James McPake and next season

[livipar2]

I think the squad we have is easily good enough for the Top 4. I think it’s reasonable to say that without the mid season injury crisis we would have finished in the Top 4. That said a number of games have been pretty boring - Saturday being right up there.

If, and it’s a big if, we could get Kane and MFW on permanent deals that would be a big boost. One or 2 other signings that would go straight into the 11 and I see no reason not to challenge at the top next season. That said I have a concern that we have a number of ‘squad’ players under contract next year like Chalmers, MOH, Wighton etc and how that will affect our budget?

One of the things I like about McPake is he is willing to admit mistakes. As a young manager he is bound to make them - if he didn’t he would manage at a much higher level.

Recruitment is massive this summer.

[DA-go Par Adonis]

If that's too positive for some, I thought Saturday was a disgrace given we could still potentially make the play-offs. Whoever recruited Holmes needs a talking too - and why he and McCann were on the pitch at the end is anyone's guess.

I'm still not convinced that McPake is any good at Championship level, nor that Todd is going to kick on, dominate the division and make us fortunes.

I also think we're likely to be going into the last game of the season with a chance of being 9th.

I'll still be back next season, though.

[Piracy]

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.

[Tartan Army Par]

Assuming that we stay up this year I have some concerns for next year with our ability to do much business over the summer.

Kane, MWH and MFW all go back and then its the likes of Wighton, Breen, Comrie, O'Halloran and Chalmers that become first eleven material again. Add McCann and Mehmet who are already starting. I think we will be looking at a relegation scrap with them playing regularly.

Next season with Falkirk coming up and Arbroath going down will instantly make things harder to stay up. Livi coming down and losing Dundee United actually makes the promotion end easier, so there is a nice wee opening at the top end if we spent a bit of money strengthening the first team and could somehow loan out few of the fringe players that are on two year deals. I'm just not sure how easy it will be to manoeuvre players around.

Basically we need to invest in the first team or we could be in bother next season.

[DA-go Par Adonis]

Still think Mehmet gets a bad rap. He's made a few mistakes but so have most keepers in this league.

He then gets nothing (from some) in the way of credit when he wins us points from keeping out a penalty or making a good stop. 

If Bene and Fisher stay fit, I don't think Mehmet is one of the major issues.

[Rossmcno1]

27 minutes ago, DA-go Par Adonis said:

Still think Mehmet gets a bad rap. He's made a few mistakes but so have most keepers in this league.

He then gets nothing (from some) in the way of credit when he wins us points from keeping out a penalty or making a good stop. 

If Bene and Fisher stay fit, I don't think Mehmet is one of the major issues.

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. 

[Piracy]

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.