AndyMac

Sorry for any confusion JLS; My own view of Archie is that he and Shaggy had given everything they had to give. I think they were totally burnt out having won the Championship and keeping us up in the top flight for four seasons, which in itself is no mean feat. I believe that it would of been better for the club to have paid off their contracts in full at the end of last season, as a thank you for their service and achievements. However, it has to be said that Archie never had a moment in charge when he wasn't under severe pressure, he was never given the luxury of time to rebuild or develop with the resources of being a big fish in a small pond. Gary Caldwell's one success was with Wigan, when they were the biggest and richest fish in the pond, bankrolled with the largesse of Dave Wheelan's millions to gain promotion. When the board sacked Archie we were mid table. We were not relegation fodder. IMO, in these circumstances, the board had a duty to have suitable replacements in mind/lined up before giving Archie the bullet. The board hired Gary Caldwell on the strength of an interview. Hire in haste, repent at leisure. Yes, Archie's firing was a culmination of 18 months of failure, it was no surprise. Nevertheless, I do believe that the board were not planning to fire Archie and when it finally came to it, the sacking was a knee jerk reaction. You may be right JLS and I might be wrong. But those are my thoughts on the matter

Archie's time was well up. Nevertheless, it was early season and we were not deep in the mire. The board had the luxury to research and sound out suitable replacements before they sacked Archie. The board made a knee jerk reaction to sack Archie. It was not planned. They were bounced into it. They should of had a suitable manager lined up to replace him. That is why I think they are weak and incompetent.

I agree that Archie's time was up. Should have been away at the end of last season and you're right regarding the new board, as that decision resides with David Beattie's and Ian Maxwell's reign. Nevertheless, I believe that the present board are weak. They bumped Archie claiming that they were "listening to the fans", some would say the board were "listening", others would say that they folded under moderate pressure. We were in no real danger of relegation, nevertheless we sacked our long term manager mid season, with not one single replacement lined up. I hope for the best, but to be honest, I have little faith.

We were mid table when Archie got sacked. We are now second bottom.

One of the bothersome things about this board is the manner of Archie's departure. Poster after poster on this forum, myself included, lined up to state that the board made the tough but correct call in the termination of Archie's contract. Let's be frank; we were in little danger of being relegated with Archie at the helm, we had mid table mediocracy written all over us. However, the game was up, the bar had been set at promotion, a level that Archie was never realistically going to meet in one season. The board then panicked, buckled and pandered to the supporter demands. They then somewhat unbelievably fired Archie without a single candidate being lined up as a replacement! This board are weak and incompetent in equal measures.

Next thing, you'll be asking for "Snowflakes" on Christmas Day ...........................................then again, perhaps not. Decent list though, think I will send one too

"could" being the operative word. They could and the should fund a scouting network, because presently, it's pretty much non existent. Are the people running the club capable of putting in the hard graft to set up a successful scouting network? I have my doubts. A scouting network is pretty dull fare, scoring about 1 out of 10 in the attention grabbing stakes. It just hasn't got the marketing glamour of a youth academy, or the kudos of a state of the art training facility. Nevertheless, having a first class scouting network in place, is an absolutely essential component of a successful footballing club.

Stevie Lawless is a big miss. He was, IMO, during his time with Thistle a totally underrated and under used player.

No argument with this.

It's all very well having a state of the art training facility provided at "mates rates" prices. Nevertheless, it won't sort out our problems as you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. We haven't got a scouting network. Which let's face it is a basic requirement for a club of our size that wants to be successful. IMO; a scouting network comes well before a state of the art training facility and youth academy. What's the point in either of them if the bodies coming through the door are not good enough? We are putting the cart before the horse.

It's all part of the same narrative, training ground, youth academy, it all paints a positive picture of well organised, progressive club carefully planning for a brighter future. The reality is somewhat different. To have a successful football club you have to be good at horse trading, you don't need a Equestrian Centre, or to train Yearling's into Thoroughbred's, to be good at horse trading players. Javeajag, you are correct "The training facility has no impact on or anything to do with the scouting system or the first team !" There's plenty of talent out there, we just need a good network of scouts that can spot it, coupled with decent traders at the club.

We are a club without any sort of scouting system and boy does it show. The club squad is a shambles, I just do not see how a training ground will change this. I honestly believe that the youth academy and training ground are vanity projects. We should concentrate on the first team and reserves and have an excellent scouting network in place. We should get back to basics. Get the basics right.

Is it any worse than having a derelict sewage works named after you? Hopefully, everything will go ahead according to plan.

This is a very big game for us and could re define the rest of our season. No one really expects us to get anything out of this game, so if we were to get a point it would be viewed as a very good result. A win would be deemed as excellent. We would then be unbeaten in our last 3 games, it may not be pretty, but at least we would be seen to be picking up points going into the crucial Christmas period. The next game could be a real turning point. Get a good result up in Dingwall and Gary Caldwell rightly gets the likes of myself to shut up and eat a bit of humble pie. As long as we don't get tanked a narrow defeat wouldn't be seen as a disaster, but it wouldn't give much cause for cheer either. Get a result on Saturday and I truly believe it will have a major positive impact on the rest of our season.

If this project is scrapped, so be it. It's a bit of a vanity project. Perhaps the club would be better putting a few quid into building a scouting network? The only thing that would bad (to me) about cancelling the training ground, is that it would be disrespectful to Davie MacParland and his family. If the training ground does not happen the main stand or the bing should be re named after Davie.

