GlamourBaws Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 9 hours ago, GordonS said: So how are we feeling about making up that 32 goal difference margin in the next three games? It's the proverbial big ask... After last season I'm just happy we took it this far this season. For the league not to be mathematically out of reach going into the last week of the season was much more than I'd hoped for in August. Whatever the future holds, we've got a decent manager and a good core of players. This is spot on. Linlithgow Rose' target should always be to win the league - so in that sense, we have missed the target. In reality, despite being 2nd or 3rd most of the way, I have never felt we were close since Bonnyrigg beat us at Prestonfield. But we could finish up level, or 3 points behind a team who lost once (or twice) in the league season. Bonnyrigg also finished 29 points ahead of us last year. However, in the context of last season, where we were fighting at the other end of the table, the improvement has been remarkable. Whilst the league table at the end of the season looked "comfortable"... I was there the night that we got beaten by Nitten at home, and our future in the league looked very much in doubt until Windy and Creasey steadied the ship, and Mark and Paul completed the job. To think that some, including one of those who left, questioned the decision to change management team, is unbelievable now in hindsight. Amazing what a bit of team spirit, some decent players and a decent management team can do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 54 minutes ago, GlamourBaws said: This is spot on. Linlithgow Rose' target should always be to win the league - so in that sense, we have missed the target. In reality, despite being 2nd or 3rd most of the way, I have never felt we were close since Bonnyrigg beat us at Prestonfield. But we could finish up level, or 3 points behind a team who lost once (or twice) in the league season. Bonnyrigg also finished 29 points ahead of us last year. However, in the context of last season, where we were fighting at the other end of the table, the improvement has been remarkable. Whilst the league table at the end of the season looked "comfortable"... I was there the night that we got beaten by Nitten at home, and our future in the league looked very much in doubt until Windy and Creasey steadied the ship, and Mark and Paul completed the job. To think that some, including one of those who left, questioned the decision to change management team, is unbelievable now in hindsight. Amazing what a bit of team spirit, some decent players and a decent management team can do... Yup. I remember the game at Musselburgh, where we scraped out a 2-2 draw. Losing that would have put us in serious danger. From September to March we were averaging less than a point a game and our home form was shocking. The team were in a terrible state and some of the players brought at the start of that season were well, well below the standard required for the top half of the Superleague. At the absolute minimum we needed a left back, three midfielders and a forward. It shouldn't be underestimated how difficult it is to find five outfield players who'll all settle in and perform from the start, and that's more-or-less what happened. It didn't look that way at 3-0 down away to Penicuik at half time in the first league game, but I think the fight-back to 3-2 in the second half was the catalyst for a lot of the good stuff that followed. The only signing that didn't work out was Maguire, and with Coco having injury problems TC ended up shouldering the burden again. But with a much improved contribution from midfield they've scored pretty freely. IMO there have only really been three disappointing matches all seasons - Banks O'Dee away, which was pretty flukey; Bo'ness at home, when a few of them just didn't show the bottle required for that game; and Tranent in the EoS Cup. We got well-beaten at home by Bonnyrigg but I wasn't disappointed by the performance - Bonnyrigg showed great shape and tactical discipline on the day. For what ought to have been a transition season I think it's been great. In normal circumstances I'd be looking forward to next season... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld Heid Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 1 hour ago, GordonS said: Yup. I remember the game at Musselburgh, where we scraped out a 2-2 draw. Losing that would have put us in serious danger. From September to March we were averaging less than a point a game and our home form was shocking. The team were in a terrible state and some of the players brought at the start of that season were well, well below the standard required for the top half of the Superleague. At the absolute minimum we needed a left back, three midfielders and a forward. It shouldn't be underestimated how difficult it is to find five outfield players who'll all settle in and perform from the start, and that's more-or-less what happened. It didn't look that way at 3-0 down away to Penicuik at half time in the first league game, but I think the fight-back to 3-2 in the second half was the catalyst for a lot of the good stuff that followed. The only signing that didn't work out was Maguire, and with Coco having injury problems TC ended up shouldering the burden again. But with a much improved contribution from midfield they've scored pretty freely. IMO there have only really been three disappointing matches all seasons - Banks O'Dee away, which was pretty flukey; Bo'ness at home, when a few of them just didn't show the bottle required for that game; and Tranent in the EoS Cup. We got well-beaten at home by Bonnyrigg but I wasn't disappointed by the performance - Bonnyrigg showed great shape and tactical discipline on the day. For what ought to have been a transition season I think it's been great. In normal circumstances I'd be looking forward to next season... I would add Penicuik who were the better team over our 2 games. Going forwards we have a solid base to build upon and that's not something we have had in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld Heid Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 26th - Home to Carnoustie 28th - Away to Bonnyrigg (Fife & Lothians) 30th - Away to Newtongrange 2nd - Away to Forfar Busy week ahead. Scandalous scheduling. Given we had no games this mid-week and that the season doesn't end until the 16th of June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th1stleandr0se Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 14 hours ago, GordonS said: So how are we feeling about making up that 32 goal difference margin in the next three games? It's the proverbial big ask... After last season I'm just happy we took it this far this season. For the league not to be mathematically out of reach going into the last week of the season was much more than I'd hoped for in August. Whatever the future holds, we've got a decent manager and a good core of players. It's not as bad as it appears. You have to remember that Bonnyrigg could also lose their last game by 8 which means we'd only need to make up 24 in our own games which averages 8 a game. What is a bit annoying is that Bonnyrigg have dropped points towards the end and we could end up where one result would have made the difference. I hate to say it but if Ritchie Barnard had stayed I think we'd have won the league, at least, and who knows what more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 3 hours ago, th1stleandr0se said: It's not as bad as it appears. You have to remember that Bonnyrigg could also lose their last game by 8 which means we'd only