Saint's Premiership Era

[BuddieinEK]

Ricky decided that his family and physiotherapy business had a higher priority than Saints!

Yup.
The question still stands.

[Ayrshire Saints]

46 minutes ago, St.Ricky said:

Thanks Ayrshire.  All about opinions. Yours are noted. Flattered by the comparison to Tony.  Glad also that I am consistent.  However what I did was put forward the current situation for discussion so I ask again... What are your views?  Now if you don't have any or don't want to give any.. That's fine. 

Views on what ? No one can form a view as we don't have a manager or a squad. Your isn't a view it's a mantra as I said. You seem to think if you repeat it often enough it will happen. If it wasn't for the managerial situation I would not even be looking here bar signing days. You seem to eat, sleep and breath on here. It's not particularly healthy, everyone needs some time away from it, mine will come as soon as we appoint a manager. 

[St.Ricky]

15 minutes ago, Ayrshire Saints said:

Views on what ? No one can form a view as we don't have a manager or a squad. Your isn't a view it's a mantra as I said. You seem to think if you repeat it often enough it will happen. If it wasn't for the managerial situation I would not even be looking here bar signing days. You seem to eat, sleep and breath on here. It's not particularly healthy, everyone needs some time away from it, mine will come as soon as we appoint a manager. 

My. I have been out at the golf course, gone for lunch with my wife and younger son, gone for a walk, watched TV and managed to do some gardening as well as spend a few minutes on here today. A pretty full life I would think but then I don't have to explain or defend myself.  Happy to share thoughts and get feedback on the topics.  To paraphrase yours....The Premiership Era and how it goes will depend on the manager appointment. Much the same as I have said but I put forward the argument that the club is doing a lot of things right and I am confident the board will make the right appointment. Could the board do better....of course it could. To suggest otherwise would show complacency.

[billyg]

4 hours ago, BuddieinEK said:

Yup.
The question still stands.

To my mind , Ricky dined out on the Fergie/Clunie legacy for three years before leaving Alec Miller an absolute shambles to contend with. Ricky was a manager on his granny's side !

[proudtobeabuddy]

I trust GS and TF to bring in the right man. Everyone, quite rightly has gave Jack Ross all the plaudits for being an excellent manager but i think we also have 2 equally excellent guys at the helm who will push us on in the right direction.

[St.Ricky]

22 hours ago, Stegman said:

I agree completely with your sentiments, and yes there will be ups and downs. The key to our future will be the appointment of a successor to Jack Ross, who we’re already assuming is away to Sunderland. Another good appointment required by the board with a suitably experienced manager could keep the feel good factor going and attract the quality signings we need to supplement an already experienced squad. Good times ahead, can’t wait.

Cash in from Sunderland.  Three new players in. More on the way.  New manager on the way.  Truly a new era.  The last one was good,  the new one might be better. Let's get the party started.  https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/g/1s05smztc&hl=en-GB&kgs=5322409a2a0e15d4&q=p!nk+get+the+party+started&shndl=0&source=sh/x/kp&entrypoint=sh/x/kp

[Dibbles old paperboy]

On 5/24/2018 at 4:48 PM, St.Ricky said:

Seriously.  The club is in a great place just now.  Cash in our pockets.  In the top league.  A chance to choose a new manager.  Exciting times.  Rollercoaster ride. 

We are starting off with a budget £600k+ smaller than Hamilton's based on SPFL prizemoney. Higher gate receipts / season tickets will reduce some of that gap as will the compensation for losing the management team.

As for the 3 new players you are excited about us signing... Paul McGinn looked pretty decent in a hopeless Thistle team, and has held down a first team spot at two bottom 6 SPL teams... I think he'll be useful for us. I am not going to get too carried away about signing some from non-league football down south or about a U20 player joining the first team squad. Jack said he had wanted to bring in 7-9 players to improve / strengthen the core of the Championship-winning team.  Jack's track record on signings tended to be good when he was signing players already proven at our level (eg Stephen McGinn, Craig Samson, Harry Davis, Gavin Reilly) but I can't think of more than two or three of his punts on players making the step up which worked out well (eg Ross Stewart, Ross Stewart, Jordan Kirkpatrick, Pal, Craig Storrie, Josh Todd, Gregor Buchanan)... too soon to say how the likes of Danny Mullen and Myles Hippolyte will fair in the top league and hoping those signings work out.

Unsurprisingly, at the minute we are quite a bit weaker having lost Lewis Morgan, Harry Davis and the management team. #notmuchstrengtheninggoingonsofar

Edited May 26, 2018 by Dibbles old paperboy

[St.Ricky]

New Premiership Era. Ticket sales up. Three new players signed. Compo cash in the bank.  An  avalanche of applicants for the job as manager.  The possibility of up to 2 million coming in. Whats not to like.

[Dibbles old paperboy]

1 hour ago, St.Ricky said:

New Premiership Era. Ticket sales up. Three new players signed. Compo cash in the bank.  An  avalanche of applicants for the job as manager.  The possibility of up to 2 million coming in. Whats not to like.

