5 Year plan - regressed.

[JamboAl]

1 hour ago, Jambomb said:

Just in case of any doubt the op is full of drivel!

 

but there is no doubt there is a plan and Ann is confident in the plan, it would be ridiculous for there not to be a plan!

 

and again it’s pretty clear that footballing side we have not progressed as far as anyone would have like and that will include AB and CL

 

Good  - but a lot of people, you included, seem to have an imaginary plan against which we need to be negatively measured.

If the plan this season was to stave off relegation it has been a howling success.  If it was to finish first it was a dismal failure.

My view is that real progress on the field will be high on the agenda once we get the main infrastructure costs behind us.

[Bridge of Djoum]

On 30/05/2019 at 18:18, UcheGang said:

 

Now that the season is officially over and we're now at the end of the five year plan, it's open season on the club as far as I'm concerned.  As gutted as I am at losing at the weekend I am not prepared to get emotional and irrational.  Now is the time to put the club under the microscope and ask just what the **** is exactly going on.  A few points to update first and foremost.

 

 

Playing record and performances

 

Adding in the fixtures played (and inevitably lost) since the initial post, our league record against the other sides in the top six since we cam back up now reads as

 

Aberdeen - Played 16, won 5, drew 3, lost 8

 

Celtic - Played 16, won 2, drew 2, lost 12

 

Rangers - Played 12, won 2, drew 1, lost 9

 

Hibs - Played 8, won 2, drew 3, lost 3

 

Kilmarnock - Played 14, won 5, drew 4, lost 5

 

Total - Played 66, won 16, drew 13, lost 37

 

It's a 56% loss record against our five nearest rivals.  Every single team has a better head to head record against us with the exception of Kilmarnock who we are level with, however they have a budget a fraction the size of ours.  It is absolutely pathetic.

 

The derby record

 

Since stealing a draw at Easter Road last month, the derby record now reads played 17, won 4, drew 7 and lost 6 during the Budge/Levein era.  Four derbies won in 17 games.  Just four in five years.  A win percentage of 23% in that time.  It is totally unacceptable.

 

We've finished below Hibs two seasons in a row for the first time in 25 years.  Hibs had their best run against us since the 70s.  They finally beat us at Tynecastle for the first time in five or six years.  Hibs have had more season of European football than us these last five years.  All of these record breaking feats have happened under the stewardship of Levein and Budge.  It's a rivalry, we have to strive to be better than them in every single thing that we do and the owner doesn't give a **** about it one jot.

 

League position

 

We finished third when we first came back up.  Then we finished fifth under Cathro and then Levein has lead us to two successive sixth place finishes.  How can nobody at the club see a quite obvious dramatic decline?  How can anyone at the club deem it acceptable to not improve on or maintain a decent league position?  Any other club in the country the management would be emptied for similar performances.  Why does the owner think this is acceptable?  Levein has yet to finish higher in the league than the much derided Cathro yet Budge is given him a free reign to do whatever the **** he wants.  To have Hibs finish above us twice in a row is a digrace but then teams Like Kilmarnock who are a club a fraction of the size of us is a disgrace.

 

Budge's contempt

 

I'm getting really hacked off with her quite obvious contempt of the fans and thinking we zip up the back.  There was the article someone linked at the weekend - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48389296 - and it's quite staggering how little she thinks of the fans.  Her telling people that Levein isn't bombproof when the evidence suggests otherwise is staggering.  Her comments about fans never accepting Levein even if he won us a treble of our own show she's just not living in the real world.  It's almost a "you don't know what you're talking about, give me the cash and I'll do as I please".  She talks about how she's received some small level of abuse from fans in the stand during games.  She's going to be in for a shock next season in that case.  It's going to get a whole lot worse.   If next season is anything like this season - and the evidence suggests it will be, if not worse - the abuse from the stands will magnify big time.  There has been absolutely no update on season ticket sales, they're clearly nowhere near previous levels.  She's refusing to see the obvious.

