cb_diamond Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Just now, GoalForAirdrie said: They’re probably planning on the kit launch on Friday anyways. They usually do a teaser the night before, so I’d imagine we’ll see something on Thursday night. Here's hoping! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afcholmesy Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 On 10/07/2023 at 15:37, Chapelhall chap said: Yes that's good and I bought my online ticket today but still can't quite grasp the absence of a cash gate for the late decision makers, especially as it's the opening game. Just a wee moan. Then they can just buy a ticket online last minute 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afcholmesy Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Not worried yet about the lack of defenders, i think/hope we’ll see Dumbarton off comfortably on saturday. With a back four combination of some sort of ballantyne dycey watson ats and fellowes should be sufficient. However another cb and Lb is needed. Is agent o’reilly still without a club after he left Hamilton? I was quite impressed with him over the two legs and going by twitter the hamilton fans were saying he was one of there better players last year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapelhall chap Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 1 hour ago, afcholmesy said: Then they can just buy a ticket online last minute That assumes they're digital chaps with the appropriate IT. It's just that I don't like the disappearance of the cash economy, supermarket tills for the old chaps rather than self service and so on. Certainly the cash gate reappeared pretty quickly at the play off home games. Probably a losing viewpoint but heh oh. Roll on the action. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afcholmesy Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Aye fair point but i’m sure the club sell tickets for cash in the stadium bar. Not sure if they will still do that this season though. I agree should be able to have the option cash or card but for me I don’t see it as a big deal. I Get it could be for the older generation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 5 hours ago, cb_diamond said: I suppose there's a couple of things at play here. It's absolutely true that we have to get our signings bang on and everyone I'm sure would agree that if that takes slightly longer than we'd like then it's ok. However, there doesn't seem much forward momentum. Yes, we've skooshed our pre season games so far, but they've been against dreadful opposition. In terms of strips we're dead last again. In terms of getting season tickets on sale, we were at the coo's arse, again. Every other clubs fans seem to know exactly how many season tickets they've sold. We, as always, have no clue. We all trust Rhys' judgement here, but a bad start could do us in and last season we never got properly motoring until nearer Xmas, with a thin, thin squad. I'm not a naysayer, nor a happy clapper, but people dismissing others concerns are maybe being a bit short sighted. That's not true though, or at least it depends on what you mean by 'properly' motoring. McCabe got Manager of the Month for August last year, we got 11 points from the first 5 games which included away games to Dunfermline and Queen of the South, and hammering Falkirk. At the time everyone was saying it was the ideal start, and it was. Despite what a couple of posters have said, recruitment last summer (or lack of) had no impact on our start last year. Our poor form came in when Johnson's emergency loan ended and Frizzell got injured. More recruitment during the summer would have made little difference there - Henderson's signing had been delayed and was a perfectly fine appointment on paper. And with Frizzell's injury we were going to struggle as you're never going to have a player of that level waiting on the bench as a replacement. Telfer's signing in September helped to negate some of Frizzell's loss, although obviously wasn't a replacement. Whoever had come in wouldn't have been as good. I think comparisons with last summer are wide of the mark. Last summer we had a team good enough to get promoted and we all knew that from the previous season, and that's why we started so well. It was about getting a few more competent substitutes to fill in when needed and I agree we were slow on that front, but in the end it didn't make much difference. This season I think is the opposite, we need players to go into the starting 11, whereas we have guys who I think should be decent back-up already signed - McGregor, ATS, Watson, one of Gal or Todorov. I think that makes it more difficult because we need to make sure they are of the right standard and that's why it's taking longer. As a few of us have said up the thread, if you don't have the money to go straight in and make guys offers they can't refuse then there's not much you can do. