Dibbles old paperboy Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) The case for and against Tommy Craig as manager should rest on results, performances and how last year's players are doing this season under the new manager and finally how his summer signings have done. Results and performances have probably been well covered on BAWA. Last year's players this year under TC: Marian Kello: a shadow of last year's player and now dropped after costing too many goals. Jason Naismith: has earned a Scotland U21 call up and looked a goal threat going forward but has regressed defensively to an alarming extent. Marc McAusland: had a terrible, error-strewn start to the season, Possibly settling down a bit now. Jim Goodwin: Sent off in first game of the season. Retrospectively red carded after less than 10 league games played. Inbetween times when he found some form it coincided with our purple patch where we picked up our 8 points. Sean Kelly: started the season out of the starting XI and since returning to it during our injury crisis has alternated between left back and left midfield. Gregg Wylde: An inconsistent, patchy, erratic start to the season (continuing form from before the summer?) before succumbing to injury. Kenny McLean: resigning him was viewed as a major coup for the club and it still may turn out to be. While performances have been well below the standard he set last year and he has been very inconsistent he is also our joint top scorer. John McGinn: Another who has yet to show what he is capable of this year, and yet when he has been injured, his dig and ingenuity and attacking instincts are sorely missed even when he isn't on form. Gary Teale: could be argued that since he hasn't been out injured all season this year, this season is an improvement, Not shown anything like the form he displayed during the cup winning season. Dropped to bench to make way for young debutantes on a day the team cried out for some seasoned pros when facing the guile of a well drilled and competent Hamilton Accies side. Thomas Reilly: getting a regular start and has surprised some with his willingness to get stuck in. Has largely spent the season being played out of his natural position. It maybe doesn't come as a ringing endorsement that he seems further down the striker's pecking order than Ball, Marwood, or Caldwell. Yet possibly the biggest shout from last year's squad of a player who may have progressed and improved under TC. Steven Thompson: an injury plagued season so far. The received wisdom suggests getting him fit and back among the goals will be our principle hope of avoiding 12th or 11th place. Summary: you can make a case for Reilly having a better season under TC this year, but the other 10 have either plateaued or gone backwards. Summer Signings: Ellis Plummer: looked a player, even if it was open to debate whether central defence was his best position. Adam Drury: still finding his feet, form has been patchy but is our joint top scorer. Isaac Osbourne: signed after the season started with a known record of injury problems. After a few decent games has been out injured! Jeroem Tesselaar: arguably our best summer signing so far. One of our better and more consistent performers in a bleak season. Ross Caldwell: the first player to score for us this season, and with a double too, and has subsequently been kept out of the starting XI. When he has been given a chance in the starting XI it has usually served to underline why he has often been given a place on the bench. James Marwood: works hard enough, creates space for others, but looks like he might not find the back of the net this side of Christmas (and folks used to think Dargo and Mehmet had a poor goal return for forwards!) Calum Ball: arrived looking like he had Carey-style issues with his weight, and some signs of promise. Some assumed that once he got match fit, lost some weight there could be the makings of an OK SPL standard striker in there. As we head in to December he looks to have lost confidence after a few missed sitters and still doesn't look fit enough for SPL standard football. Summary: Tesselaar has been alright, but he was already a known quantity. Overall summary: Tommy Craig inherited almost a starting XI of players who have played for the first team the previous season or the one before. A few issues which needed resolved were defensive weakness (particularly in central defence) and it was expected that after DL had got Barron, DVZ, and Mair off the payroll the previous season and after McGregor left for Sevco that a serious rebuild was needed. The squad was also light on striking options, and in Goodwin, Teale and Thompson 3 senior pros one of whom had known disciplinary problems, one had spent the previous season injured on the sidelines and one had a planned operation over the summer. Tommy Craig was given a reduced budget to work with and elected to sign 2 defenders to replace the 4 who went out the door last season, and fill the squad by promoting young players from the U20 squad, signing young players on loan, and signing other young players largely untried and almost exclusively unproven at SPL level (with the exception of Osbourne and Tesselaar). Now, if we had been sitting 7th or 8th or higher after all those gambles on TC's part with a younger and cheaper squad then I think most fans would be behind him and saying he was doing a good job. Instead, we have failed to score in 8 out of 14 league games, failed to keep 1 clean sheet in any competitive match this season, and taken 1 point out of 7 home games and lost 72% of league matches under Tommy Craig. Kinda makes you wish that he bought a few more defenders, didn't only go down the bring in young, inexperienced guys route, and had considered replacing Teale and / or Goodwin with other seasoned pros with plenty of SPL experience. Edited November 25, 2014 by Dibbles old paperboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintnextlifetime Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Edited November 25, 2014 by saintnextlifetime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintnextlifetime Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Wonder if TC likes The Clash? Don't suppose we could get this played on Saturday? Might be a wee bit inappropriate to play that on Saturday. . However , this one might be a wee bit more , eh , subtle. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TPAFKATS Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Might be a wee bit inappropriate to play that on Saturday. . However , this one might be a wee bit more , eh , subtle. . Dunno about Saturday, that's put me right in the mood for Sunday tho :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mc Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Tommy Gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibbles old paperboy Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 I don't buy the we have a rubbish team argument and its all down to under-investment stuff. When was the last time St Mirren had 5 current or former Scotland U21 players on their books at the same time? 11 players on our books have either helped us win the League Cup or finish as high as 8th. There is no way we should be on half the points of Partick Thistle or almost a third of the points of Kilmarnock or Dundee after one third of the season gone. We should be competitive with the likes of Killie, St Johnstone, Partick Thistle, and newly promoted Hamilton and Dundee on the budget TC has been given. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibbles old paperboy Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Here's another shocking stat on Tommy Craig's reign. In 50% of league games we have managed two shots or less on target in 90 minutes (Hamilton Accies twice, Dundee United, Celtic, St Johnstone, Inverness, and Partick). Opposition teams may soon start experimenting with a backy-in keeper/sweeper since it's not like we tend to test opposition keepers much these days. Edited November 25, 2014 by Dibbles old paperboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilPar72 Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Here's another shocking stat on Tommy Craig's reign. In 50% of league games we have managed two shots or less on target in 90 minutes (Hamilton Accies twice, Dundee United, Celtic, St Johnstone, Inverness, and Partick). Opposition teams may soon start experimenting with a backy-in keeper/sweeper since it's not like we tend to test opposition keepers much these days. What statistic isn't shocking regarding Tommy Craig's reign!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendo Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 What statistic isn't shocking regarding Tommy Craig's reign!? He's unbeaten in the Scottish Cup and only lost one League cup game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kemp Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 Kenny McLean: resigning him was viewed as a major coup for the club and it still may turn out to be. While performances have been well below the standard he set last year and he has been very inconsistent he is also our joint top scorer. When I have seen McLean this season he has been asked to play some ridiculous "quarter back" Steven Gerrard role which I don't think he is a good enough passer to do and has nullified him as an attacking threat. It is bonkers. As for Thomas Reilly in the middle of the park, other teams must be delighted knowing the middle battle is won before a ball is kicked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbarsaints Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 If anyone comments here saying yes. Phone dykebar immediately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barney Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 this is probably on a wave length tommy will understand. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/songs/something-special-goodbye-song Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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