Garscube Road End Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) I'm guessing expectation levels among the majority of fans will be 8th-10th. My opinion with the current squad is 12th or at a push possibly 11th. Quite simply we do not have enough goals in us and our defence will be like a sieve again. Maybe in 8 weeks time my opinion will have changed but I think Archibalds achilles heel, regardless of who we sign, will be his loyalty to the guys who got us out of Div 1. Strap yourselves in. Gonna be another long hard bumpy ride. Are you saying Hamilton have a better squad than us?, that Kilmarnock are to find a goalscorer to replace Boyd, who's goals kept them up? And that Dundee's new players are better than us?. Not in my opinion. As for Archie's loyalty to certain players, that's debatable. He didn't show a great deal of loyalty in cutting a few players loose las January. We have goals in us alright. Doolan proved that last season, Higginbotham will be more productive this season, Stevenson is no slouch and I believe that Fraser will be a better player this season. Of course this is just my opinion. And I believe Archie will bring in a few players that fit our whole ethos. Edited July 7, 2014 by Garscube Road End Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willjag Posted July 7, 2014 Members Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 TLB says, "the current squad", I can see why he's saying this. A poor defence from last season has been weakened further at the moment. Midfield to front I'm satisfied with, I do feel we need a defensive midfielder, a Centre Half better than Mair and a Left Back that's at least good at defending. I doubt we'll get a like for like replacement for ATS. Until we make those 3 signings, my expectations for the coming season are low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottymagoo Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Staying up comfortably playing decent football with some more home wins and an end to throwing away points late in the game please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jukebox Rebel Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 ^^ Well, let's just hope that we don't replace the Taylors with candlestick makers. As always I go into the season praying for a major Cup to be won. St Mirren and St Johnstone have shown it can be done. Bit of luck, bit of skill, why not? Can we win three League Cup games in a row for the first time since 1975? Can we get to the Scottish Cup quarter finals for the first time this decade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinKelvin Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 10th would be perfectly acceptable - we've got a better squad than Hamilton or Kilmarnock and at least as good if not better than ICT and St Murn though, so I think we should be aiming for 7th. A lot will hinge on key players staying fit, and who comes in at CB and striker. Doolan and Higgy to win at least one goal of the month each for their excellent efforts. A decent cup run as a wee bonus. Personally, I'd like to see a home win. Think I went to 11 or 12 home games last season without doing so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 (edited) I don't buy the patter about us not having enough up front. We have for next season: Doolan (11 goals last time out), Higginbotham (8 goals and 10 assists last time out), Stevenson (7 goals last time out) and Lawless (5 goals last time out). From only 4 players, that's us almost at a goal a game, and the rest of the squad can chip in, especially at set-plays. Guys like Gary Fraser, Stuart Bannigan, Sean Welsh and Christie Elliott should bag 2 or 3 each and Muirhead, who we will have back this season, and Balatoni, are set-piece threats. The squad right now is actually not that bad up front. It's all about defensive cover. Right now, if pushed, we'd be putting out a team like this: Gallagher O'Donnell Muirhead Balatoni McMillan Fraser Welsh/Craigen Bannigan Lawless/Stevenson_____________Higginbotham Doolan Subs: Fox, Piccolo, Keenan, Welsh/Craigen, Elliott, Lawless/Stevenson, McDaid It's painfully obvious to anyone where the weak spots are compared to how we lined up last year. We need a replacement for ATS, a holding defensive-mid to cover for Welsh, and an extra centre-back. Another striker, though desirable, is lower down the order of priorities for the simple reason that, if Doolan gets injured, we would make do with Stevenson up front and if Higginbotham gets injured, Lawless or Elliott slot in. Until we sort out LWB and CB cover, I'm not confident in that team staying up or pushing on. In front of the back 4, it can probably just about get by as it is until the inevitable mid-season spate of injuries and suspensions. Archie has said he is looking to bring in 6 players if I read something elsewhere correctly. If that includes Stevenson, his priorities will be a LWB, a CB, a holding midfielder (someone imposing and graft-like to do the ugly stuff, think something of the Osborne mould), an attacking midfielder (in the Erskine role) and then either a striker or another central defender. That's the order I'd be looking. Sort out the back 4 and we'll be confident of staying up. Sort out the back 4 and get in a commanding midfielder and we'll comfortably stay up. Do that and get another decent striker? We should be aiming for top 6. Edited July 7, 2014 by Woodstock Jag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky jag Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 My expectations are that we'll be in a relegation battle. The current squad is weaker than the one that finished the season with no taylor, ats, ozzy, and mair, all 4 players would start when fit in current squad. So we need a good few players signed, and quality ones t that, before i'll be thinkin about challenging top 6. If archie can get us a few new bodies in that of spl starting quality, im confident we can avoid relegation and finish 8-10th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westertonjagfan Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Happy with 10th again. Anything else will be a bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metzmagic Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Does anyone else see Stevenson as the Taylor alternative? Higgy, Dools and Ryan up front. Also Ozzy was missing for the crux of the season so to me that leaves ATS and Mair as requiring replacing! All the squad have a year under their belt in the Premiership and I would take them over anything Dundee, Hamilton, Killie and St Midden, apart from Thompson, have in their squad and have signed this summer! The most optimistic I have EVER been supporting the Jags! In Archie We Trust. