performance V expectations

[thehost 11,061]

yesterday, once again, reminded us that we are well short of the finished article.

Currently we are in need of a speedy centre half, a midfielder with dig, a centre forward with goals.

We play with yesterday's team, next season, we wouldn't be taking three points. It's imperative that we remember that we are playing in a backwater's 2nd tier. Loans and free signings will not win us the league next year.

 

 

[siddiqi_drinker 14,635]

12 minutes ago, thehost said:

yesterday, once again, reminded us that we are well short of the finished article.

Currently we are in need of a speedy centre half, a midfielder with dig, a centre forward with goals.

We play with yesterday's team, next season, we wouldn't be taking three points. It's imperative that we remember that we are playing in a backwater's 2nd tier. Loans and free signings will not win us the league next year.

 

 

How did Hibs do vs St Johnstone?  The gap isn't al, that great, though I concur we need to raid the sofa and bring in some, 3 or 4, new races I  the summer.

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

We have some decent players and a great team ethos but top level quality is missing - Miller has lost a lot of pace but when he plays his quality still stands out above many of the others - if we want a serious challenge to the top next season we do need to invest in a few more quality players - however I suspect MW and DK both know that. 

[centenarystand 2,227]

51 minutes ago, thehost said:

yesterday, once again, reminded us that we are well short of the finished article.

Currently we are in need of a speedy centre half, a midfielder with dig, a centre forward with goals.

We play with yesterday's team, next season, we wouldn't be taking three points. It's imperative that we remember that we are playing in a backwater's 2nd tier. Loans and free signings will not win us the league next year.

 

 

Got to agree with this the performance wasnt that great and they had more of the play than would have been expected. However we got out of jail and that ended up being a massive 3 points turning up  the pressure at the right time of the season.

[loyalfollower 1,543]

Depends how you look at it.  Doesn't matter what level of football it is, when a team is organised and well drilled it's always a hard game

[THE_Ibrox_Preacher 2,812]

.

 

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

18 minutes ago, loyalfollower said:

Depends how you look at it.  Doesn't matter what level of football it is, when a team is organised and well drilled it's always a hard game

But no matter how well drilled over the piece quality counts ( see yesterday - Fakkirk were well drilled, stuck to their task of closing us out- our quality brought the result) our expectations are not to be able to purely compete but to win - and great teams/ winning teams have great quality and are well drilled. Our expectations are higher than purely a well drilled team. 

[graeme_4 34,348]

I don't think this is news to anyone.

Clear that we need a defensive mid, a striker, a CB and cover / competition at full back.

Hopefully O'Halloran comes in too. 

[folkestoneger 8,083]

The performance was poor but the desire to win was fine

We lacked creativity in midfield and movement up front for most of the match and when we did create some chances our final ball was awful.

Our top scorer at times was so far out on the right I thought he was going to sit in the stand

Maybe the wrong day to pass judgement as Falkirk are an awkward team to play against and we lacked the heart of our team

[sammy cox 664]

1 hour ago, Bluepeter9 said:

We have some decent players and a great team ethos but top level quality is missing - Miller has lost a lot of pace but when he plays his quality still stands out above many of the others - if we want a serious challenge to the top next season we do need to invest in a few more quality players - however I suspect MW and DK both know that. 

Totally agree and as you say I'm pretty sure MW and his staff will know exactly what will be required during the summer and will know who aren't going to be part of next seasons plans as well.

[BridgeIsBlue 66,595]

A speedy centre half,good luck finding one  

[gmcf 34,088]

We weren't great yesterday , but we were missing two of our big players . I also don't think there's much difference , if any , between ourselves , hibs and Falkirk and 9 or 10 teams in the spfl.

Having said that , I do think we need strengthening defensively , a DM being a priority . 

[SeparateEntityMyArse 53,612]

We have enough to win this league and the core of a decent squad. However we do lack quality up the spine of the team (keeper excluded). 

