Don exotic Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 We really need to sign a youngish centre back. We need this for cover now and for future seasons. I suspect we will aim to loan another attacking player. A number 10 who can fill in as a second striker would make sense. They are expensive and given the outlay on strikers this window I suspect a loan from England would make sense for now. We saw the risk of injuries limiting our creative options last season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunbartonshireRed Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 12 hours ago, Thenorthernlight said: Not only has he been stitched up, so have we as fans. ”Exciting signings” we were promised. We’re still well short & start the season in 10 days & look like going in to a European tie, which at best is 50/50 given the two clubs respective fitness, with an inadequate squad. Yep the fans have been done up like kippers. And i'm not buying the "we're struggling financially" from fans either. Says who? We have lost around £200k according to Dave Cormack. Between investment from directors and the Blank investment from Atlanta, the insurance payout and the wage deferrals we were in the hole by £200k. Obviously the deferrals have to be paid back this year. That may have something to do with it? Who knows. But on the whole the squad as it is will not cope with the full season. We need 3 players for me: Striker (would imagine an EPL loanee courtesy of AR, a CH (needs to be 1st pick IMO and we were after Robertson) and a winger. Edited July 13, 2021 by DunbartonshireRed 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starryfish Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 40 minutes ago, DunbartonshireRed said: Yep the fans have been done up like kippers. And i'm not buying the "we're struggling financially" from fans either. Says who? We have lost around £200k according to Dave Cormack. Between investment from directors and the Blank investment from Atlanta, the insurance payout and the wage deferrals we were in the hole by £200k. Obviously the deferrals have to be paid back this year. That may have something to do with it? Who knows. But on the whole the squad as it is will not cope with the full season. We need 3 players for me: Striker (would imagine an EPL loanee courtesy of AR, a CH (needs to be 1st pick IMO and we were after Robertson) and a winger. How are sales of AberDNA going? Don't see the club pushing it that often, plenty fans will have less disposable income now so understandable if income from this has dropped. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suspect Device Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Thenorthernlight said: And having to turn up 2 hours beforehand. f**k that. What Is that a thing? No chance many folk will be wanting to do that. Unless they start selling alcohol at the stadium. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 5 minutes ago, Suspect Device said: Is that a thing? No chance many folk will be wanting to do that. Unless they start selling alcohol at the stadium. I am sure I read that St Mirren are asking 500 to turn up 90 minutes beforehand? Scotland was 3 hours before Euro 2020 games 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukDukGoose Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 4 hours ago, Dons_1988 said: It’s a bit early to judge but I am getting the sense of a quiet downsizing of the football budget. That in itself is understandable as the club is struggling financially and we were operating on a pretty high cost base. A whole raft of players leaving allows us to get that under control a bit. However, if that is the case (and I stress if) then the messaging coming out of the club about the ambitions we have are pretty poor. I’d rather the club were honest that we need to reign it in a bit until crowds are back and we’re a bit more sustainable. Saying that, I recognise many fans don’t accept that message. I'm fairly comfortable with where we are at just now. Nobody around us have really strengthened too much at this point. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dons_1988 Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 15 minutes ago, Merkland Red said: I'm fairly comfortable with where we are at just now. Nobody around us have really strengthened too much at this point. I’m not panicking, but gut feeling is this squad won’t be great as it stands. I question our strength in depth defensively and I don’t see a great deal of pace or dynamism in attack in what we’ve got currently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodhull Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Yeah I'm not anywhere near full blown panic mode yet but as said the squad is painfully thin in a few places and going into the first European game having only played a couple of games makes it feel like the squad is going to be very unprepared. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukDukGoose Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 38 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said: I’m not panicking, but gut feeling is this squad won’t be great as it stands. I question our strength in depth defensively and I don’t see a great deal of pace or dynamism in attack in what we’ve got currently. 35 minutes ago, Rodhull said: Yeah I'm not anywhere near full blown panic mode yet but as said the squad is painfully thin in a few places and going into the first European game having only played a couple of games makes it feel like the squad is going to be very unprepared. Yeah I agree with you both. Domestically I think we have a better squad than most. Will be interesting to see what Hibs do once they sell. I think we're at a stage where clubs realistic demands are 'x' and players/agents aren't onboard yet. We'll need to sell to buy anyway just based on the central midfield issue we have. Edit: although not ideal we have more than enough bodies to get some XI v XI games on the go at training. Pretty certain that wasn't permitted due to covid restrictions last year. Edited July 13, 2021 by Merkland Red 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Merkland Red said: I'm fairly comfortable with where we are at just now. Nobody around us have really strengthened too much at this point. What I’m clinging to is that we’re waiting for Ferguson to be sold so that the two/three players we bring in are of a higher quality, If we were to bring in two/three now without the Fergie fee, it would be lower quality? If we start the season with the squad as is, we’ll struggle in a few areas. What I’m a little confused about is that we allegedly bid for Jamie McGrath (so a transfer fee is available to pay?) & we tried to sign Clark Robertson, so wages available for a defender. Surely we have alternatives to those two? