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Start Previous 1 -- 2 -- [ 3 ] -- 4 -- 5 -- Next End| Topic: The Lennon Factor |
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| 41. Author: Hunter78 Date: Sat 3rd May 2025. 17:15 thebear, Sat 3 May 17:10 You forget Bord and Cook appointed Tidser, no one else. Yes they fixed a mistake but he was the choice and only interviewee Reply |
| 42. Author: jake89 Date: Sat 3rd May 2025. 17:17 To be fair to Cook, imagine being given the task of running a football club with a terrible budget. Reply |
| 43. Author: veteraneastender Date: Sat 3rd May 2025. 17:28 DBA, Sat 3 May 11:04 Obviously “they” are also deluded from reality. Reply |
| 44. Author: kelty_par Date: Sat 3rd May 2025. 17:30 Don`t get how playing Wanyama and Chalmers last night was dur to them being "favourites"? Both have been in and out the team, it`s not as if they`ve been mainstays despite playing poorly. Chalmers was perfectly adequate at Ayr and with no Fogarty (injured?) there wasn`t exactly a slew of centre backs he could play. Wanyama has only came on due to injury (at Ayr) or for very brief cameos and by all accounts was fine enough spraying the ball about. Having some legs beside him and getting him to some sort of place where he can run even a bit might mean he could do some kind of job next season. Playing him in a dead rubber end of season game seems fair enough. In terms of McPake getting more goals out the team, we did have a few more options then than we do now, whether you rate them or not. Wighton, Mebude, T. Sutherland and McCann all unavailable now when they were able to play in the first half of the season. Of course a team with those options is going to score more than a team with Kane and Yeboah as the only strike options (and with Todd, Ritchie-Hosler, Cooper etc available to both) but it`s not as if we were banging them in for fun, was it? Reply |
| 45. Author: cammypar 1995 Date: Sat 3rd May 2025. 17:31 I get that McPake didn’t do great, but blaming it all on German and Cook`s financial decisions feels like a bit of a cop-out. Yeah, the squad was made up of players out there depth, but he signed most of them. A decent player should still be working hard, and show a bit of fight, all of which we failed to do all season that`s all on the character of most of these players. As for Tidser he inherited a squad low on confidence and quality especially up front. Maybe calling the players out wasn’t ideal, but sometimes honesty is needed . He was clearly frustrated as we were after the display against Hamilton that midweek. The bigger issue is that the team lacked leaders on the pitch. A few just disappeared when things got tough although Tidser playing possession based football on that pitch and not changing it was baffling. This season, the whole setup from the boardroom to the dressing room was a mess. Now the new investors are in and seem to want to back Lennon hopefully the right decisions in recruitment can give us a chance. c'mon the pars Post Edited (Sat 03 May 17:41) Reply |
| 46. Author: neils Date: Sat 3rd May 2025. 19:11 The season was a car crash before it started, McPake was unable to sign anyone, and by the time he could, it was too late and we were left with players on the whole that no one else wanted. He never recovered from last season`s injury crisis I believe, and he has been open in admitting his poor recruitment did for him, fair play. Tidser might have worked pre season, but to bring in a rookie manager in a relegation fight playing `the right way` was an obvious mistake quickly corrected - I wish him all the best, and hope his career is not tarnished. Lennon has been great, I would obviously love him to stay, he could only work with what he has, and he has done that. Playing Chalmers and Wanyama was correct in a dead rubber, because he really needed to have a look at them, again Chalmers is a player I liked, but his pace is probably suitable for league 1 now it seems. Absolutely he was correct in playing Cooper, we haven`t seen enough of him, and possibly can sign for another year. Otherwise, Lennon will know what we need to at least be comfortable next season, I`m not expecting miracles here, there`s a hell of a turnover of players needed, some signings won`t work out, some will Reply |