 

This is the same Ann Budge who allowed the war memorial to be trivialised and milked for all its worth.  It was pointed out to me yesterday (and I'd forgotten all about this to be honest) that when Cathro was binned, Budge ****ed off on holiday!  Instead of hanging around to help appoint a manager, she disappeared and then opted to appoint the man who was along the corridor.  It's staggering the way she views the fans as customers.  Lecturing fans at every junction, moaning like **** because fans misbehaved and holding us responsible because she is choosing to install a CCTV system for six figures.  But to then accuse the fans of costing the club money, when she has signed off and sanctioned the signing of so many duds under her tenure is embarrassing.  We must have wasted literally millions in terms of wages and transfer fees on some of the donkeys we've had and yet she points the finger at the fans?  The same fans who have constantly and persistently been asked to dig deep and put their hands in their pockets to fund and bail out he club.  The same fans milked for every penny with countless tribute tops and the God awful cash cow embarrassment.  Don't accuse the fans of costing the club money when you've spunked so much of it on utter rubbish.  To guilt trip the fans because yet again, she is choosing to buy some CCTV worth over 100k is embarrassing.  Don't go and recruit a manager for the women's team from one of the biggest clubs in the world and yet when it comes to the men's team - the one everyone actually pays to see and brings us in money - just knock on Levein's door down the corridor.

 

Recruitment 

 

Everyone knows its been a shambles but I'm already concerned to hear both Levein and Budge state there won't be many changes during the summer and we won't be bringing in too many players.  We've got a tonne of dead wood that need emptied and we're at least a forward, a creative midfield, one possibly two wingers, a centre back and a keeper away from being a decent side.  We might have some youngsters coming through and maybe Levein's plan is to chuck them all in next season but I've zero confidence in him managing them properly.

 

Summary

 

The club is sleeping walking its way into further disaster.  There an similarities between when Cathro should have been emptied after his first season but was allowed the entire summer and leage cup matches to turn it around and he ****ed that up, so we ruined that entire pre-season.  If Levein isn't bombproof like Budge suggests, at what point does she pull the trigger and bin him?  How bad does it have to get for her to say enough is enough?  Are we letting Levein plan for the summer and **** up pre-season only to sack him in September?  How many times are we going to roll the dice and risk season after season, another season written off before it gets going.  We're at risk of history repeating itself.

 

 

We're entering the sixth year under Budge and Levein.  They have failed to deliver on almost every single promise they made.  We've blown and are continuing to blow the opportunity handed to us all because Levein and Budge are too stubborn to do anything about it.  It's going to be a long and grim summer ahead, starting with the tragic league cup group stages.  Can't wait.

 

Seen this wonderfully summed up on the supporters page on FB and it's hard to disagree with anything.

 

truly harrowing when put in black and white.

 

 

 

 

''truly harrowing''.

 

 

''supporters FB page''

 

 

''club is sleepwalking it's way into further disaster''

 

 

Thread 6 pages long

 

 

 

 

Realizing I just added to the madness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quite how the OP is still here is baffling. Reminds me of Moffat, or Greenginger, Sergey... someone of that ilk. 

 

 

[Jambomb]

2 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

Good  - but a lot of people, you included, seem to have an imaginary plan against which we need to be negatively measured.

If the plan this season was to stave off relegation it has been a howling success.  If it was to finish first it was a dismal failure.

My view is that real progress on the field will be high on the agenda once we get the main infrastructure costs behind us.

What’s imaginary about the plan, AB has reiterated there is a plan and it was Initially a 3-5 year plan, that there is no doubt of. She has also stated a number of times that top four finish is the target (or plan).

If you get the opportunity to listen to AB when ever she is public speaking, you will see she most definitely has a plan, she is quite clear on that is how she has been a success, have a plan and stick to it.

 

not sure why you have such a problem with a plan, and if you think AB/CL are happy with football progress you are wrong.

[Bridge of Djoum]

1 minute ago, Jambomb said:

What’s imaginary about the plan, AB has reiterated there is a plan and it was Initially a 3-5 year plan, that there is no doubt of. She has also stated a number of times that top four finish is the target (or plan).

If you get the opportunity to listen to AB when ever she is public speaking, you will see she most definitely has a plan, she is quite clear on that is how she has been a success, have a plan and stick to it.

 

not sure why you have such a problem with a plan, and if you think AB/CL are happy with football progress you are wrong.

Do you know the specifics of the plan? Does anyone?

[Beast Boy]

Some ramjet from TH decides to pump a couple of gallons of sewage out on to their forum.

