ChiThistle

Wonder if this means player/assistant manager Brian Graham next season, given how Dools is already leaning on him for game insight.

Is Arbroath ground sharing or is their pitch just that bad? They seemed a way more physical, if not that talented, side. The pitch really negated some of our strengths, and at least a few times I was wishing for Abdul Osman back in midfield to shove somebody. Missed the first 30 minutes but after that, any crack at goal we had seemed like an accident. They hit the woodwork twice and we were extremely lucky to come away with a point - especially with Sneddon looking a little shaky handling the ball a few times. Bad day at the office + bad pitch + little creativity. Best I can say is we fought them off in the end.

Was watching on a tiny feed…when Mullen came on, was he in a different role from Graham/Dowds usual “target man” kind of role? Might be misremembering, but I thought McCall played all his strikers in the same fashion and this seemed different.

Hard to say the board should resign if the change doesn’t work out. If the board kept the status quo and we didn’t get promoted, should they resign for not acting earlier? I think the unstated bit here is that if this works out, we are potentially saving 5-6 figures next season (assuming the management team stays at 2, and that they will be on slightly less money due to experience). What I find more interesting is that Dools, to my knowledge, has never been in charge of a transfer window. And we have a LOT of guys out of contract this summer.

Just back from vacation. What’d I miss???

My guess is this was already planned well in advance. From a hiring perspective, keeping them on and giving them more chances based off todays result would be an example of recency bias - the larger body of work is what it should be based on. “Momentum” May be a sports world thing, but it can’t be a staffing thing.

We may not be too far now from “let’s just play the kids.” Diack, Lyon, McKenzie et al would at least give us the “not much” that we are getting right now. Lots of May 2023 expirings.

My experience with data analytics is that, across any industry, there are many who see it as an attempt to replace the human decision-making process instead of to inform it. And it comes down to a matter of ego, a lack of understanding the analytical process, or both. I’d love for the Club to find a cost-conscious way of using analytics going forward. Then let’s track the players we sign/retain and see whether the management preferred them, the analytics preferred them, or both.

And if we are going to continue watching bigger clubs siphon off our most promising younger academy players, it makes this even more of a priority. One might argue we actually could make more transfer money by finding a gem like Akinyemi and giving him a 1-2 year shop window than by selling our best 17-year-old and hoping for sell-on fees.

These prop bets are ridiculous these days! How did they manage to tell Lawless was drunk when he scored?!?

I thought they said 2900 on the live stream? Anybody confirm?

Great team win there and too many good performances to choose. Milne is so good in his tackling and charging forward. Turner was immense. Fitzy showing off the talent and swagger that made him so exciting in his first spell. Lets hope this is the start of a major forward push, on the pitch and off.

Maybe a bonkers idea but….offer it to Dools on a “prove it” deal until end of season on the assumption that he, plus the return of key players, are enough to keep us up and contending? That way if we end up having to take some managerial retread, we at least will have tried some out-of-the-box thinking before arriving there.

I didn’t even get my “three beers in” prediction right (it was four). Nothing else to add. Milne was fantastic to watch up close. Not just the goals (probably not a good sign when he has to be the offensive force), but some good defensive plays too. Disappointing result but nothing was going to ruin it for me. Enjoyed the pre-game vibe at the Woody. Bit of magic watching Firhill come into view on the walk up. Jags for Good helping out the community along McParland Drive. Great people everywhere you go. It’s really all something special.

Prediction: Jags win 3-1 and I am three beers in before I hit the stadium. Will attempt both Munns and the Woody. If you see someone in last season’s Jake Hastie shirt, say hi and I’ll try to buy you a pint.

Flying in for the Dundee game - my first in I don’t know how long. Now fearful of what kind of pish I might have to watch…

How was Sneddon in goals today? Is this a different outcome with Mitchell in?

Might call it more of a “must fight” than a “must win”. Dropping points at this stage won’t matter so much, but the ability to lose a match and not have it start the downward spiral is something we need to establish. Given that no one seems to be running away with the league this year, this may be what separates us from Ayr, Dundee or whomever at season’s end.

……………………………………………… …………………… ………….. Stewart McGregor, Ark Sport (just kidding - let conspiracy theories commence)

Quality win. May we always respond to going 1-0 down in that fashion. Didn’t rue the easy missed chances (Graham header, Holt penalty) - instead we just created more. Whole Saturday of drinking and rollercoasters ahead here. Happy Saturday Jags fans!

“Oh great, another email that could have been a meeting…”

My American football team recently earned an amazing loss when a player chose to score a touchdown instead of time-wasting. A highly improbable series of events saw the opposing team score twice in the span of two minutes and win. Some fans chose to lay blame at the player who scored, even though the resulting events were entirely outwith his control. He had no direct way to influence the outcome. A statement like “what’s TJF going to do - send a questionnaire?” feels equally silly because the situation has been outwith its control as well. The questionnaires are the kind of engagement that has been sorely lacking from the club for years and was a major differentiator in TJF’s model and shouldnt be used as a negative, in my opinion. Edit: “shouldn’t be be” to “shouldn’t be”

3 subs or no subs, the players should be able to see out a game. Taking comfort in Ayr’s defeat - everyone at the top is at least fallible. Need to sort out these mental collapses though. Lawless outstanding and congrats to Banzo on the birthday goal (and card!)

Interesting choice for Shay Logan - on the live stream he appears to be playing in an adult-sized blue nappy.

I’ve never experienced errors accessing the site. FWIW I usually access on a mobile (iOS) using Safari browser. No special settings or private browsing set up.