Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[TxRover]

4 hours ago, 101 said:

I think you're spot on, well funded managers is no guarantee of success as no doubt Airdrie and Montrose have shown in L1 and Abroath and Inverness have shown in the championship.

I think you guys can take a bit more of a risk with your manager as has shown this season you can be absolutely useless for half the season and still beat the drop, so if you went for Berra or Brown and they turn out the be useless you could get someone else in and try and bounce out of trouble, however if they turn out to be decent then you could be on to coat tails of Dundee who I assume will be favourites.

If we f**k it up then it will be all to easy to become like Falkirk watching on at the top 4 race away from you with nothing you can do. Ian Murray is who would be my first choice, however I imagine he will also be high up Raiths wish list and probably on Dundee's radar and he would probably be more than happy to stay at Airdrie if they go up.

If we keep Yogi then I will fear for the worst mainly because he can't seem to get a tune out of the nest players, Wighton should be more than good enough to play on L1 but Yogi and him don't appear to get on. Yes the manager should be in charge but you can't have your ego ruining your chances as we have seen in the play offs.

It’s an amusing conundrum. If we’re talking about Murray, between DAFC, Falkirk and Raith, Raith would be the favorites in the club house…IF Airdrie fall at the next jump (discounting Falkirk have already signed JMcG)…simply because it’s a somewhat stable club, at a higher level than he’s at, versus a recent coaching blackhole, or a venture into the (somewhat) unknown.

If it’s a question of possible funds/funding, DAFC should be the leader, with investors involved. If it’s a support question, the potential may be favoring Falkirk. Swings and roundabouts, and an applicants confidence and conceit will certainly play heavily into the possible moves here. That, plus the fact Dundee should be able to out pull us all.

[Diamonds are Forever]

4 hours ago, TheScarf said:

I don't say this lightly when I say that John Hughes is the last full-time football manager you want managing you when you need to rebuild.  99% of the players he signs are fucking shite.  He's fine when he inherits a good team, which I think he's only done once since the left Falkirk in 2009.

Chairmen need to wake up and realise he's not the guy you want to hire when you've just sacked someone because your team is shite, he's the guy you hire when your manager has been poached for doing well and you have a good team.

 

This is an interesting point, although I guess that would be the case for most managers as it's fairly logical that managers will do better when inheriting good players. Totally take the point that some managers have a 'speciality' in getting poor teams solid and organised though. From the outside he's always seemed to me to be someone preoccupied by 'the right way to play', which he's able to implement to some degree when he has good players. However when he walks into a mess of a squad half way through a season and tries to get them to play passing football from the back it isn't going to end well.

Managers like him can also get into a vicious cycle of decline when players start to lose respect for them. So much of management is about being a credible figure who players look up to and will listen to, with every failure players lose respect and don't buy into what he wants them to do. In addition, the further down the leagues he drops the less likely it is he'll have players to play his style of football effectively.

 

2 hours ago, Grant228 said:

Dick Campbell did cross my mind, I could think of twice when he'd done it (Partick and Arbroath, was he at Brechin aswell?) 

That's some amount for McCall, the Ayr twice and yourselves I'd imagine? Can't think of the fourth. 

 

This was fun. 

 

McCall's biggest attribute by far is his ability to recruit well, he is superb at that. He knows what type of football succeeds and gets players who can play that way. There is no talk of 'playing the right way' or philosophies, he's a realist and signs the right type of players for the level he's at. I doubt he's a very good coach or particularly good tactically, but it doesn't matter that much at that level if you have the right players playing a simple brand of football. He's shown this with different promotion wins but even going back to his Airdrie days when he almost won the league with a club that was going bankrupt and building a team from nothing. I think at a higher level he'd be a poor manager because recruitment becomes more complex with big scouting teams and a wider market, plus tactics and quality coaching are more important. But for a League 1 side he'd be the first manager I'd appoint.

If you look at League 1 currently you see the same trend where the teams doing well are ones who recruited very well last summer. Cove weren't a great side in terms of style of play but it doesn't matter, they signed a bunch of guys to get the job done and did it well. Murray recruited really well for us last summer, which may or may not lead to promotion but resulted in a huge improvement. On the other hand Falkirk have wasted eye watering amounts over the last 2 seasons signing garbage players with the intention of playing a style that is totally unnecessary and ineffective in League 1. Dunfermline will presumably have as good a budget as anyone next year, the priority should be appointing a guy who you know isn't going to waste that like Falkirk have done. Hughes really doesn't seem like that guy.

[TxRover]

9 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

If you look at League 1 currently you see the same trend where the teams doing well are ones who recruited very well last summer. Cove weren't a great side in terms of style of play but it doesn't matter, they signed a bunch of guys to get the job done and did it well. Murray recruited really well for us last summer, which may or may not lead to promotion but resulted in a huge improvement. On the other hand Falkirk have wasted eye watering amounts over the last 2 seasons signing garbage players with the intention of playing a style that is totally unnecessary and ineffective in League 1. Dunfermline will presumably have as good a budget as anyone next year, the priority should be appointing a guy who you know isn't going to waste that like Falkirk have done. Hughes really doesn't seem like that guy.

Couple of points:

Falkirk tried the Cove style play three years ago and the fates slapped them when the plan didn’t click immediately because the tactics were unsuited to the league style and conditions. 
 