We've also been very fortunate with injuries and imo if we lost two or three key players ie Holt Waghorn McKay we would easily be dropping more points.

A huge summer lies ahead. I hope the board are up for what's required. 

[folkestoneger 8,083]

12 minutes ago, gmcf said:

We weren't great yesterday , but we were missing two of our big players . I also don't think there's much difference , if any , between ourselves , hibs and Falkirk and 9 or 10 teams in the spfl.

Having said that , I do think we need strengthening defensively , a DM being a priority . 

Absolutely true. 

Hivs have knocked out three SPL teams in their run to the final including 2 of the top 5.

They have also done far better than last year in the league with a long unbeaten run in there.

Despite all that we are 8 points clear and have looked by far the better footballing side in every game we have played them this season.

we need to strengthen to challenge for the title but we will not struggle to stay in that league

 

[KeyserSoze 14,519]

The gap in quality is over estimated.

But we do need to address our weakest areas. One thing I would say is whoever we bring in now/summer has to be better than what we have or it is pointless. Folks need replacing not "backing up". Some of our team will make good squads players. 

[SeparateEntityMyArse 53,612]

11 minutes ago, folkestoneger said:

Absolutely true. 

Hivs have knocked out three SPL teams in their run to the final including 2 of the top 5.

They have also done far better than last year in the league with a long unbeaten run in there.

Despite all that we are 8 points clear and have looked by far the better footballing side in every game we have played them this season.

we need to strengthen to challenge for the title but we will not struggle to stay in that league

 

.

[WadeWilson 4,670]

50 minutes ago, BridgeIsBlue said:

A speedy centre half,good luck finding one  

What are Bougherra and Bjorklund doing these days...?

[THE_Ibrox_Preacher 2,812]

.

[WadeWilson 4,670]

Perhaps we should all have far greater concerns this morning... thehost posting in the Bears' Den about footballing matters is surely a harbinger of impending apocalypse.

Go on home and be with the ones you love.

[Prso's headband 35,315]

The gap is way overestimated IMO. 

2 players in the summer along with Windass and Crooks and we will be right up there next season. Fod, Wallace, Kiernan, Tav, Holt, Halliday, Waggy and Mckay are all more than good enough for the top league.

Wilson needs to stop being so casual and concentrate more.

Millers age will probably catch up with him next season rendering him to the bench.

Sheils and Law ain't good enough. A team of

Fod

Wallace Kiernan (possible CB) Tav.

Crooks

Holt Windass

Halliday, Waggy(mabye another striker) McKay is more than good enough. We have to remember this lean squad and fitness ethos MW has and it works. Our only major injury was to Law. The rest have been niggles. 

[thehost 11,061]

3 hours ago, siddiqi_drinker said:

27 minutes ago, Prso's headband said:

The gap is way overestimated IMO. 

2 players in the summer along with Windass and Crooks and we will be right up there next season. Fod, Wallace, Kiernan, Tav, Holt, Halliday, Waggy and Mckay are all more than good enough for the top league.

Wilson needs to stop being so casual and concentrate more.

Millers age will probably catch up with him next season rendering him to the bench.

Sheils and Law ain't good enough. A team of

Fod

Wallace Kiernan (possible CB) Tav.

Crooks

Holt Windass

Halliday, Waggy(mabye another striker) McKay is more than good enough. We have to remember this lean squad and fitness ethos MW has and it works. Our only major injury was to Law. The rest have been niggles. 

How did Hibs do vs St Johnstone?  The gap isn't al, that great, though I concur we need to raid the sofa and bring in some, 3 or 4, new races I  the summer.

the only gap we need to be interested in is the filth

 

I expect us to be at least 20 points clear of the rabble, every season, and I expect us to be neck and neck with the filth. Thereafter I expect normal service to resume and us to win the league 7 out of every ten years.

