Goggles & Flippers

No more Jamaica's for you then Doris

Last year after inheriting a bit of a shitshow from McGhee he totally exceeded expectations. This year despite an improved budget is marred by a poor summer of acquisitions. We can’t ignore that some we went for we didn’t get (see the spat with Neville). Regardless we’re currently under performing by what 2/3 league positions. Let’s calm down and stop giving the naysayers oxygen

And some blagging it like me I agree, looking through with mixed emotions, on one hand there are some strong candidates which bodes well and on the the other, there's the same strong candidates that makes the election a stern test. Regardless it's all good for the club.

Three excellent posts in this thread in the past day, many coming at different angles and views but all doing what this forum at its core is all about .... considering an alternative view and stimulating a discussion about something we all want to see remedied. The red mist and knee jerkers add nothing. The thread exploded off the back of the Killie defeat. I guess because many think we should be going there and getting a result or at the very best competing. Steve Clarke has proven to be an astute and inspired signing for them. He turned around relegation fodder last year and with minimal recruitment sent them on a remarkable run of form. Killie benefit from strong organisational management, everyone knows their jobs and when you combine with a pitch which nuances they have already got down and we get exposed to once/twice a year then I think a visit there is up there among the top 3 hardest places to get a result in Scotland at present. Yes ... the summer recruitment wasn't good enough but last summers had more successes than failures. However we're where we are now and have to get to January with what we've got. Yes ... we haven't used the exposure and whatever extra funds were released to improve the squad but it took Dunne, Higdon and numerous others a good while to prove their worth. Yes ... with hindsight the writing was on the wall in our preseason and league cup performances and I do agree the midfield is the misfiring element but I don't think we've had a well rounded middle of the Park since Jennings era. Even the 2012-13 team that finished 2nd had deficiencies in the middle.

To be fair nobody really criticised is transfer policy last season, he was involved in some canny acquisitions and would have got a few more plaudits if Bigi showed what he has so far this season. Hartley and Aldred have been fantastic additions. Dunne came onto a game and Cedric was a little lottery win. This issue for me and from scrolling through this thread is the almost universal acceptance that this business inbound this summer was underwhelming and not focused enough. Filling the teams with perceived 6/10's when a few 8's would have been more preferable to most of the support. I don't know if we were in for Tony Watt or O'Halloran but I'd like to think our facilities, central belt location, track record, ambition and ethos would be attractive to players. A manager is measured by his results both in terms of points/wins and playing staff. I fear a poor summer may come back to haunt him in the same way it may for Brendan. Regardless, for me, the man, the Hampden visits, everything, means he has bought a lot of time in my book to get it right again.

Isn't it maybe he's became available and he has potential to make us a bit of money. We all know how football works these days, English to English transfer ... crazy money, Salamanca de Garcia El Dubai Donadoni sells for 5x more than Shuggie Smith from Lesmahagow despite having the same footballing talent. While critical of our acquisitions this summer, our combined management team have also served us well so far, maybe best just to let them continue? *Salamanca's mother was a wee bit of a dirty.

You're seriously comparing last year when he was demoted to the U-20 on two separate occasions and fell out of favour. OK then ...... I look forward to one of us eating humble pie come May.

Ciftci hasn't done anything in Scottish football since he was in Tangerine. Kenny Miller has repeatedly produced the goods. I'd go with that in this instance. But I agree both lacking imagination but a loan deal or a 38 year old, both have little benefit other than the immediate.

Agree to disagree then, he offers a change from the built like the side of a house, back to goal, ball to feet strikers we have in abundance. To stick with more of the same opposed to a foil shows a certain degree of blinkeredness

Hindsight is a great thing but I'd have bitten your hand off to have Kenny Miller over Connor Sammon going into September.

Thoughts?

If he says Kenny Miller he's banned

Pre-season & League Cup .... indifferent. But we weren't alone in SPFL teams on that front. Hibs away .... in 2013 we would have felt going there was a shoe in to take all three points. With them strengthening and a capital club and the revenue that it brings then it is a tough ask. Lennon also seems to have bought well but they are more attractive and can therefore have access to a larger pool than we do. Accies at home .... yes this is one we would look to take something from and haven't. The issue with all three above hasn't been the way we have set up, its been the manner in which we conducted ourselves. There is no excuse for lack of fitness or organisation and that's down to Robinson and his coaching setup. Injuries do have a factor but not the major one. It also appears we have a few players in a lull in form. That will come back and if it does concurrently then we are a force. The summer recruitment while too early to fully write a report card hasn't built on the datum of last year and enhanced with extra quality. That may come to haunt Robinson. However for me he is still the man to take us through the season. I like him, his press conferences, his ethos and what he's trying to build. I don't know what we would attract in his absence or if Craggs and Las would be the natural successors. If we're adrift come December he has the January window to make things right which he has earned with last summers acquisitions.

