Do Fans Expect Too Much?

[Rudy T]

So it appears Aberdeen fans want McInnes out. Fair enough they have to watch them every week.

 

However is this going to be a case of careful what you wish for and a cautionary tale for us all. McCall on sportssound last night made an interesting  point; McInnes has been there 8 years and consistently delivered 4th or above, in this period Hearts Hibs Dundee Utd  (the other big sides) have been in and out the league and never consistently delivered the same as McInnes' Aberdeen. So as fans are we expecting to much would we accept Aberdeens league placings, or, should the lesson be the approach we're all taking is wrong and clubs need to radically change their operations to gain more success?

[Nookie Bear]

I think the sheep do expect too much, yes. 
 

McInnes has done a very good job there and I would be delighted if they sacked him. 

[kila]

Success is winning things. Finishing even 3rd in the league doesn’t offer much reward from now because of UEFA’s new third tier diddy tournament.

 

[iwasthere1954]

9 minutes ago, kila said:

Success is winning things. Finishing even 3rd in the league doesn’t offer much reward from now because of UEFA’s new third tier diddy tournament.

 

I think you may be surprised by the famous European clubs that end up in this " diddy tournament "

[Hearts1975]

The expectations become harder especially at times where they have probably been punching above their weight. 
Think he has done a really good job for them - if they sack him then more fool them 

 

Canny stand the mutton molesters anyway - self expectant arseholes 

[The Gorgie]

Fans always want there club to push on and do better. Aberdeen have been consistent as it comes with getting Euro spots, but that's really as good as it gets for teams in Scotland. We'll always just be fighting for the scraps that fall off the old firm table.

[jamboinglasgow]

Its a tough one, there are plenty examples where teams replace the manager as fans feel they dont deliver the excitement despite getting decent finishes and then it all falls apart. Though is other cases where managers are removed despite doing fine and the new manager comes in and takes them up a level. 

 

I think the key thing when looking at whether a manager should stay or go is are they getting the most out of the team with the resources they have at hand. Aberdeen have easily the third biggest budget in Scotland. So a third place finish should be the expectation (or second when Rangers weren't in the league) and he has achieved that quite often with Aberdeen but last few years have been 4th place. If they are getting whats needed in the league, how are they doing in Europe, with a long term manager you would want them to build on European campaigns and improve each time, but it has been mixed (but you dont know what level of opposition you are going to get.) Cups is another, 1 trophy in 8 years, is that reasonable?

 

Its a tough one. I can certainly see both sides. I do think that Aberdeen could do with some fresh ideas, but I think there is no doubt what McInnes has achieved with them.

[Cut The Crap]

League-wise Aberdeen have done just about as well as could reasonably be expected under McInnes. He probably should have won a cup or two more, though, especially when Rangers were in the doldrums and they were knocked out by teams other than Celtic.

 

I suspect Aberdeen fans are just bored of him now, though, which is fair enough.

[Neil Dongcaster]

Nobody outside the old firm has won the league in nearly 40 years. I’m surprised fans of other teams even bother.

[DG_HMFC]

McInnes is a very good manager who has built good teams at Aberdeen. They lose all their best players yet they're still in and around the Euro spots, so, being realistic, what more do they want or hope for?

 

When we have our shit together and doing well, fighting it out for European football  etc, we always want to take that next step and battle Rangers and Celtic. But we are a realistic bunch of supporters i think 😁 I think that Aberdeen fans are stuck in the 80's and they're a massive hindrance to their club. 

 

Shite fans.

