Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[Chubbychops]

Not a surprise to be fair. He had an absolute stormer against Killie. Saved us from getting beat 7-8 nil.

[smpar]

Some supporters' twitter page reckons all players and staff are being called in between tomorrow and Thursday to be told whether they're staying or not.

I'd keep;

Comrie

Edwards

Martin

Donaldson 

O'Hara

Wighton

McCann

Thomas

Todd

Stolarczyk

Wouldn't be gutted to see Todorov stay.

Obviously there's a mix of contracted/not contracted, and we're 99% likely to see the likes of Thomas leaving, but that's the players I'd want to see next season. The rest (most of whom are gutless shitebags and by Christmas I'll have forgotten they even played for us) can get well and truly fucked. 

Edited May 10, 2022 by smpar

[Ayrfix]

Just a thought regarding Hughes, I think he is contracted for next season? Your board may be trying to negotiate a payoff or maybe can't afford to boot him then get another manager in.

[Shandon Par]

Sell McCann and use the money to pay off Yogi. Get El Bak back from Malta. He turned into Gavin Reilly in the Championship but 30 goals from open play last time he was in League One was a handy amount. 

[gav-ffc]

23 minutes ago, Ayrfix said:

Just a thought regarding Hughes, I think he is contracted for next season? Your board may be trying to negotiate a payoff or maybe can't afford to boot him then get another manager in.

You’d imagine that anyone employing a manager to fight off a relegation threat would have put a release clause if they went down…

[smpar]

19 minutes ago, Ayrfix said:

Just a thought regarding Hughes, I think he is contracted for next season? Your board may be trying to negotiate a payoff or maybe can't afford to boot him then get another manager in.

Aye he's got until next summer. I think just about every Pars fan hopes there's a relegation clause that means he can be punted, but the Club has been uncomfortably quiet since Saturday. Hughes seems to think he'll be able to take us back up, which might suggest the club didn't give him any clear indication of relegation = finished, and that there's room for negotiation. The thought of him still being here, being able to assemble a squad full of Joe Chalmers and Efe Ambroses fucking petrifies me beyond belief. 

What also worries me is that the board might feel like sacking their second manager in 6 months is an admission that they've made a right c**t of things this season.

[smpar]

One way you could also look at it is that we were 3 points from safety when Grant was sacked (2 when Hughes had his first game in the dugout) with a goal difference of -11 (-12). We finished 4 points from safety, with a goal difference of -17. 

Hughes failed to keep us up. It should not even be up for debate whether he should stay or go. Remarkably, though, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the club keep him on.

[Chubbychops]

I wouldn't second guess our board. They have shown how capable they are of monumental fuk ups.

We need to change our playing style if were going to have any hope of competing for League 1 next year. Hughes won't do that. He will play the exact same way that has just seen us relegated. We've already shown that playing Hughes passing pish against a team that finished 4th in League 1, doesn't work. We didn't score in 180 minutes of football.

[Rob1885]

Once a support has turned against a manager, how often does it ever swing back? Very rarely. The board need to factor in the knock on impact of ticket sales etc when making this decision IMO. May be a handsome pay off for the manager but would cost more to keep him.

[Shandon Par]

1 hour ago, Chubbychops said:

 

We need to change our playing style if were going to have any hope of competing for League 1 next year.

In our last season in League One we had such an effective style. Possession didn’t matter, it was all about breaking with pace, stretching teams and just going for it. We scored so many goals from other teams’ corners and throw-ins and every player had a clear, simple job that suited their talents. 
 

The Grant/Hughes approach of having a huge but mediocre squad is no use. I think we need at least 3 outfield players that can stamp their superiority on games. Like Dundee a couple of seasons back. Most of the team was on a par with the rest near the top but they had Adam and Cummings, who were a cut above the rest and ultimately made a difference. 

[Cardle is Magic]

How many players did we end up using this season in total? I'm used to forgetting about players after a few years but I'm sure I'll have forgotten most of that mob by next week.

As said previously, there is absolutely no point in keeping Hughes. Would be shocked if even 10% of the support still back him which will make selling STs a non-starter. That being said, the club have shocked me plenty of times recently with their dreadful decision-making, so no one should assume that logic is guaranteed.

[CallumPar]

How many players did we end up using this season in total? I'm used to forgetting about players after a few years but I'm sure I'll have forgotten most of that mob by next week.
As said previously, there is absolutely no point in keeping Hughes. Would be shocked if even 10% of the support still back him which will make selling STs a non-starter. That being said, the club have shocked me plenty of times recently with their dreadful decision-making, so no one should assume that logic is guaranteed.

I think it was 33

Mehmet
OFW
Stolarczyk
Comrie
MacDonald
Todd
Watson
Graham
Martin
Gaspuitis
Connolly
Breen
Jones
Donaldson
Ambrose
Edwards
Fenton (league cup only)
Dorrans
Cole
Pybus
Allan
Wilson
Chalmers
Polworth
Thomas
Dow
Kamwa
Lawless
Kennedy
Wighton
Todorov
O’Hara
McCann

Seriously considering whether I’ll be buying a ST or picking and choosing games, if Hughes is in charge. Serious mismanagement all around the club right now.