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukDukGoose Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 1 minute ago, Thenorthernlight said: What I’m clinging to is that we’re waiting for Ferguson to be sold so that the two/three players we bring in are of a higher quality, If we were to bring in two/three now without the Fergie fee, it would be lower quality? If we start the season with the squad as is, we’ll struggle in a few areas. What I’m a little confused about is that we allegedly bid for Jamie McGrath (so a transfer fee is available to pay?) & we tried to sign Clark Robertson, so wages available for a defender. Surely we have alternatives to those two? I'm assuming Jenks was the McGrath alternative. Could be a case of taking a player on loan for a year and offering a contract to McGrath in January. Doubt we'll get near him on a pre-contract though. We definitely need to get some fat off the wage bill. Whether that's Ferguson or a couple of the others then I'm not sure. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 12 minutes ago, Merkland Red said: I'm assuming Jenks was the McGrath alternative. Could be a case of taking a player on loan for a year and offering a contract to McGrath in January. Doubt we'll get near him on a pre-contract though. We definitely need to get some fat off the wage bill. Whether that's Ferguson or a couple of the others then I'm not sure. The likes of Ojo & Kennedy, who we wouldn’t miss, are contracted so we’d need to be creative 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Rodhull said: Yeah I'm not anywhere near full blown panic mode yet but as said the squad is painfully thin in a few places and going into the first European game having only played a couple of games makes it feel like the squad is going to be very unprepared. The closer we get to the Hacken game, the less optimistic I am. Effectively two pre-season kickabouts at Cormack Park for the squad, against a Swedish team who are in mid-season, & have the “new manager bounce”. And even if we strengthen the squad before the game, if those players are English based, they’ll be even further off the pace than our lads. Glass obviously thinks we have enough to see us through. Lewis Gurr/McCr Gallagher Considine MacKenzie Brown Hedges Ferguson Jenks/McGinn Hayes Ramirez Subs: Woods, Gurr/McCrorie, Ojo, Campbell, McGeouch, McLennan, Kennedy, JET & McGinn/Jenks Fancy 1-1 at Pittodrie next week. Edited July 13, 2021 by Thenorthernlight 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logie skid boys Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 2 hours ago, Merkland Red said: I'm fairly comfortable with where we are at just now. Nobody around us have really strengthened too much at this point. Aye feel the same . . squad looks decent enough .sure be fine to get us through the first 3 weeks. there will be more ins and outs to come and that will be down to Ferguson going. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukDukGoose Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 30 minutes ago, logie skid boys said: Aye feel the same . . squad looks decent enough .sure be fine to get us through the first 3 weeks. there will be more ins and outs to come and that will be down to Ferguson going. Aye. I'm not saying I'm happy with this squad for the rest of the season. I'm just comfortable with where we're at now considering the pond we fish in. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 5 minutes ago, Merkland Red said: Aye. I'm not saying I'm happy with this squad for the rest of the season. I'm just comfortable with where we're at now considering the pond we fish in. Ferguson staying/leaving will have a big impact on our squad. It might be better overall if he leaves. Assuming we receive a sensible offer. No point in having an unsettled player. We can bank 50%-60% of the fee & bring in a two or three better players for smallish fees potentially. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukDukGoose Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 1 minute ago, Thenorthernlight said: Ferguson staying/leaving will have a big impact on our squad. It might be better overall if he leaves. Assuming we receive a sensible offer. No point in having an unsettled player. We can bank 50%-60% of the fee & bring in a two or three better players for smallish fees potentially. Yeah. That should be the club's policy anyway. Hoping that's exactly what happens. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big al Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 5 hours ago, Suspect Device said: Our first game is a week on Thursday but we've still no idea how much of a crowd we're 'allowed'. Frustrating when you see a full Wembley on Sunday. All maskless. I can see us being allowed 2,000 all socially distanced and masks being heavily policed. I also fear this will be the case. Getting so close to the match day now, very poor that nobody knows who can attend. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarapoa Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Thenorthernlight said: The closer we get to the Hacken game, the less optimistic I am. Effectively two pre-season kickabouts at Cormack Park for the squad, against a Swedish team who are in mid-season, & have the “new manager bounce”. This was something that was very much within the control of those at the club to do something about - even allowing for the Cove call-off. We are always told there's no substitute for match fitness/sharpness etc...............and it seems the club feel a couple of bounce games at our training facility is sufficient. Despite a couple of hairy moments vs Shkendija, RoPS and Fola, the last regime avoided the ignominy of many Scots clubs in being papped out of Europe right away against unseeded opponents. They will do well to avoid that fate this time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thenorthernlight Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 42 minutes ago, tarapoa said: This was something that was very much within the control of those at the club to do something about - even allowing for the Cove call-off. We are always told there's no substitute for match fitness/sharpness etc...............and it seems the club feel a couple of bounce games at our training facility is sufficient. Despite a couple of hairy moments vs Shkendija, RoPS and Fola, the last regime avoided the ignominy of many Scots clubs in being papped out of Europe right away against unseeded opponents. They will do well to avoid that fate this time. Agree. Think Glass gives off the impression of being over-confident about this. Rude awakening might be coming up come 29 July. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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