 

 

[portobellojambo1]

I'm not sure if it is a new thing or if it has always been the case but I think many fans have much higher expectations these days. You only have to read a lot of the comments which appear on here in relation to HMFC, where the thing that is constantly brought up is our wage budget and what we are paying players should mean we are doing much better than people are seeing. But irrespective of the wages on offer it is how the team is set up, who they show too much respect to and the likes that determines how those clubs both compete and where they finish. Aberdeen have done reasonably well in recent times, and there is no guarantee that by simply changing the manager their end product will become better, it is similar to us I believe. Despite, it seems, many being disappointed by the way we are playing at the moment, I can't think of any manager plying their trade at the moment, at a level we could attract such a person, who I look at and think he is just the person we need to get us functioning properly. Do I think Robbie was probably brought back as an easy option, very possibly yes, I don't think we looked in much if any depth at other options. Aberdeen may run into the same problem, the fans appear to want change but is there a manager out there that will met their requirments, who knows. The game, over time, has become much more than a sport, that people could go along and watch as a break from their working lives, it is now more driven as a business, and as a business maybe the style of winning has become more important  than just actually winning, it is part of the entertainment industry now I guess and what is on offer rather than the end result achieved has possibly become more important to the business and many people watching.

Edited February 17, 2021 by portobellojambo1

[Debut 4]

1 hour ago, Nookie Bear said:

I think the sheep do expect too much, yes. 
 

McInnes has done a very good job there and I would be delighted if they sacked him. 

I don’t think we ever shout for our manager to be sacked if he’s kept us top 3,4 consistently. Maybe the Sheep just see stagnation?

Maybe they feel they should be comfortably 3rd given what they’ve spent?  It does seem they have a bad habit of falling away just when they could push on. They’ll probably get back to form in time to get 3rd which seems to be their habit.  Also, they probably feel he’s not done well enough in the cups.  
 

For Hearts, there’s the constant calls for better only because we’ve been poor for the last few years. I think many become impatient, it can be understandable.  The reality is, we can’t judge again until we are competing in the top league. 

[chrystaf]

1 hour ago, Jamie Walker Tash said:

Fans always want there club to push on and do better. Aberdeen have been consistent as it comes with getting Euro spots, but that's really as good as it gets for teams in Scotland. We'll always just be fighting for the scraps that fall off the old firm table.

Sad but true.

[Bunny Munro]

Folk wanted Robbie out during his first spell despite what can only be described as extremely successful league campaigns. 

 

But in general, people expect to see progress, and expect to see excitement.

It's part of the reason I wanted Stendel to get the job over Jack Ross. Had we appointed Ross I think we would have stayed up, but we'd be faced with a manager who thinks finishing 3rd year on year, 20 points behind the OF would be best we could achieve. Sadly I worry Robbie is the same, but right now, I'd love to be 3rd in the top flight.

[Cruyff]

In Aberdeens case, it seems that way.

They are dire to watch though, so I can understand why they want rid of McInnes. Maybe their support believes he should be getting a bit more out of them. For example, we've run Celtic closer in finals than Aberdeen have despite having a squad that was relegation material. 

 

I think expectation generally is indicative of the size of the club and the income it generates. In that respect, you could say McInnes has met the expectations of the club and taken them to their limits.

 

If it weren't for Brendan Rodgers Celtic, Aberdeen would have won a barrowload of trophies under McInnes.

[SectionDJambo]

1 hour ago, iwasthere1954 said:

I think you may be surprised by the famous European clubs that end up in this " diddy tournament "

The “diddy tournament”, or Conference I think they are calling it, and the extensive qualification for the Europa Cup are just, in my opinion, forcing clubs to play the kind of fixture that was offered up by the Inter Toto Cup, which many clubs weren’t interested in.

The old days of Scottish clubs playing their first European fixture in September are long gone, along with any real prospect of making money out of drawing a glamour team. Scottish clubs have got to get lucky or be excellent to get to the stage of real financial gain.

We have been lucky to draw Spurs and Liverpool recently. Those games could easily have been against a little known team from the other side of Europe.

Edited February 17, 2021 by SectionDJambo

[Byyy The Light]

13 minutes ago, Debut 4 said:

I don’t think we ever shout for our manager to be sacked if he’s kept us top 3,4 consistently. Maybe the Sheep just see stagnation?

Maybe they feel they should be comfortably 3rd given what they’ve spent?  It does seem they have a bad habit of falling away just when they could push on. They’ll probably get back to form in time to get 3rd which seems to be their habit.  Also, they probably feel he’s not done well enough in the cups.  
 

