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Come On Ye Mo - Montrose FC 2018/19


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I was 8 in 1978 and I have a distinct memory of asking my Dad who he wanted to win in the final - Argentina or Holland, or more accurately I have a distinct memory of his answer. Holland, because we’d beaten them so we’d be the best team in the world. Not the same thing but, when I was thinking about writing my post today that story came to mind.

The Mo’s outstanding season saw us play the two best sides in the Championship. We only lost 1-3 away to the winners - Ross County and the great Scottish Cup occasion at Links Park, 0-4 to play off winners Dundee United. We beat the 9th best team 2-1 at home before getting a hiding away.

There is a clear gap between us and the top of the Championship but, by no means is it massive. We are a good L1 side and will fear no one in the division next year and there won’t be many sides glad to draw us in the cups. If SP gets the recruits he’s after we will challenge for the title, if not we should be mid-table.

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I see the Dons have released Ryan Harrington. Fingers crossed!
 
Am sure a heard he was away back to his neck of the woods.But yeah would have loved to see him back to the season coming.
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Owell we had a bit of activity last night. Wish Jim Butter all the best and now a new GK coach will be one of the new signings.
Happy with Webby, Watson and Allan singing on for next season. Watson had a great season, Webby adapted and really improved towards the end of this season and Allan will be like a new signing if he is back fit.
Happy for Flem to stay although I am suprised as I did not think SP liked him. Perhaps SP thought it would be hard enough to find one good keeper out there never mind two!
Callaghan is an interesting one. Did not shine at all this season but was an important player during the league winning season. SP obviously likes him and he sees him in training every week so got to trust his judgement.

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In my mind Callaghan should have been released. Why keep a player that hardly contributed last season and when he did, was poor. Need to get a new keeper, replace Bolo and add some attacking threat from midfield as worry about goals next season in a league which is going to be strong. Lot of clubs done a lot of good work so new additions will need to be an improvement in what we had last season if we are to push on which I believe we have to as it’s going to be tougher next season.

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In my mind Callaghan should have been released. Why keep a player that hardly contributed last season and when he did, was poor. Need to get a new keeper, replace Bolo and add some attacking threat from midfield as worry about goals next season in a league which is going to be strong. Lot of clubs done a lot of good work so new additions will need to be an improvement in what we had last season if we are to push on which I believe we have to as it’s going to be tougher next season.
Agree with you. Liam is lucky to get the contract but SP must see something in training that we don't and must think he can still improve. Agreed keeper, CB and attacking midfielder are the priorities for me. Would love to see a proven goalscorer also come in
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Agree with you. Liam is lucky to get the contract but SP must see something in training that we don't and must think he can still improve. Agreed keeper, CB and attacking midfielder are the priorities for me. Would love to see a proven goalscorer also come in


Yes indeed a striker to compliment what we have already along with the incoming Blair Lyons. Would be good to get a couple of signings over the line soon.
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Sorry to see Jim Butter going but don't know the reason. I might be wrong but when Jim came we saw a great improvement in Fleming such as coming off his line more and commanding his area more. Might be a coincidence of course, either way I hope Flem keeps going that way.

At present I'm not unduly concerned about our attacking threat (never thought I'd say that!) as we have Blair Lyons coming in, Martin Rennie will get better having got a full L1 season behind him and surely we've yet to see the best of Russell McLean - and he has to step up to the plate pre-season. Sure Ross Campbell ain't finished yet either. Remember we also have CJ coming back in.  Having said that, I wouldn't object to an older head street -wise type of striker coming in but with four strikers on the books they can't all get in the starting eleven so who gives way? 

Priority for me is at centre back. We've lost Bolo, Matty Allan still has a bad knee and whilst I'm pleased he's signed on again we can't rely on him to be 100% fit from the off. Also Dillon showed signs of age towards the end of the season, firstly moving to right back and secondly made a couple of howler mistakes - like at QoS. Good we still have him and Yano but not in my opinion a robust back line to start next tough season with. Midfield we have Masson as an effective free roaming attacker and he is invaluable in that role. We also have Watson, Webster, Redman, Callaghan and Cregg so again someone has to give way if we are to get somebody else in.

You could say that if we more or less stick with what we have then we'll do well to have as good a season as the last one, and you'd have a point. SP will know what he wants but might not get what he wants. Meantime he is getting a squad together and he will make his move when the time is right but it might be with last minute loan signings. Anyway that's how I see it, but might be wrong. 

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I fell into the early close season trap of seeing other sides announce new players and thinking what about us. We have see others sides in L1 fail, in their terms, by a high turnover of players. We grew by keeping a good squad together and have prospered through familiarity and players enjoying themselves; coupled with good coaching, tactical flexibility and leadership. Despite last year being a very good financial year I would be shocked if we didn't remain one of the smallest player budgets in L1. Cammie Ballantyne alone means we have had a good window. Having said that I think we need younger legs in midfield to be groomed for when our current crop hang up their boots. There will likely be signings and the right loanee or two. In Stewart Petrie and the Board we trust.

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I still think stability is the goal for the season ahead - the league looks like being a jump tougher this year with no obvious candidates to finish at the wrong end. Would expect the full/near-enough full time sides to prosper, and I can see Clyde carrying their form over and having a good time of it in this league. Peterhead won't be mugs either.  Although I'd like to see us pushing at the top four again, I wouldn't be upset if we ended up around 7th in the league as it looks, even if that feels like a let down for some.

