Thank you and Goodbye / Calderwood's position untenable

[Harcus]

I don't know if I'd be back at Pittodrie if Jeffries or Williamson was appointed. The  board has two massive decisions to make between now and June - one is whether to sack JC at all, the second being his replacement. Not sure I trust them with either.

[manc_don]

I don't know if I'd be back at Pittodrie if Jeffries or Williamson was appointed. The  board has two massive decisions to make between now and June - one is whether to sack JC at all, the second being his replacement. Not sure I trust them with either.

 

My answer to that would be no. As I think Kowalski said on another thread, if we actually make Europe, I would trust JC a helluva lot more than the names being touted. But alas I don't think we will finish third, that went after our draw with St. Midden, but we need to make sure we finish in a european spot. As you say, the board has a hell of a lot of thinking to do.

[Kowalski]

As I think Kowalski said on another thread, if we actually make Europe, I would trust JC a helluva lot more than the names being touted.

 

I don't think I said that but I agree.  Some of the names being touted are awful.

[AyrshireDon]

I'm v doubtful we'll have a chance at a Euro spot...

 

4 games before the split: Hibs(a), Well (a), ICT(h) and Celtic (a). how many points do you think we'll manage to collect.

 

Then look at

Utd: Celtic(h), Hibs(h), Hamilton(a), Killie(h)

Hibs: us(h), Utd(a), St Mirren(a), Rangers(h) <- perhaps our saving grace!

Well: Killie(a), Us(h), Rangers(a), St Mirren(h)

 

Don't know about you guys, but I'm far from confident we'll be in the right half of the league to go for europe come the split. Long story short, after the Celtic game we put our feet up thinking 'job done'. The huns were there for the taking & we did nothing.... after that it's been steadily downhill

 

[dave_min]

I'm not so sure if we should get rid of him (yet!). I was right up for a big 'Jimmy GTF' mini-protest after the game, but now i've had some time to think about it.....nah

 

Obviously last night, tactics were just wrong, there's no getting away from that, but over the years he's masterminded some great results against bigger teams, so overall, i'm ok with that side of things.

 

The other massive problem we seem to have is motivation! Especially against the smaller clubs. But surely if the Manager & his staff can't motivate the players we could get some sort of professional in to do it? I can't say I know too much about what they actually do, but I remember watching a documentary on Cricket (I think) and they got in some Sports Psychologist who used to talk to each of the players before and after each game and throughout training which gave the players the belief that they needed to push on and do well.

 

It's just an idea? I've no idea how much it'd cost to get this guy in to do all this, but surely if it helps us get a few more points on the board it'd be worth it? And even if it's not, he can't be any bigger a drain on the wage budget than Jamie Smith.

 

Also, the even bigger problem with getting rid of JC is the replacement? I don't think any sort of foreign manager will do any good in the SPL, so he would have to be some sort of Scottish lad, but then WHEN we get back in Europe, we'll also need somebody with some sort of European pedigree. So ideally we'd like somebody with a proven record in Scotland, and preferably some coaching experience in mainland europe (say.....Holland?) 

[???]

Obviously last night, tactics were just wrong

 

Can anyone honestly say they seen the team on paper before the game and thought, "we're going to lose this?"

 

Does anyone honestly think that Jimmy sent the team out to play the long-ball?  From where I was sitting it seemed that the team took this upon themselves when they started panicking about the score.

 

Does anyone really think that Jimmy can't motivate his players?  I really don't think Jimmy needed to motivate the players yesterday.  Wat more motivation do you need other than a potential semi-final with Falkirk should they have won last night?

 

I'm not suggesting Jimmy's blameless as anyone could see that he should have taken on Wright long before he did, but I think he's taking a lot of stick when the players need to take a lot of the blame as well.

[Superstar Tradesman]

Big deep breath.

 

I said at the start of the season he needed to win something, he wont now so I do think his time is probably up. However, in my opinion, he can walk away with our thanks in that he steadied the ship.

 

One of my biggest fears about JC leaving is the ability of our board to pick an adequate replacement. Judging on past performance, JC aside, we''ll end up as relegation fodder within 18 months.

 

I hat eto say it but better the devil you know?

 

Cheers Bilbo, saved me the bother of typing because like the players, I just couldn't be arsed to show up today.

 

The biggest thing for me is the manner of these defeats.  After the first ten minutes of pummeling Dunfermline last night I thought 'Great!  We're going to cruise this' then we ran out of ideas.  Second half starts and we get even worse.

 

The strikers never saw the ball, our defenders could have more or less smoked cigars all night except for the odd occasion.  So where the fuck was the ball for 120 minutes because Dunfermline certainly didn't do anything with it.

 

I think I counted around 10 corners last night, I can't remember a single shot on target the whole game.

 

Charlie Nic was raging afterwards, he said the players were cheating the fans.

 

Signed,

Dejected.

[manc_don]

Charlie Nic was raging afterwards, he said the players were cheating the fans.

 

Signed,

Dejected. 

 

I was curious as to what he said. I didn't hang around after the penalty debalce, I was pretty much ready to leave as the end of second half of extra time loomed.

[boboisared]

Can anyone honestly say they seen the team on paper before the game and thought, "we're going to lose this?"

Does anyone honestly think that Jimmy sent the team out to play the long-ball?  From where I was sitting it seemed that the team took this upon themselves when they started panicking about the score.

