Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[DA Baracus]

I know no one here is saying this, but it always amazes me that there seem to be people who genuinely think the current 'lack' (even though the club have made four so far) of signings is down to the club simply not bothering or doing anything.

Edited July 26, 2023 by DA Baracus

[Heaton]

35 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

I know no one here is saying this, but it always amazes me that there seem to be people who genuinely think the current 'lack' (even though the club have made four so far) of signings is down to the club simply not bothering or doing anything.

I don't think anyone believes they aren't doing anything, but being totally in the dark which I get is normal, and hearing little makes us wonder and speculate why we're not bringing players in. I.e the age and sell on policy or player wages structure, or Meggle just doesn't like someone. Only the board etc know.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Heaton

[The Toun Clock]

28 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

I know no one here is saying this, but it always amazes me that there seem to be people who genuinely think the current 'lack' (even though the club have made four so far) of signings is down to the club simply not bothering or doing anything.

For sure, my post was to say that it sometimes feels quiet on the surface but like a swan, those feet be peddling like mad under the water. 

McPake, Mackay, Cook and Meggle all have the clubs best interests at heart. 

[Broken Algorithms]

36 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

I know no one here is saying this, but it always amazes me that there seem to be people who genuinely think the current 'lack' (even though the club have made four so far) of signings is down to the club simply not bothering or doing anything.

We had similar recently. You had folk in a meltdown because we'd not signed a new centre half. It was pointed out that there were only two potential centre halves who were recognised names and available but there was still an insistence we weren't doing enough. We then ended up signing one of them. 

I think with the rise of analysis and data driven information, clubs are happier to take their time. On the other side, the exposure of fans to social media and the league cup starting earlier than previous generations means they probably feel that not enough is being done.

[El Chapo]

Every team is in same boat, I don't think there's not been one signing in our league another team has made that I've been disappointed we didn't get. Maybe Hamilton at the Rovers but even then like every signing there's questions around him.

[CallumPar]

54 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

I know no one here is saying this, but it always amazes me that there seem to be people who genuinely think the current 'lack' (even though the club have made four so far) of signings is down to the club simply not bothering or doing anything.

Yeah. The worst part is, the people with that mentality are also the first ones to moan about signings not being good enough/not what’s required etc.

We’ve been very careful with recruitment over the last 15 months or so. I think the manager/board deserve praise for the transfer activity we’ve seen since McPake’s appointment. I’m willing to be patient and trust that they’ll bring in the right players.

It does concern me that if we don’t get one or two in over the next 10 days, we could be playing catch up in the league all season. I also think it’s natural for fans to worry about the squad’s capabilities in the short term, when we’re without 2 of our most important players. But that’s not an excuse to panic buy and compromise on quality.

[Chubbychops]

The problem with being too open with transfer negotiations is when you say your close to a signing and it doesn't happen, it pisses the fans off even more. Then you get comments like ''are we skint'' and folk start making up rumours about finances etc.

I think we should know by now how the club approach recruitment. We line up a few players that sign early doors, then June onwards we take our time looking for the right players coming up. You do risk being left with nothing but I think club would rather be short and give youth a chance, than being left with panic buy dross.

It's not great in terms of having a team gelled for the start of the season but at least you are minimising your chances of getting stuck with poor signings for 2 years that you have panic bought (AJ in 2018 a fine example).

Edited July 26, 2023 by Chubbychops

[The Toun Clock]

18 minutes ago, Chubbychops said:

The problem with being too open with transfer negotiations is when you say your close to a signing and it doesn't happen, it pisses the fans off even more.

Yeah this is a good point. We as fans all love that little  coming out on Twitter, whether it's one that's been rumoured for a while or something out the blue it is exciting.

The rumours of Wotherspoon must've been 3-4 weeks ago, he then returns from international duty and ends up at one of our games, a stick on surely? Then the manager comes out and dismisses the situation.

McPake almost said after the Annan game that we were really close to a signing, but didn't. Then he said that on Saturday, yet here we are on Wednesday and there's still no one new in. I'd rather he said nothing and when it happens it happens.

The fans are disappointed with how thin the squad is, but some of the recent happenings haven't helped the situation -

- The injuries to Matty and Kane are unfortunate, real bad luck.

