Darthter

Look on the bright side....at least we're discussing FOOTBALL again.

Been looking through the recent batch of training photos from Willie Vass..... Might just be my imagination, or possibly photos taken at a different part of the training session, but there appears to be more work going on. Less of the gentle jogging or the odd sprint. Also a couple of shots of Kenny Black shouting at the players.

You could also take the view that the league is the teams "bread & butter"....It gives an indication of team performance over a sustained period. We've all seen instances of minnows beating the "big boys" in cup competition. It also gives a more accurate (IMHO) comparison since it is all the same teams that are playing. During a cup run, one team could get the luck of the draw & breeze into the latter stages, another team could come up against SPL opposition and get knocked out immediately. The bottom line is that both McCoist & McDowell performed below par - especially this season. McCall would find it difficult to do any worse.

current Stats for this season... ................Played...........Won(%).............Draw(%)...........Lose(%) Hearts.......26................84.6....................11.5..................3.8 Hibs...........27................55.6....................25.9..................18.5 RFC............25................56.0....................20.0..................24

Having the squad that we have, earning the wages that they do, playing in the league that we do....an 81% win rate is terrible!!!! One thing I think McCall has in his favour is that he can setup a TEAM. He took a group of middle to decent players at Motherwell and turned them into a well functioning unit - something we have been lacking for FAR too long.

Clipboard going no-where.....rumour has it, it will be taking over the youth squad in the interim, with eyes on a Director of Football roll in the future.

I'm sure McCall will be pushing for the longer term option - he'd be stupid not too. However, unless the Board see McCall as the way forward, it should remain as a short term option only, to be reviewed at the end of the season.

A massive improvement in club statements since Friday!!! All the best to KMcD.....

Clearly Chris Graham has close links to the RST.....but has there been ANY confirmation that he has been appointed as a representative of this group??? RST members are saying here that they weren't consulted, but if the board have appointed Chris as an individual, they why consult the RST membership. Were the RST contacted by the board to nominate a representative???

I was looking through the latest batch of training photos from Willie Vass, and started thinking..... All the players look well & truly wrapped up - hats, neck warmers, long johns, gloves etc. Surely if they were being worked hard, they wouldn't need that stuff to keep them warm???

As I said earlier, the problem with that is that it could lead to rash purchases & inflated wages/contracts for very mediocre players.....with the odd unnecessary purchase. We will buy players coz they are available, not 100% coz they will add something specific to the team. All this should have been done when we were in the 3rd Div, but it didn't happen. We are now at a point where the team is struggling, the management is struggling & everyone is desperate for promotion. How long will it take the fans to turn on the new board, when we are struggling in the Premiership??? Coz that is what will happen if the way ahead isn't properly planned.

We have 12 games left of the season, how quickly would you expect a new manager to start getting results??? What happens if the results don't come immediately - sack the manager & try again??? Rushing to install a new manager (even for the short term), is just starting to paper over the cracks again. As it stands, we have a "manager", who with the players available should be able to make the play-offs. Over recent years, there have been too many "shortcuts" & quick fixes. Now is the time to really start a fresh & that means not rushing into anything.

too much of a backward step imho..... The Board need to be looking ahead, and not getting hung up on past "glory". The likes of McCall & Butcher, have been average managers over their career and only really being considered because of their Rangers connection/history. We need someone with a fresh vision for how the team is going to move forward, both on a playing front & on an infrastructure front. If due care & attention is not given to appointing the new manager, it may not help the long term progression & improvement of the club. We need to take a wee step back & look at the bigger picture. Getting promotion is ideally what everyone want, but I can see that leading to rash appointments & inflated spending - not things we want to be doing. Proper foundations MUST be put in place before anything else, along with a clear plan/vision of how the board want/expect the team to perform - you then recruit in accordance with that plan.

I got the impression that DK etc are not overly concerned about the financial impact of not getting promotion this season. Time must be taken to ensure the right appointment is made.

I think they will stick with McDowell for the time being while they try & recruit the best/most suitable manager they can. As PM said, it's not an appointment that should be rushed.

Though all 3 came across very well.

Hands up who got the memo about not having to wear Hi-Vis....

Hands up if you think putting current board supporters in Hi-Vis was a good idea???

King has given what he BELIEVES to be the result.... Not too long ago, Llambias told the RFB that the EGM was on the 6th, only to change it within hours to the 4th......

There's something Llambias said that's sticking in the back of my mind...... Allegedly he told DK that he's won by a landslide, then later on said that nothing is definite as proxy voters could change their minds and vote in person. My worry is that the "good guys" get the impression that they have won, then a large number of proxy voters change their minds. Hopefully this will not be the case....

I think he is just $hit-stirring..... I also think a more pertinent question for Mr Llambias would have been...."What are YOU doing about a replacement NOMAD???" As it stands, he is still the man in charge, and shouldn't be concerning himself with what DK is going to do IF he wins.

Why should/would DK say who his preferred NOMAD is, before he has officially taken over.

We don't look like finishing 2nd in the Championship, never mind the premiership....

So, all we need to do is have a higher wage bill than Ceptic & we'll be sorted??? What makes a good player?? What makes a good team?? Ability/skill or weekly wage?? We currently have the 2nd highest wage bill in the country, yet where has that got us??? We have a team predominantly made up of Premiership-level players, yet how many Challenge cups have we won??? When it comes down to it we have not really challenged premiership clubs - granted we have beaten a few, but overall we are not a threat to them. Hearts are currently running away with the Championship title, yet their wage bill will be a fraction of ours.... Throwing money at the problem is not the answer. A properly thought out, planned & implemented structure is what is required......then spend the money achieving the results.

If spent correctly, why not??