Falkirk did sign a few good players who simply didn’t perform in their scheme, but who have shown good ability elsewhere, something that also happened three years ago. That highlights the need for the manager to not only recognize talent and ability, but also to be able to utilize such in his scheme.

There is genuine concern regarding the budget for DAFC next year, especially if a buyout of Yogi occurs.

[Leedafc]

1 hour ago, Heaton said:

Dom signed for Queens a few weeks ago according to the Record anyway...

@DA Baracus 

[Thumper]

23 minutes ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

McCall's biggest attribute by far is his ability to recruit well, he is superb at that. He knows what type of football succeeds and gets players who can play that way. There is no talk of 'playing the right way' or philosophies, he's a realist and signs the right type of players for the level he's at. I doubt he's a very good coach or particularly good tactically, but it doesn't matter that much at that level if you have the right players playing a simple brand of football. He's shown this with different promotion wins but even going back to his Airdrie days when he almost won the league with a club that was going bankrupt and building a team from nothing. I think at a higher level he'd be a poor manager because recruitment becomes more complex with big scouting teams and a wider market, plus tactics and quality coaching are more important. But for a League 1 side he'd be the first manager I'd appoint.

???

This may have been McCall twenty years ago but man management and footballing philosophy are synonymous with McCall now. He turned a dispirited Lawrence Shankland who was heading for the Juniors into a Premiership-level player in the space of two seasons, scoring about two hundred goals in the process.

[DA Baracus]

9 minutes ago, Leedafc said:

@DA Baracus 

Sad times.

[Stellaboz]

If it's true it's just another pin in the donkey's arse of a season we've had and highlights how poorly we are being managed. From top to donkey's arse. 

[DA Baracus]

Thomas probably started looking for a new club after the shite Grant gave him. Wouldn't be surprised if this was done last year.

I'm we'll now hear how he wasn't actually any good and other made up things etc, because seemingly no good player has ever played for us, or least you'd think so after they leave given the silly stuff too many come out with.

Edited May 10, 2022 by DA Baracus

[DUAFC]

2 hours ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

He steals picnic baskets

Shits in the woods...

[DAFC.]

He’s easily sorted himself out with a new club after the pish Grant put him through. Can’t blame the guy. Club has treated him like a spare p***k all season.

[Rob1885]

I won't be disappointed at a single player leaving when it's announced officially as much as Thomas was superb on his day.

[Cardle is Magic]

Thomas was our best player by a mile this season. By several miles, in fact.

He deserves better than the fucking rabble we've become.

[smpar]

Must have been a really confusing season for Thomas. Grant made him captain and then publicly threw him under the bus, criticising his attitude. Despite being a fans’ favourite and our best and most influential player, the board continued to sook the leftover shite off Grant’s ersehairs despite him behaving like an arrogant auld dick.

No player is bigger than the club etc but when you’re ‘title favourite’ losing your fight against relegation, you should be doing what you can to keep players like Thomas on board.

[The Toun Clock]

41 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Thomas was our best player by a mile this season. By several miles, in fact.

He deserves better than the fucking rabble we've become.

When he wanted to be, usually when the SportScene cameras were in town.

 

[DA Baracus]

12 minutes ago, smpar said:

Must have been a really confusing season for Thomas. Grant made him captain and then publicly threw him under the bus, criticising his attitude. Despite being a fans’ favourite and our best and most influential player, the board continued to sook the leftover shite off Grant’s ersehairs despite him behaving like an arrogant auld dick.

No player is bigger than the club etc but when you’re ‘title favourite’ losing your fight against relegation, you should be doing what you can to keep players like Thomas on board.

You forgot about Grant trying to make him a central midfielder.

8 minutes ago, The Toun Clock said:

When he wanted to be, usually when the SportScene cameras were in town.

 

As predicted, didn't take long.

Edited May 10, 2022 by DA Baracus

[TxRover]

3 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

Why do folk call him 'Yogi'?

Cause there’s always a “boo boo” nearby?

[smpar]

When he wanted to be, usually when the SportScene cameras were in town.
 

You don’t actually believe that, do you?

[JagsCG]

2 hours ago, Thumper said:

???

This may have been McCall twenty years ago but man management and footballing philosophy are synonymous with McCall now. He turned a dispirited Lawrence Shankland who was heading for the Juniors into a Premiership-level player in the space of two seasons, scoring about two hundred goals in the process.

I think the original point that McCall isn’t an overly philosophical (in the modern sense) manager or a tactical genius is a fair and accurate one - “he’s old school”. But man-management and building players careers is definitely where his strengths are and have been for a long time; Shankland, Dobbie, Harkins, Doolan etc. are testament to that. 

[Cardle is Magic]

1 hour ago, The Toun Clock said:

When he wanted to be, usually when the SportScene cameras were in town.

Utter pish.

[101]

Dom was outstanding when he was on song, much like Super Joe when he was on his game it was a joy to watch. Any player that could do that consistently wouldn't be at our level of course but Dom was a class player disappointing if it's true that he's away to Queens Park and disappointing that either Yogi couldn't put whatever difference he had with him aside to give us the best chance to stay up or that Dom couldn't be trusted to put in a shift against his future employers.