Danny Says No More Signings

[bud77]

Total lack of ambition. it's the fact we had a very good squad last season, have decided to dismantle it and then not bother to build one at least as good if not better.

During last season I was saying to people enjoy watching this team of players because next season it ain't gona be like this as I knew our board would go for the major cost cutting and quality cutting exercise and as it stands I seem to have been proved right.

At the start of last season I would have agreed that we did seem to have a very good squad. By the end of the season it was fairly obvious that the squad wasn't as good as we thought it would be and that a few players failed to live up to expectations, most of those players are now gone and we have a few weeks yet until the transfer window closes. Let's see how the squad looks at the end of August before starting to compare it to last seasons.

[Wilbur]

I am concerned that we will be over-reliant on two ageing players (Thomson & Teale), either of whom (or both) could find 2013/14 to be one season too far for old legs. There's a helluva long time between this transfer window shutting and the January window opening. I hope the BoD is not banking on a 15 point cushion being our lifebelt, especially as two teams may be relegated.

[Scabby Dug]

I should qualify this a little.

The likes of Ross County, ICT, and St Johnstone didn't have notably stronger squads last season (in my view), yet finished higher than Saints.

I think we struggled on a number of counts:

- too inconsistent;

- absence of a Plan B;

- switched off after the cup win;

- losing key players at key times (McGowan and McLean most notably);

- players under-performing at times (McLean and Guy, for example);

- too much fannying about with personnel and formation.

There are key areas that need to be addressed that reach beyond the players in the squad. I absolutely agree that we require at least 2 more players, and they will come in, but I think there are other factors that should be taken into consideration also.

Absence of plan 'B' was a crucial one, but the last point also needed consideration. All relevant points, BTW

[FTOF]

It's shocking that we have left ourselves in such an impossible position. What chance do we have of signing two players given we only have about a month to do this?

Embarrassing that we are not signing players for the sake of it, just to placate knicker wetting fans who don't have an ounce of common sense.

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I know.

With only a month and a half of the transfer window to go. Also, there are hardly any players out of contract for us to choose from.

An utter disgrace indeed. We should be throwing cash at players to get them to sign for us.

[Soctty]

The concern with a lack of a plan B is a curious one. I thought our plan B was to hit it long to Thompson, and last season to Parkin as well? Is this what we want when thinking of a plan B? There's also the fact that our formation changed to a 4-2-3-1 in the last few months of the season - was this not a different plan? When we went three at the back, was this not another different approach by the manager?

What are we looking for in terms of a plan B? Personally I'd much rather we went with plan A, and got that one right. Plan A involves us passing the ball around, keeping possession, and trying to pass through teams - this seems like a plan worth sticking with.

Be interesting to see what others would be happy with as a plan B.

[Lex]

Re Kids - other than John McShane - has Danny introduced a kid to our team who hasnt done well?

Off the top of my head i can think of Jamie McKernon, Mark Lamont, Jack Smith, Jason Naismith, Jon Scullion, Ally Love, Mark McLennan and Dominic Kennedy Scullion and Naismith still have contracts for next year though, would be unfair to write them off as failures just yet.

[AllyM]

we are contemplating starting the season without a left back

We haven't assigned the squad number 3 yet. I interpret this as meaning that we will do so at some point before the season starts, not that we have retired it in honour of Paul Dummett's magnificent St Mirren career.

[Soctty]

Incidentally, I think our league season hinged largely on one thing - our over reliance on McGowan. The six defeats in a row while he was out injured killed our top 6 hopes. Danny has brought in Harkins, who can provide similar qualities to McGowan if required and provides creativity and a few goals alongside McGowan.

Consistency - or lack of it - hurt us badly. Relying on one player so much means that when he's injured the team struggles, and when the player struggles, so do the team. When teams mark this player out of the game, we need others who can create and be the spark - Harkins can hopefully do this, and possibly Teale too. McGinn will be looking to kick on too, with McLean aiming to make up for a poor second half of the season.

Another couple of players needed, but plenty to be optimistic about, if you're that way inclined.

[oaksoft]

Yes we are. It's one of the weakest squad situations I've ever seen at this point in July. It's quite obvious we are completely cutting back on wages from last season but every business needs a product and in st mirrens case we need players!!

We have two strikers at the club and we have players who can play left back.

[linwood buddie]

what if in the drastic situation that will never happen one striker gets injured and the other banned ,that means two out and none left

[oaksoft]

The Pampers Posse are doing my head in.

Several weeks to go before the start of the season.

Hearts at -15 points.

Relegation financial cliff has gone.

Club saw crowd numbers drop last season too so no wonder they are not spending.

Unrealistic numpty fans? Check.

Numpty fans who find it easy to spend other people's money? Check.

Numpty fans who scream for youth to get a chance and then scream because.......we're going with youth? Check.

Meaningless cliches being thrown about like "disgrace", "lack of ambition", "embarassing"? Check.

