Elgin City 2018/19

[WeAreElgin]

Hard to disagree with most of what afca32 has said there. I feel like we missed the opportunity to sign an experienced defensive leader when we took in Beattie at the start of the season. Unfortunately he wasn't the leader that we desperately needed throughout the season and struggled massively. That wasn't immediately obvious until well in to the season and who could we have signed then? As others have said I think we have good players in defence but lack a leader.

Price was obviously desperate (or forced?) to shoehorn the loan signings in to the squad as much as possible which to me explains the strange attacking lineups. Probably why we ended up letting guys like Byrne, Farquhar and Miller go. Signing more and more attacking players as the season went on just seemed like a desperate move when you consider who we had on the books at the start of the year.

Finishing 8th was pretty harsh on us, let's make a statement of intent early in the summer, get a couple of experienced heads in early to help out Price on the pitch, and take it from there. With East Stirling a distant memory and Berwick Rangers likely to go down, we need to get ourselves as far away from the bottom as possible.

[WeAreElgin]

Got to admit the supply to the ever changing forward line has been extremely poor.
Looks like some of the locals like the local players to much and can’t see past them . We shall see

Not sure what that post is getting at, we're not exactly flush with loads of locals now are we?

[Briggsy's Ghost]

I’m not sure 8th is harsh on us tbh. We were the most erratic team in Scottish football earlier in the season but it became depressingly clear later on that the good performances were the anomaly. The Berwick situation has made me (and I’m sure plenty more city fans) very twitchy about next season cause in another year our end of season results could have seen us bang in trouble. If local lads are good enough then play them if not look elsewhere - there will be plenty of local players if we end up in Highland League! A couple of good signings and we’ll be fine but it’s rather alarming hearing  certain players who have done nothing this year are being offered new contracts.

[WeAreElgin]

I’m not sure 8th is harsh on us tbh. We were the most erratic team in Scottish football earlier in the season but it became depressingly clear later on that the good performances were the anomaly. The Berwick situation has made me (and I’m sure plenty more city fans) very twitchy about next season cause in another year our end of season results could have seen us bang in trouble. If local lads are good enough then play them if not look elsewhere - there will be plenty of local players if we end up in Highland League! A couple of good signings and we’ll be fine but it’s rather alarming hearing  certain players who have done nothing this year are being offered new contracts.

The run at the end of the season was absolutely awful, 1 point in 8 is indefensible. That being said, one more point and we'd have finished 6th. We more than held our own until about March when the wheels fell off completely.

[Briggsy's Ghost]

7 minutes ago, WeAreElgin said:

45 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

I’m not sure 8th is harsh on us tbh. We were the most erratic team in Scottish football earlier in the season but it became depressingly clear later on that the good performances were the anomaly. The Berwick situation has made me (and I’m sure plenty more city fans) very twitchy about next season cause in another year our end of season results could have seen us bang in trouble. If local lads are good enough then play them if not look elsewhere - there will be plenty of local players if we end up in Highland League! A couple of good signings and we’ll be fine but it’s rather alarming hearing  certain players who have done nothing this year are being offered new contracts.

The run at the end of the season was absolutely awful, 1 point in 8 is indefensible. That being said, one more point and we'd have finished 6th. We more than held our own until about March when the wheels fell off completely.

I’d like to be more positive as we had some decent performances but we’ve had some of the worst performances at home I’ve seen in quite some time. Every team on their arse seemed to turn up to Borough Briggs and get a result. It doesn’t take too much to change a struggling team into a top team in this league so I’m hopeful we add a few new players but we’ve had far too many bang average players this year and to hear a forward who scored 3 goals (however hard working he is) and a midfielder who I wouldn’t have given more than 5/10 for any game he’s played are going to resign gives me the fear.

[elgin proud]

Very concerned that we have retained most of the squad who have failed miserably. however agree that 3 or 4 good signings could turn it round. whilst its nice to see local boys in the squad I only care about winning and could not care where they are from

[Highland ITFC]

I guess that the logic may be that if they can get more decent local / Academy lads through, then they'll be cheaper in terms of both wages & travel expenses, & that could in turn free up some budget for some 'big name' / 'marquee' signings that could add that additional quality / X factor

[Thom & Gerry]

Yep I think that could well be the thinking. 

