mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 If we go up, we should be aiming to get into the promotion play-offs. Ayr could easily have gone down last season and are currently top of the league, thanks to a couple of shrewd signings. Re the post a few above, I'm not sure what more Benedictus needs to do this season to prove he could be more than a bench-warmer next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosythpar Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Par_fect said: so completely obliterate this seasons team and start from scratch, that thinking would get us relegated The championship is a lot harder than league 1 and most of the team got us relegated last season. Not the whole team but a big clear out will be needed, a new strikeforce for starters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Par_fect Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 1 hour ago, rosythpar said: The championship is a lot harder than league 1 and most of the team got us relegated last season. Not the whole team but a big clear out will be needed, a new strikeforce for starters. different manager mate, vibe around the squad is different too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 Aye, most of the first team squad have managed to play in the Championship and not get relegated. If we go up, things will obviously evolve but I don't think we need to be going full Nottingham Forest. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 3 hours ago, Raymie said: I'd suggest a season of consolidation would be the target unless we are prepared to throw a lot of money at it? No, this sort of thinking needs to get in the bin IMO. There's no consolidation in the Championship, you're either going for the title, trying for the promotion playoffs, or worrying about relegation, very few teams ever have a season where they dotter around worried about none. I haven't got the stats to hand, but I'd be confident in saying that the majority of teams promoted over the past decade have challenged for, or gotten into the promotion playoffs in there first season up. Due to the short term nature of contracts and cylindrical nature of football in this country any success you do have will be fleeting as your better players will be picked off, need to hit when the winning feeling is still around the squad IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted December 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 50 minutes ago, Grant said: I haven't got the stats to hand, but I'd be confident in saying that the majority of teams promoted over the past decade have challenged for, or gotten into the promotion playoffs in there first season up. I was curious, so I went and had a look: 21-22 League One promotion Cove (now in 8th in Championship) Queens Park (now 3rd in Championship) 20-21 League One promotion Partick Thistle (finished 4th in Championship 21-22) 19-20 League One promotion Raith Rovers (finished 3rd in Championship 20-21) 18-19 League One promotion Arbroath (finished 5th in Championship 19-20) 17-18 League One promotion Ayr (finished 4th in Championship 18-19) Alloa (finished 8th in Championship 18-19) 16-17 League One promotion Livingston (finished 2nd in Championship 17-18) Brechin (finished 10th in Championship 17-18) So, of the last 9 teams to be promoted from League 1, 4 made the playoffs the following season (1, Livi, successfully) and 3 did not, while at present one from last year is in a playoff spot and one from last year is not. Pretty evenly split. Notable though that only Livingston were successful in getting promoted to the top flight either the year after they went up or even since then. No one else has managed it, and 2 of the teams promoted have since been relegated back to League 1 or lower. EDIT - I didn't notice the word "decade" but tbh, I can't be bothered checking any more. However I do know that the next season back (15/16) saw us promoted. We finished 5th the following year, and the best we managed since was 4th, before relegation again last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastendtales Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 If we do go up, we should be looking at the promotion play offs without a doubt. We were in them under AJ and Craw, no reason why we can't progress to that as a minimum. There's no team in the championship that shouldn't be well above our level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secure Par Posted December 7, 2022 Report Share Posted December 7, 2022 WHEN we get promoted as champions I think McPake will get rid of the majority of players that contracts have ended. Don’t get me wrong the players have stepped up that were here last season but imo the team needs a freshness to start in the Championship. Wide attacking/Strikers are needed plus I would like a Moffat type striker who can link up the play plus score goals. Our defence would be able to cope in the championship easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digs Posted December 8, 2022 Report Share Posted December 8, 2022 On 06/12/2022 at 13:22, rosythpar said: Yeah it has been a hard watch and that's including some of our victories at home. I know a lot of people feel the same way about the home performances. Teams will be happy enough to come to east end sit in and come away with a point but it's up to the management team to come up with tactics to break teams down. Far too many draws at home which hopefully wont come back to bite us. The away form has been very good. If we do manage to get promoted we will have to be brutal and have a big clear out of most of the players out of contract. I don't think anyone is under any illusion that we'd need to strengthen but the last few years are prove that wholesale clearing of the decks is more harmful than helpful. Also, whilst McPake does need to have his own squad, you only need to listen to him talk about the squad as a whole, that he rates a lot of them. Having said that he also acknowledges that he will always welcome players better than we have and that is the strategy for recruitment. I absolutely disagree that we've been so utterly atrocious to watch though, it just isn't true. It's not been pretty as I said, but we've been far from anything remotely close to bad. To say otherwise seems harsh at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superally Posted December 8, 2022 Report Share Posted December 8, 2022 All this talk about having a squad that will challenge in the championship need to be reminded that we need to win league 1 first! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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