eljaggo Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 The area seems huge for a training centre. Why do we need 4 pitches? Is anyone else worried that the real agenda is the sale of Firhill and a move to Kirkintilloch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambies Lost Doo Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 The training ground is not getting cancelled. It's funded by the Weir's via their black cats group. Thistle then pay a fee to use the facility. Instead of paying Science centre or Lesser Hampden it goes to the new training ground. Benefits for Thistle are extended use, ability to influence design, centralised facilities and a bonus in attracting players. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z88 Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 1 hour ago, eljaggo said: The area seems huge for a training centre. Why do we need 4 pitches? Is anyone else worried that the real agenda is the sale of Firhill and a move to Kirkintilloch? The same thought crossed my mind that in the event of a financial crisis due to back to back relegations.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulguy jag Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 3 hours ago, AndyMac said: If this project is scrapped, so be it. It's a bit of a vanity project. Perhaps the club would be better putting a few quid into building a scouting network? The only thing that would bad (to me) about cancelling the training ground, is that it would be disrespectful to Davie MacParland and his family. If the training ground does not happen the main stand or the bing should be re named after Davie. Can,t see the colin weir stand been re-named, as for the bing, I would not name a dug after that eyesore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMac Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 1 hour ago, mulguy jag said: Can,t see the colin weir stand been re-named, as for the bing, I would not name a dug after that eyesore. Is it any worse than having a derelict sewage works named after you? Hopefully, everything will go ahead according to plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClydebankJag Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 11 hours ago, AndyMac said: If this project is scrapped, so be it. It's a bit of a vanity project. It’s a vanity project to have a permanent base for training your players and your academy squads? Really? Right now we hire pitches at great expense right across Glasgow and the surrounding area, for both the main squad and the youths. Right now we load buses with equipment and have to unload, set up, and repack at the end of every session. Going forward in the long term we will have a multi pitch site with our own buildings on site. We can set that up to suit our needs re gyms, treatment rooms, lecture rooms etc. We will pay £0 in building costs. We will pay a hire fee of no more than we pay just now and won’t be subject to random and excessive rises at the whim of the owners each and every year. It’s as far from being a vanity project as could be, it’s a meaningful and highly significant step forward to securing the future infrastructure of our club. And it is something that every club of our size would bite your hand off for. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljaggo Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 The big advantage of the new centre is convenience, and it is a very big advantage. As to the financial benefits, they depend on the deal struck, the continuing benevolence of the Weirs, and the (long term) costs and availability of alternatives. I have no idea what these financial benefits might be. To make the whole thing worthwhile however, the Club needs to show a lot more interest, and invest substantially more in youth development than it has in the recent past. Using it as a better changing room for the senior players won't cut it. It comes down to whether you trust the Board to make the right decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonehJags Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 I would be seriously concerned about our clubs future if this project was to be scrapped. Its the only positive thing left to look forward to at this point in time. The fact that its not costing us any money to build makes it a absolute no brainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAGSMAN1968 Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 Just thinking though, with all these good weeks of training we've been having recently - do we really need a dedicated training facility??! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garscube Road End Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 Just now, JAGSMAN1968 said: Just thinking though, with all these good weeks of training we've been having recently - do we really need a dedicated training facility??! Oh course we do. Then training would be even gooder ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 I worry about some people on here .... 1. The training centre is being built for us by the Weirs it is literally costing the club nothing 2. We then lease the facility for the same amount we currently pay to use the various training arrangements we have 3. The advantages of a dedicated trading centre with training, fitness, medical aspects etc should be fairly obvious It’s the best news we have in the current s### ! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljaggo Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 1 hour ago, javeajag said: I worry about some people on here .... 1. The training centre is being built for us by the Weirs it is literally costing the club nothing 2. We then lease the facility for the same amount we currently pay to use the various training arrangements we have 3. The advantages of a dedicated trading centre with training, fitness, medical aspects etc should be fairly obvious It’s the best news we have in the current s### ! I'm sure everyone here welcomes the new training centre. I think what is of concern is that it is used to its full potential. The Club seems to rely heavily on seasoned players from other clubs for the first team at the expense of youngsters coming up through the Club. That goes back to the Lambie era when he was ace at picking up mature players that fitted in well, and continued with Archibald who unfortunately did not have Lambie's eye for a player. Hopefully the Club will use the training centre to change the emphasis to youth. The training centre should make it easier to sign young players who see the Club investing in their development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 12 minutes ago, eljaggo said: I'm sure everyone here welcomes the new training centre. I think what is of concern is that it is used to its full potential. The Club seems to rely heavily on seasoned players from other clubs for the first team at the expense of youngsters coming up through the Club. That goes back to the Lambie era when he was ace at picking up mature players that fitted in well, and continued with Archibald who unfortunately did not have Lambie's eye for a player. Hopefully the Club will use the training centre to change the emphasis to youth. The training centre should make it easier to sign young players who see the Club investing in their development. I agree with a lot you say. I would tho' think our youth academy is already doing rather well. Apart from the likes of the youngsters that have broken into the first team plus Lindsay & Hendry, the current top scorer in Div One is ex-academy as is McDaid, who's doing the biz with Ayr. Parents should take note of that. A dedicated training centre will simply improve our ability to attract more kids with more potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunmorejag Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 2 hours ago, javeajag said: I worry about some people on here .... 