For Hearts, there’s the constant calls for better only because we’ve been poor for the last few years. I think many become impatient, it can be understandable.  The reality is, we can’t judge again until we are competing in the top league. 

 

Although not consistently as McInnes, Robbie the first time had us up the right side of the table for 2 seasons running and a lot of people were on his back. I'm not talking about the plane situation either. Huge grumblings from a sizeable portion that we weren't entertaining enough. Exactly what the Aberdeen fans are griping about at the moment.

 

Most Hibs fans I know are moaning about the same at the moment. They're crap and they're lucky and it'll not last is the general concensus amongst them.

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

The ultimate rhetorical question. 

 

A symptom of the internet age where everyone has a voice and empty vessels make most noise 

[Debut 4]

Just now, Byyy The Light said:

 

Although not consistently as McInnes, Robbie the first time had us up the right side of the table for 2 seasons running and a lot of people were on his back. I'm not talking about the plane situation either. Huge grumblings from a sizeable portion that we weren't entertaining enough. Exactly what the Aberdeen fans are griping about at the moment.

 

Most Hibs fans I know are moaning about the same at the moment. They're crap and they're lucky and it'll not last is the general concensus amongst them.

True I suppose.  I was delving into my memory going back to the days AMc , JJ CLs first spell, tbh. 
 

I’ve got to say, I’m happy if my manager keeps us top 3.  I may still criticise certain performances(tends to be away ones) but i think if you generally know the team has the quality and right attitude, most are happy.  You sort of start to expect results when you go to games.  
 

We are well off those times just now but we’ll see next season. 
 

 

[kingantti1874]

Overall no, hearts specifically  but there are a small pocket with completely unrealistic expectations.  we have another larger group who don’t expect too much but they expect it too soon

[Nookie Bear]

26 minutes ago, Debut 4 said:

I don’t think we ever shout for our manager to be sacked if he’s kept us top 3,4 consistently. Maybe the Sheep just see stagnation?

Maybe they feel they should be comfortably 3rd given what they’ve spent?  It does seem they have a bad habit of falling away just when they could push on. They’ll probably get back to form in time to get 3rd which seems to be their habit.  Also, they probably feel he’s not done well enough in the cups.  
 

For Hearts, there’s the constant calls for better only because we’ve been poor for the last few years. I think many become impatient, it can be understandable.  The reality is, we can’t judge again until we are competing in the top league. 

 

True.

 

Our finishing positions have been inconsistent for too long, and in decline since we got promoted. We need to be finishing 3rd/4th on a regula basis and i think that is where we should expect us to be.

[Nookie Bear]

22 minutes ago, Bunny Munro said:

Folk wanted Robbie out during his first spell despite what can only be described as extremely successful league campaigns. 

 

But in general, people expect to see progress, and expect to see excitement.

It's part of the reason I wanted Stendel to get the job over Jack Ross. Had we appointed Ross I think we would have stayed up, but we'd be faced with a manager who thinks finishing 3rd year on year, 20 points behind the OF would be best we could achieve. Sadly I worry Robbie is the same, but right now, I'd love to be 3rd in the top flight.

 

Is it realistic to expect more with our budget?

[Greenbank2]

18 minutes ago, Neil Dongcaster said:

Nobody outside the old firm has won the league in nearly 40 years. I’m surprised fans of other teams even bother.

What fans have to ask themselves is what they want out of supporting their team. The stark truth per above, is the corrupted nature of those, not necessarily part of the scottish football structure,  who promote success as the ability to pour scorn, bile and derision on your "enemies". So success has less to do with accomplishment and more to do with "my identity is superior to yours". For those who do not allow their footballing loyalty to define them as people, expectations are much more balanced. The reality is that most fans want to look forward to matches in the hope of being entertained and occasionally a realistic expectation of beating the odds and achieving something significant. For a Hearts supporter, that is realistically a visit to a cup final maybe once every 3-5 years, with the expectation that we have a realistic chance of winning maybe 1 in 3 visits (admit it, who thought we had any chance in the Scottish cup in 1976, 1986, 1996, 2019, 2020?). It is winning a match that matters against the uglies at least once a season, winning more derby matches than the dockers and winning some league matches every season where the outcome really matters. In the last 30 years, despite some downers, I would say that has been pretty much achieved.

