New Manager - Critchley confirmed

[Bungalow Bill]

36 minutes ago, Taffin said:

 

I don't imagine he was within our budget.

If he’s in Aberdeen’s budget it’s inexcusable for him not to be in ours. 

[loveofthegame]

4 hours ago, kingantti1874 said:

we have no one else to bring on to change a game.  Hands are tied 

 

Hard to disagree.

 

It goes back to the "how bad must Musa be" piece...

[kila]

Thelin's had a pre-season with the players.

 

Our players had it easy under Naismith's pre-season, and Critchley has inherited it.

 

I doubt Thelin would've got off to such a good start had he taken over in March.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

6 hours ago, Jocam2325 said:

I get that but what is the alternative. Our squad has no depth, there is barely anything on that bench that adds anything positive. We're in trouble. 

 

4 hours ago, kingantti1874 said:

we have no one else to bring on to change a game.  Hands are tied 

 

I don't think we're that bad off. Unless Salazar is the second coming of Oshaniwa, this seemed like a game to throw him on. His attitude at training must be horrific, that's the only thing I can figure.

 

As others have mentioned, it also seemed a good time for Tait in the middle of the park where Boateng and Devlin had run themselves out. And is Kingsley not fit? Certainly Kent and Rowles are starting to look a bit bedraggled.

 

4 hours ago, kingantti1874 said:

 

 

I think there’s an element of truth here, same happened v hibs where we gassed out in the second half.

 

i can’t believe I’m gonna say this, we have to sacrifice Europe and rotate heavily. Try and beat Petrocub in the last fixture. We can’t sustain this number of  games with the “trusted” pool of players 

 

I'm going to go for the opposite, strangely. Right now we have an opportunity to make as much money in Europe this season as we normally would in two European seasons because of the way our fixtures line up. We're in phenomenal position there.

 

We need to stay in the league but I'm not particularly worried about that, and top six would be nice, but I'd rather seize the day in Europe and focus on the Scottish Cup and let the league sort itself out.

 

3 hours ago, theshed said:

He's came from down south where most clubs play 3 games in a week and travel further than what we do around the country and the players down there manage that….He’s probably now seen that our players aren’t fit enough to do this unlike his previous teams 

 

3 hours ago, RustyRightPeg said:

He also got the shock of his life when he seen the fitness numbers after his first day in charge. 
 

Tidy on the ball, but a very unfit team. 

 

I do think Naismith let us down in preseason training with regards to fitness. But Critchley must know that by now. It's the same with injuries—you can moan about them or you can work around them. That's part of management.

[132goals1958]

1 hour ago, kingantti1874 said:

there is.  Another ludicrous decision by Naismith given lack of options and numbers in forward areas

 

Don't know if there is a similar arrangement for Lewis Neilson if only to weaken St Johnston. That is the way my mind is working at the moment.

[Japan Jambo]

12 hours ago, Howdy Doody Jambo said:

I think half the squad know they won't be here next season and have chucked it, I hope NC just brings in a few more youngsters until the window opens, something is rotten and the poison in the dressing room that got Naismith sacked still exists at the club that needs kicked out first before we can galvanize and move forwards 

 

unfortunately, outside looking in, this very much appears to be the case. We somehow have too many players yet look threadbare all at the same time, overhaul is needed quickly.

[kingantti1874]

19 minutes ago, 132goals1958 said:

 

Don't know if there is a similar arrangement for Lewis Neilson if only to weaken St Johnston. That is the way my mind is working at the moment.

Mad isn’t it

[Japan Jambo]

20 minutes ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

 

 

I don't think we're that bad off. Unless Salazar is the second coming of Oshaniwa, this seemed like a game to throw him on. His attitude at training must be horrific, that's the only thing I can figure.

 

As others have mentioned, it also seemed a good time for Tait in the middle of the park where Boateng and Devlin had run themselves out. And is Kingsley not fit? Certainly Kent and Rowles are starting to look a bit bedraggled.

 

 

I'm going to go for the opposite, strangely. Right now we have an opportunity to make as much money in Europe this season as we normally would in two European seasons because of the way our fixtures line up. We're in phenomenal position there.