Echo most of the comments about the signings - I'd have let Callaghan away. Not sure what the deal is with Redman, but he's borderline IMO. Only really urgent business to do is a second keeper (and a back-up centre half, if Allan still isn't quite fit) - I take the point about maybe another striker, but I'd hold back and give them all a run pre-season/league cup then assess it. Plenty to look forward to, but mentally approaching this season with a touch of caution.

Edited by Scorge
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I still think stability is the goal for the season ahead - the league looks like being a jump tougher this year with no obvious candidates to finish at the wrong end. Would expect the full/near-enough full time sides to prosper, and I can see Clyde carrying their form over and having a good time of it in this league. Peterhead won't be mugs either.  Although I'd like to see us pushing at the top four again, I wouldn't be upset if we ended up around 7th in the league as it looks, even if that feels like a let down for some.
Echo most of the comments about the signings - I'd have let Callaghan away. Not sure what the deal is with Redman, but he's borderline IMO. Only really urgent business to do is a second keeper (and a back-up centre half, if Allan still isn't quite fit) - I take the point about maybe another striker, but I'd hold back and give them all a run pre-season/league cup then assess it. Plenty to look forward to, but mentally approaching this season with a touch of caution.
Agree with you. Aim again for this season will he to stay in the league. We all know this season will be tougher so 7th or 8th would be a decent season.
Hopefully SP can get a good keeper in to compete with Flem. Not sure if there are any available but last season I liked the look of Stranraer's keeper Currie. Centre half definitely has to come in. Really looking forward to seeing Lyons in pre season. Good bit of hype a hot him.
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On 5/31/2019 at 17:20, Stewart Whyte said:

I fell into the early close season trap of seeing other sides announce new players and thinking what about us. We have see others sides in L1 fail, in their terms, by a high turnover of players. We grew by keeping a good squad together and have prospered through familiarity and players enjoying themselves; coupled with good coaching, tactical flexibility and leadership. Despite last year being a very good financial year I would be shocked if we didn't remain one of the smallest player budgets in L1. Cammie Ballantyne alone means we have had a good window. Having said that I think we need younger legs in midfield to be groomed for when our current crop hang up their boots. There will likely be signings and the right loanee or two. In Stewart Petrie and the Board we trust.

After the excitement of the Playoffs, there's definitely a sense of flatness of a Saturday. So I suppose it's to be expected that fans turn to transfer talk on P & B boards to try to fill the void.

We had such an unexpectedly good season and the consequential luxury of not being one of those teams whose supporters were calling for wholesale clear outs.

Nor are we having to face the challenge of a season at a higher level, like our neighbours down the coast and along with that, very tasty Dundee "derbies' to bring in a very healthy kerching. Slightly envious of that but overall next to zero complaints, which for a long time Mo supporter, is pretty astounding.

For the Mo, the lack of frenzied transfer talk is a measure of the progress we have made. It's more about consolidation than desperation or anticipation.

Agree with what people have said about there being no shoe in candidates for the drop next season. I was surprised that Stenny got promoted ahead of Peterhead last season, so their relegation wasn't too unexpected.

What was even more of an outlier, was the struggles of the two relegated teams. Dumbarton wobbled  a fair bit, while Brechin sank like a stone.

This season looks a far cry from that.

Falkirk, despite their horrible season, are full-time and will be desperate and well enough resourced to want to make the quickest of exits from the right end of the "Seaside" League. Raith Rovers are surely wanting to rid themselves of their "full-time laughingstock" label by escaping along with Falkirk, or at least making a better attempt at it than the last couple of seasons.

Unlike Stenny last year, new arrivals Peterhead and Clyde are both coming into the league with good form.

They both have the potential to be a headache for the Mo, not least because of the irritating patter of Clyde fans but also because both teams have the potential to out compete the Mo,  at least for signings: Peterhead, financially and Clyde, more because of their central belt location.

For these reasons, I would have much preferred Annan to have come up.

That said, our experience this past season must stand us in good stead for next. This year will be tougher but we have a squad that knows the ropes and has shown, can grind out results, even if not always pretty. It does need strengthening and as Stewart pointed out younger legs need preparing to compensate for slowing down ones, like Dillon's.

Once the signing window opens on the 7th, we should have a better idea of what the squad for season 19-20 will look like and how it compares with our opposition. 

Like the rest of you, I am reasonably optimistic that we can consolidate, if we continue to build in the manner in which we have been doing since SP took the reins.

It still feels good being a Mo supporter with him in charge and of course, with a lot of dedication from all those backing him and the club; so long may that continue.

 

Edited by Brummo
Punkchewayshun
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Alright lads, What’s Ryan Harrington like? Could he do a job in the championship? Rumours that we have offered him a deal following his release from Aberdeen.

All the best for the coming season. 

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Alright lads, What’s Ryan Harrington like? Could he do a job in the championship? Rumours that we have offered him a deal following his release from Aberdeen.
All the best for the coming season. 
Started off at right back and did okay their.We saw the best out of him later on in the season when he was playing centre half looked a lot more comfortable in that position.
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Started off at right back and did okay their.We saw the best out of him later on in the season when he was playing centre half looked a lot more comfortable in that position.

Excellent

We’ll likely be playing him at centre half so that sounds promising.
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