 

Some other THer decides to chore it and put it up on JKB.

 

Outside of the TH echo chamber it is rightly torn apart at every turn. Without the groupthink gang to give the OP a wee cyber reach around.

 

Despite even the the most basic points in the OP being laughably inaccurate, the debate rumbles on, with people putting their own slant on an imaginary 5 year plan.

 

It’s actually quite amusing. ?

Edited June 1, 2019 by Glib and Shameless Crier

[Boab]

2 minutes ago, Bridge of Djoum said:

Do you know the specifics of the plan? Does anyone?

 I have a plan, mate. After the CL Final and the Serie B play-off Final, i’m Out till July.

 

[Bridge of Djoum]

Just now, Boab said:

 I have a plan, mate. After the CL Final and the Serie B play-off Final, i’m Out till July.

 

Ah, the famed ''Boab 5 hour plan''.

 

Good luck. Will be good to see you back.

[Jambomb]

4 minutes ago, Bridge of Djoum said:

Do you know the specifics of the plan? Does anyone?

Does it matter? We know the outline, AB has said it many times.

 

Do you honestly believe AB/CL are fully happy with football side progress, I hope they are not!

[Bridge of Djoum]

2 minutes ago, Boab said:

 I have a plan, mate. After the CL Final and the Serie B play-off Final, i’m Out till July.

 

Out out?

[Boab]

Just now, Bridge of Djoum said:

Ah, the famed ''Boab 5 hour plan''.

 

Good luck. Will be good to see you back.

 

An extended summer break.

The next month will be a shitfest of ST sales and Levein threads.

 

 

[Rocky jamboa]

The cathro experiment set us back years. We're still paying for it now with duds like malaury Martin! 

 

Football wise, we should be challenging every season, at the very worst, for 3rd.

 

All looks good on the business side but we won't fill the extra capacity and executive lounges unless the team is performing as it should be.

 

To be fair, the youth side is looking good also.

[Bridge of Djoum]

Just now, Jambomb said:

Does it matter? We know the outline, AB has said it many times.

 

Do you honestly believe AB/CL are fully happy with football side progress, I hope they are not!

Why the **** are you asking that? 

 

And yes, of course it matters. How the **** can anyone be judged on a plan where the specifics, or even the existence of the plan AT ALL is unknown?

 

If there is a plan, I'd imagine finishing 6th 2 seasons in a row was not part of it. Nor was major upheaval if that was the case. There may be several areas of the plan we are ahead on, a few behind, perhaps. Maybe on balance we are ahead of the game, maybe a bit behind. 

 

Can you just enlighten us on the ''outline'' as stated by AB? Her actual words and what the outline of her 5yr plan is. 

 

 

[Bridge of Djoum]

4 minutes ago, Paulp74 said:

The cathro experiment set us back years. We're still paying for it now with duds like malaury Martin! 

 

Football wise, we should be challenging every season, at the very worst, for 3rd.

 

All looks good on the business side but we won't fill the extra capacity and executive lounges unless the team is performing as it should be.

 

To be fair, the youth side is looking good also.

So, on balance...?

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, best in the land said:

Could be wrong but when we were promoted in the first year, did Ann not say that was ahead of plan?

Does that indicate a football plan? It was ahead of schedule to be promoted before rangers and hibs?

That said we've not regressed, but I would think we are behind from where they aimed to be football wise.

 

Infrastructure progress imo is superb though.

 

At her first agm she said the goals for the footballing side were back in top league within two years and back in Europe and challenging for trophies within five years along with rebuilding the academy from scratch. 

I’d argue they have met the first two goals ahead of schedule and as a result the playing side should be further forward however a lack of finance for playing budget has been an issue. Main stand, academy costs etc have had a detrimental effect. Fortunately they are mostly behind us now so I would expect rapid progress on football front from next season onwards. Cathro mistake also had a detrimental effect. 

Edited June 1, 2019 by soonbe110

[Bridge of Djoum]

2 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

At her first agm she said the goals for the footballing side were back in top league within two years and back in Europe and challenging for trophies within five years along with rebuilding the academy from scratch. 

