Broken Algorithms Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Considering McKinnon beat Cowden and Albion Rovers at this point, and Locke has beaten Cove and Montrose, I don't think we've seen anything yet to really compare the two. I'm merely happy we didn't go down the route of signing players who he'd taken to Killie and failed with before. The only concerns have been the lack of creativity in midfield (which you'd expect Rudi to help with to some degree, and regardless, Ross Callachan hasn't been nearly as bad as made out, and has had a degree of influence in both games), and that we lacked options up top (which has been addressed by McManus signing). Ray did poorly up until the back of February, both having a winless streak and an even stronger winning streak. His legacy of getting us to the playoffs was built on his signings in January, and having a strong defence at his disposal. Time will tell how Locke will do. I was hugely critical of the appointment. I'm not going to go back on anything I've said. But what I will say is that I've been surprised by some of the signings we've made. Osei in particular, reminds me of a slightly less physically built Gregory Tade when he first signed. He has probably unparalleled pace at this level, but looks very rough in terms of finishing. I'm looking forward to seeing Coustrain and M'Voto in the future too. It'll be interesting how we do when we're up against teams at our own level, in particular those against Hibs, Dundee United, Falkirk and St Mirren. I'd probably say a mid table finish is on the cards this season, more down to the average quality in the league increasing (Pars in place of Alloa, Ayr replacing Livi, with only United being weaker than Rangers and St Mirren being more settled under Rae). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooboax Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 (edited) I'm never a fan of new managers signing a shed load of former players. There are plenty good young players and seasoned pro's out there. I think the game up here often lacks imagination and an element of risk taking. You lot should sign Josh Falkingham, I wish we'd never let him go. Edited July 22, 2016 by Shooboax 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varna Rover Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 11 minutes ago, rw89 said: Considering McKinnon beat Cowden and Albion Rovers at this point, and Locke has beaten Cove and Montrose, I don't think we've seen anything yet to really compare the two. I'm merely happy we didn't go down the route of signing players who he'd taken to Killie and failed with before. The only concerns have been the lack of creativity in midfield (which you'd expect Rudi to help with to some degree, and regardless, Ross Callachan hasn't been nearly as bad as made out, and has had a degree of influence in both games), and that we lacked options up top (which has been addressed by McManus signing). Ray did poorly up until the back of February, both having a winless streak and an even stronger winning streak. His legacy of getting us to the playoffs was built on his signings in January, and having a strong defence at his disposal. Time will tell how Locke will do. I was hugely critical of the appointment. I'm not going to go back on anything I've said. But what I will say is that I've been surprised by some of the signings we've made. Osei in particular, reminds me of a slightly less physically built Gregory Tade when he first signed. He has probably unparalleled pace at this level, but looks very rough in terms of finishing. I'm looking forward to seeing Coustrain and M'Voto in the future too. It'll be interesting how we do when we're up against teams at our own level, in particular those against Hibs, Dundee United, Falkirk and St Mirren. I'd probably say a mid table finish is on the cards this season, more down to the average quality in the league increasing (Pars in place of Alloa, Ayr replacing Livi, with only United being weaker than Rangers and St Mirren being more settled under Rae). Its not that we beat two lower teams than ourselves that has impressed me with lock. He has made what appears to be some outstanding signings And his clear non excuses at our shortcomings. Theirs no bull or media patter with him, just upfront honesty. We should soon see just how well he can motivate this squad and how he lines up against other teams. Yes he still on trial but thinga look far more positive at this stage than last year. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Its not that we beat two lower teams than ourselves that has impressed me with lock. He has made what appears to be some outstanding signings And his clear non excuses at our shortcomings. Theirs no bull or media patter with him, just upfront honesty. We should soon see just how well he can motivate this squad and how he lines up against other teams. Yes he still on trial but thinga look far more positive at this stage than last year. Outstanding? Really? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers1992/1993 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Outstanding? Really? Compared to Daly, Wighton, McCord, Megginson and Petrie.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donny86 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Compared to Daly, Wighton, McCord, Megginson and Petrie.. Apart from Petrie those were all decent signings on paper, no one could have predicted Wighton and Daly being as bad as they were 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Compared to Daly, Wighton, McCord, Megginson and Petrie.. To be fair, out of those four only Petrie was really uninspiring at the time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers1992/1993 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 To be fair, out of those four only Petrie was really uninspiring at the time. Fair point.I do however think that Osei and McManus will be a massive step up on Daly and Wighton, Coustrain and Johnstone will be a massive step up on Petrie and Megginson and I'm hoping Skacel has even half the ability he had 6 years ago and if he does he'll be a massive upgrade on McCord..It's all Ifs and Maybes though but I am 100% more confident this year at this stage than I was at this point last year..It's all about opinions though mate.