| 47. Author: wee eck Date: Sat 3rd May 2025. 19:25 I`ve always thought that the defining event of the season was the restriction of the playing budget available to James McPake in the summer transfer window although I`ve never been clear when exactly this was communicated to him. I remember when it was announced that no contract offer would be made to Paul Allan, J McP said this was for financial reasons although he did not specify what restrictions applied. I think Kane, Wotherspoon and Ngwenya were all signed early, before training started, but there was a bit of a lull thereafter, including all the fuss about not having a back-up goalie. It wasn`t until mid-August when the German owners announced they were looking to sell their shares that they acknowledged that additional funds would be made available to JMcP to invest in the playing squad. I`m not sure the fans knew at this time there had been a `freeze`. There weren`t too many outstanding out-of-contract players available by then and we signed Clay, Cooper and Mebude who had all been at the club for some time before signing. We also resolved the goalie situation by signing Tobi on loan but the delay there may have been more down to Celtic than us. I don`t think we ever recovered from that and the knock-on events have been described above. The moral of the tale must be `Get your summer transfer business done ASAP!` Apologies if I`ve misremembered anything. Post Edited (Sat 03 May 19:27) Reply |
| 48. Author: Berkey Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 01:26 To be fair, I don`t think he does defend the folk you constantly schit on. He just constantly gets piszed at you constantly schitting on them. I hope you are stocking up on Dioralyte ready for next season I’ll only need dioralyte if the same duds are still in the team next season and we’re expecting to improve.. The overall consensus is pretty much all of them won’t be which in some proves a point. I’m looking forward to next season, not all lenny’s signings will hit the ground running but at least we won’t be arguing about players that have done nothing for years. Would quite like cooper to stay, he seems a decent impact sub and was out 2nd top scorer despite Barry getting on the park. I would argue it wasn’t so much mcpakes poor recruitment that done him, he recruited well for league 1, it was retaining players. The post below replying to me is by one of .nets finest champions of mediocrity! Reply |
| 49. Author: nick_dafc1 Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 07:37 wee eck, Sat 3 May 19:25 Don`t forget McPake already had Breen, Fisher, Mehmet, Chalmers, Wighton, O Halloran offered new deals previously or signed after League one campaign when they`re not good enough which affected his player budget. Reply |
| 50. Author: cammypar 1995 Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 08:00 Since mcpake left he hasn’t stopped moaning about the transfer situation at the club. What he never brings up is he was the one dishing out 2 and 3 year deals, which was a big shift from how the club used to operate. Before that we rarely saw deals that long handed out. He put faith in those players, and they weren`t good enough. A bunch were punted out on loan to League 1 and the rest have just about scraped us to safety again. That’s not progression and if the club wants to challenge for top 4 we need better than the players mcpake signed. I rate Chris Kane when he’s fit, he gives us something different up top. Strong, holds the ball up well, links play nicely, and he’s our only goal threat. You can see the team plays better with him in the team. But let’s be honest, him missing a big chunk of the season is a real concern. We can`t keep banking on a striker who struggles to stay fit for a full campaign. We need someone reliable to lead the line week in, week out not just hoping we see his name when the team is announced. c'mon the pars Reply |
| 51. Author: wee eck Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 09:43 In his first two seasons McPake achieved what was required of him - promotion from League 1 followed by survival in the Championship despite some serious long-term injuries. Of course, as is common on here, these achievements are rewritten with the benefit of hindsight. We may have gone through League 1 with only one defeat but the football was dull and predictable and the `injury crisis` was exaggerated and a normal part of football which should have been planned for. He was criticised for offering 2- and 3-year contracts when the club had been criticised in the past for only offering shorter deals which hindered long-term planning. Fans will always disagree about the assessment of players but they don`t face the consequences if they get things wrong. I think he deserved a fair crack of the whip at the season just past and the decisions of the German owners prevented him from getting that. Reply |
| 52. Author: TAFKA_Super_Petrie Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 10:01 cammypar 1995, Sun 4 May 08:00 I`ve not seen McPake mention us or give any interviews Cammy? You got a link to anything? ---------------------------------------------------------------  [b]"People always talk about Ronaldinho and magic, but I didn't see him today. I saw Henrik Larsson; that's where the magic was."[/b] Reply |
| 53. Author: Raymie the Legend Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 10:02 Some fair, contrasting points, wee eck.  It`s bloody tough being a legend Ron Atkinson - 1983 Reply |
