Caldwell’s Massive 7 Days

[stolenscone]

4 hours ago, Garscube Road End said:

The point surely is that he was brought in to have us challenging for promotion ( chairmans words), and in that respect he has failed, not proven himself.

Hi GRE - I think we all agree that there are a number of aspects to the job. One of them is certainly man management and the ability to build confidence and get the most out of players.

It seems undeniable to me that Caldwell failed completely in this aspect of the job, up until the January window. We could have expected a new manager to oversee a turnaround of players he inherited and build from there once he got the chance to bring his own people in January. That plainly didn’t happen.

But equally, it seems churlish to deny that he has built a successful team in the second half of the season.

Do I think he’s the messiah? Of course not. It’s far too soon to judge and he needs to have the team continue to push forward in the manner they have been over the last couple of months.

Do I think his obvious failing in that one aspect of his job pre-January means that he should be sacked? No, I think that’s unduly harsh, and anyway, it’s in the past and since then there has been obvious progress, so it would be counter-productive to bin that and start again (in my mind).

He does come across in the media as being a bit bog headed (pun intended), but I can deal with that if he builds a successful team. It seems to me that results since January has earned him the right to take us into next season. I’m actually interested to see what he’ll do in the summer transfer window.

[Firhillista]

11 minutes ago, Thistleberight said:

Another good point. Personally I think alloa will at worst be in play offs which they will win. He's done a great job, bringing them up and challenging the way they are for a part time club. That's what we need to remember. A fraction of the budget of us, Falkirk, qos, ton erc. You just can't  compare our manager with alloas.

Goodwin - great job

Caldwell- ok job (at best)

There's no denying Goodwin has done a fine job at Alloa, but it's far too early to assume he could do the same elsewhere. As a part-time manager, working with part-time players, he's done really well, but how would he cope in a full-time capacity? It's as much a leap in the dark as, say, appointing any young manager with limited experience. As for Caldwell, there seems to be a growing narrative that he's been incapable of motivating the players he inherited from Archibald, yet the majority of the team is still made up from Archibald's signings. 

[fenski]

I have some issues with Caldwell mainly in relation to games where we don't start performing until a tactical change is made - need to learn from this and maybe get the game plan right first time more often.

The major plus for me, on the evidence of January anyway, is that he appears to be more capable in the transfer market than Archibald was. Time will tell - the focus in January was on the short-term, getting experienced players in to dig us out a hole. Still need to see what the approach in the main transfer window is - obviously I'd like to see more of a focus on team building for the longer term.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

18 hours ago, Auld Jag said:

Just to add I have never been a soothsayer.

Me neither. And I never will be.

[allyo]

If we don't take more than a point from our next two games then I reckon we're in the play-off. Given how often this season we have failed to take more than a point from two games, I'm nowhere near as confident as all you guys.

Just saying. Job not done.

Edited April 26, 2019 by allyo

[Jaggernaut]

2 hours ago, AlwaysOutnumbered... said:

Some people (you know who you are) will never admit they were wrong. 

"Gary Caldwell has failed, he was brought into secure promotion."

What were you expecting him and the board to say? I've come into the club to avoid relegation? The fans would, quite rightly, have went nuts. A new manager coming into a club is always going to be optimistic. The vast majority of fans knew he had a tough job on trying to recover from Alan Archibald's summer transfer madness. 

He's came in, shipped out the absolute dross and will keep us up without the need for play offs. Whisper it but ... Caldwell has turned it around. For example, look at the away form compared to Archie. I know this upsets some people who would like to see him fail. 

Caldwell has won the last two vital games and yet some still slag him off and bring up comments from Kenny Miller about the Scotland set up - give us a break.

Smile, be positive and just admit to yourselves - Caldwell's not as bad as you thought.  

Well done Gary Caldwell. 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for posting, Gary!

[dl1971]

26 minutes ago, allyo said:

If we don't take more than a point from our next two games then I reckon we're in the play-off. Given how often this season we have failed to take more than a point from two games, I'm nowhere near as confident as all you guys.

