Halfway Through The Season - Hows Your Team Doing?

[G51]

With last nights matches, that's 8 of the 12 teams hit the halfway point in the league with 19 games played. 3 teams at 18 matches played with Celtic having played 16. Were we using a traditional South American league structure, the Apertura would effectively be over now.

So I thought it might be a good idea to reflect on the opening half of the season - how has it been for your club?

Has your club underperformed or overperformed your expectations this year?

Overperformed. W17 D2 is a ridiculous record and we won't sustain it. To me, the key is the 5 goals conceded. Our defensive performance is not sustainable and we will concede more goals, but hopefully we can keep it tight enough to keep winning matches. The record for least goals conceded in a 38 game season is 18 I think, which illustrates how unlikely we are to keep this current defensive form up.

Do you think your club can still achieve their pre-season goals? And will they?

Absolutely. Of the two pre-season goals, I'd say we've already achieved one (Europa League knockout qualification). Just the big one left. The title race will almost certainly narrow - I genuinely think it's too early to say whether we will win this. January has games at home to Celtic, away to Aberdeen and away to Hibs, so it's an absolutely enormous month. Too close to call at the moment.

What's the one thing your club needs to change to improve over the next 19 games?

Get back to blocking crosses and tracking midfield runners like we did until the start of this month.

[AJF]

There's not much I can add that you haven't covered. I agree things are going better than expected in the league and Europe but I would also point out how disappointing the cup defeat to St Mirren was.

This squad have been labelled bottlers for the last 2 seasons and we had an excellent opportunity to win a trophy that would go a long way to overcoming any mental barriers the players may have. Instead, it fed into the bottler narrative and has possibly added a little more pressure on us to see out the league.

[LIVIFOREVER]

A lot better since Martindale took charge. 

[sergie's no1 fan]

We have finally showed up to the party.

[RandomGuy.]

Realistically, probably how we shouldve expected.

New manager with new ideas, and a small squad he didn't get time to really add too. Bryson/Conway signings hinted at a manager who needed proven players in before time ran out, IMO, rather than players he was necessarily wanting.

Trying to be level headed, we've played well but not picked up results, and then inevitably hit a tough patch and not picked up results. In theory, we should start playing well again at some point after the turn of the year, and we will need to make the most of it this time. 

Our fate probably rests a lot with the manager tbh. If he cracks then we're in genuine threat of relegation, but if he can stay level headed, tweak things to sort our weaknesses, and try and strengthen in January, then we should be able to keep ourselves clear. 

Season was always about just surviving after losing TW, so 10th has to be the aim. Frustrating, as there's been hints of a really good side who could push on, but thats not enough.

[Comrie]

as your club underperformed or overperformed your expectations this year?

Underperformed. Had some hope this year, it's been woefully misplaced. We're even shiter than I feared.

Do you think your club can still achieve their pre-season goals? And will they?

Yes, but it'll need smart recruitment and luck.

What's the one thing your club needs to change to improve over the next 19 games?

New players, less mistakes.

[The_Kincardine]

8 hours ago, G51 said:

What's the one thing your club needs to change to improve over the next 19 games?

In terms of playing style?  Very little.  It's all about attitude.

The next four games for us are the toughest you could imagine:

Hibs (H)
St Mirren (A)
Sellick (H)
A'deen (A)

12 points would see us on easy street.  The only question is if we crack it or cack it and I am really not sure.

[Swello]

The traditional P&B thread that each year is always started by a supporter of a team having a great season

[bennett]

4 points dropped so far is better than I could have expected,  finishing top of our Europa group was a nice wee bonus.  Only downside was the league cup game against st Mirren. 

 

[Munoz]

1 hour ago, Andrew Driver said:

You must have a shite imagination.   

Why? Hibs,St mirren,Celtic and Aberdeen on current form are probably 4 of the most difficult games they could be facing. 

[Munoz]

4 minutes ago, Andrew Driver said:

Having none of it.   The SPL is of a very low standard this year.   Add together the wage bill of Hibs, St Mirren and Aberdeen and it's not close to Rangers'.      These are games they should win with relative ease.    Chuck into the equation that Celtic have 3 (third choice)  goalkeepers and a manager devoid of tactical awareness I'd expect the keeper to chuck in a couple and a routine win at home to Celtic.   

I wasn't digging at St Mirren BTW who were brilliant against Rangers in the cup.   

 

^^ This.  

Fair enough.  What he should have said was - the next 4 games are as tough as we could face on current form. Obviously they are miles ahead of us in terms of wages and players they have at their disposal,  but as we found out last week,  that's not always enough. 

[Guest Bob Mahelp]

Has your club underperformed or overperformed your expectations this year?

Aberdeen - Probably just under expectations. 3rd/4th in the league, whimped out of a Scottish cup semi against Celtic, papped out of the league cup in a season where the OF lost early...typical.  Some of the football has been very good, especially when we had Watkins, Wright and Hedges all firing at the same time. Unfortunately, an unlucky combination of injuries and SFA incompetence knocked us off track for a few weeks at a point where, if all had been well, we could well have been sitting handy in 2nd place. As it is, the personnel we have (especially up front) means that we're back to playing a lot of the same turgid guff that has plagued us for the last couple of seasons.

 

Do you think your club can still achieve their pre-season goals? And will they?

If our pre-season goal was to finish 3rd and fail in the cups, then yes, we may achieve that. A bit of good form and good fortune in the upcoming Scottish cup would be nice. Otherwise, the only real challenge left this season is probably the fight with Hibs for 3rd place (assuming that Celtic will get better over the next 19 games).

 

What's the one thing your club needs to change to improve over the next 19 games?

Given how important he was to us for a few months, and how our whole tactical game revolved around him, a fit Marley Watkins back at Pittodrie on a 3 year contract would be nice. Aside from that, getting Cosgrove interested again would be good.