need to make up 24 in our own games which averages 8 a game. Well when you put it like that it doesn't seem so difficult. Quote What is a bit annoying is that Bonnyrigg have dropped points towards the end and we could end up where one result would have made the difference. I hate to say it but if Ritchie Barnard had stayed I think we'd have won the league, at least, and who knows what more. Darren's had a few clangers but he's also a decent shot-stopper. I don't think the mistakes he has made equates to 7 points, does it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th1stleandr0se Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 16 minutes ago, GordonS said: Well when you put it like that it doesn't seem so difficult. Darren's had a few clangers but he's also a decent shot-stopper. I don't think the mistakes he has made equates to 7 points, does it? If we win our remaining games, which is possible, we'll lose the league by between 0 and 3 points. Yes, he's made good saves, but Ritchie was at least as good a shot-stopper and, in my opinion, better all-round including reliability and distribution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I cannae be done with this Darren Hill stuff. We absolutely didn't fail to win the league on the basis of one individual. Everyone at some point has had a shocker and the keepers stand out because they don't easily merge into the rest of the team. We lost a match at Sauchie with a performance that was as woeful as any last season. We were not much better against Penicuik at home. Sauchie was collectively abysmal. But ... the general direction of travel is self evident from our league position. We've a way to go yet but in terms of recovering from last season it's been a good year. Mark has worked really hard to try and get our winning mentality back. His own frustration is obvious when we let that slip a bit - especially when we fail to do the basics right or apply at least the same level of effort as our opponents. If we continue to make the progress next year that we've made this year then we'll not be far away - no matter where we are playing. We'll only have 3 weeks or so before we get ready to go again with the Hibs game. That should give us a benchmark ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzyBear Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Rooster will have McGinn in his back pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Che Dail Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 5 hours ago, Auld Heid said: 26th - Home to Carnoustie 28th - Away to Bonnyrigg (Fife & Lothians) 30th - Away to Newtongrange 2nd - Away to Forfar Busy week ahead. Scandalous scheduling. Given we had no games this mid-week and that the season doesn't end until the 16th of June. ...and the lack of midweek league games earlier in the season under floodlights... ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th1stleandr0se Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 5 hours ago, HTG said: I cannae be done with this Darren Hill stuff. We absolutely didn't fail to win the league on the basis of one individual. Everyone at some point has had a shocker and the keepers stand out because they don't easily merge into the rest of the team. The keeper is arguably the most important player in the team. In my days of watching Partick Thistle, Alan Rough won numerous points for us which other keepers wouldn't have. Obviously he didn't influence the scoring end but he could still "win" games by making saves which your ordinary goalie wouldn't. Hill is a decent keeper but Barnard is one of the best I've seen in a Rose jersey and could have made those extra saves to win points. As I said earlier, it's possible that we could end up being one result short of winning the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld Heid Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 The keeper is arguably the most important player in the team. In my days of watching Partick Thistle, Alan Rough won numerous points for us which other keepers wouldn't have. Obviously he didn't influence the scoring end but he could still "win" games by making saves which your ordinary goalie wouldn't. Hill is a decent keeper but Barnard is one of the best I've seen in a Rose jersey and could have made those extra saves to win points. As I said earlier, it's possible that we could end up being one result short of winning the league. Darren has made a number of high profile blunders - kennoway immediately springs to mind. People remember more when a keeper errs but not so much when he makes vital one on one stops (A great strength)The ability is certainly there his career shows that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grinderbrokeyourhearts Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I always thought Kennoway would be the result that killed us. But as Htg said, there's been a few.Bonnyrigg are the best squad in the league however and deserve the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatP Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 9 hours ago, Auld Heid said: Darren has made a number of high profile blunders - kennoway immediately springs to mind. People remember more when a keeper errs but not so much when he makes vital one on one stops (A great strength) The ability is certainly there his career shows that. Everyone makes mistakes - keepers mistakes are always highlighted as they tend to cost goals. Everyone forgotten less than a week ago where his performance won the game for us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzyBear Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Spot on Pat. Hill made 3 good saves on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dug Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Hill has made a few mistakes but it seems to be the easy option to blame him for everything. There have been times when he's been getting pass backs to deal with under pressure when the better option would have been for the defender to just hoof it out. Pumpherston was a prime example, the park was in a terrible state and we persisted in giving it back to Hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzyBear Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Closing date for entries to EOS is 31 May. Can we apply in advance of EGM and withdraw it if the vote goes the wrong way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Pretty sure that was the situation with the original March 31st deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pie n beans Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Linlithgow need to go, the superleague will no longer be a superleague , if its true what everyone is thinking it could end up with umpteen teams who have finished way down the premier division being promoted. Not a good standard to be called superleague if it does happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 9 minutes ago, pie n beans said: Linlithgow need to go, the superleague will no longer be a superleague , if its true what everyone is thinking it could end up with umpteen teams who have finished way down the premier division being promoted. Not a good standard to be called superleague if it does happen. At present only three SL clubs are leaving, it will still be a higher standard overall than the EoS. But the problem is that if we don't go now, and go next season or later, we'll be joining behind everyone else. It could easily be the difference between joining at tier 6 and tier 8. If we're ever going, it has to be now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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