 

We need to stay in the league but I'm not particularly worried about that, and top six would be nice, but I'd rather seize the day in Europe and focus on the Scottish Cup and let the league sort itself out.

 

 

 

I do think Naismith let us down in preseason training with regards to fitness. But Critchley must know that by now. It's the same with injuries—you can moan about them or you can work around them. That's part of management.

 

Happen to agree with this, perversely out squad may well be better suited to Europe too, the lack of physicality is less of a problem and they seem better able to lift themselves whilst in the shop window.

[kingantti1874]

27 minutes ago, loveofthegame said:

 

Hard to disagree.

 

It goes back to the "how bad must Musa be" piece...

well the hearts standard guys yesterday said it’s not that same situation as Salazar in that it’s clear musa Isn’t at the required level.  All the stuff about championship teams is clearly bullshit which we’ve bought. 
 

that said, I’d play him in Europe now.  Let’s find out . Effort and enthusiasm are good attributes so let’s see

[Nerja Jambo]

The comparison at this time between Critchley and Thelin is absurd. Critchley has been in the door 2 weeks and can't sign anyone until January. Thelin has been in around 4 months, signed a few players and has also has the benefit of a proper pre-season. You just cannot compare the 2.

[Rudi cant fail]

He comes across well, and says the right things. Sounds very knowledgeable. Big issue for him though is getting the existing players to buy into his ideas. I’m not sure they will. There is now way he will still be in a job in February if we are bottom though. 
 

He’s got his work cut out for sure.
 

Recruitment has been shocking g for years. The turnover of players shows that, considering you can count on one hand how many players have moved on for decent fees, or even free transfers to bigger clubs. 

[Jack Torrance]

50% win rate so far...

 

 

[soonbe110]

1 hour ago, kingantti1874 said:

well the hearts standard guys yesterday said it’s not that same situation as Salazar in that it’s clear musa Isn’t at the required level.  All the stuff about championship teams is clearly bullshit which we’ve bought. 
 

that said, I’d play him in Europe now.  Let’s find out . Effort and enthusiasm are good attributes so let’s see

Don’t think he is in our euro squad. 

[soonbe110]

57 minutes ago, Rudi cant fail said:

He comes across well, and says the right things. Sounds very knowledgeable. Big issue for him though is getting the existing players to buy into his ideas. I’m not sure they will. There is now way he will still be in a job in February if we are bottom though. 
 

He’s got his work cut out for sure.
 

Recruitment has been shocking g for years. The turnover of players shows that, considering you can count on one hand how many players have moved on for decent fees, or even free transfers to bigger clubs. 

So you are suggesting he wont be allowed to bring any players in during the Jan window?    Can’t see that being the case.  Board won’t allow him to sign players in Jan if they think there’s any chance they will have to fire him in Feb surely? 

[Rudi cant fail]

14 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

So you are suggesting he wont be allowed to bring any players in during the Jan window?    Can’t see that being the case.  Board won’t allow him to sign players in Jan if they think there’s any chance they will have to fire him in Feb surely? 

Not at all, Naismith was allowed to sign layers in the summer but was then subsequently sacked. I think if it is looking likely in February that we are going down he will be sacked regardless if he has made signings or not 

[GinRummy]

44 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

So you are suggesting he wont be allowed to bring any players in during the Jan window?    Can’t see that being the case.  Board won’t allow him to sign players in Jan if they think there’s any chance they will have to fire him in Feb surely? 

McKinlay said in his latest update we are already looking at a player for January. 

[One five]

52 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

McKinlay said in his latest update we are already looking at a player for January. 

I very much hope it’s more than one player we are looking at mate, one player won’t fix this.

[PapaShango]

Just now, One five said:

I very much hope it’s more than one player we are looking at mate, one player won’t fix this.

Need a good 3 or 4 including wide players with pace and a right back! 

[One five]

14 minutes ago, PapaShango said:

Need a good 3 or 4 including wide players with pace and a right back! 

That would be nice to start with 👍

[PapaShango]

1 minute ago, One five said:

That would be nice to start with 👍

I'm sure Critchley will have seen everything wrong with the balance of the team like we have and hopefully he's quick to rectify it come January. Its going to need some money spent on proper quality or really good loan players or we are going to be playing in the Championship next season. 