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Algorithms Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I think a lot of people do forget how many question marks were raised over how we'd do under Ray. He'd only finished in the playoffs with Brechin, and had experience at the SFA coaching, but was untested at this level. It worked out well for us in the end where we got to. Certainly in terms of his signings, Locke has surpassed my expectations. We've signed an ex-international who isn't so much in the twilight of his career, but a minute to midnight in his career, an ex-Irish u19 internationalist, an ex-SPL winger who has a point to prove after a severe injury and an ex-Reading academy player among others. I genuinely expected Hamill, Carrick and Robinson. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raith_Rasta Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 I'm never a fan of new managers signing a shed load of former players. There are plenty good young players and seasoned pro's out there. I think the game up here often lacks imagination and an element of risk taking. You lot should sign Josh Falkingham, I wish we'd never let him go. Lod Locke singed 9 players 2/9 are over 25 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raith_Rasta Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 So bite my shite 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raith_Rasta Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Considering McKinnon beat Cowden and Albion Rovers at this point, and Locke has beaten Cove and Montrose, I don't think we've seen anything yet to really compare the two. I'm merely happy we didn't go down the route of signing players who he'd taken to Killie and failed with before. The only concerns have been the lack of creativity in midfield (which you'd expect Rudi to help with to some degree, and regardless, Ross Callachan hasn't been nearly as bad as made out, and has had a degree of influence in both games), and that we lacked options up top (which has been addressed by McManus signing). Ray did poorly up until the back of February, both having a winless streak and an even stronger winning streak. His legacy of getting us to the playoffs was built on his signings in January, and having a strong defence at his disposal. Time will tell how Locke will do. I was hugely critical of the appointment. I'm not going to go back on anything I've said. But what I will say is that I've been surprised by some of the signings we've made. Osei in particular, reminds me of a slightly less physically built Gregory Tade when he first signed. He has probably unparalleled pace at this level, but looks very rough in terms of finishing. I'm looking forward to seeing Coustrain and M'Voto in the future too. It'll be interesting how we do when we're up against teams at our own level, in particular those against Hibs, Dundee United, Falkirk and St Mirren. I'd probably say a mid table finish is on the cards this season, more down to the average quality in the league increasing (Pars in place of Alloa, Ayr replacing Livi, with only United being weaker than Rangers and St Mirren being more settled under Rae). Your gonna get yo season tickets worth yo. I'm I wrong in thinking we have a starting 11 and a strong bench? When was the last time we had faith with the bench? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varna Rover Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 We have a far stronger squad than last year, all we need now is for our manager to bring out the best in them. Their is absolutely no reason why we cant be a top 4 championship side again this year. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 4 hours ago, Raith_Rasta said: Lod Locke singed 9 players 2/9 are over 25 He must be on fire? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooboax Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 So bite my shite I was talking in generic terms so no need for me to orally entertain your arse deposit. Disgusting character. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 We have a far stronger squad than last year, all we need now is for our manager to bring out the best in them. Their is absolutely no reason why we cant be a top 4 championship side again this year. Stronger than the start of last season but not as good as the squad we finished last season with. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varna Rover Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 9 minutes ago, Martin Nelson said: Stronger than the start of last season but not as good as the squad we finished last season with. Well MN/AU thats a matter for debate. Todays game will or should give us a good idea of this squads potential. Remember we should not need any more signings for this season, barring major injury problems. I suggest this squad is the strongest we have had in many years including the squad that finished the last half of last season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raithie Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 I fail to see how today will give us a clear indication as to where we are, haven't we all agree teams are treating this cup competition (at this point anyway) as pre season games 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varna Rover Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Even treated as a feindly its all about gelling and competivness, but i suggest RC will field a very strong team today because they will want to defend their trophy from last year. This will be more of a cup tie than a pre season friendly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.R.FC Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) Lennox - McGurn/Law/Laidlaw McHattie - McKeown M'Voto - Toshney Barr - Longridge Johnston - Connolly McManus - Hardie Coustrain - Anderson Skacel - Panayiotou Osei - Thomas Roberts - Craigen I've probably missed a few obvious ones out (not including the likes of Petrie/McCord who had little to no game time at the end of the season). But that's a quick comparison between the players we finished the season with and the players who replaced them. Lot more outgoings than I realised. You could argue having Vaughan back is like a new addition to the squad this year. Obviously, some of the match ups aren't direct replacements. However, looking at that you have to say the jury is out on whether we currently have a stronger squad. I don't think we do, there's a few too many unknowns to be getting carried away about after the games we have played so far. There is certainly the potential in the current squad and I'm feeling a lot more confident about this season that I was when Locke was appointed. But it's far too soon to say this is our best squad in years. I personally think we will still finish around 5th/6th this year. Edited July 23, 2016 by R.R.FC 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.