I appreciate a few things: Firstly, a lot of players were given improved terms last season so a fair bit of the budget this season will be going to retaining those players services however from the outside it may appear like the status quo. Second, in the aftermath of the Gary Neville spat, its evident we had targets but were pipped at the final hurdle by being gazumped or not even in the ball park financially. Third I expect there are players we have identified who we can only pursue once we had money in the bank from sales. It is evident the midfield playmaker is perhaps the most rare of footballing talents as it seems they aren't as prevalent as the other positions. Therefore it carries a premium and every other team is courting these players. We have failed to source an adequate one for a good 5 years now. Finally, I do think Robinson is the man for the job. He achieved a lot last year (and the half dozen games or so of 2016/17), mainly centred around creating a feel good factor and having players give that extra 5% for their mates. Yes he played to the strengths of the team he recruited and unfortunately Celtic didn't turn up to either Final the way Aberdeen or Rangers showed up to the semi's, we seemed to take that role. It's evident he does have a plan B and C but due to personnel he is forced to stick to A. Now that gets the ire of the fans screaming for the introduction of a player. For whatever reason we tend to chase games rather than start off well and protect our position. I've said before that a manager is often judged and job security based on his summer acquisitions. Last year we had a few coups with Carson, Hartley and Cedric. Dunne impressed form January on, Tanner's contribution seems to have drifted from the memory because he's been out for so long but he definitely brought something and Rose continues to be someone that splits opinion. Aldred and Main were timely replacements for big players Hartley and Louis. Bigi hasn't featured as much as anyone thought, surprising due to his perceived pedigree so I can only imagine work ethic and commitment must be an issue. I think to succeed when you have less quality players in this league you have to reinvent your style and tactics before you play each round of 11 games. That's why we did so well till October, but failed from then on till New Year. We got found out and exploited.

I rocked up at Easter Road at 3pm on Saturday due to jetlag and combining with a visit to the festival shows. Prime fanny ... but glad I am a roaster because that was torture to watch. Seems this season so far has been misfiring apart for that first half where we scored 5.

We're gonna get spanked unless Wigan come in at the 11th hour to buy McGinn too.

Off the back of Cup and financial success, the repeat evidence of our players moving on to bigger and better things then you'd expect the Base/Datum (call it what you will) level of recruitment to increase. So the step up on quality argument does have merit. Imagine Celtic didn't qualify for the champions league last year, they would have less money and less of draw, therefore the quality of the player they could attract would be less. People could see Cedric was naive and but could also see he had something about him. Dunne wasn't helped by his clumsiness that only dissipated come January. Bigi plays a couple of games near the end of the season and puts his foot on the ball in the Cup Final and people exclaim he's the solution to our midfield issues.

Maybe so but for the first time for ages I find myself aligning with their argument. Knowing what we do now about how we are conducting our business, I feel confident we have players waiting in the wings, already identified, only waiting on the ink to be dry on a sale to have them snapped up. Issue with that is agents know this and I think we all know anything with the prefix "English" in it seems to demand a multiplyer. There is also no guarantee we won't be gazumped or some of our targets have been secured because it's taken other teams until now to progress their interest. Repeating Andy_P's assessment, you would have thought with a strong track record from Moult, Heneghan, Marvin and now Cedric there may have been a few more courting us than us courting them. However we can only control our side of things and there is a proven track record of self improvement and using us as a stepping stone. What is a fact, the players we have secured at present don't appear to be a real step up in quality or versatility. With the 2 cup runs and extra revenue I think we all expected a better base level of recruitment. We have been surprised in the past with some unfancied players who turned out revelations. We all appreciate that we have to find hidden gems, those with a point to prove or a player with a couple aspects of his game lacking. As a few have also pointed out, Dunne only started to look like a player in January and Higdon took till October so maybe Gorrin will be up for SPFL payer of the year by the winter break for all we know at present. Hibs have started well but do ship goals, unless Robinson has decided to try and nullify their midfield .... I don't think we'll have the personnel to do on Sunday, I think it's an easy win for them and a naysayer frenzy for us.

League - 10th League Cup* - Quarter Final Scottish Cup* - Quarter Final PoTY - Carl McHugh YPoTY - Allan Campbell Wishes - I don't think we've recruited enough quality to build on last year despite the increased exposure and revenue we generated. I normally have a go at the naysayers but this team at present doesn't have enough for me to sustain the season and push on. I predicted 12 months ago when I thought it would be a consolidating season to do something this year and that turned out to exceed all expectations beyond belief so what do I know. Relegate Accies is the best I think we can hope for sadly.

Ojamaa and Faddy had great initial spells with us and fell away. It's just a thing that happens. As for the summer business, I know we've lost out to English clubs here and there but as I've conveyed, the success both financial and exposure doesn't seems to have worked in us securing known quality .... yet. If we look back to when Moult signed, the Wrexham fans were genuinely gutted. A lot of the business we've done is followed by smug waves goodbye.

Not wanting to rain on your parade there Sherlock ..... you may want to review the dates on those posts. Otherwise we're in the Matrix or Micheal J Fox is my da

The signing of Sammon endorses my apathy. However I hope I'm wrong and he's a revelation. Just see it as a tad lazy and lack of ambition going for him. I'm glad Frear is putting 2017/18 behind him and Tanner can't get back quick enough. Too many strikers of a similar mould unless there's confidence in movement out.

If you see this prick, don't ask him for directions, he Disney have a clue

Not really, I was buzzing after acquisition of Bigi, Rose and Tanner. Just so far, nobody has had the same effect to inspire from their pedigree alone.

I'm sure there is a degree of self awareness about him, he doesn't exist in a vacuum and knows himself his form dropped and despite what Robinson said (I guess for face saving) he did get extra minutes on the park than his form demanded. As conveyed if he didn't jump he may have been pushed. This way the club and McHugh come out of it smelling of roses. I'm sure our polished and savvy media department managed this very well. I've always favoured a defender as a captain as they tend to be facing the action for more of the game. No doubt Harley has the presence and charisma to carry the rest of the team with him. With respect to the summer business. I know we still are 6-7 weeks away from the door closing but it's been a tad underwhelming for me so far. Maybe the players we have brought in will be revelations or the youth players promoted have something about them. I also appreciate Robinson has form of sourcing and bringing in unknowns and by an large more success' that disappointments. I appreciate signings may be dependant on some of our team leaving for pastures new and until that happens, then interest has cooled.