I’d argue they have met the first two goals ahead of schedule and as a result the playing side should be further forward however a lack of finance for playing budget has been an issue. Main stand, academy costs etc have had a detrimental effect. Fortunately they are mostly behind us now so I would expect rapid progress on football front from next season onwards. Cathro mistake also had a detrimental effect. 

One of the clearest, most concise and sensible posts on the thread. Very fair.

 

Top work.

[Unknown user]

7 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

At her first agm she said the goals for the footballing side were back in top league within two years and back in Europe and challenging for trophies within five years along with rebuilding the academy from scratch. 

I’d argue they have met the first two goals ahead of schedule and as a result the playing side should be further forward however a lack of finance for playing budget has been an issue. Main stand, academy costs etc have had a detrimental effect. Fortunately they are mostly behind us now so I would expect rapid progress on football front from next season onwards. Cathro mistake also had a detrimental effect. 

To be fair we have challenged for trophies this season

[RudiHMFC]

52 minutes ago, Glib and Shameless Crier said:

 

a pile of stinking poo. ?

 

That's eerily similar to how I would describe hearts at the moment.

[Bridge of Djoum]

3 minutes ago, RudiHMFC said:

 

That's eerily similar to how I would describe hearts at the moment.

Our form or the whole institution?

[westbow]

5/10 year plans are at best a vague idea of which direction you are going. Making them detailed is folly. There will always be outside events you have no control over which effect your plans. 

Leave them to those who like PowerPoint presentations. 

Adapt and change, be aware of trends and don’t be afraid to rip up your plans and start again. You learn on the hoof and should never be afraid of mistakes. 

 

[Bridge of Djoum]

Just now, westbow said:

5/10 year plans are at best a vague idea of which direction you are going. Making them detailed is folly. There will always be outside events you have no control over which effect your plans. 

Leave them to those who like PowerPoint presentations. 

Adapt and change, be aware of trends and don’t be afraid to rip up your plans and start again. You learn on the hoof and should never be afraid of mistakes. 

 

 

[RudiHMFC]

6 minutes ago, Bridge of Djoum said:

Our form or the whole institution?

 

Erm, let's go with the whole thing. Lots of talk but same old continuous pish on the park. A decent performance in the cup final won't convince me like.

[Bridge of Djoum]

Just now, RudiHMFC said:

 

Erm, let's go with the whole thing. Lots of talk but same old continuous pish on the park. A decent performance in the cup final won't convince me like.

So Hearts on the whole, you'd describe as ''poo''. Let's say shit as we are adults.

 

Whole club, aye? Finance, stadium, infastructure, community projects, youth...

 

Shite, aye?

 

 

I know you struggle to say anything positive about the club but FFS 

[Jambomb]

29 minutes ago, Bridge of Djoum said:

Why the **** are you asking that? 

 

And yes, of course it matters. How the **** can anyone be judged on a plan where the specifics, or even the existence of the plan AT ALL is unknown?

 

If there is a plan, I'd imagine finishing 6th 2 seasons in a row was not part of it. Nor was major upheaval if that was the case. There may be several areas of the plan we are ahead on, a few behind, perhaps. Maybe on balance we are ahead of the game, maybe a bit behind. 

 

Can you just enlighten us on the ''outline'' as stated by AB? Her actual words and what the outline of her 5yr plan is. 

 

 

No sure what your arguing with me about?

think someone has answered the outline plan.

 

is there a plan or not? Do we generally know the plan? Are AB/CL happy with progress?

 

anyhow I suspect we are on the same side x

[Cade]

Going bust and relegated 5 years ago.

[Bridge of Djoum]

8 minutes ago, Cade said:

Going bust and relegated 5 years ago.

We can all agree we should be doing better on the pitch, but your post puts into perspective that the last 5 years have been a huge rebuilding effort. 

[RudiHMFC]

24 minutes ago, Bridge of Djoum said:

So Hearts on the whole, you'd describe as ''poo''. Let's say shit as we are adults.

 

Whole club, aye? Finance, stadium, infastructure, community projects, youth...

 

Shite, aye?

 

 

I know you struggle to say anything positive about the club but FFS 

 

I genuinely couldn't give a shit about the rest of it, that's what Hibs used to say when we pumped them silly on the park, nobody cares about anything else. I don't go in to work after getting pumped off the latest team and gloat about being in a better place financially so I'm not all that fussed about being shit on the park

 

You can appreciate how ridiculous that would sound can't you?