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaminglasgow Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I'm not sure how to phrase this, but I'm actually completely fine that Osborne hasn't re-signed. He's undoubtedly a very good ball winning midfielder, and would walk into most premiership teams based on individual ability. However, it's not about who has the best individuals in the team, it's about who has the best team, and I would argue that the team works far more effectively as a unit without him in it. Our style of play requires the two centre mids to be very energetic in linking play, and that simply isn't osbounes game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I'm not sure how to phrase this, but I'm actually completely fine that Osborne hasn't re-signed. He's undoubtedly a very good ball winning midfielder, and would walk into most premiership teams based on individual ability. However, it's not about who has the best individuals in the team, it's about who has the best team, and I would argue that the team works far more effectively as a unit without him in it. Our style of play requires the two centre mids to be very energetic in linking play, and that simply isn't osbounes game. I'm not sure I totally agree but I certainly know you're not alone with that thinking. I feel we're likely to sign a not too mobile solid defensive mid if we are looking at Cregg or Osbourne. That would give us a different option to Welsh who fit is a more than likely starter. Fraser and Bannigan might be required to play with more width if McMillan is preferred to SOD and we can't get a like for like replacement for ATS. That in turn could mean we'd require someone to play that central role kinda like Shug Murray was brought in to do a couple of seasons ago. It may be at least prudent to have that option covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Heart says 6th, head says 10th... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 TLB says, "the current squad", I can see why he's saying this. A poor defence from last season has been weakened further at the moment. Midfield to front I'm satisfied with, I do feel we need a defensive midfielder, a Centre Half better than Mair and a Left Back that's at least good at defending. I doubt we'll get a like for like replacement for ATS. Until we make those 3 signings, my expectations for the coming season are low. Correct .... A defence with Conrad with gabby/muirhead will really struggle on the evidence if last season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) My expectations are that we'll be in a relegation battle. The current squad is weaker than the one that finished the season with no taylor, ats, ozzy, and mair, all 4 players would start when fit in current squad. So we need a good few players signed, and quality ones t that, before i'll be thinkin about challenging top 6. If archie can get us a few new bodies in that of spl starting quality, im confident we can avoid relegation and finish 8-10th. No one can be sure how things will pan out but it's a bit daft talking about the "current squad" when we know the manager is looking to bring in 4-5 players. If he gets the right ones I think we can avoid the relegation struggle if he doesn't (and I'd reckon most likely is a dud or two, two decent squad players and a good one) then maybe we'll be in it but a lot of other factors come into play like the experience the current squad have under their belt yet and the mix of the players we bring in. The players which have to be decent or good are centre back and left back. Defence is where we need strengthening and the manager has to focus on that and make sure he doesn't make mistakes with his signings there. As other posters have said, going forward we have good attacking players and players flexible enough to cover for injuries. Midfield - Osbourne was injured for most of the 2nd half of last season so talking about him being a loss is silly as we won lot of games and stayed up without him. Bannigan and Fraser make a good combination - I think Fraser has come on a storm after a shaky start and could be a key player for us next season. As we can't be sure about Welsh and I'm not totally convinced by Craigen (and I think McMillan or Muirhead should only be used in midfield in emergencies) we need to get another midfield player in - he too must be a decent player. BTW I'd hope we get in 4-5 decent to good players, I'm just going on the assumption that for a club like us that can't throw big bucks around 1 or 2 players you sign will disappoint in some way. If they're not too great I hope they're triers: last season Baird at least was a trier, Kerr wasn't. If we can get in a good, experienced centre half and a good left back and a decent midfielder I reckon we'll do OK. Another striker would be a real bonus. Edited July 8, 2014 by Mr Bunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillresigned Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) Still a touch early to make any predictions on how we'll do this year, when we have no real knowledge of what our options are. I'll leave that kind of thing to Chick Dung et al. Being realistic, I'd be happy to survive in the division for another year, particularly with the exception of Stevenson our squad at this minute seems even more threadbare than last year. In over thirty years of watching Thistle I' e learned the hard way "to be careful what I wish for", I would of course, be delighted to be proved completely and utterly wrong and unduly pessimistic. Edited July 8, 2014 by stillresigned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Survival in the Premiership is the fundamental aim. Isn't there some kind of view that newly promoted teams often survive their first season but then struggle in the season after that? That was certainly the pattern for us last time