Tartan Army Par Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 7 minutes ago, SanguinePar said: What, if anything, will be the thing to give us a bit of hope and anticipation this time round? A change of playing style and some good signings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 (edited) 13 minutes ago, SanguinePar said: Thing is, in a way there really shouldn't be apathy - having come up last season, we consolidated our place, challenged for the playoffs until late in the season and next year have Falkirk and hopefully Rovers to look forward to. What, if anything, will be the thing to give us a bit of hope and anticipation this time round? I disagree with the first statement, we finished 6th much closer to being in the **** play-off or outright relegation than being in the top 4 or a title contender, that's not good enough even with taking into consideration our injuries, which at least some of have been admitted to being poorly managed. To create that buzz the club need to clearly show the intent is to gain promotion within the next year and sign players of proven quality that can get fans excited, show that they care more about first team success than anything else. we can't continue with the 'but academy/training ground/it's a long term project ' attitude, it doesn't wash Edited May 19 by parsforlife 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piracy Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 How about the club outline a clear plan and strategy for this season. That they demostrate their leadership by doing so. It only needs to be a high level overview. Surely a concise and coherent plan of sorts isn't beyond us 🤔 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 5 minutes ago, parsforlife said: I disagree with the first statement Which part though? It's all true :-) My point though, is that despite those individual things being true on paper, it really wasn't satisfying at all. And as you say we were closer to relegation than promotion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 12 minutes ago, Tartan Army Par said: A change of playing style and some good signings. Well, let's hope so. But will it happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piracy Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 3 minutes ago, parsforlife said: I disagree with the first statement, we finished 6th much closer to being in the **** play-off or outright relegation than being in the top 4 or a title contender, that's not good enough even with taking into consideration our injuries, which at least some of have been admitted to being poorly managed. To create that buzz the club need to clearly show the intent is to gain promotion within the next year and sign players of proven quality that can get fans excited, show that they care more about first team success than anything else. we can't continue with the 'but academy/training ground/it's a long term project ' attitude, it doesn't wash The training/academy facility to date was mostly grants and a 6 figure loan from Fussball Gmbh, nothing from the clubs cash reserves. Yet we have 2 seasons of considerable consecutive losses. I'm still confused what effect one has on the other and how it all comes together regarding managing priorities. Whatever happens putting out the best team on the park is a priority imo. I'm in no way advocating shi* or bust, but, there needs to be a deliberate push for top 4 minimum this season. Let's hope the club have some magic up their sleeves. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 1 hour ago, SanguinePar said: Which part though? It's all true :-) My point though, is that despite those individual things being true on paper, it really wasn't satisfying at all. And as you say we were closer to relegation than promotion. I guess what I disagree on is the suggestion staying in the league and a half hearted effort at making the playoffs shouldn't result in apathy, I think that's a natural result. 1 hour ago, Piracy said: I'm still confused what effect one has on the other and how it all comes together regarding managing priorities. Whatever happens putting out the best team on the park is a priority imo. I'm in no way advocating shi* or bust, but, there needs to be a deliberate push for top 4 minimum this season. Part 1, I am too, I don't understand why our first team isn't one funded/ pushing to be the best when apparently other projects are outside funded Part 2 fully agree 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 3 minutes ago, parsforlife said: I guess what I disagree on is the suggestion staying in the league and a half hearted effort at making the playoffs shouldn't result in apathy, I think that's a natural result. Oh, I don't think people are wrong for being apathetic, far from it, I've felt that way since they changed the name of the stadium tbh, or at least that was the start of it. I just mean that if you told someone all those facts about how this season had gone, it doesn't sound too bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmcno1 Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 4 hours ago, SanguinePar said: Oh, I don't think people are wrong for being apathetic, far from it, I've felt that way since they changed the name of the stadium tbh, or at least that was the start of it. I just mean that if you told someone all those facts about how this season had gone, it doesn't sound too bad. I won’t be buying a season ticket (or card or whatever the marketing guru wants to call it this season), but that’s purely because I won’t be home enough to make it anywhere near viable. If I was home, id buy one, but then I’d buy one pretty much no matter what. Apathy is a great word for the general mood from folk I know from what I can pick up about how they are about the Pars right now. Personally I found this season a complete drag, and so frustrating on a number of levels. We had a whole lot of momentum from last season, and initially with the signings of Otoo, KRH, Fisher I thought “here we go”, now time to kick on. But we didn’t. We went into the first half of the season completely under manned, and that was before the horrendous injuries came into it. And then the second window was a mirror of the first, with signings arriving far too late to be integrated properly and get a proper tune out of them. The signing and playing of Benjamin against Morton was a complete result of months of inaction from those responsible for recruitment. It simply wasn’t good enough, and must be better this season. I would want McPake to have a full complete squad for the start