1. The training centre is being built for us by the Weirs it is literally costing the club nothing 2. We then lease the facility for the same amount we currently pay to use the various training arrangements we have 3. The advantages of a dedicated trading centre with training, fitness, medical aspects etc should be fairly obvious It’s the best news we have in the current s### ! This Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambies Lost Doo Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 1 hour ago, eljaggo said: I'm sure everyone here welcomes the new training centre. I think what is of concern is that it is used to its full potential. The Club seems to rely heavily on seasoned players from other clubs for the first team at the expense of youngsters coming up through the Club. That goes back to the Lambie era when he was ace at picking up mature players that fitted in well, and continued with Archibald who unfortunately did not have Lambie's eye for a player. Hopefully the Club will use the training centre to change the emphasis to youth. The training centre should make it easier to sign young players who see the Club investing in their development. Youth academies are overly hyped up imho. Thistle will always be competing against bigger outfits for the best. Of the bigger outfits its rare for even one kid a season to break through. The ratio of success and churn of players is insane. The training ground is primarily for first team then reserves then youths, womens team. Without the Weir £ for the youth teams and academy I'd argue a club of our stature would be better doing as Brentford did and scrapping academy while bringing in players 18 to 23 (Eng have u23 teams) jettisoned by others and running youth teams for community outreach. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 1 hour ago, eljaggo said: I'm sure everyone here welcomes the new training centre. I think what is of concern is that it is used to its full potential. The Club seems to rely heavily on seasoned players from other clubs for the first team at the expense of youngsters coming up through the Club. That goes back to the Lambie era when he was ace at picking up mature players that fitted in well, and continued with Archibald who unfortunately did not have Lambie's eye for a player. Hopefully the Club will use the training centre to change the emphasis to youth. The training centre should make it easier to sign young players who see the Club investing in their development. The training centre will be the base of the first team, the academy and the women’s team and has been specifically designed with that in mind. all clubs try to have a mix of developing young players and player recruitment , this is our version and will make us more attractive to both groups and we become a big more of a grown up football club only thistle fans would see this as a negative ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 Our current squad has : Bannigan , Penrice, McCarthy , Fitzpatrick and Wilson who all have come through the youth system ... that’s pretty good so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayfarer Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 17 hours ago, eljaggo said: The area seems huge for a training centre. Why do we need 4 pitches? Is anyone else worried that the real agenda is the sale of Firhill and a move to Kirkintilloch? IIRC one will be solely for 1st team training, one for reserves & women's team & 2 for the academy teams. Given that here are about a dozen academy squads, four pitches seems about right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljaggo Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 I don't see this as a negative at all. My only interest is in seeing it used to its full potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMac Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 We are a club without any sort of scouting system and boy does it show. The club squad is a shambles, I just do not see how a training ground will change this. I honestly believe that the youth academy and training ground are vanity projects. We should concentrate on the first team and reserves and have an excellent scouting network in place. We should get back to basics. Get the basics right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 7 minutes ago, AndyMac said: We are a club without any sort of scouting system and boy does it show. The club squad is a shambles, I just do not see how a training ground will change this. I honestly believe that the youth academy and training ground are vanity projects. We should concentrate on the first team and reserves and have an excellent scouting network in place. We should get back to basics. Get the basics right. The training facility has no impact on or anything to do with the scouting system or the first team ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 Perhaps we cannot afford the lease if we’re not promoted. Would astroturfing Firhill not make more sense financially? Crap to watch a game on it but can be used 24-7 and we already have our offices, changing rooms, gym there 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 1 hour ago, javeajag said: The training facility has no impact on or anything to do with the scouting system or the first team ! The cost of the annual lease does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMac Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 1 hour ago, javeajag said: The training facility has no impact on or anything to do with the scouting system or the first team ! It's all part of the same narrative, training ground, youth academy, it all paints a positive picture of well organised, progressive club carefully planning for a brighter future. The reality is somewhat different. To have a successful football club you have to be good at horse trading, you don't need a Equestrian Centre, or to train Yearling's into Thoroughbred's, to be good at horse trading players. Javeajag, you are correct "The training facility has no impact on or anything to do with the scouting system or the first team !" There's plenty of talent out there, we just need a good network of scouts that can spot it, coupled with decent traders at the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordanhill Jag Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 22 hours ago, Lambies Lost Doo said: The training ground is not getting cancelled. It's funded by the Weir's via their black cats group. Thistle then pay a fee to use the facility. Instead of paying Science centre or Lesser Hampden it goes to the new training ground. Benefits for Thistle are extended use, ability to influence design, centralised facilities and a bonus in attracting players. The rental fee is based on what we pay for Science Centre which we rented on an SPL budget - what happens if we dont go up for a few years or drop down another division - we cant afford it - we currently have one of the top three training facilties in the league but are third bottom - so training facilities dont mean a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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