Yorkiepar Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 32 minutes ago, da_no_1 said: Last year fans were talking about it being a consolidation season, with the hope we'd push on this season for the playoffs, has that happened? At the start of last season nobody could have foreseen the horrendous injury situation that developed. That completely kyboshed any sustained promotion challenge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld_Reekie Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 44 minutes ago, Grant said: I don't want to come across as negative, but I certainly expect them to finish above us. Take the emotion out of them being Falkirk, and the expectation for a side coming from League 1 who have performed how they have performed should see them being a top four side. I'm not convinced. It feels like the bar could be higher this season for earning a top 4 berth - Livi, Partick and Raith IMO will all be sacking managers if top-4 looks out of sight and I'd be stunned if any of them end up not making it. I just don't see Falkirk being the best of the rest but I do agree that we'll need to up our game significantly to finish on top of them. 39 minutes ago, Grant said: Next season you could be looking at a fairly big rebuild, next summer will be the prime time to sell Todd, KRH and Otoo(Fisher aswell but I'm not expecting us to make anything on him), meanwhile Wotherspoon will be knocking on a bit and there's a lot of players out of contract. I fear next summer fans will be talking about how with it being a "rebuilding year" that they'd take 5th/6th with a push the following year... And on and on it goes. Last year fans were talking about it being a consolidation season, with the hope we'd push on this season for the playoffs, has that happened? Wotherspoon only on a year's contract isn't he, so he's out at end of season until we decide to try and renew? As hinted at in the supporter's forum on Monday, it will be interesting to see if we can get some prospects on longer contracts. I think next summer might be leaving it late to maximize value of the likes of Todd, KRH, Otoo, Hamilton, etc and I have no problem at all with some or all of them being sold in the January window as that would be a likely indicator that we are performing really well. As part of the strategy outlined by Meggle on Monday and getting some of the younger players on longer contracts, I'd be equally pleased if we could get Todd, Otoo and Hamilton to extend their contracts (KRH got work to do IMO) and I suspect this might become the focus once the transfer window closes and we review contracts internally (and see who's really stepping up). One thing I think the owners will be sure to realise too, is that if we want to maximise value of our best players, it comes from being part of a successful team. While the release clause stung us in the end with Edwards, we also failed to maximize his sale value because we were rubbish (player doesn't look as good) and we couldn't sell when we wanted to. If we want to avoid these issues, top-half finish has to be a target even if they won't acknowledge it. League position at end of season has a wider compounding effect beyond prize money. I'm probably in the minority but I'm got a lot of sympathy for the owners/management team over the injury crisis last season, so consider it a bit of a write-off. I'm happy to be pretty patient this season and treat this as another season of consolidation but there has to be some tangible positives. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da_no_1 Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 6 minutes ago, Yorkiepar said: At the start of last season nobody could have foreseen the horrendous injury situation that developed. That completely kyboshed any sustained promotion challenge. You've quoted Grants post not mine mate 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 56 minutes ago, da_no_1 said: Have they improved their squad? They've went with Donaldson & Lang at the back who are average at best and are now both medium-term injured. They have variable options in midfield to be fair but they currently only have 3 strikers signed, none of which are as good as Chris Kane. It's the defence for me. We came up with a record goals against column, very quickly we looked distinctly average at the back. That's where their problems might lie. They have McGlynn who tends to overthink things & brainfart in the big games (here's hoping) You're correct, momentum counts for a lot but it can quickly dissipate with a few defeats (see us last season) Jury is very much out for me on their prospects. They may well finish above us, given how tight this league is that's not saying much however I'd be surprised if they got even close to Raith & Partick with the squad they have as it is. Aye they've improved it from when we last played them. Yeats has developed into a decent right back, Lang was a big upgrade on whatever joker they had partnering Donaldson (Who I liked at us tbf), Spencer was a ridiculous signing and Miller has made them less one dimensional with MacIver being an improvement upfront. I'm not saying they are unbeatable, and I don't think they'll win the title, but they are an improved side to the one we last faced, and if it wasn't Falkirk I'm sure we'd all agree that a side getting promoted with the record they had last season aren't going to stink the place out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da_no_1 Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 8 minutes ago, Grant said: Aye they've improved it from when we last played them. Yeats has developed into a decent right back, Lang was a big upgrade on whatever joker they had partnering Donaldson (Who I liked at us tbf), Spencer was a ridiculous signing and Miller has made them less one dimensional with MacIver being an improvement upfront. I'm not saying they are unbeatable, and I don't think they'll win the title, but they are an improved side to the one we last faced, and if it wasn't Falkirk I'm sure