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Re the Telfer and Hall re-signings: I thought Telfer had started to come good and show evidence of his obvious talent after a (very) slow start at the club. His injury was a real blow. Will he re-start in that same place and build on it or fizzle out? Who knows. Its a gamble but arguably one worth taking. 

Hall? I struggled to see many (any?)  reliable redeeming features for much of last season. 

I am trying to reassure myself with the fact that when Dixon first joined us I couldnt understand why he was played week-in week-out, yet seemed an absolute bomb scare. I genuinely dismayed of seeing him in the line-up every bloody week. Yet when M&M started he transformed into one of our most reliable players and his absence at the end of last season left a huge gap. He ended up being one of the very few players I considered worth keeping. 

Of course good/adequate defending without anyone able to score will never win a league and our goalscoring ability has been utterly sh1te) 

I can only hope that someone sees real promise in Hall I training etc and that that'll come good soon.

... and that another management change doesn't result in Dixon switching off again. 

 

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15 hours ago, Ecosse83 said:

Quite happy with the signings so far although like others not going to get ahead of myself until I see us in the park! 
 

It will be interesting to see who they bring in now, the signings so far have been quite obvious that don’t really require a 40k employee for. I’m not going to judge too early but I’m now expecting some less obvious signings that will make Holt’s post worthwhile!

So, does Ben Hall fit the Bill of a “less obvious” signing expectation? Certainly not one I would put in the “obvious” category. I would say it probably fits into the “baffling” category, or even the “depressing” one.

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29 minutes ago, Duncan Freemason said:

So, does Ben Hall fit the Bill of a “less obvious” signing expectation? Certainly not one I would put in the “obvious” category. I would say it probably fits into the “baffling” category, or even the “depressing” one.

He's in the absolute fucking horrid section one.

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4 hours ago, Bainsfordbairn said:

I've been hoping that the  development team means we won't need to sign squad fillers this season. 

In the past the backups were always youth players. They might have had skill, but the problem was they were too wee and skinny to throw too many of them into a senior team together. 

If I understood the FFCTV interview with Ian Fergus correctly that won't necessarily be the case this season. They won't be playing in an "under -XXs" league so we can sign men instead of boys. Which makes them the squad fillers rather than first teamers who're not first picks. 

Or so I assume anyway. We'll see what happens over the next couple of months. 

Tbh I can’t see anyone from the development squad playing any first team football next season (unless Ian Fergus manages to unearth a superstar).

Holt, Fergus and Sheerin have been very clear imo that the youth system is something for the longer term and will start by signing part time players who have the potential to develop into full time first team players over time. 

In fact I’m sure Paul Sheerin said in his first interview that it will be at least 3 or 4 seasons until we see the benefit of the new youth pipeline.

Edited by PedroMoutinho
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6 hours ago, Bainsfordbairn said:

I've been hoping that the  development team means we won't need to sign squad fillers this season. 

In the past the backups were always youth players. They might have had skill, but the problem was they were too wee and skinny to throw too many of them into a senior team together. 

If I understood the FFCTV interview with Ian Fergus correctly that won't necessarily be the case this season. They won't be playing in an "under -XXs" league so we can sign men instead of boys. Which makes them the squad fillers rather than first teamers who're not first picks. 

Or so I assume anyway. We'll see what happens over the next couple of months. 

I didn't see the interview but I'd find that strategy a bit baffling to be honest, and I understand you are only making assumptions.

Signing men instead of boys would suggest we'd be paying adult wages ..........for a development squad? That sounds like a reserve team playing constant friendlies which sounds strange.

Remember Fulton, Sibbald, Arfield etc were wee and skinny at some stage. I hope we stick with the plan of developing our own young players       

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The Tony Parks podcast was very good. Insightful , honest and touching.

He speaks brilliantly and is a strong personality, especially considering his own personal family tragedy.

And another episode where the great Jim Jeffries comes over very well.    

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1 hour ago, Hank von Hell said:

The Tony Parks podcast was very good. Insightful , honest and touching.