| 54. Author: cammypar 1995 Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 10:07 Delivered? Bare minimum maybe.League 1 should’ve been a canter with the budget and squad we had it wasn’t some miracle job. We had players we were told were good enough for the championship the previous season. And we are finding out to he hard way they are league 1 standard at best. Every manager has to deal with injuries over the course of a season we just didn`t have the strength and depth to cope. Planning means building a squad with proper depth and not relying on the same 12 or so players or so and mcpake made too many wrong choiced when it came to recruitment and we are still paying the price for it now. It`s easy to say he wasn`t given the cash but I wouldn`t trust him with loose change. Maybe the BOD felt the same. Long deals are fine if the recruitment is solid. Giving 2 and 3 years to average players ties your hands further down the line if you get promoted Especially when you’re on a tight budget. Continuity only helps if it’s with the right players. If not you`re stuck paying off mistakes and we have seen this at player and management level. McPake did okay, but let’s not dress up surviving by a few points and playing turgid football as something special. He kept the ship afloat but maybe someone else could’ve actually started steering it somewhere unfortunately Tidser was the wrong choice. c'mon the pars Reply |
| 55. Author: cammypar 1995 Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 10:08 TAFKA_Super_Petrie, Sun 4 May 10:01 On PLZ he mentioned it about a month or so ago. Not sure how to get the links but it`s usually clipped up and put on Facebook. c'mon the pars Reply |
| 56. Author: jake89 Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 10:18 I think a massive issue over the last couple of years has been lack of flexibility. McPake signed some guys who normally wouldn`t be signed as he was desperate. Some of the guys landed long contracts probably in return for lower wage offers. We could`ve been flying after winning League 1 and built on the community spirit that had been raised. Instead we cheaped out and it was obvious. That`s not all the boards fault or McPake`s fault but hopefully the new owners can back Lennon or whoever is managing us going forward. Reply |
| 57. Author: wee eck Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 10:35 Cammypar`s post at 10:07 just proves my point about achievements being rewritten with the benefit of hindsight! Reply |
| 58. Author: king lad Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 10:39 It wasn`t hindsight regarding McPake, by the end of his tenure it was his squad and the players he chose to keep that were continuing to play terrible football. Everyone at the time was overjoyed he got us back up from League 1 instantly at the expense of Falkirk (who were the favourites that season) and few particularly cared about the style of play being adopted. He was correctly commended by the fanbase especially after what we saw under Grant/Hughes. The first season back up was a continuation of unimaginative football, the injury crisis is well documented and I think McPake was mostly excused for consolidating our championship status. Going into this season, fans wanted a progression in both investment in the first team and in the product on offer for entertainment. Thanks to GmbH it was disastrous planning from the get go in terms of the investment to improve the first team, however I`m not letting McPake off the hook for some absolutely insipid performances from players he had kept, throughout preseason, the league cup campaign and the league itself. Post Edited (Sun 04 May 10:41) Reply |
| 59. Author: Raymie the Legend Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 11:27 Re the injury crisis that season, am I correct in thinking a number of the injuries occurred during training ? It`s bloody tough being a legend Ron Atkinson - 1983 Reply |
| 60. Author: cammypar 1995 Date: Sun 4th May 2025. 12:39 Raymie the Legend, Sun 4 May 11:27 Lennon mentioned muscle injuries cropping up in the latter stages of the season – but I’m not buying the hindsight chat, wee Eck.A lot of fans, myself included, gave McPake a bit of leeway. He got us back up, fair enough even though the football was far from pretty. But where it really went wrong for me was what came after. Most of us expected a bit of a clear-out, some fresh thinking. Instead, he handed out new deals to the same guys who got us relegated from the Championship the last time. It’s the classic definition of madness doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. Sadly, McPake couldn’t see the wood for the trees when it came to evaluating who could genuinely handle the step up in class. Some of these players just aren’t cut out for it, and it’s plain to see and almost cost us again. c'mon the pars Reply |
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