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SMISA Q&A Night With Jack Ross & James Fowler


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Going to be weird as we are all so happy....

Jack wont wave a wee bit of paper, he wont tell us his Win Percentage, tell us signing Dumbarton players is the way forward..................

He will tell us we are work in progress,  the squad is complete, the confidence is high, us supporters are great, our Chairman supports...........

Delighted to make this change....................... And if he commits to Tonys prophecy - All the  better- cause Celtic were pish v PSG

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2 minutes ago, santaponsasaint said:

Good night. Jack and James come across superb. You can see why there players want to do their upmost for them. Funny double act as well. Great way to spend a few hours. Thanks also to SMISA for organising the evening.

Any subjects stand out for you Gary ? 

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Would be interesting to know from anyone that attended that isn't currently a member. Has last night changed your mind? Any new sign-ups? Anyone had their decision not to be a member reaffirmed?

 Read previously that SMISA had a target of getting member number up to 1,400. Hopefully last night went someway to hitting that target. 

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2 hours ago, Isle Of Bute Saint said:

Yea its very quiet on that front. Hopefully it will be up later early tonight will turn on the laptop open a can of Disco Beer if it comes through from Drygate today. 

To be fair, there wasn't a whole lot of scandalous questions as you'd expect when the team's doing well - off the top of my head:

  • JR said that Lewis Morgan compensation is based fully on the club who is arranging a PCA. In the worst case scenario, we'd hope that category 1 clubs would be approaching him which would increase the compensation significantly. In a best case scenario, Lewis (who is appreciative of the opportunity afforded to him by St. Mirren) and his agent will agree that the club deserve to be properly recompensed for his talents and will strike and agreement.
  • James Fowler has identified the slow starts and early conceding of goals in games as an area where they'd like to focus on improvement but did point out that whilst an issue, it's a much less pressing issue than losing late goals.
  • Players have facilities on hand to deal with several stress, pressure or general mental wellbeing issues and we have a professional gentleman - who is a supporter -  on hand who works with the club on a 'pick up the phone and he'll show at the drop of a hat' basis. Several of the players have benefited from this including several of the injured and young lads and Stephen McGinn who is feeling the added responsibilty of being club captain and throws himself fully into that role. Both Jack and James pressed at how important they believe that the mental wellbeing of players is - especially in the modern game where players are a lot more introverted.
  • Jack went to Lennoxtown to pick Brendan Rodger's brain over pre-season and whilst he learnt a lot in terms of the mental aspect of dealing with players, was very happy that Celtic's methods were similar in several areas to things that Jack and James had already implemented at St. Mirren - which validated the decisions to do so somewhat.
  • Everyone is fit for selection on Saturday apart from Kyle Magennis, Harry Davis and Gary McKenzie who is over his concussion but picked up an achillies strain  in a bounce game at Ralston last week. He's had a scan and there is no damage there, he's expected to be in contention for a place next week. Harry and Kyle are expected to be at full pace in the next fortnight and pushing for the first team afterwards.
  • Kyle Magennis has dealt with his injury in a hugely professional manner. He approached the management and asked for advice on how to engage himself when injured, Jack Ross commented that he has since bulked up to the stage where he's noticeably square shouldered and is going to add a massive physical presence to his game upon return. Said the fans will be surprised at the changes in him.
  • They are happy with the Ralston setup and whilst unwilling to name names (due to the unpredictability surrounding personal development at youth level) he said there is nothing to suggest the conveyor of talent will end any time soon and the club are now in a fortunate position where they are an attractive prospect for youth players due to the track record they have of giving youth a chance and the high turnover of players who get a move upwards.
  • They have pinpointed 3 or 4 players not with the club who they feel could do us a very good turn in the future but due to time and finance constraints, have so far been unable to scout these players. They acknowledged that whilst the scouting at youth level is excellent, it's a struggle at senior level and would like a scout/scouts, although they accept that resources are finite and so must make do at present. Jack also commented that football at our level is still very much run on a level where a lot of scouting is done as goodwill gestures and an issue with this is pinpointing someone who'll do a favour whose opinion is trustworthy and in line with theirs.
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All very encouraging, and I'm particularly glad to hear that the club are taking mental health and wellbeing seriously.

We are making the club a place that people want to come to - whether to work or support. I don't think the importance of that can be over stated.


It is easy to tell when players are enjoying what they do. You can see that in spades just now, and I reckon the new board, Jack and James deserve huge credit for that.