[Auld Git]

I’d like to be more positive as we had some decent performances but we’ve had some of the worst performances at home I’ve seen in quite some time. Every team on their arse seemed to turn up to Borough Briggs and get a result. It doesn’t take too much to change a struggling team into a top team in this league so I’m hopeful we add a few new players but we’ve had far too many bang average players this year and to hear a forward who scored 3 goals (however hard working he is) and a midfielder who I wouldn’t have given more than 5/10 for any game he’s played are going to resign gives me the fear.

But we’re sticking with the bang average players for next season and as for the three goal striker , to be fair not always in a forward role

[Briggsy's Ghost]

43 minutes ago, Auld Git said:

But we’re sticking with the bang average players for next season and as for the three goal striker , to be fair not always in a forward role

I like mcleish! He give his all every game he plays but this is league football - a forward that closes down the opposition( very well  tbf- he works his arse off) is not going to get us enough goals to make a difference. Soapy 10 goals - Daryl 9 goals - that's our top scorers this year - really not anywhere near good enough - we need something to change especially as Daryl ( a defender!!) may need an operation.

 

[Brazilianlex]

8 hours ago, Briggsy's Ghost said:

I like mcleish! He give his all every game he plays but this is league football - a forward that closes down the opposition( very well  tbf- he works his arse off) is not going to get us enough goals to make a difference. Soapy 10 goals - Daryl 9 goals - that's our top scorers this year - really not anywhere near good enough - we need something to change especially as Daryl ( a defender!!) may need an operation.

 

Lobotomy ?

[elgin proud]

12 hours ago, Brazilianlex said:

Lobotomy ?

not funny

[Thom & Gerry]

Perhaps consult the same surgeon as Cox... I hasten to add I would love him at BB just the player we need.

[Super Elgin City]

I guess that the logic may be that if they can get more decent local / Academy lads through, then they'll be cheaper in terms of both wages & travel expenses, & that could in turn free up some budget for some 'big name' / 'marquee' signings that could add that additional quality / X factor

That seems like good logic to me. The problem being are these young local lads going to be upto the job. As much as said above it doesn't matter if local boys are on the park as long as Elgin are winning, it certainly would make it a lot more satisfying if there was a spine of boys from Elgin. It remains to be seen if that will happen though.
Another benefit of having locals is for the next generation of fans. I have personally seen the joy on the little kids faces who go to all the holiday camps that Elgin run when a player presents their trophies to them at the end of the week. Darryl is particularly good at giving up his time for that and the kids love it. The more youngsters going to Borough Briggs the better.

[WeAreElgin]

First signing for next season - Andy McDonald. We had him on loan at the start of 2018 and I remember him being a solid centre half. Not the worst start to our summer!

[Highland ITFC]

Gonna be a whole load of defenders in the squad!

[Thom & Gerry]

We need them, also think Darryl may  be out for a spell.

[Super Elgin City]

First signing for next season - Andy McDonald. We had him on loan at the start of 2018 and I remember him being a solid centre half. Not the worst start to our summer!

I am delighted with that. I was very impressed with him when he was on loan. And he was very young then, another 18 months experience in him and he will be a very good player for Elgin IMO. Add that to the signing of Rory McEwan and it is actually a pretty positive start to the summer for a change.

[gordon9736]

I concur. A couple of good signings so far. A bit concerning that 'Mr Elgin' will be out for a bit as he was inspirational at times, but hopefully not for long. Would like to see McHale  as our No.1 and that he wants to come back depending on his job  prospects.

[Super Elgin City]

I concur. A couple of good signings so far. A bit concerning that 'Mr Elgin' will be out for a bit as he was inspirational at times, but hopefully not for long. Would like to see McHale  as our No.1 and that he wants to come back depending on his job  prospects.

I think Darryl had a scan on friday on his knee. He is hoping its nothing serious so fingers crossed. I believe Mchale moved back south due to work reasons so not sure he will be back, but im the same i would like to see him as number 1. Its high time we went into a signed goalie as number 1 and bot our late 40s goalie coach as number 1 until a loan signing comes in at at the last minute.