Monday 5Th Of January Has To Be A Crossroads In Our Season.

[djchapsticks]

Regardless of what we do, how we do it or what the statement is, I reckon tomorrow has to be a pivotal point in the season where our BoD, whether they are still going to be here at the end of the month, season etc, or not, must come out and tell the supporters what exactly our direction is here.

Craig has been gone four weeks now and I think the majority of fans accepted that Teale and Longwell would have the gig until after the festive fixtures had been and gone. As expected, this has happened, but save for a few murmurings, we're no further forward in either getting management team in place, or bringing in any new faces. The festive fixtures have been and gone and January, a difficult window under normal circumstances anyway, is now ticking slowly by.

That's why tomorrow has to be the day. No more milling about and keeping the fans in the dark, no more half-truths and speculation. The support of this club needs at least some reassurance that we're moving in a direction instead of this disconcerting feeling that we're treading water until a deal which may or may not be concluded.

So come on BoD, we need answers to (but not limited to) the following:

Are we interviewing for the managers vacancy and if so, when can we expect an announcement?

If not, does this mean GT and DL will be getting the job on an interim, or permanent basis?

Will the manager, whoever he may be, be given any scope to bring new players in and if so, will this happen before the absolute last minute when there are 9 points left to play for?

Are we actively trying to move players on and how crucial is this to new faces coming in?

Is there still a proposal on the table for the purchase of the club, how many interested parties are there, how serious are they and what's the potential timescale on completion?

[ulysses]

Looking forward to seeing the headlines "St Mirren appoint new manager _____" and "Buddies bring in three new faces" tomorrow.

Actually, that probably won't happen.

Edited January 4, 2015 by ulysses

[Callum Gilhooley]

Looking forward to seeing the headlines "St Mirren appoint new manager _____" and "Buddies bring in three new faces" tomorrow.

Actually, that probably won't happen.

More likely to see the headlines on 31st Jan. After another transfer window passes.

St.Mirren caretaker manager signs non league striker .

[ulysses]

We'll end up signing a midfielder and three left backs or something.

Nah, Teale knows that he wants a striker and centre half. I think he has his head screwed on in that respect, the BoD just need to hurry the f'ck up and make some decisions.

[magnus]

I'm a big fan of this BoD but their lack of communication with the fans is disappointing - everyone is suffering and looking for some sign that the BoD know we are fighting for our life.

[pozbaird]

My scarlet and blue scarf is neatly folded in storage. Ah, the good old days when criticising the St Mirren BoD was like strangling a kitten.

[saint in exile]

When will we get the next update from Brian Caldwell? Another initiative that died on its feet!

Edited January 4, 2015 by saint in exile

[Drew]

The BoD chucked it years ago. The club is dying on its arse and culpability lies in the boardroom.

They had an opportunity to sell the club to a St Mirren supporter in Gordon Scott but opted to hold out for more poppy. That worked out well for them....

The BoD have also failed, in my view, to conduct elements of the club's business in an appropriate manner - most notably in neglecting established recruitment processes when appointing managers (you know, shortlisting candidates and holding interviews.....that type of thing).

I have neither hope nor expectation that they will get us out of this shambles. It is of their making, after all.

Edited January 4, 2015 by Drew

[pozbaird]

When will we get the next update from Brian Caldwell? Another initiative that died on its feet!

Just like the League Cup Winners publication then - after they gave it the green light, have you spend hours on it, then fail, despite many promises, to give you an hour's time at Ralston for some photos and interviews. All at the same time as they e-mail you asking you to sort out seat plaque graphics that they deem to be shite designs from the company producing them?

I draw the line at being taken for a mug. That was the day I drew the line with St Mirren's current regime.

Edited January 4, 2015 by pozbaird

[mad saint 2]

this BOD is going from one ext-stream to not interview any body and appointing tc

to now taking tooo long interview our next manager

total f---king joke, off a board nearly as bad as one down the road ,

appoint new manager when windows closed

just wait and see anything to save A £

[davidg]

Teale and Longwell wouldn't bother me that much tbh, none of the candidates really jump out making me feel they could do a better job with the terrible squad we have.

Priority tomorrow for me would be trying to get Ball, Marwood and Caldwell off the wage bill with as little damage as possible. No idea who's going to take their wage on though, hopefully they can get clubs and we don't lose too much....

Signing priority for me is a centre forward. A half decent one. Even if we get the 3 of them off the wage bill and we can get 1 decent striker in that would do me.

The back 4 we have aren't brilliant but they've kept us in this league the past few seasons. For this reason I'd rather gamble and push the boat out on a striker and address that position at the end of the season no matter what division we find ourselves in.

IMO 2 new centre halves wouldn't save us if we didn't sign a decent striker.

Interesting week or so ahead.