Can't remember a season in the last 4 or 5 years where the club haven't tweeted that season ticket sales are up on previous years. We may or may not yet have the compensation money for Jack Ross and James Fowler in the bank... given how long RBS take to clear a cheque I wouldn't be surprised if the money was on its way but not yet ours to spend. Applications for the new manager post could be down on previous seasons however... did we not have 50 - 60 applications to replace Tommy Craig and Ian Murray?  £2m coming in depends on John McGinn being sold this summer and on Sunderland stumping up £3m to take a Scottish international to League 1 when he could have the chance to join Celtic and if so, a swap deal may reduce the transfer fee paid. £2m coming in also hinges on our best young player being sold to Sunderland for £1m... my guess is unless other clubs join a bidding war Sunderland will not offer that much to begin with. You'd have loved being a Dundee United fan a few years ago... Ryan Gauld, Johnny Russell, Nadir Ciftci, Gary Mackay-Steven, Stuart Armstrong, Scott Allan, Andy Robertson all sold for close to £10m over a few seasons and lots of applications for their manager's job on a regular basis too! 

[StuD]

1 hour ago, Dibbles old paperboy said:

Can't remember a season in the last 4 or 5 years where the club haven't tweeted that season ticket sales are up on previous years. 

That's certainly true yet despite all those extra sales the clubs accounts show annual turnover dropping almost every year over that period.  

In 2013 the turnover was £3.45m

In 2014 the turnover was £3.18m

In 2015 the turnover was £2.97m

In 2016 the turnover was £2.48m

2017 bucked the trend slightly - turnover was back up to £2.62m despite Alex Rae being in charge when the season tickets were sold. 

Obviously the largest drop occurred because of relegation and no doubt the loss of some prize money but it's quite striking that despite year on year reports of record season ticket sales, the turnover keeps on shrinking. 

I kept on looking back and in 2010 the turnover was at £3.87m

 

Edited May 30, 2018 by StuD

[Dibbles old paperboy]

Obviously the summer window doesn't open for another week or two and the squad will fill out over the next few months. At the minute I think we are looking pretty weak for a top division side.

? = not sure whether they are up to scratch for top league

?? = not sure whether they are up to scratch for Scottish Championship

GK    Samson

GK   Stewart ?

DEF    P McGinn

DEF   Baird

DEF    Eckersley

DEF    MacKenzie ?

MID    Magennis (might be sold during the window)

MID   S McGinn

MID    McShane ?

MID    Kellerman ?

MID    Kirkpatrick ??

MID    Flynn

FOR    Hippolyte ?

FOR    Mullen ?

FOR    Reilly (out of contract in a few days)

FOR    Smith

FOR    Stewart ??

We also no longer have the Jack Ross factor to turn  punts on the likes of Hippolyte and Mullen into stars of the future!

[StuD]

2 hours ago, Dibbles old paperboy said:

Obviously the summer window doesn't open for another week or two and the squad will fill out over the next few months. At the minute I think we are looking pretty weak for a top division side.

? = not sure whether they are up to scratch for top league

?? = not sure whether they are up to scratch for Scottish Championship

GK    Samson

GK   Stewart ?

DEF    P McGinn

DEF   Baird

DEF    Eckersley

DEF    MacKenzie ?

MID    Magennis (might be sold during the window)

MID   S McGinn

MID    McShane ?

MID    Kellerman ?

MID    Kirkpatrick ??

MID    Flynn

FOR    Hippolyte ?

FOR    Mullen ?

FOR    Reilly (out of contract in a few days)

FOR    Smith

FOR    Stewart ??

We also no longer have the Jack Ross factor to turn  punts on the likes of Hippolyte and Mullen into stars of the future!

I'd agree with most of that Dibble. McShane is the one I'd disagree with you about but you aren't alone in how you think. I just think he's been grossly under-estimated by a number of St Mirren fans. 

For me the arrival of Flynn, the dropping of McShane and the moving in of Kyle Magennis corresponded with a bit of a drop in form and in terms of attacking play. A look at the stats shows why. Even with McShane sitting on the bench for much of the second half of the season he still finished the season with more goal assists than any other St Mirren player - 8, as opposed to Lewis Morgans 6 and Cammy Smiths 5. He also finished the season as fourth top league goalscorer with 5 goals. That obviously put him behind Morgan, Smith and Reilly, but well ahead of Magennis who scored 2, and McGinn who scored 1. 

McShane also has two years top flight experience with Ross County where by all accounts he held his own for the most part making 26 league appearances. 

There's certainly plenty of scope for squad building. The team looks very weak to me as it stands. 

 

[St.Ricky]

On 5/24/2018 at 7:10 PM, Stegman said:

I agree completely with your sentiments, and yes there will be ups and downs. The key to our future will be the appointment of a successor to Jack Ross, who we’re already assuming is away to Sunderland. Another good appointment required by the board with a suitably experienced manager could keep the feel good factor going and attract the quality signings we need to supplement an already experienced squad. Good times ahead, can’t wait.

We have the new manager in place,  new signings on the way and our new kit is out this week. We know the pre season arrangements and  the bet Fred cup dates.  The Premiership Fixtures are also due out soon.  The new era is here.