[Bridge of Djoum]

Just now, RudiHMFC said:

 

I genuinely couldn't give a shit about the rest of it, that's what Hibs used to say when we pumped them silly on the park, nobody cares about anything else. I don't go in to work after getting pumped off the latest team and gloat about being in a better place financially so I'm not all that fussed about being shit on the park

 

You can appreciate how ridiculous that would sound can't you?

Because YOU don't care doesn't mean it's not relevant. And I'm pretty certain not a ****** soul on here goes into work after a defeat and gloats about the nursery or the shiny glass as if it made up for shite form. It's really simple to separate the 2. 

 

You couldn't give a shit about the progression the club has made, securing our future? Really? The entire club is ****** because we aren't playing well at all.

 

[grumpyespana]

How I see things is we now have a backbone to the team and only need four or five players but they must be of higher quality.

[Notts1874]

11 minutes ago, RudiHMFC said:

 

I genuinely couldn't give a shit about the rest of it, that's what Hibs used to say when we pumped them silly on the park, nobody cares about anything else. I don't go in to work after getting pumped off the latest team and gloat about being in a better place financially so I'm not all that fussed about being shit on the park

 

You can appreciate how ridiculous that would sound can't you?

Worked out really well for us in the past. 

[Bridge of Djoum]

1 minute ago, Notts1874 said:

Worked out really well for us in the past. 

[JamboAl]

1 hour ago, Jambomb said:

What’s imaginary about the plan, AB has reiterated there is a plan and it was Initially a 3-5 year plan, that there is no doubt of. She has also stated a number of times that top four finish is the target (or plan).

If you get the opportunity to listen to AB when ever she is public speaking, you will see she most definitely has a plan, she is quite clear on that is how she has been a success, have a plan and stick to it.

 

not sure why you have such a problem with a plan, and if you think AB/CL are happy with football progress you are wrong.

1

Do you struggle with the English language?

If you think there is a plan and you don't know what it is, you are imagining what it might be. Whether she has a plan or not is irrelevant in the context of this thread.  The OP has come out and measured the club's progress against what HE/SHE thinks a plan might have been, without actually knowing any details.

If I imagine Ann's plan was to avoid relegation we have done remarkably well.

[RudiHMFC]

13 minutes ago, Bridge of Djoum said:

Because YOU don't care doesn't mean it's not relevant. And I'm pretty certain not a ****** soul on here goes into work after a defeat and gloats about the nursery or the shiny glass as if it made up for shite form. It's really simple to separate the 2. 

 

You couldn't give a shit about the progression the club has made, securing our future? Really? The entire club is ****** because we aren't playing well at all.

 

 

So I've to just be happy we have a club to support in other words?

 

Just shut up and clap along?

[Notts1874]

Just now, RudiHMFC said:

 

So I've to just be happy we have a club to support in other words?

 

Just shut up and clap along?

Not what he said though was it.

[Bridge of Djoum]

Just now, RudiHMFC said:

 

So I've to just be happy we have a club to support in other words?

 

Just shut up and clap along?

Nope. I didn't say that, and you know that.

 

It's a simple concept, and I'll repeat just for you. The entire club is not ''shit'' or a shambles because of form. No one is happy with the last 2 seasons on the park. Our performances on the whole have been largely below average. No one is happy-clapping over form. There are those who will argue, and quite coherently and fairly, that progression on the whole is there for all to see. 

 

That make it any easier for you?

[Beast Boy]

1 hour ago, RudiHMFC said:

 

That's eerily similar to how I would describe hearts at the moment.

 

Yes. That doesn’t really surprise me one little bit, Lewis. 

[Mike Tyson]

anyone who is happy with how things are going on the pitch needs their head checked. Levein is clueless and despite what ‘queen ann’ says, he is bombproof. A brave but futile effort in a cup final shouldn’t pull the wool over anyone’s eyes

[Bridge of Djoum]

2 minutes ago, Mike Tyson said:

anyone who is happy with how things are going on the pitch needs their head checked. Levein is clueless and despite what ‘queen ann’ says, he is bombproof. A brave but futile effort in a cup final shouldn’t pull the wool over anyone’s eyes

Aye, Barry chief. 

