Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[D.A.F.C]

^^^wid

[DA Baracus]

2 hours ago, D.A.F.C said:

AJ must be a reactionary maniac also then?

Depends. If he tries to re-sign Gavin Reilly, Jean Yves M’Voto and Calum Fordyce, releases Durnan, Devine and Williamson and plays nothing but 4-4-2 from now on then yes, he would be.

Edited August 28, 2018 by DA Baracus

[CallumPar]

Didn't we only end up 3 points behind 4th place?

No, we finished 4th. If you read the initial post, he was talking about how we were in danger of the relegation play-offs last year [emoji23] he also spoke about McMullan and Clark as if they were signed late in the season 2 years ago - McMullan was signed during pre-season and Clark in August, after the El Bakhtaoui deal fell through.

Don’t know why people are even responding to his nonsense. As has been mentioned, he’s making things up, to try and justify his meltdown.

[DAFC.]

14 minutes ago, CallumPar said:

 

No, we finished 4th. If you read the initial post, he was talking about how we were in danger of the relegation play-offs last year  

 

Ahh, read that as 2016-17 season. 

[D.A.F.C]

2 hours ago, CallumPar said:

 

No, we finished 4th. If you read the initial post, he was talking about how we were in danger of the relegation play-offs last year he also spoke about McMullan and Clark as if they were signed late in the season 2 years ago - McMullan was signed during pre-season and Clark in August, after the El Bakhtaoui deal fell through.

Don’t know why people are even responding to his nonsense. As has been mentioned, he’s making things up, to try and justify his meltdown.

 

Where does it say late in the season?

 

[smpar]

On 27/08/2018 at 14:12, D.A.F.C said:

Inventing stuff? Like what. 

The worst one is "heading for relegation." At our very lowest point last season in terms of form and position in the table - the 2-0 defeat away to St Mirren - we were sixth in the league; five points away from the promotion playoffs and 14 (FOURTEEN) points clear of a relegation playoff place. We were back in the playoff places three weeks later and stayed there.

[Potted hOuGh]

Given the players we've signed and the fact AJ (I think) has the ability to get us winning again I'm not overly concerned at this very early stage.

This league is going to throw up all sorts of results and even though I think Ayr deserve their current position in the league I think their depth of squad will see them suffer later on.

It really is all to play for.

If we get a win on Saturday then we can settle down again.

There have been 2 good wins in Dundee and we should have beaten Hearts, that shows what we can achieve.

The only thing I would say as a negative is I still think we need a physical presence up front. A big big burly striker with a nose goal, but they're thin on the ground. 

 

Edited August 28, 2018 by Potted hOuGh

[smpar]

A couple of interesting stats; last season we conceded >2 goals three times, we've done that twice already. Last season we conceded 35 goals, we've conceded more than 25% of that already. 

I don't think we're in any kind of danger at all but that doesn't make for great reading so early on in the season, the fact is that we've conceded goals very easily so far. I think it's also obvious that we need at least a good performance from every player every week in order to get a result, players having off-days/making mistakes will happen - they're only human - but it'll cost us when they do.

Beadling is definitely the missing piece in this wee puzzle, get him back as soon as he's fit and we should see a better balance in midfield. Also, I love Ashcroft but he has to improve on recent performances, people have pointed the finger at this season's scapegoats - Devine and Durnan - but from what I've seen it's Ashcroft that is making the most costly mistakes.  

[D.A.F.C]

25 minutes ago, smpar said:

The worst one is "heading for relegation." At our very lowest point last season in terms of form and position in the table - the 2-0 defeat away to St Mirren - we were sixth in the league; five points away from the promotion playoffs and 14 (FOURTEEN) points clear of a relegation playoff place. We were back in the playoff places three weeks later and stayed there.

If we had continued with Shiels and Wedderburn and 4-4-2 we would have been heading for league one.

My point was that if we did not sign an entire new midfield we were in dire straights. We beat three poor sides at home and won against a part time team away in the cup.  If we kept that form up we would have been close to Dumbarton.

