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What now ?


Auld Jag
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Now we have a new managerial team in,the 3 Amigos ? What should we expect for the rest of the season. Before the start of the season I thought we should be top 4. Leaving Firhill on Saturday I thought we would do well not to get relegated. Now I think we will be in the top half of the league. Of course there are a number of things to take into consideration. Are the squad as bad as our current league position ? How much dealings we will need to do in January and how the squad take to the new management teams methods.

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I'm ever hopeful but right now I'd take mid table. There are still 30 games to go so in theory we could make a fist of the play offs. However I'm really not that confident after the abject performances v morton, arbroath and dunfermline. If we could somehow string a few victories together the landscape changes. 

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26 minutes ago, Auld Jag said:

Now we have a new managerial team in,the 3 Amigos ? What should we expect for the rest of the season. Before the start of the season I thought we should be top 4. Leaving Firhill on Saturday I thought we would do well not to get relegated. Now I think we will be in the top half of the league. Of course there are a number of things to take into consideration. Are the squad as bad as our current league position ? How much dealings we will need to do in January and how the squad take to the new management teams methods.

If we can get to anywhere above 8th we can breathe a sigh of relief, but anything between  5th and 8th is good from the present starting position.

The interesting thing will be what Bunter does (or doesn't do) with the present squad. His belief that Bannigan is the best midfielder in the division doesn't square with recent performances, but it obviously shows that Bunter believes he could coax better performances out of him; I wonder what he thinks about Zanatta for example, who looks one of the less bad of Caldo's singings, or of Cole or Palmer so the tactical changes could  be as interesting as the personnel changes.

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There is quality in the current squad of players. Indeed, I don't have an issue with many of Caldwell's signings. For me, player recruitment wasn't the issue. So the likes of Miller, Cardle, Cole, Palmer, Zanatta – I have no problem with these signings. Add to that players who have been with us longer and who are more than capable of performing at this level –  players like Bannigan, Slater, Gordon and Penrice – and we have a decent squad. The new management team will need time, obviously, as the defence in particular is all over the place, but let's put it this way: I don't expect us to be in a relegation dogfight at the end of this season.* 

 

*This post will self destruct in the event that it's proven to be complete balls, and I will deny it ever existed. 

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42 minutes ago, Semi Nurainen said:

If we can get to anywhere above 8th we can breathe a sigh of relief, but anything between  5th and 8th is good from the present starting position.

The interesting thing will be what Bunter does (or doesn't do) with the present squad. His belief that Bannigan is the best midfielder in the division doesn't square with recent performances, but it obviously shows that Bunter believes he could coax better performances out of him; I wonder what he thinks about Zanatta for example, who looks one of the less bad of Caldo's singings, or of Cole or Palmer so the tactical changes could  be as interesting as the personnel changes.

I know he tried to sign Zanatta for Ayr last month but they couldn’t compete with our offer. 

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57 minutes ago, Semi Nurainen said:

If we can get to anywhere above 8th we can breathe a sigh of relief, but anything between  5th and 8th is good from the present starting position.

The interesting thing will be what Bunter does (or doesn't do) with the present squad. His belief that Bannigan is the best midfielder in the division doesn't square with recent performances, but it obviously shows that Bunter believes he could coax better performances out of him; I wonder what he thinks about Zanatta for example, who looks one of the less bad of Caldo's singings, or of Cole or Palmer so the tactical changes could  be as interesting as the personnel changes.

He’s built a successful midfield around Mark Kerr. I suspect he can do a job with Bannigan

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Most of the summer signings have been pretty poor so far and they don't have a lot of previous first team experience to judge them by, so I really don't know what to expect. 

Fingers crossed.

Funny how Caldwell's summer signing differed so greatly from his mid-season ones, who were mostly solid experienced players from the Scottish game. He did okay in his (partly self imposed) crisis, but when he got the chance to develop his own team he failed miserably.

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Regardless we must be patient. McCall is an excellent manager (and I still like Archie) but they have a real job to do to arrest what has now been a two year slide and with players who are lacking confidence and an unbalanced squad.  Getting some experience like Slater and Harkins back in midfield may help. 

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48 minutes ago, thebiglemon said:

Target is 8th at the moment 

Talk of winning the league laughable  (Miller)

Play offs very very very very unlikely 

McCall is a good manager but not a magician 

Not sure I would give it four 'very' unlikelies but otherwise this is spot on. 

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57 minutes ago, allyo said:

Most of the summer signings have been pretty poor so far and they don't have a lot of previous first team experience to judge them by, so I really don't know what to expect. 

Fingers crossed.

Funny how Caldwell's summer signing differed so greatly from his mid-season ones, who were mostly solid experienced players from the Scottish game. He did okay in his (partly self imposed) crisis, but when he got the chance to develop his own team he failed miserably.

Don't want to continue speaking ill of the dead but agreeing with what you say more or less indicates a lack of motivation. Senior guys like McDonald, Anderson, Cardle, Saunders and maybe even Harkins most likely didn't require motivating, and most likely the presence of the first two in and around the the squad helped motivate the younger players.

I don't think there's much doubt that McCall is a skilled man manager so I'd be hopeful that we don't have to bring in more short term experience to bale us out this January. Of course it's important he gets enough out of the present squad from now to January to avoid a repeat of last year's short termism. 

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5 minutes ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

Don't want to continue speaking ill of the dead but agreeing with what you say more or less indicates a lack of motivation. Senior guys like McDonald, Anderson, Cardle, Saunders and maybe even Harkins most likely didn't require motivating, and most likely the presence of the first two in and around the the squad helped motivate the younger players.

I don't think there's much doubt that McCall is a skilled man manager so I'd be hopeful that we don't have to bring in more short term experience to bale us out this January. Of course it's important he gets enough out of the present squad from now to January to avoid a repeat of last year's short termism. 

I think the above is a really good point and when McCall says we have 6/7 players who are confidence players and that the squad is unbalanced its I think what he is referring to.

Caldwell got Miller to replace McDonald which wasn't a huge downgrade but didn't get anyone in to replace Anderson. Anderson wasn't great towards the end and looked like his legs were going but he was a leader and someone who put his body on the line. We don't have anyone in the squad like that.

 

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