[One five]

5 minutes ago, PapaShango said:

I'm sure Critchley will have seen everything wrong with the balance of the team like we have and hopefully he's quick to rectify it come January. Its going to need some money spent on proper quality or really good loan players or we are going to be playing in the Championship next season. 

He will have I’m sure mate, yes they will need to dig deep to get some quality in as we are full of bang average players that won’t take responsibility.

[GinRummy]

1 hour ago, One five said:

I very much hope it’s more than one player we are looking at mate, one player won’t fix this.

If you look at Brighton, they tend not to make many January signings. I assume because you pay over the odds because there’s less players available. Not saying we won’t make a few signings next window because every situation is different but I’m tempering my expectations, assuming the analytics are similar, though we are at a totally different level. 

[One five]

1 hour ago, GinRummy said:

If you look at Brighton, they tend not to make many January signings. I assume because you pay over the odds because there’s less players available. Not saying we won’t make a few signings next window because every situation is different but I’m tempering my expectations, assuming the analytics are similar, though we are at a totally different level. 

Yeah the January window is not great   I’m thinking more of loan players tbh as our situation is worrying we simply can’t afford to go down, we will just have to see what is what and take it from there. 

Edited October 31, 2024 by One five

[GinRummy]

11 minutes ago, One five said:

Yeah the January window is not great   I’m thinking more of loan players tbh as our situation is worrying we simply can’t afford to go down, we will just have to see what is what and take it from there. 

Hope we get a few but hope rather than expectation. 

[ShedBoy]

7 hours ago, Cruyff said:

NC has got a mega job on his hands. Everyone should get behind the gaffer. I think he'll sort this shitefest out but the league is gone, we're not getting into Europe. 

The Conference League and the Scottish Cup are where we need to try to be successful and we just need to not get relegated this season in the league. Horrible but that's what it is. 

Bang on

 

[One five]

11 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

Hope we get a few but hope rather than expectation. 

👍

[ScandinavianJambo]

4 hours ago, Rudi cant fail said:

Not at all, Naismith was allowed to sign layers in the summer but was then subsequently sacked. I think if it is looking likely in February that we are going down he will be sacked regardless if he has made signings or not 

If we have hired a manager we need to sack in Feb we have turned into Hibs.

[Star Lizard]

7 hours ago, kingantti1874 said:

there is.  Another ludicrous decision by Naismith given lack of options and numbers in forward areas

Could sit here and list the stupid decisions made regarding the squad and team , all day tbh . The man was miles out of his depth and I am struggling to be kind to him right now after the utter shambles he has left us in . Not been this angry at a manager since Stendel 

[Star Lizard]

7 hours ago, RustyRightPeg said:

The encouraging thing is he’s played at least an hour in every fixture so far. 

It is encouraging that he has not been absolutely ruined by the previous incumbent imo 

[Star Lizard]

See just regarding Naismith though ? If you are a supporter on here who was desperate for Stendel and then Naismith , can you please just not get overly involved in future discussions regarding managers  

[soonbe110]

3 minutes ago, Star Lizard said:

See just regarding Naismith though ? If you are a supporter on here who was desperate for Stendel and then Naismith , can you please just not get overly involved in future discussions regarding managers  

They know who they are😂😂

[Sertse]

I said well before his name had been mentioned that I'd be content this season just aiming primarily to avoid relegation and secondly aiming for top 6, essentially writing this season off and having a proper go next one. 

Had lots of comments saying 'we're only a few games in, it's far too early to write the season off' and I'm not slating anyone who said this by any means at all, it seemed extreme and I get why. 

Now, looking at where we are, I hope people can see where I was coming from.

This squad is piss poor. I'm all for getting behind the manager, trusting Starlizard and backing the team but we need to be realistic. We're going to need at least two good windows, this upcoming one and summer, to even get close to the standard we should be at. There's charlatans and players who have completely switched off galore.

You could see that as soon as Kilmarnock equalised they didn't have a scooby what to do. Expect to see a lot more of that this season and temper your expectations. At this rate avoiding relegation might be a tall order. Believe me, I want to be wrong.