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb_diamond Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said: That's not true though, or at least it depends on what you mean by 'properly' motoring. McCabe got Manager of the Month for August last year, we got 11 points from the first 5 games which included away games to Dunfermline and Queen of the South, and hammering Falkirk. At the time everyone was saying it was the ideal start, and it was. Despite what a couple of posters have said, recruitment last summer (or lack of) had no impact on our start last year. Our poor form came in when Johnson's emergency loan ended and Frizzell got injured. More recruitment during the summer would have made little difference there - Henderson's signing had been delayed and was a perfectly fine appointment on paper. And with Frizzell's injury we were going to struggle as you're never going to have a player of that level waiting on the bench as a replacement. Telfer's signing in September helped to negate some of Frizzell's loss, although obviously wasn't a replacement. Whoever had come in wouldn't have been as good. I think comparisons with last summer are wide of the mark. Last summer we had a team good enough to get promoted and we all knew that from the previous season, and that's why we started so well. It was about getting a few more competent substitutes to fill in when needed and I agree we were slow on that front, but in the end it didn't make much difference. This season I think is the opposite, we need players to go into the starting 11, whereas we have guys who I think should be decent back-up already signed - McGregor, ATS, Watson, one of Gal or Todorov. I think that makes it more difficult because we need to make sure they are of the right standard and that's why it's taking longer. As a few of us have said up the thread, if you don't have the money to go straight in and make guys offers they can't refuse then there's not much you can do. I mean when we started to put together consistent positive form over a longer spell, this hadn't happened mainly due to the thin squad I mentioned and you referenced with the injuries. The same paper thin squad we have now. Let's be honest players like ATS and Telfer are not good enough for this level as anything other than emergency cover. Beyond them and Watson it's kids. Edited July 11, 2023 by cb_diamond 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond1924 Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 (edited) 10 hours ago, cb_diamond said: Let's be honest players like ATS and Telfer are not good enough for this level as anything other than emergency cover. Beyond them and Watson it's kids. Never a truer word spoken. I think some of the support are blinded by the success of promotion and think that your Watsons and ATS’s can cut it in the championship but it’s a whole other level. We need better players Edited July 12, 2023 by Diamond1924 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 9 hours ago, cb_diamond said: I mean when we started to put together consistent positive form over a longer spell, this hadn't happened mainly due to the thin squad I mentioned and you referenced with the injuries. The same paper thin squad we have now. Let's be honest players like ATS and Telfer are not good enough for this level as anything other than emergency cover. Beyond them and Watson it's kids. But I don't think the thin squad actually impacted much, as I said it was only really Rae and Frizzell's injuries that were the major issue, but even with a bigger squad we were never going to have players of that level on the bench to come in so we'd have been struggling regardless how big the squad was. I agree with the second part, I've literally not seen a single poster on here say that we don't need more players, there's no debate there so the idea that there are 'happy clappers' is bizarre. All I'm saying is it's easy to point out that we need players, but not so easy to fix. We either try and wait for better players to become available, break the bank to make players offers we can't afford and risk crippling the club if relegated, or just sign inferior players to fill the squad out which won't make us any better. There are risks with all of those options. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 16 minutes ago, Diamond1924 said: Never a truer word spoken. I think some of the support are blinded by the success of promotion and think that the your Watsons and ATS’s can cut it in the championship but it’s a whole other level. We need better players Who is saying that though? I've literally not seen a single post on here saying that those players are anything other than squad players. I know Twitter has a more enthusiastic breed of fan, and I'm not on the Facebook group, but I don't see what you are seeing on here at least. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Diamonds are Forever said: But I don't think the thin squad actually impacted much, as I said it was only really Rae and Frizzell's injuries that were the major issue, but even with a bigger squad we were never going to have players of that level on the bench to come in so we'd have been struggling regardless how big the squad was. I agree with the second part, I've literally not seen a single poster on here say that we don't need more players, there's no debate there so the idea that there are 'happy clappers' is bizarre. All I'm saying is it's easy to point out that we need players, but not so easy to fix. We either try and wait for better players to become available, break the bank to make players offers we can't afford and risk crippling the club if relegated, or just sign inferior players to fill the squad out which won't make us any better. There are risks with all of those options. Quite simply we need to find a way to get better players in. Fordyce stated that we are in talks with players which means they are in demand