Monkey Tennis

Your point still stands, but you missed out Quinn. He was quite a serious loss late on and we looked better when he came back.

Brief, but quite interesting. It mentions that he was part of the set-up that reached the Cup Final/Europe, but his managerial stint is very quickly glossed over. A "We'd like to thank him for his efforts" is conspicuous by its absence. This is either a careless omission, or there is serious bad blood there.

I assume this intelligence came directly from a close family member of Gordon's?

Yes, that's about the size of it. You could also have added observations about his constant negative posturing and unprofessional comments. Football wise, we were doing fine until supensions, injuries and a fixture pile-up made this small squad that people bang on about, some sort of issue. When it became one, we struggled. Now that's not KB's fault, but were he really a "miracle worker" or "nothing short of brilliant", then that would have been when such qualities came to the fore and we'd have done better than we did. On the field, we did ok under Brannigan. Off the field, we were disastrous. Again, that wasn't all KB's fault, but some of it was and that's why he doesn't deserve a new contract. Saying so isn't to let the board off the hook, but discussion gets polarised.

Yes, you probably would. This doesn't mean you'd be right though.

Nice variation on "he's worked miracles". Still nonsense though.

Great signing, if you hate those players who are constantly available for selection, because they don't spend half their lives suspended.

Well I, for one, welcome the decision to get rid of KB. I've not appreciated his overall approach to the job and I don't think his conduct merited the offer of a new contract. Football seems to have its own way of doing things, but breaking the news by letter doesn't - on the face of it - sound like the best of form. It won't cost me sleep though, as doing the right thing hasn't really been an obsession of KB either.

He's been a really important player for us for a long time and I'm pleased for him if he gets his crack at a higher level. We'll miss him lots though. I don't see him letting anyone down in the SPL, but it'll be interesting to see if he can make an impact. I'm not entirely convinced, but hope I'm wrong.

Maginificent comedy. I think that would have been the finest piece of business from our viewpoint, in the history of football.

You're maybe right. MENSA membership isn't really required to reach a similar conclusion. It was said as part of the same announcement as the player one though, which made it sound a bit more formal. The whole idea of releasing players is a bit misleading anyway these days. It's not so much that they've been released - it's more a question of not asking them to come back. In the post-Bosman short term apocalyptic world we now have, it's simply that players have to move around a lot. The real question concerns whether they were offered much reduced terms or not. I suspect not as all three had poor(ish) seasons and were probably on the sort of contracts that we can't now come close to offering. I don't suppose it really matters much anyway. They're gone and will be replaced more cheaply.

Sandra Broon also mentioned on the radio at lunchtime that it's not anticipated that KB will be offered a new contract. None of the departures mentioned so far have been surprising. Burns - and partly McMenamin - apart, I can't say that they fill me with too much regret either. I'm not as critical of Holmes as many, but I still think we need more goals from front players than he seems able to offer, even if he does have some other qualities. I take the point about Lilley's fitness last season, but I do suspect that he's past it and I'm not convinced that he can still do it at this level. As for McLaren, he does have talent and I don't require players to run about daft in order to appreciate them. He hasn't delivered very much of late though, and I think he's probably a bit of a ned, especially if his alleged "shithole" remarks are true. More departures to come obviously. The interesting bit will come when we eventually get some arrivals, not least a manager.

That's really interesting and pretty credible sounding. Others will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's made comments in a public forum about Weatherston lacking 'heart' before. He's also slevered some pish in the papers about his admiration for teams composed of "good, working class lads" before. His version of class war through football management is just one more facet of his self-consciously boorish and moronic approach to the job. It's not just that he behaves this way; it's that he's so bloody proud of it.

We're not actually that far apart here. I agree that we can't really carry on allowing the club to be projected this way. I also think that dug-out change is more likely than boardroom change. KB's spell in charge of the team has not been so bad that he must go, but it's not been so wonderful that he must stay either. If we agree that we can't go on this way, then either KB needs to undergo some sort of Damascan conversion, or he must leave. That's not to say the board are blameless - they're not. It is realistic though.

