Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[Have some faith in Magic]

Although we are all disappointed by the events at the end of the season the pleasing possession based football that John's team has shown has encouraged us for next season. John will continue to try and identify players who are even slower than Liam, Steven, Joe, Ryan and Graham to help with the league 1 title challenge next year. 

In order to help John and his young team we are maintaining season ticket prices at last year's levels.

 

Come on ye Pars. 

 

[DA Baracus]

10 hours ago, VinnyPar said:

Meggle? Latest statement said he was going to be closer to the football side, clutching at straws I know.

That would probably still be an indicator of Hughes staying I think, unless there are plenty of managers out there willing to be told signings will be made for them.

3 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

 

I know P&B is quite full of hyperbole but still I think it needs saying - we aren't going to see a massive drop off in season ticket sales or attendances just due to Hughes. There are several people here and on dotnet who will say they aren't coming back but from the people I speak to who don't do social media, the manager and the squad will have almost zero impact on whether they get a season ticket or not. We had about 2,300 season tickets sold last year; we aren't going to see over half of them not renew just because of Hughes or because we were relegated. The squeeze on the cost of living will be a much bigger factor and even then it might cost us a couple of hundred, but nowhere near a thousand losses. When you add up the die hards who'd buy a ticket if Putin was announced as our new manager, folk who think Hughes should get time to try and turn it around, those who think we were "unlucky", those who take kids along, the young team who are starting to get into it, and the fans like me who don't like Hughes or his style of play but will get a season ticket regardless, there are more than enough tickets being sold that it's not going to go off a cliff.

We shall see. Hopefully the drop off isn't too big.

1 hour ago, Stellaboz said:

Another day, another F5 key broken.

Over the past week I've hit more F5s than Brock Lesnar.

21 minutes ago, DAFC. said:

Meggle maybe? If so, then the club is a bit all over the place, to say the very least. 

An odd structure if so, and not appealing to a new manager. Still think such an idea leans more towards Hughes staying though.

18 minutes ago, Have some faith in Magic said:

Although we are all disappointed by the events at the end of the season the pleasing possession based football that John's team has shown has encouraged us for next season. John will continue to try and identify players who are even slower than Liam, Steven, Joe, Ryan and Graham to help with the league 1 title challenge next year. 

In order to help John and his young team we are maintaining season ticket prices at last year's levels.

 

Come on ye Pars. 

 

The season ticket prices won't be going down, and I'm surprised if there are anyone who thinks they will. In fact, I imagine the adult prices will never go down.

[smpar]

You missed “we’ve been disappointed to read some negative posts online. Whilst we share the frustrations with the fans, we feel now is the time to all pull together and get the club back where it belongs! COYP!”

[DAFC.]

7 minutes ago, smpar said:

You missed “we’ve been disappointed to read some negative posts online. Whilst we share the frustrations with the fans, we feel now is the time to all pull together and get the club back where it belongs! COYP!”

*relegated to League 2*

[Shandon Par]

We make no excuses for being demoted. In fact, there’s a lot of devastation and a lot of demotion. Had we not had to play on Firhill’s pitch we would have been comfortably further up the table. We won’t take any of these League one part time diddies lightly or overlook them as we build a squad for being back in The Championship in 2023/24. 
 

 

[CallumPar]

Yeah, I’m fairly sure any statement will talk about getting ‘back where we belong’ - completely ignoring the fact that we are exactly where we belong right now.

[Sir Tarmo]

On 11/05/2022 at 09:10, RiG said:

Just had a quick look to see who Hughes signed whilst at ICT:

2013/14

Greg Tansey (CM) - Rumoured to have been coming back anyway but this was a signing that definitely did very well for us under Hughes.

2014/15

Lewis Horner (RB) - A player completely out of his depth.
Edward Ofere (ST) - Effective striker to replace Mckay after he left for Wigan. Good signing.
Tarmo Kink (ML) -  I'm not even bothering to write anything about this joker.
Ibra Sekajja (ST) -  See above.

