Third Lanark Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 12 minutes ago, laukat said: I'm not so sure Raith have a bigger budget than us. I think they have a similar budget to us but perhaps more importantly a larger budget than they had last year. They also had an advantage in that they knew much earlier last season what division they would be playing in as they were the only club that was neither involved in relegation or promotion several weeks before the end of the season. Also they have a manager in who has been there for 18 months and now in his 4th transfer window. In our case we have a manager who is less than a year in post, was the last team of the likely promotion chasers to know they would be in the championship, who's budget went from unknown to non-existent to competitive and who is only now on his second transfer window so its not difficult to see why Raith are in better shape to pursue automatic promotion This season is largely make or break for Murray as Raith manager. Anything less than a playoff spot probably means he's arguably not done enough. He might one more shot at getting Raith promoted in season 24/25 but he will have increasingly less road in front of him. Doolan on the other hand is to my mind working on a team to challenge next season whilst being competitive enough this season to have go at the playoffs. Unless something goes badly wrong in the first half of next season he will only really be judged at the end of next season but will probably still have 25/26 to see if he can get us promoted. So to my mind we have 2 clubs and 2 managers at different points of a 2/3 year plan. Murray has just signed a 3 year deal at Raith. That doesn’t suggest to me in any way he is running out of time. Let’s face it if Raith don’t get promoted this season they will likely be favourites next season. if anyone is likely to be on borrowed time by not getting promotion then it’s likely to be Jim Goodwin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laukat Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 4 minutes ago, Third Lanark said: Murray has just signed a 3 year deal at Raith. That doesn’t suggest to me in any way he is running out of time. Let’s face it if Raith don’t get promoted this season they will likely be favourites next season. if anyone is likely to be on borrowed time by not getting promotion then it’s likely to be Jim Goodwin Agree about Goodwin. Possible he could binned even if they do get promoted. Also agree Raith are giving it a go this season and probably next. I think Raith extended Murray to ward off other clubs as his stock was/is quite high. Not so sure Raith would view finishing 5th as acceptable (unlikely they finish less than 2nd and at worst 3rd) .If at the middle of next season Raith are still not looking like they are getting out of the championship I doubt it will matter if Murray still has 2 years left on his contract they will still get rid as the owners will results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 7 minutes ago, laukat said: Agree about Goodwin. Possible he could binned even if they do get promoted. Also agree Raith are giving it a go this season and probably next. I think Raith extended Murray to ward off other clubs as his stock was/is quite high. Not so sure Raith would view finishing 5th as acceptable (unlikely they finish less than 2nd and at worst 3rd) .If at the middle of next season Raith are still not looking like they are getting out of the championship I doubt it will matter if Murray still has 2 years left on his contract they will still get rid as the owners will results. With the squad Raith have assembled I think they will finish at worst second this season and if they are still in championship then second next season as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laukat Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 Just now, Third Lanark said: With the squad Raith have assembled I think they will finish at worst second this season and if they are still in championship then second next season as well I would agree this season they are unlikely to be less than second. However in the summer they will have a challenge if they don't get promoted that they didn't last summer. Which as that they need to hold onto their better players. If we had been able to hold onto Holt, Docherty, Turner and Tiffoney I suspect we would be ahead of United and Raith. Finding replacements of similar quality able to hit the ground running is hard. The players Raith lost last season were largely ones they wanted rid of and not ones that Raith wanted to retain but got outbid by teams with more spending power. Raith may have to find replacements for Easton, Byrne, Hamilton etc. A near miss at promotion, as we found out, flags up you have players that other clubs might want to look at. So if they kept the same squad for next season they are probably there or thereabouts but that's a big if. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 4 minutes ago, laukat said: I would agree this season they are unlikely to be less than second. However in the summer they will have a challenge if they don't get promoted that they didn't last summer. Which as that they need to hold onto their better players. If we had been able to hold onto Holt, Docherty, Turner and Tiffoney I suspect we would be ahead of United and Raith. Finding replacements of similar quality able to hit the ground running is hard. The players Raith lost last season were largely ones they wanted rid of and not ones that Raith wanted to retain but got outbid by teams with more spending power. Raith may have to find replacements for Easton, Byrne, Hamilton etc. A near miss at promotion, as we found out, flags up you have players that other clubs might want to look at. So if they kept the same squad for next season they are probably there or thereabouts but that's a big if. Hamilton is on a 3 year deal at Raith which was a good move by them. They have offered Byrne a permanent contract for the summer as he is unlikely to have much of a future at Dundee. Agree with you about the players we lost although would he intersting if we could monitor what’s happening with them for next season. Turner is only on loan to Raith, will Tiffoney want more game time than he is getting at Dundee. Big if but if united don’t go up will they have to do a massive release of players or will the American owners just carry on paying extortionate wages and racking up huge debts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dl1971 Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 5 hours ago, javeajag said: Two assertions unsupported by any evidence …. You would be better to say … ‘ don’t know and I am happy in third place’ That's what I said....you do of course realise ( I trust ) that from here on in every single post you make will apparently have to be evidenced ( sic ) or based on irrefutable fact. If not the hypocrisy police may be having words...No opinion is to be allowed or countenanced by order of javeajag...should be a fun forum. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willjag Posted January 11 Members Report Share Posted January 11 I see Sean Welsh is signing for Queens Park. I’d like to see us sign someone like him, sits in the middle of the park and totally controls the midfield. There’s not many like him and Docherty around. The only other one that caught my eye this Season against us was Spencer for Falkirk that performed the same role. The other thing I wondered if Dools was considering was pushing Aero forward a little to play defensive midfield. I’m sure he played there before for Ayr against us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rid Skwerr Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 22 minutes ago, Willjag said: I see Sean Welsh is signing for Queens Park. I’d like to see us sign someone like him, sits in the middle of the park and totally controls the midfield. There’s not many like him and Docherty around. The only other one that caught my eye this Season against us was Spencer for Falkirk that performed the same role. The other thing I wondered if Dools was considering was pushing Aero forward a little to play defensive midfield. I’m sure he played there before for Ayr against us. Welcome back, Willjag - it's been a while. It's good to see you here again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 27 minutes ago, Willjag said: I see Sean Welsh is signing for Queens Park. I’d like to see us sign someone like him, sits in the middle of the park and totally controls the midfield. There’s not many like him and Docherty around. The only other one that caught my eye this Season against us was Spencer for Falkirk that performed the same role. The other thing I wondered if Dools was considering was pushing Aero forward a little to play defensive midfield. I’m sure he played there before for Ayr against us. I think that’s why we are trying to sign Shaun Byrne mate Good to have you back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 I think Raith will win the league. So it’s us scrapping with the Arabs, Airdire and the Pars for the playoff places. We miss Turner, it’s Raith’s gain now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 11 hours ago, Willjag said: The other thing I wondered if Dools was considering was pushing Aero forward a little to play defensive midfield. I’m sure he played there before for Ayr against us. Hi Will 👍 Muirhead did indeed play def mid often enough for Ayr. And played there against us at Firhill. I can foresee a situation where he's brought off the bench to play there but probably not as a starter. Perhaps if we were protecting a lead to play alongside another centre mid. If Aero was starting as centreback then it's more likely Neilson would slot into centre mid. Doolan has more or less stated that. Not dissimilarly the signing of O'Reilly gives us the option of playing a back three, yet in doing so not be over defensive. Neilson (played in the middle of the three) is good on the ball and moves forward with pace. Probably coming a game or so too early but a narrow pitch like Cappielow suits a 3-5-2 (3-5-1-1) line up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 12 hours ago, sandy said: I think Raith will win the league. So it’s us scrapping with the Arabs, Airdire and the Pars for the playoff places. We miss Turner, it’s Raith’s gain now. Morton still in the playoff mix as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 12 hours ago, sandy said: I think Raith will win the league. So it’s us scrapping with the Arabs, Airdire and the Pars for the playoff places. We miss Turner, it’s Raith’s gain now. It almost feels that Raith is making offers to any player they consider there rivals to be interested in - we have at least been paper linked with Shaun Byrne, Lee Ashcroft, Dom Thomas - they appear to be linked with them. Whispers that they are after Tiffoney as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggy Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 If they get Tiff that’ll be 2 play off failures in their team 🤪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 45 minutes ago, jaggy said: If they get Tiff that’ll be 2 play off failures in their team 🤪 Technically we still have several in our team but Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen1876 Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 I see Connor Smith has returned to Hearts from his loan at Scunny - he is exactly the type of player we need. Was really impressed with him in a poor Accies team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggy Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 30 minutes ago, Third Lanark said: Technically we still have several in our team but Hence the emoji. I was trying to lighten the tone a bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarciaBlaine Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 If and when we lose McMillan, which we will at some point, I’d like to see us try for Carson at ICT. I’ve never seen him play less than 8 out of 10 for them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 14 hours ago, MarciaBlaine said: If and when we lose McMillan, which we will at some point, I’d like to see us try for Carson at ICT. I’ve never seen him play less than 8 out of 10 for them. Papers today reporting that Dundee are interested in McMillan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWearsNumber9 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 14 hours ago, MarciaBlaine said: If and when we lose McMillan, which we will at some point, I’d like to see us try for Carson at ICT. I’ve never seen him play less than 8 out of 10 for them. Personally I would have Stephen O’Donnell back in a heart beat. I know he’s 31 now but he is a regular starter in the premier league and still looks in great shape. I believe he’s out of contract in the summer and would be a realistic target as someone who is still will liked at the club. I understand the age aspect but I see no reason why he couldn’t give us a good few years in the championship if he’s still performing at premier league level. Also a threat going forward to try and fill the gap McMillan will leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWearsNumber9 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Just now, HeWearsNumber9 said: Personally I would have Stephen O’Donnell back in a heart beat. I know he’s 31 now but he is a regular starter in the premier league and still looks in great shape. I believe he’s out of contract in the summer and would be a realistic target as someone who is still will liked at the club. I understand the age aspect but I see no reason why he couldn’t give us a good few years in the championship if he’s still performing at premier league level. Also a threat going forward to try and fill the gap McMillan will leave. Also added factor he will likely be a mate of Doolans as a former team mate for many years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elevenone Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 McCready heads out on loan. https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-news/loan-news-mason-mccready-joins-the-spartans-on-loan/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarciaBlaine Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 1 hour ago, HeWearsNumber9 said: Personally I would have Stephen O’Donnell back in a heart beat. I know he’s 31 now but he is a regular starter in the premier league and still looks in great shape. I believe he’s out of contract in the summer and would be a realistic target as someone who is still will liked at the club. I understand the age aspect but I see no reason why he couldn’t give us a good few years in the championship if he’s still performing at premier league level. Also a threat going forward to try and fill the gap McMillan will leave. Another very good shout. Wages potentially an issue but would welcome him back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Dastardly Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Nothing against SOD, but why are we always looking at former players ? There are decent players out there who haven’t played for The Jags before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandy Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 22 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said: Nothing against SOD, but why are we always looking at former players ? There are decent players out there who haven’t played for The Jags before. He’s cheaper than Mbappe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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