DA-go Par Adonis Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 My reading of the situation, based on Digs' feedback, was that the initial target was to get to 40 points as soon as possible and re-assess at that point. Digs seems like a reasonable character and he seemed relatively content with Meggle's message. If it reeked of a complete lack of ambition, I figure he would have been a bit more scathing. To me, it looks like the plan is to build the club from the bottom up, so that we have a good chance of staying in the top league if and when we get there. Re the "McPake Out" brigade. I was pretty supportive of him last season. The injuries at the turn of the year killed us and even when he shut up shop at Inverness to take a point rather than go for it, I thought it was justifiable - which seemed to rile others. However, against Queens Park, with 3 games to go, a win would still have given us a chance of 4th place. Instead, the were virtually keeping the ball in the corner at the end to take the 0-0 - which didn't even guarantee our safety. Fast forward to this season, I agree that we need 2 or 3 more in the squad. However, he's just presided over a 2-0 defeat at home to Forfar - with the likes of Bene, Fisher, KRH, Otoo, Hamilton and Wotherspoon all playing. Fair enough, it was a bit of a freak situation to find ourselves 2 behind given the way the game had gone, but we barely laid a glove on them after that. Airdrie found themselves in similar trouble at the weekend and didn't seem to accept their fate as readily as we did. History tells us that you can't read too much into the League Cup form as a guide to the League campaign but I think it is fair to question the way he sets up the team. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend85 Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 9 minutes ago, DA-go Par Adonis said: My reading of the situation, based on Digs' feedback, was that the initial target was to get to 40 points as soon as possible and re-assess at that point. Digs seems like a reasonable character and he seemed relatively content with Meggle's message. If it reeked of a complete lack of ambition, I figure he would have been a bit more scathing. To me, it looks like the plan is to build the club from the bottom up, so that we have a good chance of staying in the top league if and when we get there. Re the "McPake Out" brigade. I was pretty supportive of him last season. The injuries at the turn of the year killed us and even when he shut up shop at Inverness to take a point rather than go for it, I thought it was justifiable - which seemed to rile others. However, against Queens Park, with 3 games to go, a win would still have given us a chance of 4th place. Instead, the were virtually keeping the ball in the corner at the end to take the 0-0 - which didn't even guarantee our safety. Fast forward to this season, I agree that we need 2 or 3 more in the squad. However, he's just presided over a 2-0 defeat at home to Forfar - with the likes of Bene, Fisher, KRH, Otoo, Hamilton and Wotherspoon all playing. Fair enough, it was a bit of a freak situation to find ourselves 2 behind given the way the game had gone, but we barely laid a glove on them after that. Airdrie found themselves in similar trouble at the weekend and didn't seem to accept their fate as readily as we did. History tells us that you can't read too much into the League Cup form as a guide to the League campaign but I think it is fair to question the way he sets up the team. When someone mentions reaching a target like 40 point I would normally associate that with a team trying to avoid relegation and that's how I felt when he said it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld_Reekie Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 Based on what I heard and read from the forum, it came across as an honest and genuine response. So I think we should be careful about re-framing how that meeting went - it's important the owners continue to feel these forums are held with good intentions and discussions are fairly reflected. But I do think it's fair that we reflect on what was asked, how it was asked and how we might approach future meetings differently. While I thought it was a fair and honest answer, it's also non-specific and there's only so long you can be non-specific especially if this develops into a crisis (if it hasn't already). They might object to the use of a subjective term like "biggest club", but it is very fair to ask what success and what failure looks like. They might not want to be painted as the "biggest club" but I think it's fair to compare revenues and attendances, and ask what where the red lines are. I'm probably more willing than most to accept lower expectations in the short term (this season) given the infrastructure investment, but setting some clear, minimal goals shouldn't be unreasonable. People likely want to hear that we expect to challenge for top 4 but right now, I'd probably be happy if they just stated a relegation battle would be completely unacceptable. It's unfortunate they have to answer such questions and it's a shame players might have to hear or see this kind of pressure, but if the club don't want to state the potential of this club, they need to start stating the minimum they expect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 Before our season in League 1, our stated objective was to get back to winning matches. That was derided also. It didn't translate into us not wanting to get promoted. For the record, I am not expecting us to get promoted this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 (edited) 1 hour ago, Auld_Reekie said: It's unfortunate they have to answer such questions and it's a shame players might have to hear or see this kind of pressure, but if the club don't want to state the potential of this club, they need to start stating the minimum they expect. I think that's partly why we don't see statements. scared of being put under pressure Completely wrong approach. Pressure is a good thing. Edited July 22 by parsforlife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmcno1 Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 At the time of the notes from that forum there was no context around how the team was currently playing. It might have sounded a little underwhelming, but there could have been a message around setting achievable goals and the positivity about beating those goals and then stretching them. If you were offered 40 points+ with 50 goals scored right now based on what we’ve seen, you’d take it. The issue for me is that the goodwill and trust in this group has slowly but surely completely gone. I cannot, and will not accept the club being unable to source a goalkeeper for 3 competitive fixtures. The addition context around that for me is twofold. Firstly, this was a competition where it had been made clear by this group that progress out of the group stage was critical for budget and performance reasons. Secondly, Meggle himself derided our situation back in 2021 of having a goalkeeper also being a coach “the coach should be focused on working with the goalkeepers not concerned with their own match readiness”. This is just one complete example I’ve explored in more detail where their own expectation that they have set they haven’t met. It’s absolute amateur, incompetent, basic, and frankly embarrassing stuff. Add into that:- Slow, little and poor recruitment for Championship Size of losses reported More paid non playing staff with a number of areas going backwards rather than forwards (website, ticketing arrangements, communication) I’m not at the “get them out stage” as someone alluded to the other day. However right now I think we’re right to demand and expect more from them. Clearly where we are right now across all areas, is not where anyone who has the best interest of Dunfermline Athletic wants. 