Excellent news. Think this could well prove to be this seasons most important signing

“Two relegations in the last 2 years” - this isn’t true. Gary Caldwell got two clubs relegated in the one season! Is this some kind of record? Wigan Athletic - managed by Gary Caldwell during the 2016/17 season - RELEGATED Chesterfied - managed by Gary Caldwell during the 2016/17 season - RELEGATED Millhouse; I think you must be mixing up Jim Goodwin with Fred Goodwin. Still........even Fred Goodwin's managerial record is better than Gary Caldwell's.

Hmmm.....good question. First off, you have to put yourself in the crazy mixed up minds of the people who gave Gary the job in the first instance. What do they see in him that nobody else does? Is it his record, two relegation in the past two years? Is it his ambition, aiming high and going for the Scotland job? What exactly is it, that they see, in this most wooden of character actors? I think it will probably go along the lines off "two games undefeated" "four points out of six" "light at the end of the tunnel" etc etc. I don't wish anyone any ill and everyone has to earn a crust. Nevertheless, I truly believe that the people running our club made the wrong call in hiring Gary Caldwell. They should've sent for Jim Goodwin. He would have sorted us out.

Thistleberight..........when in a hole

Politicians for the most part are birds of a feather, most of them are slimy dishonest chancers who wouldn't know a principle if it smacked them on the face. Furthermore, they will almost always feather their own nests before anyone else's. Fortunately, there are a few exceptions to this and these rare beats can be found right across the political spectrum. Bell; your blind hatred of the Tories is doing you a disservice, you're unwittingly handing your opponent a shield, to use as deflection to defend themselves against criticism and weakening the united case against them, by putting fellow supports at each others throats, which ironically, is an old Tory divide and rule tactic. Nevertheless, you do make valid points regarding our manager and those responsible for appointing him. They're playing at running a football club. They're running it into the ground.

"They ought to sack him for misconduct, having lied about his level of backing at CFC in his interview and save themselves the pay off." A Chesterfield supporter, posting on their forum, giving some sound advice to our board, regarding the current and future employment of Gary Caldwell. Sadly, our problems run much deeper than Gary Caldwell. Good luck to Gary, he was unemployed (after leading his previous two clubs to back to back relegation's), needed work and had the ability to con his way to the Thistle job. He gave them the old razzle dazzle and the leading lights of our club were well impressed, blown away even, with his presentation and encylopedic knowledge of our playing staff. Furthermore, the clubs pro's would be inspired to dizzying new heights being managed by a much capped Scottish footballing legend. You have to hand it to Gary, he's a real smooth talker, he would be a dab hand at flogging second hand cars, double glazing and endowment policies. However, our problems go well beyond Gary Caldwell, he's the symptom, not the disease. Our problem goes right to the top, it's the gullible fools that hired the charlatan in the first place; they are the real problem. If we get rid of Gary, chances are they will only go and hire some other smooth talking fraudster; in fact, every imposter, two bit chancer, and snake oil salesman will rightly fancy their chances of landing the Thistle job. The board are probably right about one thing; "we are certain that Gary is the man to lead us out of the Championship" Our trouble is at the top.

Will Gary Caldwell get sacked if our poor run of results continues? Who knows! It was a brave decision by the board to give him the gig in the first place, they must have seen something in him they liked. It's a difficult question to answer; when you wouldn't of personally considered hiring him in the first place. Next week is a big game, if we win or draw that will deemed a very good result. If we lose and lose badly, the pressure will really start to crank up on both the manager and the board. There's a few different camps in the support, including; "We should never have got rid of Archie" - This camp is pretty silent at the moment so the numbers are probably underestimated. Some of them currently very subdued and in deep shock, some are meekly going along with the programme, others already have the knives out for Caldwell and the Board of Directors. Caldwell will be doing well to win over this group of supporters. "Thanks Archie for leaving us in such a mess" - This camp is the cry baby element of our support and need to recognise the facts. Alan Archibald is no the longer the manager, he didn't "leave us", he was sacked. Furthermore, before his dismissal he managed to win 3 games out of 7 this season, with the same squad of players that Caldwell has led to 4 straight defeats. This group of supporters is mainly supportive of Caldwell at the moment. Caldwell needs to keep this group of supporters onside as they have the potential to make his life a living hell. "Lets's give it till after the January transfer window and see how things go" - This camp is the most pragmatic and logical grouping, they may or may not be supportive of Gary Caldwell, but for numerous reasons including, stability, giving people a fair crack of the whip and for the good of the club, will go along with the status quo for the time being. If Caldwell keeps this camp onboard and happy his job will be safe enough. Lose this group of supporters and he's in deep trouble. "Why have we hired him, his record is terrible?" - This camp is generally very sceptical of both Gary Caldwell and the Board of Directors for giving him the job in the first instance. This group is currently small in numbers. If results improve they will have been proved wrong, if results are mixed over the longer term, Caldwell will have run his course and the board will pick a replacement. If however, the results continue to slide this group is the most likely to challenge the competence of the people at the very top of the club, The Chairman, The Chief Executive etc. There's a lot riding on this season. If Caldwell doesn't get it sorted out pretty dam sharpish, he will have led 3 clubs, to 3 relegation's in 3 years! Gary Caldwell has certainly left a lasting impression on the Chesterfield Town supporters. They reckon he's a Jonah. I suppose we will just have to keep our fingers crossed, hope for the best and see what happens.

No. I don't think I will "lighten up". I have seen numerous posters on this forum, getting it ripped right out of them for being unable to spell or punctuate properly. It's a poor show.

Poor show, having a pop at someone over their perceived failings in spelling and grammar. Better, to argue against the points being made, than attempting to make a mug of someone for making them. No wonder Lefty took five years from joining the forum to making a post. You don't know someones circumstances. There's some very well educated, pig ignorant people on this forum. ******s.

True. Caldwell hasn't turned into a shite manager overnight. He has been a shite manager for well over 2 years.