 

 

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1 hour ago, djchapsticks said:

To be fair, there wasn't a whole lot of scandalous questions as you'd expect when the team's doing well - off the top of my head:

  • JR said that Lewis Morgan compensation is based fully on the club who is arranging a PCA. In the worst case scenario, we'd hope that category 1 clubs would be approaching him which would increase the compensation significantly. In a best case scenario, Lewis (who is appreciative of the opportunity afforded to him by St. Mirren) and his agent will agree that the club deserve to be properly recompensed for his talents and will strike and agreement.
  • James Fowler has identified the slow starts and early conceding of goals in games as an area where they'd like to focus on improvement but did point out that whilst an issue, it's a much less pressing issue than losing late goals.
  • Players have facilities on hand to deal with several stress, pressure or general mental wellbeing issues and we have a professional gentleman - who is a supporter -  on hand who works with the club on a 'pick up the phone and he'll show at the drop of a hat' basis. Several of the players have benefited from this including several of the injured and young lads and Stephen McGinn who is feeling the added responsibilty of being club captain and throws himself fully into that role. Both Jack and James pressed at how important they believe that the mental wellbeing of players is - especially in the modern game where players are a lot more introverted.
  • Jack went to Lennoxtown to pick Brendan Rodger's brain over pre-season and whilst he learnt a lot in terms of the mental aspect of dealing with players, was very happy that Celtic's methods were similar in several areas to things that Jack and James had already implemented at St. Mirren - which validated the decisions to do so somewhat.
  • Everyone is fit for selection on Saturday apart from Kyle Magennis, Harry Davis and Gary McKenzie who is over his concussion but picked up an achillies strain  in a bounce game at Ralston last week. He's had a scan and there is no damage there, he's expected to be in contention for a place next week. Harry and Kyle are expected to be at full pace in the next fortnight and pushing for the first team afterwards.
  • Kyle Magennis has dealt with his injury in a hugely professional manner. He approached the management and asked for advice on how to engage himself when injured, Jack Ross commented that he has since bulked up to the stage where he's noticeably square shouldered and is going to add a massive physical presence to his game upon return. Said the fans will be surprised at the changes in him.
  • They are happy with the Ralston setup and whilst unwilling to name names (due to the unpredictability surrounding personal development at youth level) he said there is nothing to suggest the conveyor of talent will end any time soon and the club are now in a fortunate position where they are an attractive prospect for youth players due to the track record they have of giving youth a chance and the high turnover of players who get a move upwards.
  • They have pinpointed 3 or 4 players not with the club who they feel could do us a very good turn in the future but due to time and finance constraints, have so far been unable to scout these players. They acknowledged that whilst the scouting at youth level is excellent, it's a struggle at senior level and would like a scout/scouts, although they accept that resources are finite and so must make do at present. Jack also commented that football at our level is still very much run on a level where a lot of scouting is done as goodwill gestures and an issue with this is pinpointing someone who'll do a favour whose opinion is trustworthy and in line with theirs.

Many thanks for taking the time out to write an in-depth report of the Q & A night. 

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Guest TPAFKATS
To be fair, there wasn't a whole lot of scandalous questions as you'd expect when the team's doing well - off the top of my head:
  • Jack went to Lennoxtown to pick Brendan Rodger's brain over pre-season and whilst he learnt a lot in terms of the mental aspect of dealing with players, was very happy that Celtic's methods were similar in several areas to things that Jack and James had already implemented at St. Mirren - which validated the decisions to do so somewhat.

Here's hoping we avoid PSG in the 2019 group stages...

Thanks for the update djc
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No worries folks:

Felt the dynamic between Jack and James was also excellent. There's clearly a lot of trust there and they are happy to have a laugh at each other's expense. Jack taking credit for all the good attacking work whilst laying the slow starts at Fowler's door for being sloppy with the pre-match warm up being a bit of a running joke throughout the Q&A.

Another interesting point to note is that Fowler seems to rein Jack in as by his own admission, he's a micro-management freak and stresses over every little detail. JF apparently keeps JR in toe when he's spending too much time over trivial matters with the question 'Will it affect Saturday?'.

They certainly seem like they have a good rapport with one another and this rubs off on the players as well. Similarly, they seem like the sort of guy that if you were a footballer, you'd want to give that bit extra for. Suppose that's why every footballer who has worked with Jack so far in his career and spoken of him publicly have all said that he's a fantastic man manager.

 

They also singled out Cammy Smith on more than one occasion as someone whose contribution has been immense since being at the club but perhaps doesn't receive the plaudits in the press that Morgan or Reilly do. Think a few of the fans were quite vocal in their backing of Cammy at one point and let the management team know that he's very much a favourite amongst the support.

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I can see where they are coming from with Smith.

I was absolutely delighted when he signed a full contract with us. Morgan is clearly the rising star, whilst there was a question mark over Reilly's signing, so it was always going to be subject to a fair degree of scrutiny. The fact that he has more than exceeded the expectations of most of us inevitably means he will get a lot of (deserved) plaudits.

Meanwhile, Smith has picked up from where he left off last season. 100% committed, and making a huge contribution whilst not being a headliner. He is a critical member of a front line that is on fire, and, at its best, almost unplayable at this level.

Tremendous player to have on our books.

ETA - aye, I was pretty sure I'd raved about him previously....

 

Edited by Drew
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