nedflanders123

Thank you for clearing that up lol

Why, if Kevin Ball is held in such high esteem, has he not been appointed?

Surely if he is offered terms before formally approaching our club then the approaching club is talking to a manager under contract?

They do as he is under contract. Same as players under contract. If he resigns then nothing we can do.

GS saying earlier today that there has been no contact and now Clyde claiming we have given permission for a job some are saying he has already got.

SSN now saying Sunderland Chairman going through the process and hope to appoint a new man within next 7 days. How then are tweets coming out saying he has been appointed?

Correct me if I am wrong but he is under contract so surely permission must be sought and our club agree to his release from a contract with 2 years to go?

If the club have officially stated there has been no contact/request from Sunderland then Sunderland have illegally tapped our manager. Something stinks here.

My point was about young Scots managers managing small clubs in Scotland and succeeding in England.

Paul Lambert. Managed Livi them took Norwich from 3rd tier to EPL. Alex Neil managed Accies and got Norwich promoted to EPL. Important to highlight examples of rookie managers getting success and not just singling out failures.

Thank you mate. Beat me to it.

I could name as many players and previous English and Foreign managers who have failed in England. Our game here which gets revenue in millions cannot compete with a revenue in billions plus a population tenth of England. Any talent we unearth will be sold for buttons (only Celtic can realistically compete on wages for certain players and offer championship football most years). We have always been looked down on from our southern sassenachs and always will. However, you are being a bit hard on those who choose to manage our top clubs. Sobeit if we are seen as a diddy league, we are where we are and unlikely to garner the financial success enjoyed down south.

I hear you bud but why then did Jack and the club not agree a year on year rolling contract rather than him 'committing' to a fixed term contract? I understand a contract is basically worthless but how do any club progress with their desired manager if they can all just talk to any interested club? How do other clubs hold a hands off approach while we don't? I guess something must be written into his contract that he can speak to other clubs.

If so Ian, that's a farce. We may as well work without any contract. No manager, irrespective of how good they are, should potentially hold all the cards. A contract should encapsulate a commitment as players and managers are quick to condemn clubs when sacked or released.

If this is indeed true then did our board once again give him permission? If they, our board, want Jack to honour his contract then time they refused to allow him to speak to any interested club. All this is doing is unsettling the club at a critical time when we should be looking at preparing for the new season. Inevitably, Jack will court suitors but he is hired and under contract to St Mirren and they should be doing more to protect its prized asset.

Stu, every club in Scotland bring/brought in players that didn't work for a number of reasons. Even Celtic paid big money for GMS and Cifti who basically bombed. We operate at a different level so a lot of our recruitment is free transfer or out if contract. Shankland was uninterested and overweight and Loy did a good job before opting for Falkirk. Name me a manager who has succeeded with every player brought in? Do you think Man Utd fans think Pogba or Sanchez have delivered based on reputation and price tag?

If Jack doesn't move to ITFC and an improved contract is on the table the BOD have to have a commitment from JR to honour the contract to ensure stability at the club. That means the club deciding whether cany interested clubs are given permission or not to talk to the manager. I understand any manager wanting to go on to bigger and better things but we need a commitment otherwise any contract is worthless. We need to be a bit more selfish and not as nice for the benefit of our club.

If you think Loy signed for the love of Falkirk and not more money than we were offering then you are perhaps more naive than I thought. The point about other players being on higher wages than him at St Mirren is irrelevant. I was citing the case of Loy as an example where a club e.g. Falkirk offered more than what our club deemed he was worth contract wise or couldn't match. Do you honestly believe that any young kid being touted for any of the top clubs in England or Scotland wouldn't have their parents thinking of the possible wages earned at those clubs than diddy clubs like ours? A lot of kids are in the sport dreaming of earning loads of money with the biggest clubs much like those kids who want instant success through TV talent shows. I am not saying all kids do this but in the 21st Century most young people want instant success and stardom. There are many in football who fail at those top clubs and end up lower down the leagues with provincial clubs.

You start your response by saying "of course you can" and end with "back in 70s that was impossible". You cannot compare the football market in 74 to 2018. Buying and retaining players is now driven by greed and football agents. Transfer fees are almost a thing of the past for clubs of our size and our core support is the same as it has been for 60 years bar the 76/77 season when our support was boosted by disgruntled IBrox fans who saw better football than down Govan way. The cost of going to the game bars many from attending so St Mirren is competing for scraps with clubs similar in size. Scouting still happens but most young talented kids will have stars in their eyes and want to go to the bigger clubs even if the majority dontbgetva chance or at best, warm the bench. How do St Mirren compete when clubs offer more because we stick to a wage structure and live within our means e.g Loy to Falkirk?

You cannot compare the market in the early 70s to now. Football has significantly changed in relation to scouting, player loyalty, wages, cost of football, no reserve leagues, smaller squads, agents, and ability to hold onto talent where many more clubs can offer the green stuff. You are clearly anti-St Mirren and 2 of the defeats suffered were after we won the league and Jack Ross played weakened teams.. It is laudable to suggest a scouting network but agents will tout any good talent to the clubs who play the better wages. The way ahead for clubs like ours is to develop our own talent from teens upwards. It won't stop clubs signing them but we at least get compensation. Bye the way Darryl Duffy and Donati were brought is a stop gaps in the event they were needed. There was no way either would be deemed first team selections.

I have no doubt Jack will continue to work hard if this latest situation with Ipswich falls through. There has to be some question of 100% commitment if there is continued speculation with any existing or new interest from other clubs now and into the new season and Jack is (naturally) interested. This is a critical time going into what will be a tough season and stability will be required to strengthen the squad and performance on the park.

My thoughts entirely. They must be heavily in debt having thrown a lot to try and win promotion. Surely we can compete plus PL football too.

It’s not 1st April is it? Now go back to your P2 class.

If Killie can get Steve Clarke then no reason we can't entice a quality manager.

Gav did a good job for us but that was at Championship level. He hasn't shown us and others he is very good at top level - yet. You can only compare him based on previous. He is older and more experienced so maybe he is ready for the step up (with us or another club). Time will tell.