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 I'd take issue with some of that. We've been reserve cup runners-up one season and then champions the next - mostly with the youth players , who seem to be playing a decent brand of football. On that front, John McLaughlan, by all accounts, also seems to be a good appointment. The communications under the previous regime got scathing criticism. The recent update from Cook seemed well received and is meant to be the first in a series - and we've also recruited a couple of guys to improve elements of the comms. The official podcast is obviously not as good as it used to be, however. I don't think the website or ticketing has improved markedly, but I don't think they were better before either. Season tickets are still over 3,000 and the away strip has been flying out the door as quick as they could stock it. If, and it is a big if, we can add a couple of decent signing over the next couple of weeks, start the season well and have better luck with injuries, I think we start to see the overall picture a bit differently. We do need these additions though, as you can only employ a strategy of blooding youngsters when they are coming in to a well-performing side. Similarly, there is no real mitigating factor for having no sub goalkeeper. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmcno1 Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 8 minutes ago, DA-go Par Adonis said: I'd take issue with some of that. We've been reserve cup runners-up one season and then champions the next - mostly with the youth players , who seem to be playing a decent brand of football. On that front, John McLaughlan, by all accounts, also seems to be a good appointment. The communications under the previous regime got scathing criticism. The recent update from Cook seemed well received and is meant to be the first in a series - and we've also recruited a couple of guys to improve elements of the comms. The official podcast is obviously not as good as it used to be, however. I don't think the website or ticketing has improved markedly, but I don't think they were better before either. Season tickets are still over 3,000 and the away strip has been flying out the door as quick as they could stock it. If, and it is a big if, we can add a couple of decent signing over the next couple of weeks, start the season well and have better luck with injuries, I think we start to see the overall picture a bit differently. We do need these additions though, as you can only employ a strategy of blooding youngsters when they are coming in to a well-performing side. Similarly, there is no real mitigating factor for having no sub goalkeeper. I’ll give you the reserve cup side and some of the youth development which all looks in a better place, but time will tell if that part of the investment is managed through as it needs to be, that’s where I have concerns/little confidence. Communication- the recent update from David Cook seemed to be reactionary rather than proactive due to the length of time there had been radio silence, and was welcome. But that doesn’t make up for the history of the previous year where we pretty much hadn’t heard from him in that format. Again, should there be an upkeep of those regular updates that solves that issue - we shall see. I think the website is atrocious, the previous one as dated as it was, at least could function fairly well and be navigated/negotiated fairly well. This one is simply so difficult to get around and find items. Ticketing arrangements, as a pay per game fan as I’m not home enough to warrant a season card, I can tell you that last season was a bit of a joke. Between the process to get tickets, the information on social media about entry points versus reality, it really did feel a lot of the time like the communication between functions at the club were so poor. 3000 season tickets is excellent considering the malaise. You may well be right regarding two big signings, but we shall see. I just don’t have the confidence in them to do it, and by sounds of him after Saturday, neither does our manager. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andycarp Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 The club is struggling financially right now. We have a wage cap so we cannot attract or sign certain players. I constantly read about where the money went when we sold Nisbett and Edwards. It went into running the cub through the close season and beyond. The season ticket money comes in over a period of months and will be used daily to pay wages etc. A club our size will struggle to pay for anything with a 1 million deficit. We the fans are the ones who are expected to pay for all the friendlies and Mickey Mouse Cup games in preseason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinePar Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 32 minutes ago, DA-go Par Adonis said: The official podcast is obviously not as good as it used to be, however Preach! 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmcno1 Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 19 minutes ago, SanguinePar said: Preach! 😁 I didn’t want to take issue with that point 🤣 but….. 👀🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 I don't know what that combination of emojis adds up to, so I will take it as acceptance of the point. Re the addition of a couple of players, I am not certain one way or another, I just think that they are necessary - ideally at some point before the start of the season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmcno1 Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 9 minutes ago, DA-go Par Adonis said: I don't know what that combination of emojis adds up to, so I will take it as acceptance of the point. Re the addition of a couple of players, I am not certain one way or another, I just think that they are necessary - ideally at some point before the start of the season. Early days for the new podcast hosts, but I’ll say the previous ones were not bad at all - I certainly enjoyed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA-go Par Adonis Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 Aye, I do remember one of them made a fantastic point about the offside law once. Left the great Stevie Crawford dumbstruck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossmcno1 Posted July 22 Report Share Posted July 22 I’ll need to go listen back now 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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