HOUSE! Join us next transfer window for the latest game of Bullshit Bingo folks.

In the meantime I'm off to another thread where people don't suck all the life and energy out of me.

Edited July 16, 2013 by oaksoft

[kevo_smfc]

I agree about the left-back position. If danny trusts the youngsters to take the step up or possibly one of our senior fringe players to step in, then so be it, though I think me need to make sure that the player cementing down the left back position can have the same effect to our system, where they can get forward and provide delivery in to the box.

As Tom Reilly is still a young developing player along with Brady, it is obvious that this is a must fill position. All the weiggt shouldnt be left on Thommos shoulder s. God forgive if he was to go through a period of injury. My thoughts are though, that we WILL sign another striker at the very minimum whether it is a loan deal or permanent contract.

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[Isle Of Bute Saint]

SG and Danny Lennon have both said in the local PDE that we will be going more with young players coming through this season more than previous seasons. That's not to say we wont bring someone in , my view. Also they went on Gowser signing was like getting a new player and I'm sure he will be on more money. DMc and Baron are like having new players added to the pool along with Harkins.

If there are no new players arrive I see this as as a bottom 2 fight for sure that we being one of the 2.

[norrie82]

The Pampers Posse are doing my head in.

Several weeks to go before the start of the season.

Hearts at -15 points.

Relegation financial cliff has gone.

Club saw crowd numbers drop last season too so no wonder they are not spending.

Unrealistic numpty fans? Check.

Numpty fans who find it easy to spend other people's money? Check.

Numpty fans who scream for youth to get a chance and then scream because.......we're going with youth? Check.

Meaningless cliches being thrown about like "disgrace", "lack of ambition", "embarassing"? Check.

HOUSE! Join us next transfer window for the latest game of Bullshit Bingo folks.

In the meantime I'm off to another thread where people don't suck all the life and energy out of me.

Good get lost loser

[norrie82]

SG and Danny Lennon have both said in the local PDE that we will be going more with young players coming through this season more than previous seasons. That's not to say we wont bring someone in , my view. Also they went on Gowser signing was like getting a new player and I'm sure he will be on more money. DMc and Baron are like having new players added to the pool along with Harkins.

If there are no new players arrive I see this as as a bottom 2 fight for sure that we being one of the 2.

Barron couldn't get into lennons team last year and why is that? He can't pass a ball ten feet that's how. He is a hustler. And a harrier no finesse at all. He should have been punted . All other teams out with hearts and Patrick look pretty strong but us we have one striker? Enough said Edited July 16, 2013 by norrie82

[nedflanders123]

what if in the drastic situation that will never happen one striker gets injured and the other banned ,that means two out and none left

Then you play someone like Harkins or McGowan up front. Personally, I think there will be at least one more striker brought in as cover but even that does not guarantee that we will not have a situation where all our strikers are injured or banned. Let's just wait and see what the season brings.

[Alba]

I've got no club contacts or inside info but you can put your house on the fact that the club won't go into the season with only 2 strikers. Reason i know this is that no professional club would go into an SPL season with only two strikers. I know Danny has some odd ideas about formations and the like but he's not daft.

You can be guaranteed there'll be a forward signed before d-day.

On the left-back thing, I still remember McAusland being asked to 'play' right back against Hibs (think it was Hibs anyway) a couple of season back. If ever you needed an argument for not just asking existing player to fill in.....

[Big Yards]

I am concerned that we will be over-reliant on two ageing players (Thomson & Teale), either of whom (or both) could find 2013/14 to be one season too far for old legs. There's a helluva long time between this transfer window shutting and the January window opening. I hope the BoD is not banking on a 15 point cushion being our lifebelt, especially as two teams may be relegated.

That's the thing that annoys me most, we always rely on what's happening with other teams rather than sorting ourselves out so we make a right good go of climbing the league!

[nedflanders123]

That's the thing that annoys me most, we always rely on what's happening with other teams rather than sorting ourselves out so we make a right good go of climbing the league!

Who relies on other teams - the fans? The club don't. We are sorting ourselves out but patience is required. Danny has been criticised for bringing in a lot of players early and most of those (in his first season) were not good enough for the SPL. Now, he has not bought a load of players (meaning the club would be paying wages for them sitting on the beach) and he is being criticised.

We have no idea what is happening behind the scenes and as Danny is in his final year as manager, would it not be prudent to wait and see what happens? He has the club's best interest at heart and knows our weaknesses. Let's give him time to do his job before a ball is kicked in earnest. I think Danny has a few aces up his sleeve.

As a final note, while clubs have rushed out and bought players, can you honestly say that they are going to make the purchasing team much better? Too many unknowns here so we need to wait and see. Motherwell will win a watch if they manage to tie down McFadden but other than that I have not lost any sleep.