2015/16

Iain Vigurs (CM) - On the whole I'd say this was a good signing. Vigurs is a talented player and whilst he blew hot and cold and his workrate would infuriate some it's a solid enough signing. 
Owain Fon Williams (GK) - Definitely not the greatest keeper we've ever had but far from the worst. Could make some stunning saves then sell you a goal 5 minutes later. Okay, nothing more.
Andrea Mutombo (AM) - Dreadful. Honestly don't know what this guy was meant to offer. Low point was a ludicrous scything tackle on Nick Ross at Dens which saw him sent off. Scored a good goal in the Scottish Cup against Hibs and Yogi pulled his shorts down at full time. Great banter...
Nat Wedderburn (CM) - JFC. Slower than a week in jail and couldn't pass it more than 5 yards. No wonder Hughes was a fan. 
Ryan Williams (CM) -  A former futsal player IIRC? Another awful signing from Hughes and shock it was another central midfielder!
Alex Fisher (ST) - Whilst he went on to be a popular figure during the Foran season (shudder) with Hughes he never played because he was injured or....reasons. Poor signing in terms of return under Hughes but looked better when Foran did play him so I'll say average overall.
Liam Hughes (CM) -  Another dreadful midfielder signed by Hughes? Of course! But to be fair, he moved him up front against Ross County who couldn't handle his physical presence and he turned in a decent performance. But yet another rotten transfer from Yogi.
Dani Lopez (ST) -    Hughes claimed he would get double figures the season he signed. Did score a nice goal against Celtic but he was just woeful and capped off his time in Inverness by gobbing on a Saint Johnstone youth player in a reserve / U21 game and was sent packing.
Jordan Roberts (MR/ML) - A player that looked handy when he did play but he was injured far too often to make any real impact. Missed most of his first season at the club but, like Fisher, I'll say overall average.
Miles Storey (ST) - For the one season he played as a striker with Christie playing behind him he looked superb though he did go on a poor run of form without scoring for a while. Identified by the Chairman however so whilst this was a good signing I am not sure how much credit we can give Yogi given he had no part to play in bringing him in.
Tobi Sho-Silva (ST) - Signed around the same time as Storey IIRC and didn't so anything apart from exaggerate a slap from a Hearts player to get him sent off. Another poor signing.

So in 2.5 years Hughes signed one player, Tansey, who improved the squad for longer than a few months (such as Ofere). As @TheScarf says, the majority of players he signs are garbage.

It was the 2015/16 ‘meh’ season, wedged in between our best ever season (3rd and Cup win) and our disastrous relegation season, that really showed Hughes up in terms of his signings. 
 

Lopez and Wedderburn were absolutely dreadful, and the random players who popped up in January such as Ryan Williams and Liam
Hughes were no better. Still painful to think we’ve never been a good side since the day we lifted the Scottish Cup.

[Cardle is Magic]

Any fan who thought we were "unlucky" last season is unspeakably thick and I hope I'm fortunate enough to never have to speak to them in person.

[D'Jaffo]

Any fan who thought we were "unlucky" last season is unspeakably thick and I hope I'm fortunate enough to never have to speak to them in person.

I mean you kind of were.

Any fan that has to witness Peter Grant then John Hughes manage their team is suffering from the kind of bad luck that only someone who committed atrocities in a previous life would suffer.

[DAFC.]

10 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Any fan who thought we were "unlucky" last season is unspeakably thick and I hope I'm fortunate enough to never have to speak to them in person.

It's one of the worst seasons. It was like watching boys football in the 90s. Just basically go out and try and score goals. No plan, no cohesion, no tactics. Utter, utter shite and we totally deserved relegation. 

[Salvo Montalbano]

13 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Any fan who thought we were "unlucky" last season is unspeakably thick and I hope I'm fortunate enough to never have to speak to them in person.

I agree we weren't unlucky all season but there were one or two things that clearly didn't go our way. Hamilton getting a penalty and going on to win that game which was then rescinded on appeal for one - had we hung on for a point in that game you never know how things would have panned out. 