 

The problem for an Aberdeen supporter is that they don't have a big derby fixture, they have not won the Scottish cup or even reasonable competed for one for donkeys, never seem to beat the OF when it matters, and crash and burn in Europe at each asking. So although they finish comfortably in the top 6 each year, how often do they go to bed at a weekend with that glow of achievement? I would say that in the last last 15 years, less so than Heart supporters.

[Auldbenches]

46 minutes ago, Neil Dongcaster said:

Nobody outside the old firm has won the league in nearly 40 years. I’m surprised fans of other teams even bother.

Any other country would be embarrassed by that but our football authorities encourage it.  

In their eyes we are only there to make up the numbers.  

[David Black]

I don't expect to much, but I do expect a lot better than finishing bottom, struggling for a top 6 place and winning a handful of trophies over the past 60 years. For the budget we have, the support we have that is not expecting to much. We have way underperformed in that time. 

[Rudy T]

So reading most of the replies do we as a club need to find a different way of doing things? 

 

If it's about entertainment and winning trophies and not just finishing best of the rest how do we do it? It's been done in other countries.  Is the McInnes and now to an extent Ross approach wrong? Buying players at your budget and setting up to win most games but fail to compete with the old firm.

 

Do we go with a steady mid table first team for now and throw the majority of cash at youngsters? Or a blend of youth and 4/5 expensive first team players probably foreign so they don't have a built in fear of the old firm? I don't know but we're set for another 40 years of the same if someone can't find an answer?

[Bunny Munro]

26 minutes ago, Nookie Bear said:

 

Is it realistic to expect more with our budget?

 

There is a difference between expecting to do better and aiming to do better.

[milky_26]

re aberdeen it is possible mcinnes has taken them as far as he can. that next step for aberdeen should be winning more cups, it is what 1 league cup for mcinnes since he joined, considering our troubles, rangers liquidation and hibs underachieving as usual they really should have had more cup wins. Just look relatively recently hibs, st johnstone, ross county and st mirren have won cups.

 

 

Another thing is there is nothing wrong with expecting your team to do better however some fans lose it when we dont beat teams with say a tenth of our budget by multiple goals say 4-0, yet when we play rangers or celtic and lose 4-0 moan that it is not good enough even though their budgets dwarfs ours. it seems like it is expected that we should exceed our resources but when a team does it to us all our players are awful and the manager needs to go. This does not excuse poor runs but remember lots of our opponents this year will see us as a scalp and some play it like a cup final.

[indianajones]

The absolute minimum we should expect is for the team to turn up and actually look interested each week.

 

Been missing these last few years. 

[Harry Potter]

15 minutes ago, indianajones said:

The absolute minimum we should expect is for the team to turn up and actually look interested each week.

 

Been missing these last few years. 

thats up to the players, the manager can only motivate so much, as pros they should be able

to self motivate.

[Neil Dongcaster]

8 minutes ago, Harry Potter said:

thats up to the players, the manager can only motivate so much, as pros they should be able

to self motivate.

The manager signs the players.

[Rudy T]

24 minutes ago, indianajones said:

The absolute minimum we should expect is for the team to turn up and actually look interested each week.

 

Been missing these last few years. 

 

And that's surely something McInnes has achieved to a certain degree, if he goes and a new man comes in and can't will Aberdeen yo-yo? But I get the feeling if he was our manager he'd be getting run out of town before now. I think it'll be interesting to see how this goes and maybe we should try and get some stability before the knifes come out again for Neilson.