Just saying. Job not done.

Job not done as yet. Would be mad to think we are over the line yet. This is thistle. I'm just hoping our excellent form continues and it doesn't roll on to the final game....

[dl1971]

51 minutes ago, stolenscone said:

Hi GRE - I think we all agree that there are a number of aspects to the job. One of them is certainly man management and the ability to build confidence and get the most out of players.

It seems undeniable to me that Caldwell failed completely in this aspect of the job, up until the January window. We could have expected a new manager to oversee a turnaround of players he inherited and build from there once he got the chance to bring his own people in January. That plainly didn’t happen.

But equally, it seems churlish to deny that he has built a successful team in the second half of the season.

Do I think he’s the messiah? Of course not. It’s far too soon to judge and he needs to have the team continue to push forward in the manner they have been over the last couple of months.

Do I think his obvious failing in that one aspect of his job pre-January means that he should be sacked? No, I think that’s unduly harsh, and anyway, it’s in the past and since then there has been obvious progress, so it would be counter-productive to bin that and start again (in my mind).

He does come across in the media as being a bit bog headed (pun intended), but I can deal with that if he builds a successful team. It seems to me that results since January has earned him the right to take us into next season. I’m actually interested to see what he’ll do in the summer transfer window.

Well said. There remain a few in the churlish camp. Hopefully next game or two will change that. Unlikely though....

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Dark Passenger said:

Conversely, you could say that we can't compare them because whoever took the Thistle job was immediately under huge amounts of pressure, whereas Goodwin was under very little *if* Alloa were expected to 'do a Brechin', as claimed.

Good point. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Firhillista said:

There's no denying Goodwin has done a fine job at Alloa, but it's far too early to assume he could do the same elsewhere. As a part-time manager, working with part-time players, he's done really well, but how would he cope in a full-time capacity? It's as much a leap in the dark as, say, appointing any young manager with limited experience. As for Caldwell, there seems to be a growing narrative that he's been incapable of motivating the players he inherited from Archibald, yet the majority of the team is still made up from Archibald's signings. 

No arguement from me. I've never espoused any issue with how many AA signed players are in the team. 

Granted, when Caldwell arrived and especially up to new year I certainly questioned his ability to change our terrible form. I was right. He did. The results and performances continued to be dreadful. I don't agree there is a growing narrative. It peaked in December, most on here, even those of us unconvinced by Caldwell, have been acknowledging there has been improvement. The narrative has been petering out.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, fenski said:

I have some issues with Caldwell mainly in relation to games where we don't start performing until a tactical change is made - need to learn from this and maybe get the game plan right first time more often.

The major plus for me, on the evidence of January anyway, is that he appears to be more capable in the transfer market than Archibald was. Time will tell - the focus in January was on the short-term, getting experienced players in to dig us out a hole. Still need to see what the approach in the main transfer window is - obviously I'd like to see more of a focus on team building for the longer term.

Ran out of likes

[Guest]

2 hours ago, allyo said:

If we don't take more than a point from our next two games then I reckon we're in the play-off. Given how often this season we have failed to take more than a point from two games, I'm nowhere near as confident as all you guys.

Just saying. Job not done.

I was saying the same to my son this morning, however I do take some comfort that it's in our hands. We aren't relying on results from others. Can't deny its exciting. Also for Falkirk (which isn't your point, you mean play off place), to overcome us they need to win twice? Highly unlikely. Can't rule it out but don't see it.

Even if we take nothing from either, game, we would need to see alloa beat ICT and Ayr away, Morton beating dunfermline and DUFC, just don't see all of that going against us. Anyhoo, we'll pump ayr tomorrow and it'll be academic and as AJ days, a nice wee day out to Dumfries last game

[Garscube Road End]

4 hours ago, javeajag said:

New record please 

No need. The record has beautiful clarity.