 

How many folk have said they are ''happy'' with what's on the pitch recently? The discussion is moving on, you are taking it back to the ****** dark ages with this pish.

 

And your Queen Ann in quotation marks says a lot about you.

[mitch41]

4 hours ago, JamboAl said:

You are starting from the assumption there was a 5 year plan and unless you (or anyone else) know(s) about what it was, you cannot measure our progress against it.

The rest flows from your assumption.

So I take it you don’t agree with Jambomb’s post as usual and yet you don’t say or can’t say he probably is correct. The problem is if Ann Budge doesn’t have any dialogue with our fans about the football team, what are we meant to expect regarding the future ?

Edited June 1, 2019 by mitch41

[sadj]

49 minutes ago, Notts1874 said:

Worked out really well for us in the past. 

????

43 minutes ago, RudiHMFC said:

 

So I've to just be happy we have a club to support in other words?

 

Just shut up and clap along?

No one is saying that , but then you don’t do that anyway , you’d rather just hurl abuse about regarding Sean Clare and his birthmark. So clapping along and shutting up would probably be better. 

 

Yes its shit that we are underperforming on the field it does not mean AB has done a bad job , if now we have foundations down - more balanced squad , signed up the spine of the team long term , youth coming through and we don’t move forward on the park and improve then it is open season on CL as manager and if AB doesnt act then she will deserve criticism.

 

However given your views on Kickback its surprising you want to tire yourself out and waste your time , defending your position on here...

[Jambof3tornado]

2 hours ago, Paulp74 said:

The cathro experiment set us back years. We're still paying for it now with duds like malaury Martin! 

 

Football wise, we should be challenging every season, at the very worst, for 3rd.

 

All looks good on the business side but we won't fill the extra capacity and executive lounges unless the team is performing as it should be.

 

To be fair, the youth side is looking good also.

Wonder if cathro was part of the plan, or Craig taking charge again?

Cathro set us back a bit but we should be back on track by now, plenty windows to sort things out although I guess Martin has stood firm and been happy to do little to earn his wage.

[Bridge of Djoum]

2 minutes ago, sadj said:

????

No one is saying that , but then you don’t do that anyway , you’d rather just hurl abuse about regarding Sean Clare and his birthmark. So clapping along and shutting up would probably be better. 

 

Yes its shit that we are underperforming on the field it does not mean AB has done a bad job , if now we have foundations down - more balanced squad , signed up the spine of the team long term , youth coming through and we don’t move forward on the park and improve then it is open season on CL as manager and if AB doesnt act then she will deserve criticism.

 

However given your views on Kickback its surprising you want to tire yourself out and waste your time , defending your position on here...

It was Lewis that made comments about Clare's birthmark?

 

Utter cretin.

[Boab]

41 minutes ago, Mike Tyson said:

anyone who is happy with how things are going on the pitch needs their head checked. Levein is clueless and despite what ‘queen ann’ says, he is bombproof. A brave but futile effort in a cup final shouldn’t pull the wool over anyone’s eyes

 It used to be bulletproof but the latest poll suggests that people are having to up the armoury !

If it starts going over 50%, it will be nuclear !

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Cruickshank for Scotland said:

 

It’s not where you start it’s where you finish.

Initially we did great however under Cathro/Levein we hit a brick wall.

 

Let's get real here. Under Cathro we hit a brick wall. Levein then had to undo all that after the season had started. He turned around our home and derby form that season and made a couple of good signings like McLaughlin and Naismith. Then he rebuilt the squad completely and started great, got hammered with injuries but still got us to our first SC final in 7 years. Why is everyone ignoring the injuries? It's weird.

[JamboAl]

36 minutes ago, mitch41 said:

So I take it you don’t agree with Jambomb’s post as usual and yet you don’t say or can’t say he probably is correct. The problem is if Ann Budge doesn’t have any dialogue with our fans about the football team, what are we meant to expect regarding the future ?

He might be correct, he might not.  I don't know.

What I am saying is that if you do not know what the plan is, how can you judge success or failure against it?  

Having dialogue and giving specific plans/yardsticks are a different matter.

CL has said he hopes to sign 4 players who will be an upgrade but that is a hope (and dialogue BTW).  What more is it that you think we should get?