[Byyy The Light]

40 minutes ago, milky_26 said:

re aberdeen it is possible mcinnes has taken them as far as he can. that next step for aberdeen should be winning more cups, it is what 1 league cup for mcinnes since he joined, considering our troubles, rangers liquidation and hibs underachieving as usual they really should have had more cup wins. Just look relatively recently hibs, st johnstone, ross county and st mirren have won cups.

 

 

Another thing is there is nothing wrong with expecting your team to do better however some fans lose it when we dont beat teams with say a tenth of our budget by multiple goals say 4-0, yet when we play rangers or celtic and lose 4-0 moan that it is not good enough even though their budgets dwarfs ours. it seems like it is expected that we should exceed our resources but when a team does it to us all our players are awful and the manager needs to go. This does not excuse poor runs but remember lots of our opponents this year will see us as a scalp and some play it like a cup final.

 

This is absolutely spot on.

[Gambo]

Some of our fans don't.

 

Bare minimum is acceptable for them.

[Nookie Bear]

1 hour ago, David Black said:

I don't expect to much, but I do expect a lot better than finishing bottom, struggling for a top 6 place and winning a handful of trophies over the past 60 years. For the budget we have, the support we have that is not expecting to much. We have way underperformed in that time. 

 

This is it, for me: value for money.

 

Hamilton and Ross County fans for example should be delighted because their clubs consistently punch above their weight. How often can we say the same about Hearts?

[Ex member of the SaS]

Expecting the club to pay my mortgage, fuel and food bill while paying me £1000 per week is expecting too much. ALL I want is a winning team that shows some commitment and desire to perform and win games where they can. Is that too much? 

[The Tackle]

I still think a lot of our fans feel they're entitled to scrutinise everything from the coaching to the medical staff, just because we pay into FOH. I'd like to just concentrate on football related matters and my expectations are to be entertained while finishing top 4 more often than not. 

[Bongo 1874]

We have the potential to challenge for the title, mentality isn't their but. 

 

Club like ours should have a clear way we play, what this does is attract players, that would like to play that style. 

 

Structure within the club has to be clear, genuinely upsets me talking about this stuff, so i won't go any further. 

[TheBigO]

I've got quite a few Dons mates, and they've wanted rid for quite a while I think.  He basically inherited a very good squad.  All his best performed were inherited and barring a couple, his recruitment to replace them has been terrible.  They're also massive bottle-merchants.

 

You can say, look at Hearts, Hibs, Dundee United, we've done better than them.  Or you can say, look at those teams (and Rangers until this season really) out of our way, let's push for it.  They looked very much like a team aiming for and happy with 2nd.  And let's remember they've had a pretty sizeable wage bill in that time.

 

He's basically everything non-OF fans hate about Scottish football.  That ingrained mentality that Glasgow can't be beaten.  Aberdeen had a very unique, once in a generation chance to do something and limped a league cup.

 

He's also a massive tosser.

 

Anyone looking at Aberdeen and thinking he's done well, to my mind, is happy with a guy lacking in ambition.

 

As a Hearts supporter, need to put ourselves to the side in this argument, as obviously we had Levein who made a monumental tit of things.  Overall, going forward, though, I hope we show a bit more aggression than Aberdeen and McInnes have the last few years.  At least AIM to win stuff, right!?

[Nookie Bear]

56 minutes ago, The Tackle said:

I still think a lot of our fans feel they're entitled to scrutinise everything from the coaching to the medical staff, just because we pay into FOH. I'd like to just concentrate on football related matters and my expectations are to be entertained while finishing top 4 more often than not. 

 

Er...we are clearly entitled to scrutinise everything, from the running of the club to the quality of the pies.

 

Because we are customers/clients who pay in a **** load of our money to be provided with a service, if you will.

 

Of course, the club has the right to ignore us and tell us we haven't got the knowledge to question our medical staff, or our coaches or our pie providers!