[allyo]

1 hour ago, Thistleberight said:

Even if we take nothing from either, game, we would need to see alloa beat ICT and Ayr away, Morton beating dunfermline and DUFC, just don't see all of that going against us. Anyhoo, we'll pump ayr tomorrow and it'll be academic and as AJ days, a nice wee day out to Dumfries last game

Eh, if we take nothing from either game, Alloa probably only need two points and Morton might not need any!

[muirparkman]

6 hours ago, Thistleberight said:

It pains me but I'm going to have to agree with this. Coupled with how difficult it is to identify a new manager then get them into the club and for that guy or gal to have enough time to make signings for the coming season is horrendously difficult. I would expect/hope that additional signings are being identified to boost the team/squad by Caldwell and his coaching team. Personally on about 5 to 6 performances in the last few months I don't think we are too far away from having a team that can challenge BUT there is obviously the chance this team will be decimated during the close season as like it or not we have a good few quality players that other clubs will covet.

As like sandy and quite a few others I have shared the concerns around Caldwell but as you have posted here semi, he probably is deserving of getting next season. But I still wouldn't lose any sleep if we parted ways close season

I've kept off the site for a few months because I felt it was the same depressing stuff regurgitated. But I see we still have this hankering for a GAL to manage the club. Can we please put this to bed and concentrate on being a football club not a brownie pack.

On the pitch at the moment we are not near as bad as pre new year, but still can't do basic stuff, like passing the ball. I know we love it to be difficult, being Jags fans, but the most basic simple pass which could lead to a goal, or  take pressure off the defence seem beyond some of our team. This is still the same as before new year and still rankles week after week.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, allyo said:

Eh, if we take nothing from either game, Alloa probably only need two points and Morton might not need any!

Not saying it's impossible, just that it's possible to lose both games and be safe is all

[Lenziejag]

1 hour ago, muirparkman said:

I've kept off the site for a few months because I felt it was the same depressing stuff regurgitated. But I see we still have this hankering for a GAL to manage the club. Can we please put this to bed and concentrate on being a football club not a brownie pack.

On the pitch at the moment we are not near as bad as pre new year, but still can't do basic stuff, like passing the ball. I know we love it to be difficult, being Jags fans, but the most basic simple pass which could lead to a goal, or  take pressure off the defence seem beyond some of our team. This is still the same as before new year and still rankles week after week.

A GAL ?

[Semi Nurainen]

2 hours ago, allyo said:

Eh, if we take nothing from either game, Alloa probably only need two points and Morton might not need any!

Not exactly; for Morton to 'not take any points' they would need to be defeated by at least one goal in each game Assuming we were also defeated by the odd goal in each game (1-0) we would both have the same points and goal difference, though we would have more Goals For than Morton.

Nevertheless, at least until 16:45 tomorrow, I am taking nothing for granted, and wouldn't bet against QOS, Alloa, and Morton all winning this weekend for they are all playing teams that don't desperately need League points, and us huffing and puffing tomorrow - especially with Skippy out of the running.

Edited April 26, 2019 by Semi Nurainen
SKippy

[muirparkman]

25 minutes ago, Lenziejag said:

A GAL ?

Thistleberight brought it up in his post. I just pointed it out.

[ARu-Strathbungo]

Tomorrow there will be no Skippy, hopefully the team will not miss him at all, but I doubt that will be the case. Tomorrow is when the good players should dictate the play, and we have more good players than Ayr United.

Also it depends what Thistle team turns up ….. will it be the Ross County first half, or the Ross County second half?

The eternal optimist in me says the 'first half' team will prevail and we will win well against a tired Ayr United … just need to hope the manager fields a team that starts the game well.

 

[Semi Nurainen]

Queens largely on top against County right now - just missed a sitter.

Commentator says 'Partick Thistle now in 6th position - look better than it actually is'!

Does he know something?

A second point blank save from Fox to keep County in it! FFS

Edited April 26, 2019 by Semi Nurainen
update

[Grubber8468]

One nil Ross county..... ya dancer!!!

[Semi Nurainen]

1-0 to County!

[Grubber8468]

3-0 now!!! Just need home win now tomorrow! 

[javeajag]

A win tomorrow is all we need