Sat, 28th Oct	15:00	away	INVERNESS CALEY THISTLE	SPFLCH	0 - 1	2948	3rd	MR
Sat, 4th Nov	15:00	away	FALKIRK	SPFLCH	1 - 1	5465	4th	MR
Sat, 18th Nov	15:00	away	QUEENS PARK	Scottish Cup	4 - 1	1179	4th	MR
Tue, 21st Nov	19:45	home	MORTON	SPFLCH	1 - 1	4816	3rd	MR
Sat, 25th Nov	15:00	home	DUMBARTON	SPFLCH	2 - 2	4505	4th	MR
Sat, 2nd Dec	15:00	away	DUNDEE UNITED	SPFLCH	1 - 2	5790	4th	MR
Sat, 9th Dec	15:00	home	QUEEN OF THE SOUTH	SPFLCH	2 - 5	4694	5th	MR
Sat, 16th Dec	15:00	away	ST MIRREN	SPFLCH	0 - 1	3665	5th	MR
Sat, 23rd Dec	15:00	home	BRECHIN CITY	SPFLCH	2 - 1	4595	3rd	MR
Tue, 2nd Jan	15:00	home	FALKIRK	SPFLCH	2 - 0	7140	4th	MR
Sat, 6th Jan	15:00	away	DUMBARTON	SPFLCH	1 - 0	1086	3rd	MR
Sat, 13th Jan	15:00	home	DUNDEE UNITED	SPFLCH	0 - 0	7139	3rd	MR
Sat, 20th Jan	15:00	home	MORTON	Scottish Cup	1 - 2	2573	3rd	MR
Fri, 26th Jan	19:45	home	ST MIRREN	SPFLCH	1 - 2	5479	3rd	MR
Sat, 3rd Feb	15:00	away	MORTON	SPFLCH	1 - 2	1588	5th	MR
Sat, 10th Feb	15:00	away	LIVINGSTON	SPFLCH	0 - 0	1579	4th	MR
Sat, 24th Feb	15:00	away	QUEEN OF THE SOUTH	SPFLCH	0 - 0	1429	5th	MR
Sat, 10th Mar	15:00	away	ST MIRREN	SPFLCH	0 - 2	4240	6th	MR
Tue, 13th Mar	19:45

[Stellaboz]

But we did sign a midfield so your point is completely irrelevant.

[smpar]

3 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

If we had continued with Shiels and Wedderburn and 4-4-2 we would have been heading for league one.

My point was that if we did not sign an entire new midfield we were in dire straights. We beat three poor sides at home and won against a part time team away in the cup.  If we kept that form up we would have been close to Dumbarton.

 

Dumbarton picked up a further 9 points from that point (10th March) until the end of the season. They still wouldn't have caught us. 

 

We were never heading for League One last season and to suggest we were, at any point, is complete and utter nonsense.

[D.A.F.C]

No it isn't my point was that every season AJ has had to rebuild the team or add to areas that have glaring deficiencies.

I accept that maybe once is ok as we came up from league one but last season was unacceptable. Two midfielders?

 

[smpar]

1 minute ago, D.A.F.C said:

No it isn't my point was that every season AJ has had to rebuild the team or add to areas that have glaring deficiencies.

I accept that maybe once is ok as we came up from league one but last season was unacceptable. Two midfielders?

 

Why do you think there is a certain period of time in the season during which clubs can sign new players?

I despair if you think AJ is the only manager to have EVER signed players in January/throughout the season to strengthen their squad. 

[Potted hOuGh]

1 minute ago, D.A.F.C said:

No it isn't my point was that every season AJ has had to rebuild the team or add to areas that have glaring deficiencies.

I accept that maybe once is ok as we came up from league one but last season was unacceptable. Two midfielders?

 

What are you suggesting? that AJ is incapable of taking us any further, even though he's been improving our position year on year and met his objectives set out by the Board.

It'll not matter anyway because he's what we've got and he deserves his chance to see where he takes us this season.

[D.A.F.C]

3 minutes ago, smpar said:

Dumbarton picked up a further 9 points from that point (10th March) until the end of the season. They still wouldn't have caught us. 

 

We were never heading for League One last season and to suggest we were, at any point, is complete and utter nonsense.

They played us with our new midfield so possibly 2 points ahead of the playoffs. 

[smpar]

1 minute ago, D.A.F.C said:

They played us with our new midfield so possibly 2 points ahead of the playoffs. 

 

 

In other words, still not "heading for League One?"

[D.A.F.C]

1 minute ago, Potted hOuGh said:

What are you suggesting? that AJ is incapable of taking us any further, even though he's been improving our position year on year and met his objectives set out by the Board.

It'll not matter anyway because he's what we've got and he deserves his chance to see where he takes us this season.

