Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[DAFC.]

Remember when going to EEP used to be a laugh?

Last time I felt happy at EEP was when we went 3-0 up against St Mirren, top of the league, looking good for a title challenge whilst the whole NW chants “Yer still fucking shite, still fucking shite, still fucking shiteeeee” and “What a shite hairdo, what a shite hairdo, what a shite hairdooooo” at Gavin Reilly.

[Cardle is Magic]

I was pretty buzzing when we beat United 2-0 before lockdown tbf. Didn’t seem like the start of anything but it was a good performance and fun vibe in the ground.

Edited November 1, 2021 by Cardle is Magic

[Sweaty Morph]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

Looking forward to Grant's inevitable appearance on Sportsound. Will be interesting to hear what nonsense he says. Hopefully it's this week/weekend!

Although we'll need to wait much longer, I'm also looking forward to the inevitable chat about his coaching from some players. Could be some laugh.

It's an absolute NAP that he'll come away with the old "would have turned it around/challeneged for promotion had I been given more time" chat.

[CallumPar]

Remember when going to EEP used to be a laugh?

Last time I felt happy at EEP was when we went 3-0 up against St Mirren, top of the league, looking good for a title challenge whilst the whole NW chants “Yer still fucking shite, still fucking shite, still fucking shiteeeee” and “What a shite hairdo, what a shite hairdo, what a shite hairdooooo” at Gavin Reilly.

17/18 was probably our last enjoyable season. However, I’d argue we’ve had good/enjoyable games since.

2-0 win at home to United, just before lockdown, springs to mind. I was definitely happy that day and enjoyed the game/atmosphere. There was a game the same season, where we hammered Partick at East End - think it was 5-1. Game was decent, but atmosphere wasn’t great. The issue was though, we rarely performed like that and would put in really uninspiring displays most weeks. This meant that the stadium hasn’t been particularly busy, as people have lost interest. Which certainly impacts atmosphere and the fan experience at the game.

Of course, our start to this season has seen actual attendances (those in the stadium on the day) be alarmingly low. I hope that people turn up on Saturday and get behind the interim management team and the players. This is a big game and a win will take us off bottom - and potentially make the job slightly more appealing for any prospective new manager.

As a club, I’d like to see us do more to encourage people to return/start coming to East End. There seems to be zero marketing being done at East End just now. Hopefully when we appoint a new manager, and/or over the festive period, we can run some sort of promotion (u18s tickets for £1, buy one get one half price, ST holders bring a mate for £5 or something) to try and boost crowds and draw people to East End on a Saturday. Right now, charging £20 per head and not having any incentives at all isn’t going to have many people thinking of giving it a go/returning.

[DA Baracus]

Grant is easily the worst manager of the club in my time going. Prior to him, Davie Hay was a massive disappointment when he was announced and the guy who most deflated me. Potter was probably worse but his appointment was fairly popular with fans, including myself.

Grant however blows them both away. There was at least some coherent arguments for Hay and Potter. Hay's appointment was the signalling of an end of era. We'd some great stuff and players under Calderwood but then Hay comes in and benches Brewster so that we could punt long balls to Tod. A massive step backwards and so disappointing.

Grant was even worse than that. Big changes were needed after Crawford's poor second half to the season. With the new guys taking over and fans being allowed back, optimism was building and it was a massive open goal for the club to really get a big feeling of good will and just lift the place in general and get decent crowds.

Instead, the marketing around getting fans back was non-existent. It was basically just "give us your fucking money". Very poor. Even then, fans were still excited and a good managerial appointment could really have seen season ticket sales jump.

Alas, Grant was appointed. Absolutely no one wanted him and almost everyone knew how this would end. Fans were just so burst with this. So many folk were just done after his appointment. All the excitement for getting back to the ground was gone and season ticket sales pretty much dried up, with many not renewing. 

An absolutely disastrous piece of business that has never made sense and never will. Serious, serious questions still need to be answered about why it happened.

[DA Baracus]

6 minutes ago, Sweaty Morph said:

It's an absolute NAP that he'll come away with the old "would have turned it around/challeneged for promotion had I been given more time" chat.

He might but not sure folk will accept that. When discussing it on the radio yesterday, the tone was very much that they were not surprised in the slightest (I think Richard Gordon even said it was "the least surprising news all season", or words to that effect). They noted the awful stats of no wins in the league and us being the only team in the entire SPFL without a win.

Only Kenny Miller said something somewhat different by claiming that Grant is a 'great' coach.

[Seeker]

31 minutes ago, DAFC. said:

Remember when going to EEP used to be a laugh

Is this what they call an own goal.

[Enigma]

6 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

An absolutely disastrous piece of business that has never made sense and never will. Serious, serious questions still need to be answered about why it happened.

Grant is very much reminiscent of us appointing Locke, nobody wanted it, everybody knew it would end in tears. The great thing for us is that along with Locke, and latterly Hughes, a good portion of the decision makers at the club were emptied, Sim took a more active role etc. If I was a Pars fan I’d be wanting heads to roll. How can you trust the men who thought appointing Grant in the first place was a good idea to appoint his successor? These are also the same men who stuck by Crawford for longer than many fans would have wanted.

Edited November 1, 2021 by Enigma

[101]

53 minutes ago, DAFC. said:

I see Kenny Miller has left his post as assistant to some Australian team a few hours ago. It’s going to be him, isn’t it?

Discussion in this or another thread seemed to suggest he's been back here a few weeks so likelihood he was never going to continue that job and I would be baffled if we appoint someone to save our season who has about 4 games experience as manager and half a season coaching in the A league as their experience.

[Gigi Alabocheré]

That’s the directors laddie deleted his Twitter. Grounded for two weeks and a skelped erse.