 

[Taffin]

14 minutes ago, Star Lizard said:

See just regarding Naismith though ? If you are a supporter on here who was desperate for Stendel and then Naismith , can you please just not get overly involved in future discussions regarding managers  

 

Ooft harsh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But fair.

 

I did like Stendel though. I had no view on him before he came but I just liked him for some reason 😂 

 

I was really against Naismith but got behind him and was delighted when it looked like I'd been proven wrong. I do have a good feeling about Critchley though after being frustrated by the Hogmo stuff. No reflection on him, just felt he's a bit right man wrong time. If he can turn our season around we should back him to the hilt for next season.

 

[Aussie Jambo]

It’s already eminent that Critchley will be seeing who is coming and going next window. 
Problem being we already know who’s going and contracts are up soon. Fortunately all of them need binned. We don’t need to keep any of them. 
But a few that contacts were given too need to move on as well. According to media Critchley said he wants a smaller squad. So that means a cull. 
Who else needs to go? Or out on loan?

Can’t say much of the team will be left either. We will need a goal keeper that’s for sure. CG & ZC will be gone. 
Defence? Yes but who goes and who stays? Forwards definitely. Midfield nothing apart from McKay & Grant. If we get them right then we might be in with a chance. We definitely need more physical players in our team. Not wee skinny players that get pushed off the ball. I can’t be too critical of Critchley at the moment. He’s got a job on his hands. Concentrate on Europe till January window. We can still get some good money out of it to put back in case we do get relegated. We’ve got money enough to get out again. Maybe Sevco will go broke and save us from that? 
But what is clear is we definitely need a clear out. Funnily media saying we only are looking at one player for January. 🤔

Edited October 31, 2024 by Aussie Jambo

[Rudi cant fail]

1 hour ago, ScandinavianJambo said:

If we have hired a manager we need to sack in Feb we have turned into Hibs.

Hopefully not

[ScandinavianJambo]

2 hours ago, Rudi cant fail said:

Hopefully not

Indeed.

[jamborich]

Ffs 4 games in and people talking about his job on the line, he’s having to assess our squad, our fitness, our style of play, there’s been comments he thinks we are unfit wouldn’t argue with that.

Don’t think it will take him long to weed out the duds in our squad and then rebuild

 

[Pasquale for King]

7 hours ago, GinRummy said:

If you look at Brighton, they tend not to make many January signings. I assume because you pay over the odds because there’s less players available. Not saying we won’t make a few signings next window because every situation is different but I’m tempering my expectations, assuming the analytics are similar, though we are at a totally different level. 

They aren’t usually bottom of the league, i dont think Bloom will be telling us how many players our manager needs. 

[Pasquale for King]

If he didn’t know it by now he has surely realised how fragile this squad is. Good luck to him he’s going to need it.

[Rudi cant fail]

7 hours ago, jamborich said:

Ffs 4 games in and people talking about his job on the line, he’s having to assess our squad, our fitness, our style of play, there’s been comments he thinks we are unfit wouldn’t argue with that.

Don’t think it will take him long to weed out the duds in our squad and then rebuild

 

Who is saying his job is on the line after 4 games? 
 

all people are saying is that he might not see out the season. That is the situation we are in.  He has inherited an absolute shambolic situation, and has his work cut out that is a fact. He will have known all this before coming in we would hope, and us as fans should be fully behind him. We’ve got to hope that the players are too. One of his plus points from the analysis is his ability to improve players, hopefully he can. 

 

Fact is though, We are bottom of the league with a third of the season gone. If things don’t improve, and we are still at the bottom going into the business end, he will probably lose his job.
 

priority this season has to be staying in the league, of course if we hit form and start pushing on that’s a bonus.
 

A lot of people said Stendal was the right guy at the wrong time, although his career since then suggests different. It could however be the case for critchley. 

[Dazo]

7 hours ago, jamborich said:

Ffs 4 games in and people talking about his job on the line, he’s having to assess our squad, our fitness, our style of play, there’s been comments he thinks we are unfit wouldn’t argue with that.

Don’t think it will take him long to weed out the duds in our squad and then rebuild

 

I don’t think anyone thinks his job is on the line but January will be a big test for him. It’s a difficult window though so he will be under a bit of pressure. He can clearly only do so much with the current squad, everyone can surely see that. He needs to be seen to be making real change though. I hope he can get those out he feels aren’t committed and/or are causing problems. Players can be stubborn though and some might just decide to sit it out. Think we’re going to need a bit of money very early on for him to get a relatively quick fix. 