[Stellaboz]

For the most part, his signings have been utter duds. 

[Daz80]

9 hours ago, smpar said:

 We finished 4 points from safety

You are playing in league one next season, you were not safe at all. 

[HoBNob]

7 minutes ago, Daz80 said:

You are playing in league one next season, you were not safe at all. 

I'm honestly interested in what you think he said, just so we can find out whether it's reading you struggle with, or comprehension. 

[smpar]

I'm honestly interested in what you think he said, just so we can find out whether it's reading you struggle with, or comprehension. 

I’ve stared at both posts for a good 10 minutes and still can’t tell if he’s trying a “wheeheey” moment, or if he’s just thicker than his wee sister’s knickers.

I’ve got a fiver on the latter tbh.

[Daz80]

55 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

I'm honestly interested in what you think he said, just so we can find out whether it's reading you struggle with, or comprehension. 

Ha ha fair play, it’s comprehension. In my excitement of you lot going down I completely and utterly misread that. It was also early. So in conclusion I made a c**t of myself.

[HoBNob]

Just now, Daz80 said:

Ha ha fair play, it’s comprehension. In my excitement of you lot going down I completely and utterly misread that. It was also early. So in conclusion I made a c**t of myself.

Your post was said in such confidence that it made me massively doubt myself. 

Fair play for owning the f**k up tbf. 

[RiG]

On 10/05/2022 at 08:23, TheScarf said:

I don't say this lightly when I say that John Hughes is the last full-time football manager you want managing you when you need to rebuild.  99% of the players he signs are fucking shite.  He's fine when he inherits a good team, which I think he's only done once since the left Falkirk in 2009.

Chairmen need to wake up and realise he's not the guy you want to hire when you've just sacked someone because your team is shite, he's the guy you hire when your manager has been poached for doing well and you have a good team.

Just had a quick look to see who Hughes signed whilst at ICT:

2013/14

Greg Tansey (CM) - Rumoured to have been coming back anyway but this was a signing that definitely did very well for us under Hughes.

2014/15

Lewis Horner (RB) - A player completely out of his depth.
Edward Ofere (ST) - Effective striker to replace Mckay after he left for Wigan. Good signing.
Tarmo Kink (ML) -  I'm not even bothering to write anything about this joker.
Ibra Sekajja (ST) -  See above.

2015/16

Iain Vigurs (CM) - On the whole I'd say this was a good signing. Vigurs is a talented player and whilst he blew hot and cold and his workrate would infuriate some it's a solid enough signing. 
Owain Fon Williams (GK) - Definitely not the greatest keeper we've ever had but far from the worst. Could make some stunning saves then sell you a goal 5 minutes later. Okay, nothing more.
Andrea Mutombo (AM) - Dreadful. Honestly don't know what this guy was meant to offer. Low point was a ludicrous scything tackle on Nick Ross at Dens which saw him sent off. Scored a good goal in the Scottish Cup against Hibs and Yogi pulled his shorts down at full time. Great banter...
Nat Wedderburn (CM) - JFC. Slower than a week in jail and couldn't pass it more than 5 yards. No wonder Hughes was a fan. 
Ryan Williams (CM) -  A former futsal player IIRC? Another awful signing from Hughes and shock it was another central midfielder!
Alex Fisher (ST) - Whilst he went on to be a popular figure during the Foran season (shudder) with Hughes he never played because he was injured or....reasons. Poor signing in terms of return under Hughes but looked better when Foran did play him so I'll say average overall.
Liam Hughes (CM) -  Another dreadful midfielder signed by Hughes? Of course! But to be fair, he moved him up front against Ross County who couldn't handle his physical presence and he turned in a decent performance. But yet another rotten transfer from Yogi.
Dani Lopez (ST) -    Hughes claimed he would get double figures the season he signed. Did score a nice goal against Celtic but he was just woeful and capped off his time in Inverness by gobbing on a Saint Johnstone youth player in a reserve / U21 game and was sent packing.
Jordan Roberts (MR/ML) - A player that looked handy when he did play but he was injured far too often to make any real impact. Missed most of his first season at the club but, like Fisher, I'll say overall average.
Miles Storey (ST) - For the one season he played as a striker with Christie playing behind him he looked superb though he did go on a poor run of form without scoring for a while. Identified by the Chairman however so whilst this was a good signing I am not sure how much credit we can give Yogi given he had no part to play in bringing him in.
Tobi Sho-Silva (ST) - Signed around the same time as Storey IIRC and didn't so anything apart from exaggerate a slap from a Hearts player to get him sent off. Another poor signing.

So in 2.5 years Hughes signed one player, Tansey, who improved the squad for longer than a few months (such as Ofere). As @TheScarf says, the majority of players he signs are garbage.

Edited May 11, 2022 by RiG

[smpar]

Ha ha fair play, it’s comprehension. In my excitement of you lot going down I completely and utterly misread that. It was also early. So in conclusion I made a c**t of myself.

Fair play. My apologies to you and your wee sister.