[smpar]

Looking forward to Grant's inevitable appearance on Sportsound. Will be interesting to hear what nonsense he says. Hopefully it's this week/weekend!
Although we'll need to wait much longer, I'm also looking forward to the inevitable chat about his coaching from some players. Could be some laugh.

There’s bound to be some absolutely brilliant stories coming out soon. Reckon Dom Thomas will be the first to openly talk about what a fucking moron Grant is. Wouldn’t be surprised to hear from Paul Watson soon too.

Players aren’t blameless but the manager gets the best out of them. He is the one to get them clicking. If there is no confidence between the squad and management, you’re just farting against thunder. Individual brilliance usually got us goals this season. We didn’t play as a team. That’s all down to Grant being an extremely poor manager.

I see Kenny Miller has left his post as assistant to some Australian team a few hours ago. It’s going to be him, isn’t it?

Also, is Grant the worst Pars manager for fellow Pars fans of a certain vintage? Bert Paton was manager when I started going to the games, so I have seen Hay, Potter, Kenny as well. I would say Grant is by far the worst of the lot.

Grant is definitely the worst manager I’ve ever seen. I started watching at the Calderwood era so I’ve also seen Hay, Kenny and Potter. You could argue Potter’s record was worse considering the level we were at then, but the fact that Pars fans still speak highly of him as an individual says so much more about how he handled that entire situation.

[Heaton]

Grant is definitely the worst manager I’ve ever seen. I started watching at the Calderwood era so I’ve also seen Hay, Kenny and Potter. You could argue Potter’s record was worse considering the level we were at then, but the fact that Pars fans still speak highly of him as an individual says so much more about how he handled that entire situation.

Some one being mince as a manager and sacked is one thing but as you say, the person being liked means they won't be a hate figure as much. Potter was a fan first and a player and so i would never give him it too tight.

Grant on the other hand....what a #$%&

[Stoo61]

If its Kenny Miller we are back to square one. Vast majority hating the appointment but reluctantly willing to give him time and it wont work. 

John Robertson....I don't hate that. Like some others have said, regardless of who it is, it might not work but hopefully the board give us a fighting chance with a bit of nouse and experience. 

[Dunfermline Don]

17/18 was probably our last enjoyable season. However, I’d argue we’ve had good/enjoyable games since.

2-0 win at home to United, just before lockdown, springs to mind. I was definitely happy that day and enjoyed the game/atmosphere. There was a game the same season, where we hammered Partick at East End - think it was 5-1. Game was decent, but atmosphere wasn’t great. The issue was though, we rarely performed like that and would put in really uninspiring displays most weeks. This meant that the stadium hasn’t been particularly busy, as people have lost interest. Which certainly impacts atmosphere and the fan experience at the game.

Of course, our start to this season has seen actual attendances (those in the stadium on the day) be alarmingly low. I hope that people turn up on Saturday and get behind the interim management team and the players. This is a big game and a win will take us off bottom - and potentially make the job slightly more appealing for any prospective new manager.

As a club, I’d like to see us do more to encourage people to return/start coming to East End. There seems to be zero marketing being done at East End just now. Hopefully when we appoint a new manager, and/or over the festive period, we can run some sort of promotion (u18s tickets for £1, buy one get one half price, ST holders bring a mate for £5 or something) to try and boost crowds and draw people to East End on a Saturday. Right now, charging £20 per head and not having any incentives at all isn’t going to have many people thinking of giving it a go/returning.

Totally agree with your last part about poor marketing by the club.
I used to have a season ticket with my son pre-covid, originally having taken one out when under 12s were free. I never receive any emails, texts, letters etc from the club about renewing.
I haven’t been to EEP since pre lockdown and had thought about going along with my son on Saturday, looking at the prices for the two of us and realised it was cheaper for us going to the Scotland-Israel game last month. Will I expect the same level of excitement at EEP as we got at Hampden? [emoji23]

[Otis Blue]

Wee John Robertson might not be a bad shout, but would he want/need the pressure at this point in time?

Personally, I'd welcome him at Palmerston but unfortunately we don't have a vacancy ......

[Cardle is Magic]

I don’t know why I still have faith in the Board at this point but I’m confident they’re not stupid enough to appoint Kenny Miller.

I don’t think Robertson would bring the same buzz for the support as Petrie but I’d be cautiously optimistic if that was the choice. Certainly far more tolerable than the  ‘fish me out the Forth’ choices like Rice, Caldwell or McKinnon.

I see Daily Record have been hyping up Jimmy Calderwood’s son Scott for the gig.

[Shandon Par]

If we are serious about tackling waste then Scott Calderwood is ideal as we can  reuse Stevie Crawford’s old training gear. 

[Fae_the_'briggs]

9 hours ago, Cardle is Magic said:

I don’t know why I still have faith in the Board at this point but I’m confident they’re not stupid enough to appoint Kenny Miller.

I don’t think Robertson would bring the same buzz for the support as Petrie but I’d be cautiously optimistic if that was the choice. Certainly far more tolerable than the  ‘fish me out the Forth’ choices like Rice, Caldwell or McKinnon.

I see Daily Record have been hyping up Jimmy Calderwood’s son Scott for the gig.

Hardly hyping him up in a way that they think he should get the job the way I read it. Looked like a space filler piece linking the son of a successful ex-Dunfermline Manager who is  looking to get on the Managerial roundabout in Scotland. If the DR were hyping any of the possible candidates it would probably be Kenny Millar. 

[Stoo61]

Kenny Miller talking up a storm about the Pars job on the Open Goal Podcast....

[DAFC.]

Kenny Miller talking up a storm about the Pars job on the Open Goal Podcast....

When abouts in it does he talk about the job? Can’t be arsed listening to their dross for an hour.