Hodson signs.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

I know we all have European ambitions but they also need to be tempered. Scottish football is a backwater and "getting far" in European competition is highly unlikely for any Scottish teams these days. Personally I will take becoming Scottish champions before we get to a point of spending much money on being a force in Europe.

 

What NEEDS to happen is to get the Academy performing to produce the assets - to that extent there have been a number of positive changes at the Academy since Mulholland took over. From the type of player we recruit (no longer the big, physical guys and now the technically gifted instead) to having individual video analysis, website stats and playing the same way throughout the whole Club - all of which are very positive changes. However, all of which are also going to take time to see the fruits of the labour.

 

To progress in Europe without the need to spend vast sums of money that we cant afford we have to be patient with the changes at the Academy - I would say at least 5 years to see the real fruits of the changes.

 

Regarding looking at other leagues... the Club HAS been looking at other leagues - I know that they have had a few Scandinavian players in on trial so I know that they have their eyes on other leagues. However, we also need to remember that the whole scouting network was cannibalized by the previous encumbents - that needs to be rebuilt. And Frank McParland needs time to get that in place too.

 

It is amazing to me the distance we have travelled in just a year. However, with that comes lofty expectations of the fans and, in some cases, those expectations are impatient and unfair.

 

Things are coming together nicely - but we have to remember that a tremendous amount of damage was done to the club, and still continues with the merchandising deal. It will take a fair amount of time before we can properly compete at the European level consistently.

I'm not really talking about us being a 'force' in Europe; that seems a pipe dream at this stage. I'm saying that we'll need to put in some solid investment simply to just make a respectable account of ourselves. I wouldn't want our current side going anywhere near Europe.

[BlueMazza 0]

I'm not really talking about us being a 'force' in Europe; that seems a pipe dream at this stage. I'm saying that we'll need to put in some solid investment simply to just make a respectable account of ourselves. I wouldn't want our current side going anywhere near Europe.

 

It's not like we've spent nothing. Barton may not have a box office fee for example, but his weekly wage will be pretty high. The thing is, the club ARE investing. They are investing long term which is really what we want surely? We're investing in our youth & facilities. We have one of the best training grounds, yet our youth breakthrough hasn't been great & scouting has been below par.

 

Rather than look at the next 6 months, the board appear to be looking at the long time gain and I support this strategy personally. I'm happy enough with the signings so far, albeit we want to see them on the park.