Fair enough Mr X if you're not claiming KB's a "miracle worker", but I have seen that very phrase used (and retracted) on here, and it's pretty much a staple of discourse over on the MAD site. As I've said before, performances on the field haven't in themselves been so bad as to necessarily see KB out of a job. It really isn't that simple though. Of course, my "total dick" comment was entirely subjective. I don't think the term has ever been given a legal definition. I stand by the sentiment though. He has, in my view, sought to further his own ends with his comments, without looking out for the greater good of the club. I don't hold with all this apparent "honesty" either. He has been dishonest in his statements about how few players are available ahead of each Saturday for one thing. As SD pointed out earlier too, he had no problem last year about out of contract palyers entering the close season in the dark. This year he's up in arms about the same thing and it's clear that this is all to do with his own position. That is intrinsically dishonest. It's interesting that you mention McCall, a person whose conduct was inspired by similarly self serving motives. As for he and Rae learning from mistakes and presenting a united front, this sounds unlikely. Apart from Rae's pretty evident failings, Brannigan has made an abolute virtue of his reluctance to speak and behave professionally. I'm truly baffled by the fact that so many have bought it.

Now Truthy, I know that your non-attendance at games is a bit of a running joke on here, but your post really does reveal someone whose seen Paul Burns and knows what he looks like, but has hardly seen him play. I remember often hearing when he came through, that he was too easily brushed off the ball. I don't once remember actually seeing such a thing happen though. He's skinny, but very wiry and strong, as well as extremely committed. I'm not entirely convinced that he's got quite enough class for top flight football, but he's certainly equipped for it physically.

If true that he's off there, we can safely say that no boats have been missed. St Mirren are a team in the SPL who we shouldn't for a second be attempting to compete with on wages. I'm really sorry to see Burns go, but I've been resigned to it for a while. I've loved him as a player for us and if a move has come, I'm glad that it involves a clear step up for him. I hope he does well.

Yes, numerically a smaller squad, but still a costlier one than we'd had in all but the two or three seasons before it. The only half decent team with any interest in beating us during the Alba Cup competition, duly did so with ease. In the league, we did fine with our expensive players available and duly crumpled without them. You've also got to recognise that the league was particularly weak this year and that the Dundee situation undermines the 4th place finish a bit. Throw in how we performed in the cups that matter and some of the gloss comes off. Oh and much of our 'football' was horrible. Now, I'm deliberately putting a negative spin on things here, but at least I'm admitting it. It's no more inaccurate then the stuff above about how well we did under KB. I'll say it again: in a football sense he did ok - no better, no worse. He did however behave like a total dick all year and I hope we needn't endure him much longer.

If you're right about the managerial position, then as far as I'm concerned, things just got a lot bleaker. Seriously, what exactly was "achieved" this season?

Yes, such comments do go back a long way, and I agree that they reflect a disinterested ignorance more than anything else. We'll have to agree to differ on the unwinnable argument of how much impact Brannigan's comments might have had though. You think it was next to none; while I'd say his comments were one important factor among a few others, but I certainly can't prove it. I'd also take issue with the "so successful" part of your post. To my mind, it's been ok over the piece - the last fortnight apart, much worse than that latterly. For me, the footballing evidence for renewing or otherwise would be pretty neutral. The rest however, tips the balance against him. Quite heavily.

I've not seen the Standard. Are you saying that there's mention there of possibly moving training to Carlisle? If so, that would imply a complete change of strategy, in that we'd be looking to the North of England for players again. Have I got totally the wrong end of the stick here, because to me, that sounds unlikely?

You say that his whining about enforced cutbacks has no impact; yet concede that a perceived lack of ambition is among the reasons cited by those who don't attend. It's impossible to gauge accurately how much damage Brannigan's doom mongering might have done to gates. I don't think however that it can be dismissed as a potential factor, for the reasons you pretty much admit yourself in the above post.

I wouldn't say that the footballing reasons for offering him a new contract are all that compelling. I accept however that he's done well enough in that sense to merit another crack in normal circumstances. The personal factor is a deservedly big one though. He's spread negativity from the outset. I'm no fan of the board, but some of his published comments about the club have been downright unprofessional. He's deliberately given the impression all season of being outside the tent pissing in, rather than the other way round. It's time to make this outsider status official.

I'd be amazed to find we've been employing any system quite that sophisticated.

There's a sifting process?