and in talks with others too - about money! Yes, every club is looking to unearth a gem from obscurity but realistically unlikely. So how do we raise it. PH puts is personal cash - He probably already has but there's a limit. New investment/sponsors - Club posted on social media yesterday about this. Fan involvement - Supporters society similar to Falkirk's but given the acrimonious demise of the club/supporters trust/fan rep on board relationship then probably unlikely and of course the current cost of living crisis and relatively small fanbase are also factors. Put the club up for sale. Fan wins Euro millions! Whilst I've never been totally convinced with PH he's a very successful businessman in the finance world so will no far better than most of how to deal with this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiamondDownSouth Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Diamonds are Forever said: Who is saying that though? I've literally not seen a single post on here saying that those players are anything other than squad players. I know Twitter has a more enthusiastic breed of fan, and I'm not on the Facebook group, but I don't see what you are seeing on here at least. It's a squad game these days and team selection will have to take into account factors such as form, injuries, suspensions, formation, opposition etc. I think any team needs 8 forwards/attacking mid plus 8 defenders/defensive mid and we are clearly lacking resilience on the latter at the moment whether Janny & ATS start regularly or not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, DiamondDownSouth said: It's a squad game these days and team selection will have to take into account factors such as form, injuries, suspensions, formation, opposition etc. I think any team needs 8 forwards/attacking mid plus 8 defenders/defensive mid and we are clearly lacking resilience on the latter at the moment whether Janny & ATS start regularly or not. Again, who is disputing that? Every single person that I can see is in agreement we need more and better options defensively. Our Assistant Manager said it publicly yesterday, literally no-one (on this forum) is disagreeing with that. A few of us are just pointing out that signing good players is actually quite difficult for a club of our size in the Championship, but that's somehow being taken as those fans thinking our squad is good enough or that we don't need more players, or 'happy clapping'. Edited July 12, 2023 by Diamonds are Forever 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passionate Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Kenny_m said: Quite simply we need to find a way to get better players in. Fordyce stated that we are in talks with players which means they are in demand and in talks with others too - about money! Yes, every club is looking to unearth a gem from obscurity but realistically unlikely. So how do we raise it. PH puts is personal cash - He probably already has but there's a limit. New investment/sponsors - Club posted on social media yesterday about this. Fan involvement - Supporters society similar to Falkirk's but given the acrimonious demise of the club/supporters trust/fan rep on board relationship then probably unlikely and of course the current cost of living crisis and relatively small fanbase are also factors. Put the club up for sale. Fan wins Euro millions! Whilst I've never been totally convinced with PH he's a very successful businessman in the finance world so will no far better than most of how to deal with this. This thread is going way off, let's look at the facts, we have gained promotion after an eternity in League 1, If we do not score a goal or win a game, we will be 100k better off with prize money, average crowds are going to increase to probably the 1500 AVG thanks to the bigger away supports, that and an increase of 2 quid a head admission fee means a lot more coming into the club... We wil be in a much better financial footing than the last decade, yes an increased budget is and will be required .. I am not of the opinion it is lack of required investment, Rhys stated at end of the playoff final, we needed better, stronger players to be competitive in the championship, he knows what's required, we are 3 days before the first game and we have signed one player that fits his remit. Todorov, The Hibs laddies were already signed prior to the playoff final, McMaster was already on situ having deal agreed since January, Dunlop who was around the club for pre match kickabouts, do not fit the mould of bigger, stonger players... This is plainly down to poor recruitment at this time, you can sugar coat it all you want.... The link with Consilium has done us well, but we are in a very narrow player availability window with this process.... Is this the issue.... This can change with a couple of decent signings which we need.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiamondDownSouth Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 40 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said: Again, who is disputing that? Every single person that I can see is in agreement we need more and better options defensively. Our Assistant Manager said it publicly yesterday, literally no-one (on this forum) is disagreeing with that. A few of us are just pointing out that signing good players is actually quite difficult for a club of our size in the Championship, but that's somehow being taken as those fans thinking our squad is good enough or that we don't need more players, or 'happy clapping'. The point I was trying to make was that Watson & Taylor-Sinclair should remain as key players in the set up even if we recruit the additional couple of defenders we all recognise are needed - no need for them specifically to be labelled as squad players. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb_diamond Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 (edited) Just now, DiamondDownSouth said: The point I was trying to make was that Watson & Taylor-Sinclair should remain as key players in the set up even if we recruit the additional couple of defenders we all recognise are needed - no need for them specifically to be labelled as squad players. Sorry, hard disagree here. There is no way Taylor Sinclair is good enough for this level. I wouldn't even label him a squad player. For me he's the equivalent of Hutton. A break glass in case of emergency player/coach. He's far too slow and far too immobile. He'll get ripped apart every time he plays. Neither he not Janny were "key players" last season never mind this. Edited July 12, 2023 by cb_diamond 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_m Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 29 minutes ago, Passionate said: I am not of the opinion it is lack of required investment, Sorry but you're miles off it if you don't think money talks in football. Remember the public Chris O'Neil stooshie over £30ish per week, it happens at every level. I suggest you listen to "undr the cosh" podcast as there's a lot of ex pro's being quite open about their careers and how their moves from club to club came about - money! I listened to Motherwell manager on Sunday where after a great end of season there squad has been decimated and quite simply it's down to budget and players they wanted to keep getting better offers elsewhere. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds02 Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 44 minutes ago, Passionate said: This thread is going way off, let's look at the facts, we have gained promotion after an eternity in League 1, If we do not score a goal or win a game, we will be 100k better off with prize money, average crowds are going to increase to probably the 1500 AVG thanks to the bigger away supports, that and an increase of 2 quid a head admission fee means a lot more coming into the club... We wil be in a much better financial footing than the last decade, yes an increased budget is and will be required .. I am not of the opinion it is lack of required investment, Rhys stated at end of the playoff final, we needed better, stronger players to be competitive in the championship, he knows what's required, we are 3 days before the first game and we have signed one player that fits his remit. Todorov, The Hibs laddies were already signed prior to the playoff final, McMaster was already on situ having deal agreed since January, Dunlop who was around the club for pre match kickabouts, do not fit the mould of bigger, stonger players... This is plainly down to poor recruitment at this time, you can sugar coat it all you want.... The link with Consilium has done us well, but we are in a very narrow player availability window with this process.... Is this the issue.... This can change with a couple of decent signings which we need.... You’re talking about Rhys saying that we need better players for the championship but you’re saying it’s poor recruitment for us to not have them in for the league cup. All that matters is that they are here for the league which is still 3 and a half weeks away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb_diamond Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 Just now, Diamonds02 said: You’re talking about Rhys saying that we need better players for the championship but you’re saying it’s poor recruitment for us to not have them in for the league cup. All that matters is that they are here for the league which is still 3 and a half weeks away. I both agree and disagree. I agree with your last sentence however with the caveat that making signings just before the first league game is potentially not good as they will have had no time to gel, particularly as we very clearly need two more defenders. The starting 4 (Cammy, Dycey + 2 others) having zero games and only a few days training together is potentially a real problem. Add to this that the likelihood is that as the squad currently sits we may well get bounced out of the LC at this stage, this negating another significant pay day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond1924 Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 5 hours ago, Diamonds are Forever said: Who is saying that though? I've literally not seen a single post on here saying that those players are anything other than squad players. I know Twitter has a more enthusiastic breed of fan, and I'm not on the Facebook group, but I don't see what you are seeing on here at least. There seems to be a general acceptance amongst fans in having the likes of Watson and ATS as first choice players (which they 100% are just now). Fair doos if folk think that they are squad players but at this moment, with weeks away from the first game of the season, they are our first choice defenders and there are people who are quite happy with that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.