Piracy

We're taking the minibus to the game for our sins. Gluttony on show.

I'm hoping for a win, but can't see past a draw, 1-1.

3 minutes ago, Al k said:

Exactly, its hard to judge when hes hardly played in his position too. Pars fans love the lazy tag. Mccann, Wighton and Chalmers get it at some point. 

I wouldn't describe any of those lazy. 

Neither would I. In fact I'd say that both unfair and inaccurate.

12 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:

I think everyone connected to the Pars were frightened of losing yesterday. Its only natural. I was dreading the game and I'm just an ageing overweight loudmouth in the Norrie.

I'm an overweight loudmouth in the NW. 

3 hours ago, da_no_1 said:

I completely disagree that the team "looked like they'd given up". You can say what you want about ability etc but in my opinion you're completely wrong about attitude.

You're perfectly entitled to 100% disagree with anything I post, I've no issue with that at all. I was raging yesterday and I don't usually rant at the manager and players but that performance was pathetic. No idea idea if it could be attributed to fear of losing or lack of confidence in the game plan, but it was not acceptable. 

12 minutes ago, Eastendtales said:

No chance that McPake is leaving with him contracted to the club. Not one chance. 

It's possible that him and everyone just need a decent break away, time to forget everything then come back blazing pre season. Feel like that just supporting them from afar. 

Your confidence is heartening. 

Anyone watching the last few cannot fail to see the lack of confidence in our ability and game plan. I think there's something affecting things behind the scenes. There's an almost prevelant air of apathy about the club on match days.

I hope James McPake stays and gets full backing from the club over the summer. He does do a lot of analytical stuff and talks really enthusiasticly about learning about the game. I think he's an honest and passionate guy.

I'm not convinced about the board and their future plans for the development playing side, which is what most fans worry about. There's 2 consecutive seasons of heavy financial losses to consider and the intention to reign in the spending and how that influences signings. It's great that board to say that Gmbh Fussball were absolutely willing put their hand in to their pocket to put the necessary £300k in to the development of the academy/training facilities, but how long will they keep putting substantial sums of cash into the club? 

Going to be some league next season, exceptionally competitive. We can't compete effectively without really overhauling the squad we currently have. I believe most Pars fans would agree with that. We've not been dynamic or overtly ambition in previous windows and we've got players signed on lengthly deals. This is going to take some collectivd effort to manage this successfully and put us in a good position for top 4 finishing. Are our board and management aligned on strategy for dealing with this?, let's hope so. 

8 hours ago, da_no_1 said:

Nope. Just musing that you're slavering 

Cheeky ****. 

McPake is struggling to get his team playing well, nobody can defend that garbage yesterday. No slavering there. 

It wouldn't surprise me if he were to get moved along. Yes, I'm making assumptions but I genuinely think they looked like we'd given up, which is opposite to last seasons team. 

I stand by things not being right at the club. 

31 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:

Are you serious? The first line, fair enough. The rest? Mad ramblings

Are you calling sanity into question? 

That was utter f*ckin tripe. I was utterly bemused and frustrated with what was served up today. I don't think McPake will be here next season, I think they'll go head hunt another manager. I think they've just thought down tools, there's no fight, resilience, guile, hunger, desire, ambition etc, utterly dejected with the last couple of games. There's something not right at the club, you can call me a sh*t stirrer, a moaning c*nt, but I couldn't give a toss, it needs sorted.

42 minutes ago, Secure Par said:

So Charlie D’s has been going most of the season and last game so no staff etc…. Well done Mr Cook…he could have made this happen easily getting extra staff in but we all know he doesn’t want this🤷

Tbf they did try to get staff,well, I say they,  and I could be more specific but I won't. Wouldn't be fair.

26 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

When I talked of the overall package for hospitality an area for bampots is part of that and I don't want that to sound offensive.  Its kinda organic but everyone knows the parts of the grounds where expected behaviour differ If you start swearing your head off in the family section then that's not ok and if you bounce around and sing songs in the main stand you'll get a few questionable looks,  but you do either in section NW you'll be right at home.  Similarly at the other end you might find a few more frustrated glances coming if you try take a 5 year old outside the family section and need to constantly ask to be let out for toilets/drinks but that's clearly acceptable in the family section.   

The hospitality package needs to be similar,  you can have an area for kids to go play games, an area for a quite pint and catch up, an area to have a meal, an area to entertain business clients and an area for folk to be a bit boisterous.  They aren't conflicting when appropriately managed.

No offence taken. The reference to bampots isn't anything other than a joke between those who patronise Charlie Ds on matchdays. I remember a former board member speaking through drink muttering "I wish we could get rid of them', in reference to those who drank regularly in Charlie D's. To counter that I do remember Ross McArthur valuing the efforts made by fans using Charlie D's because it added to the hospitality packages and Legends as another valuable revenue stream for the club. Tbh I think the variety of options is great for the club, it should be all things to all people. 