[Cade]

1 hour ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

Let's get real here. Under Cathro we hit a brick wall. Levein then had to undo all that after the season had started. He turned around our home and derby form that season and made a couple of good signings like McLaughlin and Naismith. Then he rebuilt the squad completely and started great, got hammered with injuries but still got us to our first SC final in 7 years. Why is everyone ignoring the injuries? It's weird.

Nobody has ignored the injuries, but the fact is that the coaching team as a whole and Levein in particular failed to come up with a Plan B when the injuries hit.

Just went into full-on panic mode and put out a different 11 and a different formation every week and had no clue what they were doing.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

4 hours ago, Bridge of Djoum said:

We can all agree we should be doing better on the pitch, but your post puts into perspective that the last 5 years have been a huge rebuilding effort. 

It's worth noting that despite hopes that it would be otherwise, the stand redevelopment did pin back the finances of the club for a few years, which limited our options on the field. The increase in income from the new stand will offset that over time and in the long run I think will almost certainly be a net positive on our cash flow.

 

But in the narrow window of the short term, it will have had to limit the players we could sign and/or retain.

 

I still think Cathro, he of the all-time-worst (among permanent appointments) 23% win percentage, is more responsible for our current woes than anything else, but the decision to replace the stand, which I think was absolutely correct, has limited us a bit.

[Bridge of Djoum]

1 minute ago, Ugly American said:

It's worth noting that despite hopes that it would be otherwise, the stand redevelopment did pin back the finances of the club for a few years, which limited our options on the field. The increase in income from the new stand will offset that over time and in the long run I think will almost certainly be a net positive on our cash flow.

 

But in the narrow window of the short term, it will have had to limit the players we could sign and/or retain.

 

I still think Cathro, he of the all-time-worst (among permanent appointments) 23% win percentage, is more responsible for our current woes than anything else, but the decision to replace the stand, which I think was absolutely correct, has limited us a bit.

Excellently put. I think the Cathro appointment was brave and worth the risk, ultimately it was pretty disastrous. Did indeed set us back.

 

Onwards and upwards.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

1 hour ago, Cade said:

Nobody has ignored the injuries, but the fact is that the coaching team as a whole and Levein in particular failed to come up with a Plan B when the injuries hit.

Just went into full-on panic mode and put out a different 11 and a different formation every week and had no clue what they were doing.

 

It's not just that there were injuries, it was that we lost almost the worst possible set of players to injuries.

 

If you gave a committee of Hibs, Rangers, and Celtic fans the job of coming up with five players they'd like to knock out of our squad this year, I think they would have difficulty doing worse to us than Berra, Naismith, Souttar, Haring, and Uche. That's not requiring a plan B, it's requiring plans C, D, E, and F.

 

The one place I wonder if Levein deserves some blame is if his whole "let's all do sprints up the sand dunes" thing in the preseason was actually responsible for fatiguing the players too much before the season starts. Regular football is brutal on the body. If we're going to do that kind of training, we probably need to be doing more squad rotation in the first few months. 

Edited June 1, 2019 by Ugly American
mangled sentence cleared up

[JamboAl]

2 hours ago, Cade said:

Nobody has ignored the injuries, but the fact is that the coaching team as a whole and Levein in particular failed to come up with a Plan B when the injuries hit.

Just went into full-on panic mode and put out a different 11 and a different formation every week and had no clue what they were doing.

What would be your idea of a Plan B when your BEST players are injured and the transfer window is closed (even if we did have money)?

[Jammy T]

There are two things I genuinely don’t understand about this what I would call a “faux” argument.

 

In our 5 years plan we had two significant unexpected outlays. A big **** off stand and a new hybrid ‘top of the class’ pitch.

 

I genuinely don’t understand why no account is taken of this whatsoever.

 

The other thing is - I will never understand why so many people wanted the guy that had us ahead of our footballing schedule hounded out of the club.

 

I understand people moaned about the quality of football but we were still building up the finances to sign better players - we didn’t have those finances at the time.

 

If there is any lesson in what happened to Neilson is that the fans need to get a bit more of a grip of themselves when things are actually going pretty well on the pitch, and that getting shot of a manager who is building a team is pretty stupid.