[Magic Monkey]

In football you get very few opportunities to have breathing space to bring the kids through: Whether the fans agree or not, I bet the board is seeing this as our breathing space year.

If you think about this in terms of the development of the young players, this really is the perfect season to do it. We'll never have a better chance to blood some youngsters with relatively little pressure.

To my mind, it's possibly worth sacrificing a top-six push, for one year only, if it gives us an exciting, potent young attacking team that comprises a few home-grown youngsters.

Question is, would the fans have the patience for that?

[Big Yards]

In football you get very few opportunities to have breathing space to bring the kids through: Whether the fans agree or not, I bet the board is seeing this as our breathing space year.

If you think about this in terms of the development of the young players, this really is the perfect season to do it. We'll never have a better chance to blood some youngsters with relatively little pressure.

To my mind, it's possibly worth sacrificing a top-six push, for one year only, if it gives us an exciting, potent young attacking team that comprises a few home-grown youngsters.

Question is, would the fans have the patience for that?

I think you're falling for the boards smoke screen for their lack of ambition and willingness to spend any more money on the team.

My point earlier about us relying on what other teams are doing rather than sorting ourselves out got shot down but I still believe it to be true. The only reason this rubbish about bringing through the youngsters this year has come out is because hearts got docked 15 points. That is an obvious lack of ambition and obvious that we do keep looking at other teams instead of trying to progress ourselves

[nedflanders123]

I think you're falling for the boards smoke screen for their lack of ambition and willingness to spend any more money on the team.

My point earlier about us relying on what other teams are doing rather than sorting ourselves out got shot down but I still believe it to be true. The only reason this rubbish about bringing through the youngsters this year has come out is because hearts got docked 15 points. That is an obvious lack of ambition and obvious that we do keep looking at other teams instead of trying to progress ourselves

Big Yards, noone shot you down mate. I think there needs to be a bit more realism here. Firstly, to claim the BOD are not ambitious is way off the mark. We have a new ground, training facilities, a manageable bank balance and a club that has managed to remain within the SPL on a very small/limited budget. We brought in class players in Thommo, McGowan and Teale. We won the League Cup last season too. What is ambition for a small club like St Mirren? For me, in this day and age it is to remain in the top league and to have a decent cup run. If we manage to get into the top 6 then that is a bonus to me. European football is not the holy grail any more and we are not equipped to play against the more experienced sides in Europe and are unlikely to survive more than 1 round. That is simply realism and not a negative approach.

The decision to go with youth is something Scottish football is applying and not just St Mirren and has nothing at all to do with Hearts situation. Last season, Killie, Dundee Utd and Hearts introduced a lot of young players mainly because they cannot afford to bring in the experience without going further into debt. On the issue of willingness, if the club had the finances to buy and sustain paying out more for players and wages then they would probably do that but we are no different from most other clubs and the way forward is, like it has always been for our team, to bring in our own homegrown talent. The game is skint mate and would you like us to spend money we do not have and become immersed in debt or would you like us to live within our means and plan a future that relies mainly on bringing on young talent with the addition of experienced players?

Edited July 16, 2013 by nedflanders123

[Magic Monkey]

I think you're falling for the boards smoke screen for their lack of ambition and willingness to spend any more money on the team.

My point earlier about us relying on what other teams are doing rather than sorting ourselves out got shot down but I still believe it to be true. The only reason this rubbish about bringing through the youngsters this year has come out is because hearts got docked 15 points. That is an obvious lack of ambition and obvious that we do keep looking at other teams instead of trying to progress ourselves

I can genuinely see your point - I think we're arguing two sides of the same coin. I'm not saying it's ALL f**kING BRILLIANT, more that I'm a cheerful guy and I'm looking on the bright side.

I'm not falling for a smokescreen at all - I was simply making the point that ordinarily a club like ours won't often get the chance to bring youngsters through - instead relying on loan deals for more talented youngsters from bigger teams, or scouring the market for old stagers, which sometimes works (Gary Teale, Thommo, Andy Millen, Tommy Turner) and sometimes doesn't (most of our other signings).

Assuming we do play the kids, the best case scenario is that we end up with a young, dynamic team by the end of next year, have them all on contracts til the summer of 2016 and that we start looking like a consistent

The worst case scenario is that we have a wafer-thin squad that relies heavily on inexperienced players, and we lose the 15-point advantage over Hearts and go down.

The truth will be somewhere between the two cos, as we all know, more signings will come in.

[Wilbur]

Any decision to compete this season with the minimum quality of squad and aiming for nothing better than basic survival will come back and bite the BoD on their bums. They need to convince the fans that there is some genuine ambition in that boardroom.

If we play garbage our home gates will suffer, prosper and they will come. An extra 500 on the home gate twice a month could bring in an additional £20k a month.

[Magic Monkey]

Remember that day we signed Adam and Sutton?

The D1 title was as good as ours from that point. Of course, transfer deadline day is a touch too late to add 500 season ticket holders