He speaks brilliantly and is a strong personality, especially considering his own personal family tragedy.

And another episode where the great Jim Jeffries comes over very well.    

One questioned missed though 

What did you call Eric Martindale? 

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Although I keep going against the grain with this approach, I want to give it another try given the Hall re-signing. I liked Rocco's comment in this context:

12 hours ago, Rocco said:

The guy was out for a long time and when he came back we were playing shit, he was played up top on his own and we created very little for him to feed off of. Keena has had a good record everywhere he has played and he did well pre season for us, therefore, I’ll reserve judgement till I see how he does this season.

I have said multiple times that we have been genuinely shit for years. No redeeming qualities in terms of a professional side compared to an assembly of random players. Hardly any pace, no passing combinations, never any actual and calm possession near the opponents box, just overall shit. And in that period we have chucked player after player in and have then quickly come to conclusion they are shite. Only a player with obvious traits like Morrison has been able to break through that, but that's not the type of quality any of the other teams in our league seem to have either.

Almost every team in Scotland's lower leagues is a bunch of jobbers, I mean half of our team have played for Dunfermline and half of their team has played for us, the difference is setup and mental approach. A lot of our "hopeless" players, that weren't good enough in the Championship or League 1, have gone on to perfectly serviceable at Championship to League 2 level, yet they were never able to pass a ball for us.

The odds are stacked against the "every player we signed is unable to play football" opinion (in my opinion...), I think we've simply been a death pit for average footballers to fall into and fail.

So while I'd have hated us going into the new season with the same squad, odds are some of the players in there could be ok in a different set-up, and off of shaky FFC TV coverage I simply cannot judge which players those are. That's what I now judge Holt on. If Telfer and Hall were the ones you pick, fine by me, but make sure they look different next year. Until then I reserve judgement on those players that were part of our disaster teams. 

PS: For me, the same would have gone for Alston, Durnan, Sammon, etc., even if I wasn't in favour of re-signing them.

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Guest Peter LaFleur

Signing a competent left back who reflects Williamsons ability to get up and down the park is an absolute must for the balance of the team and to relieve any fears of lining up with Dixon - Hall - McKay - Williamson as a back four. 

Edited by Peter LaFleur
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Hall was murder at Partick too and doesn't have the out for a long time excuse for bring crap.He wasn't great when we were winning games lthe season before either.  Few of our players that we have deliberately freed have gone on to much bigger and better things.  Some have floated about mid to bottom of the table championship and a lot of them play with better players which means they can survive for a bit. We tend to sign 11 shite players and stick them together.  Hall is murder. Telfer is worth a gamble on his fitness.

Edited by Shadwell Dog
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25 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Although I keep going against the grain with this approach, I want to give it another try given the Hall re-signing. I liked Rocco's comment in this context:

I have said multiple times that we have been genuinely shit for years. No redeeming qualities in terms of a professional side compared to an assembly of random players. Hardly any pace, no passing combinations, never any actual and calm possession near the opponents box, just overall shit. And in that period we have chucked player after player in and have then quickly come to conclusion they are shite. Only a player with obvious traits like Morrison has been able to break through that, but that's not the type of quality any of the other teams in our league seem to have either.

Almost every team in Scotland's lower leagues is a bunch of jobbers, I mean half of our team have played for Dunfermline and half of their team has played for us, the difference is setup and mental approach. A lot of our "hopeless" players, that weren't good enough in the Championship or League 1, have gone on to perfectly serviceable at Championship to League 2 level, yet they were never able to pass a ball for us.

The odds are stacked against the "every player we signed is unable to play football" opinion (in my opinion...), I think we've simply been a death pit for average footballers to fall into and fail.

So while I'd have hated us going into the new season with the same squad, odds are some of the players in there could be ok in a different set-up, and off of shaky FFC TV coverage I simply cannot judge which players those are. That's what I now judge Holt on. If Telfer and Hall were the ones you pick, fine by me, but make sure they look different next year. Until then I reserve judgement on those players that were part of our disaster teams. 

