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I'd disagree with that. Taking advantage of our possession to score more goals is the thing we were missing for large parts of the season. He could have improved on that. Beating Falkirk and Hearts. Plus taking taking us to a group stage in Europe (unlikely I know).

Other than winning a cup, there isn't much that JBA could have done next season that would have shown progression, and there is a fair likelihood that we will regress due to losing more of our better players (Slattery will already be a huge loss), along with a combo of other teams being more wise to us and not all of the bigger teams being basket cases. Then you throw in the inevitable drop in league form due to Europe, and you can see why it was good for JBA to move on on a high. That doesn't mean we have suddenly become relegation fodder, but repeating this season is going to be very difficult - unless we genuinely did crack the whole recruitment thing with our data partner. Personally, I think we will see a drop in results, but still be in the conversation for top 6, and we will have some good off the field stuff going on, as well as maybe some of our own young players coming through.

I guess a question I have is, *whisper it*, would Jens have managed to continue the success with the same approach in his second season? Your Slot comment is interesting, because we saw the difference between his two seasons in charge. Sadly, we'll never know. We can only be thankful for the incredible season we had.

You're right Denny. The SFA is not an entity in itself. It is there to represent member clubs. He does indeed sound like a dictator.

Great post and I agree with most of it. I’ve been selective quoting sections to highlight. in alternate universe if we swapped squads would McGlynn have had same success with his tactics and JBA with Falkirk players I wonder. Both approach’s seem to trust the players. I probably wouldn’t be disappointed if Jøhn Glynnæssøn 😉 came in but it may feel a bit like replacing Klopp with Slot

He’s just embarrassing himself as FIFA themselves refer to the different versions VAR light. https://inside.fifa.com/innovation/standards/video-assistant-referee Hawkeye Innovations do both and I’m almost completely sure that Scotland isn’t the full system they provide that likes of England, Italy and Germany do. It would indeed be interesting for him to name the leagues he is referring to as totally disingenuous to suggest cost isn’t a factor. The version in use in Scotland is far more dependent on the quality of the human Video Assistant Referee. Acknowledging that this increases potential for mistakes would be little consolation in individual circumstances but surely more likely to be (grudgingly) accepted by fans.

Honest....I wasnt thinking of a Jethro Tull pun 🤪🤪

I agree with you. If he were German or Danish and could squeeze into a slim-fit Uniqlo long-sleeve minimalist-style t-shirt, opinion on him would likely be very different. There are a few things that I admire about McGlynn's style, including his brave decision to reject the usual approach to Scottish Championship-level football (direct, physical, second-ball contests) in favour of a more attractive, proactive approach. I have probably watched more of Falkirk in the second half of this season than any club outside of our own, and it's mental how calm they seem to play. They often looked like a side who just know the goal would eventually come through repetition and patience rather than chaos and panic. Some would say that has proven to be the way to actually undo us this season. McGlynn seems to be more interested in Intelligent footballers. Falkirk this past season had technically sound midfielders, full-backs comfortable in possession, and mobile, versatile attackers. He is one of the rare few generally less interested in the "run your socks off, earn the right to play football" approach that many Scottish managers (and some not Scottish managers, it must be said) tend to employ. That said, his approach is different from the system we have in place at the moment, even if I do rate McGlynn highly. In my view, he favours a system where the players look comfortable, the system serves the players, and they play with confidence, rhythm and repetition. Us under Jens seemed more along the lines of constant movement, pressing triggers, rotations and tactical demands. Everything feels designed to overwhelm opponents physically and mentally, where the players serve the system instead. What the real question is, is what we're doing actually sustainable? McGlynn has shown his system is sustainable over League One (also going undefeated I think?), Championship, promotion pressures, initial relegation pressure in being one of the favourites to go back down, and also squad turnover. What he's done with Falkirk is remarkable. I know the trendy option is to look for coaches who look the part and have umlauts in their name, but I do think we could honestly do much worse than John McGlynn. But the fact he's Scottish and looks like the guy your auld da talks to down the bookies definitely works against him, I think.

No disrespect meant to Max. If he is of / has developed a similar mindset and approach to JBA plus has the relationship with the players, I’d be more than happy for him to lead next stage of progression I’d be just as content if he recognises his strengths lie in assisting another.

He is.

As in Frank Zappa's "Weasels ripped my flesh" Hell mend them.

True, dat. So, I'm hopeful we continue the bold Scandi-approach, not just because it's great to look at but because it puts thousands on the gate, something I'm sure the club directors are very aware of. BTW, is Max Rogers still with us? In all this excitement, I've lost track.

Brilliant. Sums the whole farce up. And highlights the misleading information being pushed out of HQ. Maxwell also stated that no way was VAR being withdrawn. Out of curiosity, is that his call or is it up to the teams in the top division? If they united (this is Scotland so unlikely) could we do a Sweden? Was reading yesterday that after discussing VAR with numerous Clubs, Rangers approached Maxwell with funding and improvement suggestions. Dismissed out of hand. Appears we have a Dictator running his own little empire.

These are great reads and refreshing to see that there are actually other coaches out there that subscribe to what JBA was doing. Wellmade mentioned muscut. Cant have him. The Rangers have wanted him the last two appointments. If he won 3 games in a row with us the tabloids would have him fitted up for a navy suit and broon brogues

Maxwell is a wanker , like Doncaster not fit for purpose . For the benefit of the Scottish game , both need removed asap.

What is this utter nonsense??? Don’t you know Billy Davies, Barry Ferguson and Tony Docherty are available!! just lets all stop with any progressive thinking….. it only brings sorrow. 😉

Great post..based on whats happened with us over past few seasons, id favour a foreign coach....but surely theres a uk coach out there who is looking to make a name for themselves. Maybe not an absolute rule but the Scandanavians just seem more astute and intelligent than our guys. What about Stavri Kettlesborg?

Hibs maybe but doubt Celtic would sell to Hearts. And he enjoys his football too much to fit into the Robinson non football approach. Aberdeen fans are in for a treat.

There's quite a range on the "Who Dares, Wins" scale from the elite SAS to the less elite Del Trotter.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up in Auld Reekie or Furriboots City!

VAR in Scotland is hindered by one key factor - resources. In England they have a minimum of 28 cameras, sometimes more, available to VAR for each game. In Scotland there are a minimum of 6 cameras, sometimes going up to 12, for games selected for live broadcast. In Scotland, the estimated VAR costs are around £1.2M per season. The technology and operational expenses are funded by the 12 top flight clubs on a sliding scale according to their final league position. For a full season the estimated annual contributions from clubs are: - top placed teams £195K - lower ranked clubs £67K These contributions cover the stadium camera equipment, additional match officials and technology calibration. When asked recently about VAR, Ian Maxwell, CEO at the SFA said “There is a narrative that we have VAR-lite and that it’s a cheap VAR system but we have exactly the same VAR system as over 50% of European nations with the same technology and number of cameras.” It would be interesting to know which European nations he’s referring to - perhaps the likes of Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, San Marino, Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands! 😏

We have defintely shown "a who dares wins" attitude this season so SAS might be appropriate 😂

Exactly and just a bit of idle fun in meantime. maybe we should start the Steelmenonline Analytics Service a few successes and we could sell out to big tech for enough money to rebuild stadium 😜

So do I (it has it uses though) but we aren't getting any rumours so why not see what it reckons.. **My company is heavy on AI as well...**

Did we officially advertise for candidates to apply . I may have missed that. If not then we may have it done and dusted already