Yes he won't  get us up to the top league and with the same resources nearly all other managers in the league would do as good or better. He is doing ok, nothing more. I have pointed out his signing and selection issues that also have cost us more money than necessary and hide lots of issues. Other clubs like St Mirren, Livvy have done better with less. Clubs like Morton and QOTS are doing similar with less. Ok a few points behind but what does it matter if we get into the playoffs as AJ doesn't have the tactical skills to beat the top four sides when it matters. In fact if you take away part time results our away record is shockingly bad. Grant pointed this out ages ago.

Dont get me wrong from where we were it is an improvement but I just don't think he can take us up. Which is what he should be doing on our budget. Last season was a missed opportunity and the blip caused by a poor summer signing policy caused it. This is just my opinion I couldn't care less if people agree with it. I will go to almost all the games and give them support but I just want the best for the club and AJ isn't the answer unfortunately. 

[Potted hOuGh]

Just now, D.A.F.C said:

Yes he won't  get us up to the top league and with the same resources nearly all other managers in the league would do as good or better. He is doing ok, nothing more. I have pointed out his signing and selection issues that also have cost us more money than necessary and hide lots of issues. Other clubs like St Mirren, Livvy have done better with less. Clubs like Morton and QOTS are doing similar with less. Ok a few points behind but what does it matter if we get into the playoffs as AJ doesn't have the tactical skills to beat the top four sides when it matters. In fact if you take away part time results our away record is shockingly bad. Grant pointed this out ages ago.

Dont get me wrong from where we were it is an improvement but I just don't think he can take us up. Which is what he should be doing on our budget. Last season was a missed opportunity and the blip caused by a poor summer signing policy caused it. This is just my opinion I couldn't care less if people agree with it. I will go to almost all the games and give them support but I just want the best for the club and AJ isn't the answer unfortunately. 

There's a lot of fair points in there but for me he's what we've got and my expectations are like a lot of our fans which is for us to be challenging for the title.

I don't miss many games and I was pretty gutted the way Ayr tore us a new arse last week. I'm looking for a big improvement this week.

I still think we'll be up there. 

Only thing I would personally add is that we'll see if he's the man, if he's not and we fail spectacularly then I would expect to see the Board taking action, and by that I mean a new Manager.

 

[parsforlife]

Yes he won't get us up to the top league and with the same resources nearly all other managers in the league would do as good or better. He is doing ok, nothing more. Other clubs like St Mirren, Livvy have done better with less. Which is what he should be doing on our budget.

 

FWIW, lazlo and mckinnon both failed badly with far more budget, Naismith relies heavily on having Dobbie available. Hartley has just been sacked for doing less with more, I wouldn't ask for either Archibald or Goodwin, AJ beat Robertson in the race for the play-offs. So what mccall? Sure doing ok just now but he hasn't got a team promoted from this level in 15 years despite numerous attempts.

 

It's no surprise your so quick to anger if you think promotion should be expected when there's a maximum of two spots available and 2 clubs comfortably outspending us and another 4 or so we are grouped within.

 

It's silly If you think st mirren operated on a notable smaller budget than us, particularly given the squad turnover when Ross came in would be very surprised if their spend over the last 2 years was less than ours, one season which they avoided relegated by a very small margin.

 

By your own agreement AJ is doing ok, that should be enough to avoid these intermittent meltdowns we see after any bad result. He didn't do as well as Ross or Hopkin, nobody is going to argue that, but he's done a heck of a lot better than many.

 

I can't actually think of a manager that has us perform above expectations in 20 years. Someone that is doing ok is enough keep me happy.

 

[HoBNob]

Last year's summer was absolutely shocking, you'd have to be willfully ignorant to suggest otherwise, however you then need to give credit to AJ with sorting out the glaring deficiencies in January. 

This year my main worry is the defence, I appreciate we haven't been scoring much but I still think the 5-3-2 formation doesn't suit the attackers we have, that's a personal opinion and one which others could disagree with I'm sure. I'm confident though that with the attacking talent that we have in the squad that we could turn out goalscoring form around. 

 

Our defence though? I've not been as keen as Ashcroft as others have been on him the last couple of seasons, Durnan just doesn't seem to have any anticipation or reading of the game, presently the defender I'm most happy with is Devine, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement is it? I'd be tempted to have Beadling in there when he comes back, I still think Martin is a cracking player tbh.