- Then the one new signing MOH hasn't really kicked a ball due to injury. Again not anyone's fault but just a bit unfortunate.

- Add to that the McGowan situation, whether as a fan you wanted him to sign or not it looks a bit daft. He wants to join, I'm sure the manager wants him, he does a full pre-season, plays in every friendly, scores a goal, gets an assist(s) then gets frozen out and has now signed for someone else.

All of these things happened whilst we have a paper thin squad which has resulted in fans getting a bit moany.

[Stellaboz]

When the top flight starts we'll see a flurry of loan signings across the league.

[101]

I saw KRH walking about fine at the Killie game so hopefully he's not too far away from getting back into training.

 

Anyone else think the highlights from last night were totally over exposed, or is it just my connection? Get the camera work being a bit dodgy given the pillars and such but it was hard to see who was who at times.

[Shandon Par]

Not signing dross for the sake of getting bodies in is also a sign of the commitment of the owners to McPake and his players. Saddle the clubs with a couple of £35k salaries or suffer a few tough games to get a real gem of a player in. I’d rather have one KRH than three jobbers. Would also trust McPake (and assistant Dave) more than most managers to come up with a plan, even if it means playing a bit ugly until we have the personnel to play a more appealing game. 

[Stellaboz]

How many games did we win after being 0 0 at half time last season? Would happily take it again if our home form was similar. 

Worried that away from home we're lacking that pace countering at the moment. 

[DA Baracus]

Grant and Hughes were allowed to make loads of signings, many of whom were rank or who didn't fit in to the team.

Perhaps the board are, rightly, much more cautious now with transfers rather than allowing any old nonsense signings?

[DA Baracus]

35 minutes ago, Stellaboz said:

How many games did we win after being 0 0 at half time last season? Would happily take it again if our home form was similar. 

Worried that away from home we're lacking that pace countering at the moment. 

Ask your stats team!

Edited July 26, 2023 by DA Baracus

[Stellaboz]

10 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

Ask your stats team!

They were fired for thinking Davie Bingham wasn't in the 95/96 squad.

[CallumPar]

39 minutes ago, Stellaboz said:

How many games did we win after being 0 0 at half time last season? Would happily take it again if our home form was similar. 

Worried that away from home we're lacking that pace countering at the moment. 

There were at least 8, 4 of which were at home:

Alloa (H)
Montrose (H)
Edinburgh (H)
Falkirk (A)
Kelty (A)
Falkirk (H)
Peterhead (A)
Alloa (A)

Probably felt like more, because those first 3 were all very early in the season. We also had quite a few games that were 1-1 at HT, or we were behind and came back to win/draw.

[Stellaboz]

47 minutes ago, CallumPar said:

There were at least 8, 4 of which were at home:

Alloa (H)
Montrose (H)
Edinburgh (H)
Falkirk (A)
Kelty (A)
Falkirk (H)
Peterhead (A)
Alloa (A)

Probably felt like more, because those first 3 were all very early in the season. We also had quite a few games that were 1-1 at HT, or we were behind and came back to win/draw.

You're hired!

[DAFC.]

Would much rather give game time to promising young boys than spend a tonne a year on wages on absolute fucking dross like Graham Dorrans, Leon Jones, Efe Ambrose, Kai Kennedy, Liam Polworth etc etc 

Lessons must have been learned from that season. 

[Rob1885]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

Grant and Hughes were allowed to make loads of signings, many of whom were rank or who didn't fit in to the team.

Perhaps the board are, rightly, much more cautious now with transfers rather than allowing any old nonsense signings?

I miss the pen gif followed by utter guff a wee bit like.

[The Toun Clock]

16 minutes ago, Rob1885 said:

I miss the pen gif followed by utter guff a wee bit like.

Mind that time we announced Ross Graham? Had been so quiet on the signing front, done the pen gif and hyped it up for about an hour with the US Office gif (oh it's happening, it's finally happening), you'd have thought we were bringing in Mbappe. Some centre half Dundee Utd teenager on loan who no one had heard of and turned out to be absolutely gash.

Edited July 26, 2023 by The Toun Clock