we'd all agree that a side getting promoted with the record they had last season aren't going to stink the place out. I never said they would "stink the place out". Unbeatable in League One is a fantastic achievement but it'll soon count for nothing when they lose to someone like Ayr. Their defence wasn't exactly impenetrable last season and it'll be under severe scrutiny this season. Donaldson was decent for us but there's a reason he was 2 seasons in league 1. Suppose we'll just have to see. However I see big similarities to us this time last season. A lot of our fans thought we'd stroll it and even before the injuries kicked in it was obvious that wasn't going to be the case. Also.......McGlynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmcno1 Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 11 minutes ago, Grant said: Aye they've improved it from when we last played them. Yeats has developed into a decent right back, Lang was a big upgrade on whatever joker they had partnering Donaldson (Who I liked at us tbf), Spencer was a ridiculous signing and Miller has made them less one dimensional with MacIver being an improvement upfront. I'm not saying they are unbeatable, and I don't think they'll win the title, but they are an improved side to the one we last faced, and if it wasn't Falkirk I'm sure we'd all agree that a side getting promoted with the record they had last season aren't going to stink the place out. Grant makes some good points that shouldn’t be completely disregarded without thought. Take the emotion out of it. They did have a season there where they went unbeaten. At any level that’s good going. The big thing for me though, is their momentum, something that is very difficult to “burst”. We fair managed it right enough last year with injuries and too small a squad assembled. Right now if you look at where both us and they are, an argument could be made that it wouldn’t be a surprise for either one to finish above the other. I’ll go one further. I think if you look at all the teams in the division, the balance in their squads and ours, then we need some seriously strong loan activity or we are in for a very tough season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da_no_1 Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 37 minutes ago, Grant said: Aye they've improved it from when we last played them. To clarify - I meant that I don't think their squad has improved that much since playing in League 1 last season. It'll need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 2 hours ago, Yorkiepar said: At the start of last season nobody could have foreseen the horrendous injury situation that developed That's just not true. It was discussed as a possibility (albeit an extreme one) during all the discussions about how thin the squad was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 4 hours ago, Legend85 said: We didn't score enough goals. Ah, but think of the saving we made on the effects of wear and tear on the nets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkiepar Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 1 hour ago, SanguinePar said: That's just not true. It was discussed as a possibility (albeit an extreme one) during all the discussions about how thin the squad was. Sorry, but I don’t follow that argument. Anything’s a “possibility” in the greater scheme of things but still only hypothetical. Until something actually happens you cannot evaluate the consequences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 2 hours ago, da_no_1 said: To clarify - I meant that I don't think their squad has improved that much since playing in League 1 last season. It'll need to. I get it, and I agree on your McGlynn point. I'm not sure that the squad needs to improve that much, if you go back the sides coming up from League 1 as champions tend to do well, the trend seems to point to league 1 championship winning sides operating on a top 5 Scottish Championship level. What's key is not losing key players from your squad, in our case we didn't so much as lose players in the transfer market, but losing Bene, Todd and KRH for long swathes of the first half of the season, as well as the squad just being smaller done us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 1 hour ago, Yorkiepar said: Until something actually happens you cannot evaluate the consequences. Then why make the "nobody could have forseen" argument, if you reject the concept altogether? Regardless, the point is that people did forsee it as a reasonably plausible risk, and something that the club could and should have done more to mitigate against. The injuries were already mounting up by mid-July last season and some, including myself, voiced concern that we didn't have enough cover and were risking the squad being stretched too far. And so it proved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secure Par Posted July 10 Report Share Posted July 10 It will just take a couple of injuries and we will not be able to compete with the likes of Raith/Partick etc. Just look at the bench v Dundee tonight. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPar Posted July 11 Report Share Posted July 11 Even though they are being transparent with the fans, in terms of keeping us in the loop with what's happening. It’s not good reading tbh. Not offering someone an extra £200 a week, just shows you where we are at. That could have been an extra body in, boost the squad etc. I’m trying to be optimistic, but pre season has told us we ain’t got no attacking threat, and Mcpake stated in the summer, this would be addressed. We are weaker than we were last season, and we were honking, in most games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymie Posted July 11 Report Share Posted July 11 This season presents the best chance for anyone to win this Championship since the leagues were restructured. Have we given ourselves the best shot at it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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