Baffled

When ST first went on sale, the club announced it no longer had a partner to offer finance for Season Tickets. Instead they offered a 4-month payment plan which allowed you to spread the cost from April through to July (and charged you £20 for the privilege). I don’t know if a similar facility is in place now; if I had to guess I’d say no but you can ask the ticket office.

Completely agree. And exactly the point I made in response. The counter-argument was the business issue for the club is that season tickets are a huge revenue generator but are not a ‘compulsory’ purchase - nobody has to buy a DFC season ticket. So (and these are just an example, not real-life numbers) if you sell 3000 season tickets at an average of £400 each, you are generating £1.2m revenue. If you reduce the price to £300 you would need to sell 4000 tickets to get the same income. Being completely honest, I don’t think the club feels a 33.3% increase in ST holders year on year is realistic. As I said previously, they didn’t say what this year’s target was but I didn’t get the impression that it was wildly optimistic. I also mentioned the matchday situation and how pathetic it was that there was no option to buy and use digital tickets or use card at concession stands. Got the old Dens infrastructure as the reason; I said it was an excuse, not a reason and was something that with a (very) little investment could be remedied. Conversation went back and forth for a while before we agreed to differ

Was talking to someone from the club last night. I don’t have any rumours or potential signing targets (they didn’t tell me any) but was quite interesting around where the club feel they are in terms of numbers. The budget and expectation is for another three signings before the deadline (end August); another attacking option and right hand side defensive cover is seen as priority. Don’t expect any departures (let’s be honest could only really be Byrne, French or Rudden) although if we get more experienced bodies in, then a couple of the younger guys who featured pre-season will likely go out on loan. Particularly interesting was the fact that they mentioned there is a ‘great atmosphere in the dressing room; the pre-season trip was the best I’ve ever been on’. All in all, felt like there’s a bit of a feel-good factor around the club at the moment (when did we last say that…) with season ticket sales being the only slight downside. Didn’t give me a number but said although there was an uplift on last season, the numbers sold so far was below target. How far below, I don’t know.

Spot on. It’s the set up WGS has been hankering for. The issue is that Strachan will still be remote from the dressing room and the day-to-day man-management of the players. I’ve got no doubts about Docherty’s coaching and tactical credentials but can he instill the type of “I’d walk through walls for him” belief into a group of players? Also, if you were a bit surprised by this appointment, just wait until the “number two” gets announced.

Possible reason for a lack of news/comms from the club (apart from the fact that we’re not that good at that sort of thing at any time) is that they have gotten “I’m interested but can’t talk until my season is over” vibes from a potential target…

Callum Davidson decided in January that they way to reinvigorate St Johnstone’s season was to sign Zach Rudden. I’ll just leave that with you.

Thought the same. After the transfer window we could put out these two elevens from our squad (and these are just a list of players, not my first eleven/second eleven) and still have Robertson, Sheridan and Tolaj left over: Legzdins - Kerr Sweeney Ashcroft Clampin - Byrne Williamson McGowan - McMullan Robinson McCowan Lawlor - Mulligan Fisher McGhee Marshall - Maguire Anderson Cameron - Hannant Thomas Jakubiak With the exception of right back there’s pretty good cover for every position. Which means Bowyer can get the squad playing his way, and when injuries and suspensions hit, then it’s easy to draft in like-for-like replacements without compromising the formation or quality. I’m optimistic. And I don’t like it

What have the Romans ever done for us?

So. Aberdeen took a conscious decision to sack an under-performing manager and replaced him with an up and coming manager with a proven ability to improve the clubs he’s managed. St Mirren, having been thrown into a situation they neither wanted or expected, reacted by bringing in a manager with a proven track record of delivering over the past 10 years a level of league and cup success in Scotland we could only dream of. We take time, apparently, to talk to people (who, we know not) who tell us we could be doing better. No s**t Sherlock. This high-level consultation process (I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt here) takes place during a transfer window when we allow the current manager to make signings not just to address the current predicament but for future seasons. Then, after two decent results (not performances) we sack the manager and replace him with someone whose most recent football experience has been moaning over the roast beef and tatties that “Palace versus Southampton and they have the cheek to call it Super Sunday…” It’s the latest shambolic decision in long, long line of similar appointments. There is a common denominator and this is where our problem lies. John Nelms isn’t just an employee of Tim Keyes, he’s a friend. Sacking John Nelms isn’t just a matter of taking someone’s job away, it’s a whole lifestyle. Nelms committed to Keyes by uprooting his family and moving to Dundee when he was asked to. And the appreciation Keyes has for this means he’s not going to sack him. The Keyes family is known for its loyalty to its companies and employees. They don’t walk away from failing or under-performing organisations; they do what they can to improve them. This is good for Dundee FC. But it also means that John Nelms is seen as part of the solution, not the problem. Guess what I’m saying is, we can vent all we want but the bottom line is that while the Keyes family owns Dundee FC, then John Nelms will be here for as long as he wants.

Long time lurker here. Never felt the need add to the debate before but I need to vent after that performance today. No obvious system, no bespoke tactics to deal with the threats County pose, baffling substitutions and comical defending. Just indescribably bad decision making (on and off the park). That’s 2 points out of the last 27 up for grabs with trips to Tynecastle and Celtic Park to come. Can you imagine what will happen if the Celtic team from the first half of the game during the week turn up against that defence? In all likelihood it will be 2 points out of 33 available. I wanted McPake to succeed but I fear it’s all to clear now that he’s been promoted into a job that he simply can’t do. In all probability it’s too late already but if we are to have any chance to avoid a return to the Championship, Nelms must act now. With his track record of managerial appointments what could go wrong…