[Pans Jambo]

Interesting comment on the Shareholders Dinner thread that Gary Locke said the new manager has not had a lot of time on the grass to work with the squad due to the game recovery time. I take it that's because the games are every 3 - 4 days and the players need a 'recovery' day after a match, then their in for training for 2 days before its game time again.

Other teams have a week between games (on average).

I know other teams cope with this (Celtic etc.) but their players seem to be a lot fitter than ours as we are dying after 60 mins most games. No idea how we managed to get the squad this unprepared but its certainly not Critchley's fault.

The international break should be welcome.

Edited November 1, 2024 by Pans Jambo

[jamborich]

15 hours ago, Rudi cant fail said:

Who is saying his job is on the line after 4 games? 
 

all people are saying is that he might not see out the season. That is the situation we are in.  He has inherited an absolute shambolic situation, and has his work cut out that is a fact. He will have known all this before coming in we would hope, and us as fans should be fully behind him. We’ve got to hope that the players are too. One of his plus points from the analysis is his ability to improve players, hopefully he can. 

 

Fact is though, We are bottom of the league with a third of the season gone. If things don’t improve, and we are still at the bottom going into the business end, he will probably lose his job.
 

priority this season has to be staying in the league, of course if we hit form and start pushing on that’s a bonus.
 

A lot of people said Stendal was the right guy at the wrong time, although his career since then suggests different. It could however be the case for critchley. 

He might not see out the season?, does that not equate to his job is on the line

[Rudi cant fail]

23 minutes ago, jamborich said:

He might not see out the season?, does that not equate to his job is on the line

No not after 4 games. If there is no improvement on results and performances then that would no doubt change. 

[Diego10]

42 minutes ago, Rudi cant fail said:

No not after 4 games. If there is no improvement on results and performances then that would no doubt change. 

He's won 2 and drawn 1 of the 4.  There's been two very good performances, 1 very average one and one with a good 60 minutes and a bad last half hour. 

 

Given what he's come into,  I'd say both results and performances have improved already.   

 

Obviously we need him to keep that up and try to improve it further

[Cruyff]

I think NC is doing fine considering where we were. 

[Jambo-Fox]

Good luck tomorrow Critch!

 

Show us what your made of and make the team perform with high energy levels from KO!

♥️♥️♥️♥️

[Jambo-Fox]

Just now, Cruyff said:

I think NC is doing fine considering where we were. 

I understand the sentiment (& agree with it) but the reality is we are where we were …  the only way is up!

[John mcCartney]

14 hours ago, Pans Jambo said:

I know other teams cope with this (Celtic etc.) but their players seem to be a lot fitter than ours as we are dying after 60 mins most games.

There is a difference betwwen Hmfc and them chief,and thats a big bunch of noughts

We have journey men pros punching above our ,the clubs,weight,and we are where we are.....
Hoping the Crichmeister and Star lizard can work in tandem goin into the new year........

When`s this fecking investment on top of Starlizard happenin n all,hopefully sharpish

Budge let go ffs,let Bloom in the door.

[leginten]

I think what Critchley manages to get out of the players today will tell us a lot about the actual depth of the shit we’re in. Two good performances to start with; you expect, but don’t always get, a new manager bounce. Flat against Hibs after the first ten minutes and - with apologies to those who thought we had a good first half on Wednesday - god-awful against Killie apart from a brilliant goal.

 

Defeat would leave him with one point from the nine available in the last week, which would not be good territory. Even a draw wouldn’t be great, but I guess it might just about be palatable. A win tomorrow and we could say his first, very congested fortnight was, by and large, a success.
 

I’m hoping that Critchley turns out to be a real hard barsteward, because I genuinely think that’s what’s needed. Sounds old-fashioned, but there’s obviously a lot needs sorting out with the players. I actually thought Naismith might turn out to be a bit of a hard nut who wouldn’t stand for any nonsense, but he appears to have been mucked around like Neilson before him and to have allowed standards to drop alarmingly.