around. I'm getting worried about the lack of a good, natural left-back and a good, experienced central defender. I'm sure Archie and Scott are working hard to get these positions filled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindau Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Survival in the Premiership is the fundamental aim. Isn't there some kind of view that newly promoted teams often survive their first season but then struggle in the season after that? That was certainly the pattern for us last time around. I'm getting worried about the lack of a good, natural left-back and a good, experienced central defender. I'm sure Archie and Scott are working hard to get these positions filled. Archie has stated several times that he is looking to bring in around 6 players. With only Stevenson added, unless I have missed someone, I think we will see a fair bit of activity in the coming weeks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancipital Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Agree that it's a bit tricky to judge based on the fact the squad isn't near complete. If we bring in another 5 guys the same calibre as Stevenson in their requisite positions we should in theory be fine, but there's not many obvious targets floating around- I suspect we'll be gambling on a few previously unknown quantities, which could be great or could be a disaster. Wouldn't expect anything else from following Thistle though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Agree that it's a bit tricky to judge based on the fact the squad isn't near complete. If we bring in another 5 guys the same calibre as Stevenson in their requisite positions we should in theory be fine, but there's not many obvious targets floating around- I suspect we'll be gambling on a few previously unknown quantities, which could be great or could be a disaster. Wouldn't expect anything else from following Thistle though. Archie said not to expect more of the Stevenson calibre. On STV news video interview the day we signed him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougie247 Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 2nd season i will be happy if we avoid the playoff spot.. 3rd season is where we build to go higher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Archie said not to expect more of the Stevenson calibre. On STV news video interview the day we signed him. I would rather we only, say, signed 3 more players (a CB, a LB and a DM) of around or just below Stevenson's calibre than 5 which were significantly below or an unknown quantity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) I would rather we only, say, signed 3 more players (a CB, a LB and a DM) of around or just below Stevenson's calibre than 5 which were significantly below or an unknown quantity. The point is we will buy what we have money to afford. We have lost Taylor, Mair, (probably) Osbourne, ATS and Erskine all of who we were paying a wage or part of a wage and all of who were important players for us for at least part of last season. That's 5 players we need to bring in (though you could argue Stevenson is our Erskine replacement, though a different kind of player he offers a creative and goal threat). So we already have the money to bring in another 4 players, probably more considering we've got about £100 K more to spend than last season. I don't advocate more than another 5 players and with the extra money this season we should be able to afford decent quality. As I've already said, and others have said, we have a good attacking team already and the vital thing to sort out is a good left back and centre half. Get these sorted and see what money is left. Ideally. Of course it doesn't always work that way. If we suddenly get the opportunity of signing a really good forward I reckon we'll sign him - but always making sure we've got the resources to bring in the two defenders we need. Archie has talked about bringing in 5-6 players; with Stevenson signed I reckon that's 4-5. That's not a lot of players, especially when you take into account 2 or 3 are needed as replacements for important players we've lost so I don't see us splashing out on numbers at the expense of quality. Doesn't mean you can't have bad luck with who you sign but if we get good replacement defenders I'll be quite happy. Edited July 8, 2014 by Mr Bunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 For most promoted teams the second season is more difficult than the first.....so please some signings before the end of August Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Re this 2nd season is more difficult. I think our poor home form plus the period when we found goals difficult to come by meant we ended up (after a good start) struggling more than we should have. Perversely that might stand us in good stead with players knowing what it's all about now. Teams promoted doing well in their first season is usually down to confidence from being a winning team the previous season. We had that confidence at the start but due to weaknesses mentioned we got dragged into the dogfight. But surviving the dogfight once means players have the experience needed to do it again. We still need players coming in but the bulk of the squad has shown they can handle the pressure and I don't think we have to worry from that point of view. Of course nothing is certain. As long as we get a decent team together that works hard and tries to play good football I'll be happy (though no doubt panicking at times too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillresigned Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) The area of most concern I feel, is in our central defence, this I'm sure will be top of Archie's shopping list. If we want to avoid another dogfight we'll certainly have to stop losing so many soft goals and make our opponents work a good deal harder than many of them had to do last season. It would of course be nice to sign a replacement for Taylor, since I can easily see us suffering if we are similarly profligate in front of goal next season. However, being a realist I'll not be holding my breath on that score. Edited July 8, 2014 by stillresigned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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