vikingTON

So you're stating something obvious that happens more or less to every club, at the beginning of every fucking summer. Thanks for that solid 0/10 contribution then.

That's not the reality - unless you think that every single May involves almost every single club 'not getting their targets' too. It's part and parcel of this level in modern football that players will use free agency to move elsewhere and a manager will be building with a different set of options than they would ideally like to keep.

I wouldn't call him a consistent goalscorer but the reality is that if he wasn't carrying the team during the first quarter of the season, we'd have been cut adrift and would probably be replacing Falkirk in the seaside leagues. The general point about a need for a refresh applies to Muirhead too though. We have had to adjust our attacking play to fit him alongside Oakley in the same team. That's no longer a requirement and there's no reason why we can't find a better attacking shape with options to play there next season. The turnover of first team players is a bit higher than I'd like but we're in a stronger position to replace players than 12 months ago. And if Livingston want to pin their hopes on Muirhead at 28 taking their team to the top flight then good luck with that.

Squad size doesn't explain why two players scored what seems like 90% of our goals from open play. In terms of end product, we generally had no actual shortage of 'squad options'. Most flattered to deceive and so can have no complaints about being emptied. Between the age of a few players and the underperforming 'squad options', a refresh in personnel and approach too is now due. It would certainly be harsh to criticise the contribution of the squad in terms of tactical organisation, application and (most of the time) defensive performance. But there is a clear lack of quality where it counts that is shown by ending up a large points gap behind a League One team from 12 months ago.

Absolutely no good luck to him, after turning down a contract with The Famous to chase more money in the seaside leagues with Queen of the South and their delusional promotion 'warchest'. Which has worked out splendidly for all involved. That's the point where his career as a credible full-time professional footballer actually ended.

I'm not sure how it could prove to be an actual loss-leader but the marketing is definitely crucial. We could be offering the best deal in the world - and this is a very good deal - but unless the club also aggressively market it then it's not going to deliver much. The club website and the Tele aren't enough - we should be finding ways to get this information (quite possibly actual, physical fliers) to every school class in the area. By the school holidays begin there should be an annoying wean in every household, guilt-tripping their parents into buying a season ticket and assorted tat, with the events to follow of course.

Would mostly agree with this. I don't doubt it would be a tough player/option to replace, but that's the reality of football every single season. The players who are being tipped for a move elsewhere were out of favour and their career going absolutely nowhere when they were signed. We simply need to find those options again, with the benefit of a budget that should be verging on competitive for a change at the start of the transfer window. It would be an easier issue to manage if the fringe players from the youth team were looking more likely to step up. King's reports at Clyde seem unconvincing, and O'Boy has only been at tier 5 level. Both are probably at least a year from breaking through if they'll manage it all, so we'll need to identify and sign a direct replacement. And with question marks over both holding midfielders' longevity at this level, we could be facing a near complete turnover in the midfield. That lack of continuity (if it happens) would be a bigger cause for concern for me rather than individual players leaving. We need to start the new season strong to get out of the League Cup group again to repeat at least some of the financial benefit that comes with progression. Sacking off July to get the 'right' players in the door isn't a realistic option.

By the same token, it seems bizarre that Partick are committing themselves to signings and contracts right now, that might not actually be effective for assembling a top flight squad.

Napier lost control of the game by virtue of awarding fouls to Samuel for crumpling under every ridiculously soft challenge in the first half, while not awarding the same at the other end of the park. He couldn't even deal with a smoke bomb being 0.2 yards on the pitch after the equaliser without storming up to Mullen as if he was going to book him for considering just, err, punting it away. His award of a free kick to Inverness for a clean win of the ball from our press early in the second half was I think the real flip switch for already visible frustration in the team. IIRC Power took the ball and volleyed it to fuck in immediate response to another gubbins call. I don't think that the penalty decision was wrong, but when you're booking five players in six minutes given what little was at stake, you are also at fault as an official. Personally, I don't care too much if players lost discipline in this particular game. Professional footballers are expected to bite their tongues and accept nonsense from garbage officials all season long and they let that standard slip last night. ^^^ trying too hard

Raith's defence at the start of the season was completely bang-average, as we saw ourselves in their 3-2 victory in August.

If Blues' good shot wasn't stopped by Dabrowski in the closing stages - or Crawford's header from the corner* - then there'd have been about twice as many folk around to give the team a send-off on the terraces at the final whistle. Despite the fact that said goal would have been almost entirely irrelevant to our season. So how is the yawning difference between those responses within the fanbase legit but a low-key response in the case of the players unacceptable? The end of the game today turned out to be an insipid end to an insipid game off the back of... an insipid month. It just happens. While I could normally consider being out of touch for finding a gratitude exercise by footballers to be performative nonsense, the exodus of other fans suggests that today's game just turned out to be not a very good occasion for recognition. That cuts both ways incidentally - we might not see a player or two again who deserved a wee bit more than today's swansong. [/Quote] especially not when the guys who are applauding you have in our case been paying your wages. [Quote] See, I find that 'we pay your wages' argument risible given both the undoubted effort and the actual value of some of the performances produced by the squad (League Cup at Ibrox; Scottish Cup QF - the Motherwell game; consolidation of league position after desperate opening third of the season). Did these not 'pay' the fans' contribution enough? That argument doesn't mean we should award new contracts all round for next season by any means, but we have had absolutely zero grounds to complain about the attitude of this squad this season. *Two examples chosen simply because the finishes were good attempts as opposed to... other efforts in the second half.

I was behind the goal in the second half and could clearly see half the Cowshed filtering towards the exits before and immediately at the end of the game. Just as they would have done in any other home game. That's not a criticism - I left after a brief applause when Imrie came over too. The idea that professional players should be required to show some extra reverence than the fans themselves at the end of a nothing game like today's is not for me. They don't owe us anything - they get paid a wage and are expected to do a job on that basis.

About half the home fans left either before or just after the final whistle, so I really wouldn't be ripping my knitting about the disrespect shown by players who didn't hang around too long either.

Our season in a nutshell today. Played pretty well, created the better chances (without a draw actually being unfair though) but didn't have the cutting edge to get us over the line. Difficult to judge too much given the lowered stakes involved but I thought the defence did well throughout. With Ayr and Dunfermline playing each other the lowest we can now finish is 6th, but any sort of last minute, heartbreaking goal to consign Inverness and their assorted pellets (Gardiner; Ferguson) to the play-offs and relegation would be a lovely send-off. In the big picture we've had a decent season - excellent in cup competitions, both financially and in performance terms. Given the losses to the first team last summer I'm not surprised we had to just consolidate our position in the end - I'd have expected that before a ball was kicked. But with both Airdrie and Partick sitting on entirely achievable points totals, the lost opportunity can't be overlooked either. Losing fully half of our home league games is ultimately what has cost us - each of those lost was effectively a six-point swing to another team in the division.

Well done Kirk.