of the season to be able to properly assess him at this level. After all he got Dundee up from this division through the playoffs, and I can put up with fairly turgid football if it gets us into the premier league 🤣. But to be sat in the bottom half of the table having pretty much been in a relegation fight, and watching some of the unadventurous ponderous guff, that’s unacceptable. If we get to half way through the season and we’re bottom half with more keich football, time for a change. Off the pitch I have my own very unique individual reasons for being a bit sceptical at how the club is being ran. I struggle to understand how we have a larger paid staffing budget, but for me the output on what I see on matchday fan experience, ticketing arrangements, website, social media, fan engagement - it’s all gone backwards in my eyes. Silly little things like opening gates in the north east, but then not telling stewards there so you have to then walk round to the north west, the removal of ability to buy pay per game tickets in the north west despite there being some available, and the number of times a social media post is linked to incorrect information on the website. On their own - totally little things, but not that hard to get right if managed properly, and if they cared. Reading many other posters on here, I can think of several other things that just don’t feel “right”. I do firmly believe that the academy and training ground are two projects that, (if executed properly) will be good for us in the long run, and after all we need to be doing something different to other clubs to attract talent and properly deliver on the board plan of development. However, (and this is my challenge to the board) we don’t need to look too far to the east to find an example of a properly executed targeted investment plan to deliver results on the park that have paid for themselves. It’s very clear they have a full harmonious communication and engagement plan with their support too which is working wonders. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that the players and system that Raith were using, along with the momentum created by their marketing, was going to end in some success in the short term. Indeed as a pal of mine put it, they’ve created that much hype around themselves they're in danger of actually making everyone else believe it and they get promoted! Whether they can capitalise on that for a longer term is to be seen, but when we’re losing a million a year on the 2nd highest average attendance (and therefore ticket income) in the division, you can’t help but look a tad enviously and think - what if? Our board have their path they wish to take, and that’s that. It’s their little project (I remember Nick Teller using that exact phrase at a forum last year when discussing how their friends in Germany were asking how it was going). Now I know that it’s “not just that” but actually it’s their ball and their decisions. I want them to succeed, absolutely. But you don’t have to be a comms expert, a commercial expect, a financial expert or indeed a football expert to take a look at us right now and conclude we are in an underperforming, underwhelming place right now. And that, is probably why there is a real air of apathy with many. The danger is, it’s not just us on this forum or indeed others on forums/social media that is the issue for the club, it’s the fans who consider themselves fans but not diehards. Have they seen enough this year to justify another £333 plus whatever for them and their kids or dads or pals to do it all again? Or pick and choose games? We shall see. I do think the club needs to do something to address this over the close season through their recruitment activity. Thats probably the only way to get things going. Potentially this season presents the biggest opportunity for many a year for a club to grasp top spot and get into the premier league without a “bigger” club with budget to match hoovering up the best talent in the league. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmcno1 Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 Sorry. That was an essay 🤦🏻♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piracy Posted May 19 Report Share Posted May 19 29 minutes ago, Rossmcno1 said: I won’t be buying a season ticket (or card or whatever the marketing guru wants to call it this season), but that’s purely because I won’t be home enough to make it anywhere near viable. If I was home, id buy one, but then I’d buy one pretty much no matter what. Apathy is a great word for the general mood from folk I know from what I can pick up about how they are about the Pars right now. Personally I found this season a complete drag, and so frustrating on a number of levels. We had a whole lot of momentum from last season, and initially with the signings of Otoo, KRH, Fisher I thought “here we go”, now time to kick on. But we didn’t. We went into the first half of the season completely under manned, and that was before the horrendous injuries came into it. And then the second window was a mirror of the first, with signings arriving far too late to be integrated properly and get a proper tune out of them. The signing and playing of Benjamin against Morton was a complete result of months of inaction from those responsible for recruitment. It simply wasn’t good enough, and must be better this season. I would want McPake to have a full complete squad for the start of the season to be able to properly assess him at this level. After all he got Dundee up from this division through the playoffs, and I can put up with fairly turgid football if it gets us into the premier league 🤣. But to be sat in the bottom half of the table having pretty much been in a relegation fight, and watching some of the unadventurous ponderous guff, that’s unacceptable. If we get to half way through the season and we’re bottom half with more keich football, time for a change. Off the pitch I have my own very unique individual reasons for being a bit sceptical at how the club is being ran. I struggle to understand how we have a larger paid staffing budget, but for me the output on what I see on matchday fan experience, ticketing arrangements, website, social media, fan engagement - it’s all gone backwards in my eyes. Silly little things like opening gates in the north east, but then not telling stewards there so you have to then walk round to the north west, the removal of ability to buy pay per game tickets in the north west despite there being some available, and the number of times a social media post is linked to incorrect information on the website. On their own - totally little things, but not that hard to get right if managed properly, and if they cared. Reading many other posters on here, I can think of several other things that just don’t feel “right”. I do firmly believe that the academy and training ground are two projects that, (if executed properly) will be good for us in the long run, and after all we need to be doing something different to other clubs to attract talent and properly deliver on the board plan of development. However, (and this is my challenge to the board) we don’t need to look too far to the east to find an example of a properly executed targeted investment plan to deliver results on the park that have paid for themselves. It’s very clear they have a full harmonious communication and engagement plan with their support too which is working wonders. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that the players and system that Raith were using, along with the momentum created by their marketing, was going to end in some success in the short term. Indeed as a pal of mine put it, they’ve created that much hype around themselves they're in danger of actually making everyone else believe it and they get promoted! Whether they can capitalise on that for a longer term is to be seen, but when we’re losing a million a year on the 2nd highest average attendance (and therefore ticket income) in the division, you can’t help but look a tad enviously and think - what if? Our board have their path they wish to take, and that’s that. It’s their little project (I remember Nick Teller using that exact phrase at a forum last year when discussing how their friends in Germany were asking how it was going). Now I know that it’s “not just that” but actually it’s their ball and their decisions. I want them to succeed, absolutely. But you don’t have to be a comms expert, a commercial expect, a financial expert or indeed a football expert to take a look at us right now and conclude we are in an underperforming, underwhelming place right now. And that, is probably why there is a real air of apathy with many. The danger is, it’s not just us on this forum or indeed others on forums/social media that is the issue for the club, it’s the fans who consider themselves fans but not diehards. Have they seen enough this year to justify another £333 plus whatever for them and their kids or dads or pals to do it all again? Or pick and choose games? We shall see. I do think the club needs to do something to address this over the close season through their recruitment activity. Thats probably the only way to get things going. Potentially this season presents the biggest opportunity for many a year for a club to grasp top spot and get into the premier league without a “bigger” club with budget to match hoovering up the best talent in the league. Great Post. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymie Posted May 20 Report Share Posted May 20 Great post, Ross. I usually can't be bothered typing up long posts, but you sum up my feelings pretty well. I'm a bit scunnered myself, to be honest. It's just not enjoyable and the league one title win just masked what we have seen this year. The club need to back the manager and find the funds to bring in a recognised goal scorer, creative midfielder and a genuine left sided winger If not, then it's going to be more of the same and I'm really not sure how often I'll be there, especially through the winter months, freezing my arse off 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deutsch Par Posted May 20 Report Share Posted May 20 I'm along the same lines of thought as Ross other than if I was at home then I probably wouldn't buy a season ticket as I probably wouldn't make it to every game and it wouldn't be financially viable. Being detached from the club in another country means that I can step back and analyse things more thoroughly than I would if I was closer to the club. It looks like in my eyes that watching The Pars in the past couple of seasons (even with the League 1 win) has been an absolute drag. I watched a few games with my Dad's Pars TV login such as the Morton game early on when we destroyed them and should have won much more than 3-1, the Rovers game at EEP where they stole the points. The Ayr game at EEP where they should have beat us by a much more convincing margin than they did. After that there seemed to be a problem with the login where when I tried to login it would kick my Dad out of his account but tell me I had the wrong password... 🤔 but I am digressing with that. The point is that when I couldn't get access I didn't miss it, and it is not like I have made many other matches this season (my local teams played each other a couple of weeks ago and one of them put themselves within touching distance of winning the league and confirmed it in their next match, that's pretty much it). Recruitment has to be absolutely spot on in the coming season because since David Cook came in it has been absolutely atrocious for the most part. Fair enough we tied up our most impressive loan signings from last season pretty early on and then O'Halloran (who to be honest I had forgotten about until now) and Jakubiak but were still running with a bare bones squad and then January was an absolute shambles where we signed absolutely no-one and waited until the loan window in February was nearly over before scrambling to do business in the last few days. I don't know if James McPake had other targets in mind other than Lee Ashcroft as that was well publicised that we were interested (he should have, in all honesty). If we go through this season like we did the one just past then we will be relegated again and I would put money on that. The club are relying far too much on good will now and that only runs so far... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend85 Posted May 20 Report Share Posted May 20 I'll renew my season ticket and normally I would have done it already but I wouldn't disagree with anything being said above about apathy and the prospect of another turgid season especially at home. I have zero confidence in Dunfermline being aggressive in the transfer window and adding some players you think right here we go. Zero confidence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livipar2 Posted May 20 Report Share Posted May 20 Chris Kane incoming in a two year deal according to the Record. That should allay some of the concerns expressed here? Surely our number 1 target? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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