13 minutes ago, Superally said:

Happy to be seen as a bampot then

https://media.tenor.com/dUNDLq5fdPgAAAAM/idiots-idiot.gif

4 minutes ago, Boston Red Sox said:

Perhaps if they treated their staff a bit better (sending them home 5 mins before finishing time and docking them back half an hour etc) there wouldn’t be a staffing issue. Genuinely wouldn’t mind spending an extra ten bob a pint if it went on increasing from minimum wage. Last week it was quiet but generally it’s busy enough with thirsty chaps and should be turning a profit. At times the club needs to read the room as for me watching the pars isn’t about the attractive free flowing football, it’s a thing, it’s the day, it’s the folk that makes the club special. 

That last sentence is particularly relevant imo. 

2 minutes ago, Superally said:

Legends is fine, I prefer Charlie D's good company, banter and live music. Given the choice its Charlie D's 

It's my preference too.

The frustrating thing for me is that the club has never paid any heed to this facility on match days. It really took off in the early days and never really capitalised on that. It was always Honk who organised (and paid) the artists. Club pay them now, but still Honk who books them. The club never advertise the fact there is live music. I think it's always been seen as an area for bampots. 

7 minutes ago, Eastendtales said:

Does Legends need a rebrand? Freshen it up and start catering to a wider part of the fanbase?

Certainly needs spruced up given the telly's are ancient, split material on the seating and some of the flooring is splitting. However, it's still a decent enough space. 

40 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

It always seems to be staffing for these kind of things. I think we are in a tough position for it too,  can’t offer reliable shifts or many hours, so you’re left in the casual market. But those working in that market are also not offered reliable shifts and need to take the hours they can and they’re not going to choose the pars over an employer who they rely on more

It is frustrating for the club.

It is a ****er that it's always Charlie D's that gets hit, but it's probably the least profitable part of hospitality on match days, so you can understand their decision making. 

13 minutes ago, Rossmcno1 said:

Maybe they’ve done some work on how much having that area open would bring in, accounted for the costs associated and just decided not to bother.  It’s not so easy nowadays to make money in the bar game.  Sometimes it’s simply not worth it, see the amount of pubs etc shutting down across the country. Sad times but if (and that’s the operative word, if) the club have done analysis and deemed it not worthwhile then fair enough?

 

In all of this, communication continues to seem to be a big problem despite the continued growth in our commercial and non footballing departments.  Why?

It's because there's a shortage of 5 hospitality staff for tomorrow's game. I got that straight from 2 people at the club after I contacted a couple of them this morning. They rely on a number of youngsters/students and a lot of them have exams just now. 

Old Inn it is for some Pars fans, money in their tills. 

No idea about that tbh. I'm reliably informed the guys are booked. 

I'll endeavour to find out what's happening.

Done

Gordon Rowan & Mike O'Reilly playing Charlie D's prematch on Saturday, superb.

Great way to see out this season at our last home game of the season.

COYP

Lewis McCann, I think his positional sense is poor, his ability to header is poor, his finishing is poor and some of his decision making is suspect. However, he is a strong runner, good stamina, and he committed. No doubt there's a player there, I just think don't think he's an instinctive player and needs a lot more coaching. I think times running out for him in our team, that's my honest opinion.

Fantastic result. Good to see. 

1 hour ago, Rossmcno1 said:

I think he has been exposed without Bene in front of him, but he’s not all bad like you say.  I just don’t think he’s good enough for us to be challenging at the top end of the table.  If we finish 6th - he’s probably at the right level.  But I do think we need better to be challenging at the top. 

Tbf the whole defensive set up missed Benedictus.

1 hour ago, DA-go Par Adonis said:

To be fair, I've heard the same about Cook's negotiations - and it may be confidential from our side - but agents will say anything to anyone, especially if they think it will benefit them. I'm guessing that's why Laing has come in.

Some did criticise recruitment last year for being too ambitious. We were in for Reilly (and, I think, one other) who ended up going to the Premier League. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't when you miss out on a player.

Re the strategy of the board, they'd argue that this is season 3 coming up, given that they couldn't start to implement what they wanted until the Covid restrictions were over.  They're trying to build the club from the bottom up, whereas the Rovers are doing it from the top down.

Whether it works, we'll wait and see. However, they're trying to do things to enhance the fan experience and build a fan base in our expanding city. Some of it is unconventional but nothing has worked for any other provincial club in Scotland in the last 40 years, so if they have a 'plan', that's better for me than overspending on players or temporarily reducing prices - which might be a short term fix but doesn't do much overall.

 

Don't know about overspending on players but we've been overspending as a whole given the losses last season and projected losses for this season.

No detailed profit and loss information means some fans won't get the specifics they'd like to understand where the money had been spent.

It'd obviously be good to understand what proportion was allocated to the playing side but I suspect we won't be seeing that type of detail anytime soon.

In relation to balance, yes, I agree we can't overspend on players but maybe increasing the budget at the expense of other aspirations can be achieved as part of the overall financial strategy. Increasing player budget doesn't automatically mean it's an irresponsible choice, it just depends how it's managed.

34 minutes ago, Eastendtales said:

Next season there's no excuse for not pushing hard in thr top 4. 

No excuse for poor recruitment.

We've got the makings of a really decent side. Time to show it.

I agree, it really is crunch time and the board need to really read the room with fans and understand growing frustrations.