[Islay]

6 minutes ago, DAFC. said:

Just basically go out and try and score goals.

Did Hughes fail to mention to the players that this part was vital during the Thistle and Queens Park games?

[Chubbychops]

Beginning to think the board a stringing this out to allow the dust to settle and hope that fans initial anger subsides, before telling us that Hughes is staying but with a revamped backroom team. 

[DA Baracus]

27 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

I mean you kind of were.

Any fan that has to witness Peter Grant then John Hughes manage their team is suffering from the kind of bad luck that only someone who committed atrocities in a previous life would suffer.

Pretty sure I used to be Hitler.

[101]

How many penalties did we get this season?

Cant remember more than 1, which shows how little time we had attackers in the box asking questions of the opposition.

[D'Jaffo]

Pretty sure I used to be Hitler.

Big fan of your art work.

The other stuff, less so.

[CallumPar]

How many penalties did we get this season?
Cant remember more than 1, which shows how little time we had attackers in the box asking questions of the opposition.

I can think of 3. Sure Lawless scored one at East End and one away to Hamilton. Also missed one away to Killie.

As you say, main reason for a low number is that we were rarely in the opposition box. If you sit deep and soak up pressure to play for 0-0 (as we often did), then the opposition will have a lot of the ball in/around your box. That means that, inevitably, if the referee gives a decision in their favour it’s much more likely to result in a penalty or dangerous free kick. Likewise, if you don’t spend time in the attacking third, you’re not getting a penalty.

The Hamilton game mentioned above, with the Dorrans red is a prime example. Both teams were awful, then they made subs and piled on the pressure. We had barely got the ball out of our defensive third for a good period of time before that penalty. As I say, if a decision goes against you when you’re playing for 0-0 and sitting deep like that, it often results in a penalty/dangerous free kick. Was it unlucky? Yes. Was Hughes’ refusal to respond to opposition subs until we concede a goal more of an issue? Yes. That was an issue at various points - including the playoff final defeat.

Having said all of the above, I also don’t think we gave away many penalties. Largely because our players were usually too soft to bring a man down/risk giving away a foul. The amount of goals we conceded, particularly early on, that could have been avoided by someone ‘taking one for the team’ early in the opposition attack was frustrating. Everyone else does it, so why were our players not wise enough to do that?

[DA Baracus]

40 minutes ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

I agree we weren't unlucky all season but there were one or two things that clearly didn't go our way. Hamilton getting a penalty and going on to win that game which was then rescinded on appeal for one - had we hung on for a point in that game you never know how things would have panned out. 

I think every club can likewise point to similar incidents though.

6 minutes ago, 101 said:

How many penalties did we get this season?

Cant remember more than 1, which shows how little time we had attackers in the box asking questions of the opposition.

Three I think.

3 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Big fan of your art work.

The other stuff, less so.

Art is subjective...

[DA Baracus]

6 minutes ago, CallumPar said:

Having said all of the above, I also don’t think we gave away many penalties. Largely because our players were usually too soft to bring a man down/risk giving away a foul. The amount of goals we conceded, particularly early on, that could have been avoided by someone ‘taking one for the team’ early in the opposition attack was frustrating. Everyone else does it, so why were our players not wise enough to do that?

6 I think (1 in the league cup).

Gary Oliver scored 2 of them of course, including the first league goal against us of the season.

Edited May 17, 2022 by DA Baracus

[Cardle is Magic]

1 hour ago, DAFC. said:

It's one of the worst seasons. It was like watching boys football in the 90s. Just basically go out and try and score goals. No plan, no cohesion, no tactics. Utter, utter shite and we totally deserved relegation. 

It also needs to be taken into account that the standard of the division was absolutely atrocious and we *still* managed to get relegated.

1 hour ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

I agree we weren't unlucky all season but there were one or two things that clearly didn't go our way. Hamilton getting a penalty and going on to win that game which was then rescinded on appeal for one - had we hung on for a point in that game you never know how things would have panned out. 

That's pish tbh. Every team in every league could point to similar incidents and mewl about their misfortune.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Cardle is Magic