Edited January 4, 2015 by davidg

[magnus]

We are becoming a community club that isn't in touch with the community. Come on Stewart, George, Brian - it's good to talk.

[thewhiteman]

despite denial at the clubs AGM that the sale of club (by the consortium) was affecting the running of the club (by the board) it most obviously IS affecting the running and performance of it

the inability or desire to not separate the two is creating an air of uncertainty throughout the club and the support

as well as an immediate announcement of the managers position required NOW

why not during this period of uncertainty do the consortium not just announce that no matter what happens with the sale of the club that it will not change hands before a specified date eg July 2015, even if any negotiations are close to being completed everyone knowing that we were all in this together till the end of the season, no matter what, would generate at least some form of motivation or rallying call ? (a sort of amnesty if that's the right word)

also, if the sale is not affecting the club, why are are there only consortium members on the board ?

appoint some fresh blood from the current shareholders, again even with the understanding it would be until the same specified date and inject a bit of enthusiasm.

the constant silence and PR apathy coming from the boardroom has infected virtually everyone connected with St.Mirren

crank it up a bit and demonstrate some motivation FFS

if no one on the board is capable of it, find someone that is !

[magnus]

despite denial at the clubs AGM that the sale of club (by the consortium) was affecting the running of the club (by the board) it most obviously IS affecting the running and performance of it

the inability or desire to not separate the two is creating an air of uncertainty throughout the club and the support

as well as an immediate announcement of the managers position required NOW

why not during this period of uncertainty do the consortium not just announce that no matter what happens with the sale of the club that it will not change hands before a specified date eg July 2015, even if any negotiations are close to being completed everyone knowing that we were all in this together till the end of the season, no matter what, would generate at least some form of motivation or rallying call ? (a sort of amnesty if that's the right word)

also, if the sale is not affecting the club, why are are there only consortium members on the board ?

appoint some fresh blood from the current shareholders, again even with the understanding it would be until the same specified date and inject a bit of enthusiasm.

the constant silence and PR apathy coming from the boardroom has infected virtually everyone connected with St.Mirren

crank it up a bit and demonstrate some motivation FFS

if no one on the board is capable of it, find someone that is !

[magnus]

Agree with all of this.

[Kemp]

It's quite a shambles, we have a few St Mirren men running the club who over the years have allowed their egos to become bigger than the club. As mentioned above Gordon Scott could have bought, or has been discussed, a fan ownership model (at a seriously reduced rate removing the need for government loans) could have been put through. Instead they sit there still claiming half of a business that makes no profit is worth 2 million quid.

Their legacy in my opinion will be needlessly removing us from Love Street and making no effort whatsoever with the soulless, depressing new stadium. You can claim all you want that we would have gone out of business if we had not moved, but then they said the same about Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Hibs, Hearts & Aberdeen.

This same lack of interest is seen in this ongoing managerial saga, the constant promotion of the assistant manager until even they could see Craig was so out of his depth we were going have sub 1000 attendances, and then SILENCE....even the media who love linking everyone and their granny a managerial position seemed instantly accept nothing was going to happen.

If we must accept Teale as manager until the end of the season then fine, he at least seems to have his head screwed on the right way, but for god's sake show some leadership and clear out the deadwood and get some replacements in. And not just 1 or two signings, we need to put guys like Kelly & McAusland back on the bench and only use them as last resorts, they simply are not good enough.

[Svard svard]

As much as it pains for me to say,

We had to leave Love St as it was becoming delapadated and it was not viable for us to remain there, costs would have been ridiculous for us to modernise/maintain the stadium.

Difference between us Aberdeen ,Killie is that they have assets and people with great wealth backing them we have local businessmen.

[Jocky]

Not sure about a decision being made tomorrow, however, I do think we are very much at the last roll of the dice stage.

We took a gamble (cheap option) with TC et al..................which failed. Indeed we gave this longer than it really merited, in my view.

We have given GT and DL an opportunity to try and pull a rabbit out of the hat with a few wins, but unfortunately given our predicament and the now-running transfer window, this cannot continue any longer.

We have one last throw of the dice........a new manager. Ross C and Motherwell have already played this joker (with minimal success) and win, lose or draw, we are now at the point where, for me, we have no option but the new manager route.

I just don't think the do-nothing option will work and I'd rather we try something than just settle for what we have.

Strangely enough, with the right manager, a few changes of staff, and a bit of luck (no more Willie Colon) we might still do this. COYS

[The Real Zippy]

Gilmour fiddles while Rome burns......................

Pains me to say it but Teale has failed to arrest the awful slide in results.

We desperately need someone to come in and knock this lot into shape. We need to get rid of at least four or five players and free up some wages for others who are capable of rescuing what is a calamity of a season.

[rabuddies]

Gilmour fiddles while Rome burns......................