 

[NeoGeo7 10,418]

18 minutes ago, thehost said:

the only gap we need to be interested in is the filth

 

I expect us to be at least 20 points clear of the rabble, every season, and I expect us to be neck and neck with the filth. Thereafter I expect normal service to resume and us to win the league 7 out of every ten years.

 

I expect you might be in for a shock next year then.

i can't see us getting in the required quality to mount a serious challenge first time.

we need key signings where we have assurances that they'll be around long enough to build the team around i.e.  the spine. I don't feel we have that just now.

imalso think we don't have the ability to attract the type of player that will significantly increase the quality in our ranks. We're a championship side who still are not guaranteed to go up and looking at the news about boro signing Rhodes for roughly 11m we cannot compete financially with championship clubs down south.

[Ger_Scott 73]

Would come up well short against the filth until we inject a good bit of steel into the team. First thing Walter addressed when he was brought back to challenge them.

The likes of Danny Wilson, although one of the few players to have won things won't cut it next year with his casual play and poor concentration. 

[STEPPS BOY 73,780]

Centre half, defensive midfielder, Playmaker, winger and a proven number 9..

 

ideally for me the spine of team would be experienced.

[gmcf 34,088]

4 hours ago, THE_Ibrox_Preacher said:

I disagree.

I know where you are coming from with that but think about it; when does a team that romps this division go up and challenge for the title? When does that team get in the top 6 nevermind the top 4? Sure Hearts are doing well but we've just took a loan from them and they are an exception rather than the rule. We supposedly are not merely wanting just to not look out of place in the top division, but actually to challenge for winning it - that's a monumental leap for a team which could have took early beatings to Hibs, has been tossed out the cup by St Johnstone, Struggled for a spell of 6-7 games running , has dropped points to Livingstone/Morton/Falkirk etc. Not even Hearts or Aberdeen are considered challengers and they are close points wise. If we were playing slightly better teams i.e. they had better strikers; how many times would our defending have been punished?!  Our midfield would struggle at present in the top flight because passengers like Zelalem simply are not afforded.

How often did we drop points as winners of the top division in the past? Are we anywhere near that level? We know we aren't terms of personnel but as a unit can we go a season like a team with Klos, Amo, Ferguson, Prso could?

I know the top division is not the Premiership in England but neither is our caliber of player or our spending power -  Celtic will spend some of the money they've been banking or will speculate to stay ahead of us and to push for records and dominance - if we are to overcome them, we do have to improve a fair bit more than to a level that merely wouldn't look out of place in the Division. 

It doesn't mean that challenging is beyond us presently or that the top flight will be a disaster but there is a disconnect between what we used to know and are choosing to believe at present. We used to know this team wouldn't be good enough but are telling ourselves it will be on the basis of there might be no required leap in the Summer. We have until the end of the Summer window to make some purposeful moves so there's no need to panic or lose the plot; we just have to remember that we won't be the only team improving during the Summer with the increase in revenues from our returned presence.

Not only Hearts this season , but the season previous Dundee and Hamilton finished 6th and 7th after promotion.  

You're quite right about the amount of points dropped previously and I don't think we will attain that level , but outside of c....c , nobody will , so I see no reason for us not to qualify for Europe , or , with a bit of luck get that 2nd Champions League spot ( if Scotland still gets one ).  I think , realistically , we'll struggle to topple c....c for top spot first time of asking , because , as you've said , they'll be keeping something back for our return . 

As for finance , if I'm honest , I don't see us spending big this summer , maybe in the region of 1-2M ? I don't think we have as much as some think and now , more than anytime ,we're going to have to rely on W&W's managerial skills. That's not a moan btw , I'm sure they'll get us through it just fine , but financially , we are where we are. 

The season next , with increased income coming through bigger and higher ST sales , bigger prize money , bigger tv money , our sponsorships and advertising should increase having more exposure and maybe some sort of share issue , we will be in a better position to challenge for the title.