PS: For me, the same would have gone for Alston, Durnan, Sammon, etc., even if I wasn't in favour of re-signing them.

Couldn’t agree more with this. Probably comes from having professional players coached to the standard of an U14 team for the last 2 years.

Let’s hope we see some immediate progress on that front this season

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So 13 of a squad now with Kelly and Connolly still possibly re-signing. There's better out there than Kelly but I'd happily keep a fully fit Connolly. 

Mutch
Williamson Mckay Dixon New
New Hetherington
Nesbitt Telfer Morrison
New

Subs:
Keena
Dowds
Miller
Hall
Sneddon(unless he's off to the development team)

We still need legs in the middle of the park which we've needed for the last few seasons.  Winger wise if Connolly re-signs and Mcguffie has actually signed then we're sorted. 4 decent options, obviously assuming Morrison is still here come August. Telfer showed last season he can play in the middle of the park but I'd have him as the ten with someone more box to box in beside Hetherington. Sheerin if i'm right in my thinking played in the middle of the park so surely he'll get it sorted out.

Edited by FFC 1876
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Guest Peter LaFleur
5 minutes ago, FFC 1876 said:

So 13 of a squad now with Kelly and Connolly still possibly re-signing. There's better out there than Kelly but I'd happily keep a fully fit Connolly. 

Mutch
Williamson Mckay Dixon New
New Hetherington
Nesbitt Telfer Morrison
New

Subs:
Keena
Dowds
Miller
Hall
Sneddon(unless he's off to the development team)
 

Was literally typing out this exact team.

For the centre mid spot I’d love to take Cammy Ballantyne on loan from St Johnstone. He’s always dominated games against us and comes with plenty of experience in the league. Probably destined for the championship next season though.

Edited by Peter LaFleur
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8 minutes ago, FFC 1876 said:

So 13 of a squad now with Kelly and Connolly still possibly re-signing. There's better out there than Kelly but I'd happily keep a fully fit Connolly. 

Mutch
Williamson Mckay Dixon New
New Hetherington
Nesbitt Telfer Morrison
New

Subs:
Keena
Dowds
Miller
Hall
Sneddon(unless he's off to the development team)

We still need legs in the middle of the park which we've needed for the last few seasons.  Winger wise if Connolly re-signs and Mcguffie has actually signed then we're sorted. 4 decent options, obviously assuming Morrison is still here come August. Telfer showed last season he can play in the middle of the park but I'd have him as the ten with someone more box to box in beside Hetherington. Sheerin if i'm right in my thinking played in the middle of the park so surely he'll get it sorted out.

Stick McManus up top and McCann left back and I can see us up the top. Sign 2 shiters for those positions and I can see us mid table. 

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2 minutes ago, Peter LaFleur said:

Was literally typing out this exact team.

For the centre mid spot I’d love to take Cammy Ballantyne on loan from St Johnstone. He’s always dominated games against us and comes with plenty of experience in the league. Probably destined for the championship next season though.

A couple of good loans to bolster where we're finding it difficult to recruit a bit more quality. Neilson back from Dundee United would be ideal.

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1 minute ago, bairn88 said:

Stick McManus up top and McCann left back and I can see us up the top. Sign 2 shiters for those positions and I can see us mid table. 

It's the centre mid for me that's the deal breaker. A left back capable of attacking would be good and obviously we need someone up the top end of the park banging them in but we need someone who can get up and down the park in midfield. Liam Brown sounds like a good option looks like a stereotypical wee ginger glaswegian who'd be horrible to play against. Wee nippy yappy chihuahua type who gets right on your tits. Like Mark Millar when he first joined us.

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11 minutes ago, FFC 1876 said:

A couple of good loans to bolster where we're finding it difficult to recruit a bit more quality. Neilson back from Dundee United would be ideal.

I reckless neilson would rather pack the game in than come anywhere near us again after last years shambles.

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