[jambonian]

Problem is finance nowadays. Back in the 80s for example it was easier to get further in Europe which gained us good money to buy better players. The Hearts quarter-final UEFA run for example made us a lot of cash that afforded us to help bring back John Robertson and sign Tosh McKinlay within weeks of each other. A million spent there and in 1990 we paid £3/4 of a million for Derek Ferguson from Rangers. This, back in the day when there were fewer season ticket holders, was quite an achievement looking back. Nowadays if we had managed to get to a quarter-final in Europe we would've got even more money with all games on TV where as in the past, it was selected games.  Money has generally ruined football though. Players like the Aberdeen, Dundee Utd and Hearts ones of the eighties generally stayed with their club for long periods. Now they are off at the first sniff of cash from wherever. The days of one or two new players at the start of the season was something any fan looked forward to as the season kicked off is now gone. Nowadays it's a revolving door of short-term deals and loans. The ones that do sign long contracts are the ones that don't give a damn about the team as long as their bank-book is topped up.

Aberdeen are in the same position. In fact, i reckon they are a lot worse off than they say and could only dream of the finance that Hearts have coming in. As for McInnes....sometimes a manager can be at a club for too long and sometimes things need freshened up. Eight years is pretty good going in this day and age so i can understand why their fans are a bit deflated. It's even more embarrassing when Hibs manage to get above you! I mean Hibs....come on! A team that should be satisfied somewhere mid-table every season. That should be a sackable offence for any manager!

Edited February 17, 2021 by jambonian

[OTT]

5 hours ago, Nookie Bear said:

I think the sheep do expect too much, yes. 
 

McInnes has done a very good job there and I would be delighted if they sacked him. 

 

Yeah, their form for a good 2 decades prior to him coming in was dog shit. I don't think he can realistically take them any further with the constraints Aberdeen have. The new guy has backed them pretty heavily as I understand it, so to still have wishy washy crowds doesn't suggest there is any potential for growth. The pandemic seems to have ****ed the stadium for at least a year or two too. 

 

In terms of us with the pressure on Robbie, I think its a bit different. Personally, I want to see us break out of the rut of signing one journeyman to replace another and really focus in on developing our competencies as a club that produces top young talent in Scotland. If Robbie can commit more to playing youth then I'm happy to take a big step back and let him have the time and space needed to succeed at doing that. The problem is, that I don't really have much faith in him to do that. Last time round it was very much signing players to dig us out of one hole before falling into the next. I don't think he's a manager that is interested in developing young talent. I suppose the proof is in the pudding and next season we'll see what he does with Logan, Smith, McGill, Irving* etc.

 

I think for every non-OF team its about competing well in the league and pushing for semi finals/finals, we lack the financial clout to sign the consistency required for the league title, so its largely just cup games where we have our shot at silverware. Fan expectation I suppose is to be entertaining and not feel like you're watching negative crap. Its maybe where the frustration at McInnes has came from. Football in Scotland is expensive to go to, and I'm not sure it represents value for money in any way shape or form, so you want to feel like you're building towards something. Short term journeyman type signings are the antithesis of that and doesn't offer any value to the long term aims of the club. 

[Hectormasson]

4 hours ago, DG_HMFC said:

McInnes is a very good manager who has built good teams at Aberdeen. They lose all their best players yet they're still in and around the Euro spots, so, being realistic, what more do they want or hope for?

 

When we have our shit together and doing well, fighting it out for European football  etc, we always want to take that next step and battle Rangers and Celtic. But we are a realistic bunch of supporters i think 😁 I think that Aberdeen fans are stuck in the 80's and they're a massive hindrance to their club. 

 

Shite fans.

 

 

Live on the 80s success , indeed they had a good team under a special manager, but look at the quality of the old firm back then ?   They were pretty average teams, and that definitely helped Aberdeen to their titles and cups,  hearts usually gave them a game mind".....

[Shanks]

I expect us not to be playing football in the championship considering our wage bill.  Don't think that's too much to ask

[Locky]

I think in the case of Aberdeen fans, I understand their frustrations. They've been consistently 'the best of the rest' for 6-7 years now, but there seems to be little ambition to try and kick on. In an era with the absence of a strong Rangers, and even strong Hearts and Hibs teams, they will probably feel like they should have a bit more to show for that spell. Instead, they've never made it to the group stages of the EL and all they have is 1 LC win. I'm sure we'd feel much the same.