Pains me to say it but Teale has failed to arrest the awful slide in results.

We desperately need someone to come in and knock this lot into shape. We need to get rid of at least four or five players and free up some wages for others who are capable of rescuing what is a calamity of a season.

Can anybody explain to me how we can get rid of players, who are under contract, in order to free up wages?

[TsuMirren]

Can anybody explain to me how we can get rid of players, who are under contract, in order to free up wages?

There's a few ways, but each basically boil down to finding clubs who'll take them on loan. Sadly, I don't think Marwood, Ball or Caldwell could command a fee. Each are on one year deals so basically they're freebies. Clubs in League Two or a top Vanarama side may be interested, doubt it with Caldwell though. I'd hope their names have already "gone out there". As for others, Wylde is just far too lazy and again needs to go...obviously to a club that doesn't demand effort.

It's quite a shambles, we have a few St Mirren men running the club who over the years have allowed their egos to become bigger than the club. As mentioned above Gordon Scott could have bought, or has been discussed, a fan ownership model (at a seriously reduced rate removing the need for government loans) could have been put through. Instead they sit there still claiming half of a business that makes no profit is worth 2 million quid.

Their legacy in my opinion will be needlessly removing us from Love Street and making no effort whatsoever with the soulless, depressing new stadium. You can claim all you want that we would have gone out of business if we had not moved, but then they said the same about Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Hibs, Hearts & Aberdeen.

This same lack of interest is seen in this ongoing managerial saga, the constant promotion of the assistant manager until even they could see Craig was so out of his depth we were going have sub 1000 attendances, and then SILENCE....even the media who love linking everyone and their granny a managerial position seemed instantly accept nothing was going to happen.

If we must accept Teale as manager until the end of the season then fine, he at least seems to have his head screwed on the right way, but for god's sake show some leadership and clear out the deadwood and get some replacements in. And not just 1 or two signings, we need to put guys like Kelly & McAusland back on the bench and only use them as last resorts, they simply are not good enough.

We had to leave Love Street for numerous reasons, one of the sillier ones being that we didn't own the land behind the away end and therefore couldn't make money from flats as had been thought. The new ground could have been a two or even one sided effort, but the board stood firm and we got a four sided stadium. It is a bit soulless, certainly still doesn't feel like home, but larger stands would have meant more money and a larger footprint to retain the car park and space for the Dome.

To me, the sale needs sorted as there are numerous rumours about people waiting in the wings. How can we expect anyone to take the job if it's only secure until the new owners come in?

[buddiecat]

When will we get the next update from Brian Caldwell? Another initiative that died on its feet!

Unfortunately i think he is full of ideas that come to nothing, his big telly is a joke as not only is it difficult to read some adverts, it's also difficult to hear the ones with sound added.

I think he appeals to business people who are also not in touch with modern practices.

Edited January 5, 2015 by buddiecat

[Alba]

It's a strange one this.

The timing of TC's removal was spot on: a few weeks before the January window giving the club enough time to bring in a new man, let him assess the squad and then have the transfer window to bring in whoever he reckoned would be needed to keep the team up.

Now it's starting to seem like the club are almost wilfully wasting that situation. Almost a month since TC went, no-one new in post and so less and less time for any appointment to utilise the transfer window.

Like I say, very strange. Can only assume that the longer this goes, the more likely it is that Teale will get the gig.

[beyond our ken]

Brian really has his hands tied, he can only do deals that cost the club nothing. he has no money to invest.

as said before, i am all for cost cutting if some of the savings are channelled as investment that will eventually pay back and subsidise the playing side. Our problem is that we only cut.

[Questions?]

Teale and Longwell wouldn't bother me that much tbh, none of the candidates really jump out making me feel they could do a better job with the terrible squad we have.

Priority tomorrow for me would be trying to get Ball, Marwood and Caldwell off the wage bill with as little damage as possible. No idea who's going to take their wage on though, hopefully they can get clubs and we don't lose too much....

Signing priority for me is a centre forward. A half decent one. Even if we get the 3 of them off the wage bill and we can get 1 decent striker in that would do me.

The back 4 we have aren't brilliant but they've kept us in this league the past few seasons. For this reason I'd rather gamble and push the boat out on a striker and address that position at the end of the season no matter what division we find ourselves in.

IMO 2 new centre halves wouldn't save us if we didn't sign a decent striker.

Interesting week or so ahead.

I totally disagree with your post. The defence need to change.

We have not had a single clean sheet this season. In half of our games teams have scored at least 2 goals. In a quarter of our games the team has scored 3 goals or more.

We had plenty of clean sheets last season. Maybe Darren McGregor was a bigger player for us than many gave him credit for?

To have any hope of staying up we NEED at least 1 new first choice central defender.