[EIEIO]

5 hours ago, jamboinglasgow said:

Its a tough one, there are plenty examples where teams replace the manager as fans feel they dont deliver the excitement despite getting decent finishes and then it all falls apart. Though is other cases where managers are removed despite doing fine and the new manager comes in and takes them up a level. 

 

I think the key thing when looking at whether a manager should stay or go is are they getting the most out of the team with the resources they have at hand. Aberdeen have easily the third biggest budget in Scotland. So a third place finish should be the expectation (or second when Rangers weren't in the league) and he has achieved that quite often with Aberdeen but last few years have been 4th place. If they are getting whats needed in the league, how are they doing in Europe, with a long term manager you would want them to build on European campaigns and improve each time, but it has been mixed (but you dont know what level of opposition you are going to get.) Cups is another, 1 trophy in 8 years, is that reasonable?

 

Its a tough one. I can certainly see both sides. I do think that Aberdeen could do with some fresh ideas, but I think there is no doubt what McInnes has achieved with them.

Alan Curbishley at Charlton had them top half of the Premiership for a couple of years. Their board said he'd taken the club as far as he could but they wanted more. Charlton currently in the third tier, odd season in the second tier.  Won't dwell on Robbie's three replacements either.

Be careful what you wish for.

I'm part of the problem though if Hearts are out of top 4 /Europe and not challenging for cups, I call it failure.

[davemclaren]

1 hour ago, Bongo 1874 said:

We have the potential to challenge for the title, mentality isn't their but. 

 

Club like ours should have a clear way we play, what this does is attract players, that would like to play that style. 

 

Structure within the club has to be clear, genuinely upsets me talking about this stuff, so i won't go any further. 

How have we got the potential to challenge for the title against teams with multiple times our resources yet we should never get beaten by teams we have many multiple times the resources of? 

[davemclaren]

12 minutes ago, Locky said:

I think in the case of Aberdeen fans, I understand their frustrations. They've been consistently 'the best of the rest' for 6-7 years now, but there seems to be little ambition to try and kick on. In an era with the absence of a strong Rangers, and even strong Hearts and Hibs teams, they will probably feel like they should have a bit more to show for that spell. Instead, they've never made it to the group stages of the EL and all they have is 1 LC win. I'm sure we'd feel much the same.

If their luck had brought them another cup or two then they wouldn’t be moaning I imagine. 

[Rogue Daddy]

1 hour ago, Bongo 1874 said:

We have the potential to challenge for the title, mentality isn't their but. 

 

Club like ours should have a clear way we play, what this does is attract players, that would like to play that style. 

 

Structure within the club has to be clear, genuinely upsets me talking about this stuff, so i won't go any further. 

 

yep, agree with you here mate.

 

Not going to be popular here but I actually thought CL was onto something  way back when he joined up with AB.

 

IIRC his plan was to have a set 'Hearts way of playing'... for both the youth set up and seniors. A tactic that everyone would buy in to. It was even part of the plan that the youth coach (RN at the time) was next in line for the senior squad managers post. So, in essence, the youth set up (manager and players) was being groomed for the senior level - so that the step up should be seamless.

 

I liked that plan. Putting it in practice is a whole other ball game.

[Bongo 1874]

1 hour ago, davemclaren said:

How have we got the potential to challenge for the title against teams with multiple times our resources yet we should never get beaten by teams we have many multiple times the resources of? 

We should be capable to beat any team at home, Tynecastle is a fortress. 

 

Installing a winning mentality dave, any time Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, Aberdeen , at home we don't lose, draw at worse. 

 

In order to achieve this you need a manager that wants to outscore the opponents, 

 

Every other team at Tynecastle should take care of itself. 

 

Bring through a mix of youth, get the right financial backing. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Bongo 1874