 

Does anyone really think that Jimmy can't motivate his players?  I really don't think Jimmy needed to motivate the players yesterday.  Wat more motivation do you need other than a potential semi-final with Falkirk should they have won last night?

 

I'm not suggesting Jimmy's blameless as anyone could see that he should have taken on Wright long before he did, but I think he's taking a lot of stick when the players need to take a lot of the blame as well.

Well he didn't seem bothered by the long ball we continually punted up the field. Hasn't seemed to bother him for the last two years either.

[BobbyBiscuit]

The commentator on Sky Sports got tore into the fans a couple of times.

"Negative" was a word he used frequently describing the fans.

 

The boos at half time pissed me off, as did the constant "aaaaccccchhhhh" after every pass, good or bad.

 

Last night became frustrating very quickly though - so a lot of the "negativity" was understandable.

 

Why the fuck wouldn't they shoot? They saw once what can happen when a long range shot took a deflection - they should have learned from this. Especially with the keepers struggling for footing and the ball bobbling about. Why didn't they shoot? Why do they hardly ever shoot?

 

(... and fuck you Sky Sports!)

 

That would be akin to taking some responsibility!

 

I was curious as to what he said. I didn't hang around after the penalty debalce, I was pretty much ready to leave as the end of second half of extra time loomed.

 

he wasn't happy. At half time he said something along the lines of "I've seen Darren Mackie play for years now, he gives you a lot of energy but nowhere near enough goals or quality" then stifled a laugh as it showed you a replay of the chance in the first min.

[???]

Well he didn't seem bothered by the long ball we continually punted up the field. Hasn't seemed to bother him for the last two years either.

 

It was the players choice.

[???]

So why even have a manager then? 

 

Is this a serious question?

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

It was the players choice.

 

Then Calderwood clearly failed to get the message through to them then.

 

I have said for years we have the thickest and largely naive team in the league, I have seen nothing to change that this season. That was more than made up for with effort and organisation. There is currently a lack of both despite having a pretty full squad to pick from. Was there really any need for Severin to play midfield?

 

The tactics and line up should matter very little, the players just went through the motions and deserve every boo and curse heading their way but Calderwood will be the one that actually takes the brunt. He is the where the buck stops and it is down to not being able to prepare the players well enough to have the attitude to go out and do cunts that are nowhere near our standard. It has happened way too often.

[Superstar Tradesman]

I'll also add that everything was wrong last night.

 

Sone was never going to have a good game on that pitch.  Playing 'football' wouldn't have worked either.  The long ball would have if played behind the two old, lumbering defenders.  Wright should have been on way earlier.

 

Just shocking stuff really.

[???]

Aye, ye cannae just blame the players and their choices

 

I've already covered this, the players as well as Jimmy are at fault...

 

The negative attitude of some in the crowd doesn't help either might I add.

[Mentorred]

tI remember watching a documentary on Cricket (I think) and they got in some Sports Psychologist who used to talk to each of the players before and after each game and throughout training which gave the players the belief that they needed to push on and do well.

 

It's just an idea? I've no idea how much it'd cost to get this guy in to do all this, but surely if it helps us get a few more points on the board it'd be worth it? And even if it's not, he can't be any bigger a drain on the wage budget than Jamie Smith.

 

 

Did we not try this in the 90's.

 

[boboisared]

It was the players choice.

So as you asked me, how do you know this?

[BobbyBiscuit]

tI remember watching a documentary on Cricket (I think) and they got in some Sports Psychologist who used to talk to each of the players before and after each game and throughout training which gave the players the belief that they needed to push on and do well.

 

It's just an idea? I've no idea how much it'd cost to get this guy in to do all this, but surely if it helps us get a few more points on the board it'd be worth it? And even if it's not, he can't be any bigger a drain on the wage budget than Jamie Smith.

 

 

Did we not try this in the 90's.

 

 

Yip, Jack Black I think it was. Said when we went out to the huns in the league cup quarter final after E.T that he knew we would go out as not enough of the players believed in themselves and were very sceptical re sports psychology. Basically said it was a waste of time with that particular group of players.

[Jute]

 

Did we not try this in the 90's.

 

 

Pretty sure we did. Was Either Alex "Wanker" Miller or Aitken I think.

[???]

So as you asked me, how do you know this?

 

I was sitting not far from Calderwood (in the Main Stand) and at no point did he instruct his players to start lumping it up the park.

 

You could see in the early stages of the game they were trying to play the ball around, which Dunfermline weren't getting close to, but there was no sense of urgency or speed applied to their game and the movement from the forward players - bar Aluko - was non-existent.  This was the point when the players started searching for the strikers with long balls.

 

I honestly believe that Calderwood kept Wright on the bench to stop us from automatically playing the long ball as he, like most, would've expected us to beat Dunfermline by playing football.  For whatever reason, the players just didn't turn up.

[boboisared]

I was sitting not far from Calderwood (in the Main Stand) and at no point did he instruct his players to start lumping it up the park.

 

You could see in the early stages of the game they were trying to play the ball around, which Dunfermline weren't getting close to, but there was no sense of urgency or speed applied to their game and the movement from the forward players - bar Aluko - was non-existent.  This was the point when the players started searching for the strikers with long balls.

 

I honestly believe that Calderwood kept Wright on the bench to stop us from automatically playing the long ball as he, like most, would've expected us to beat Dunfermline by playing football.  For whatever reason, the players just didn't turn up.

So that covers last night? What about most games I've seen in the last two years where the tactics always seem to involve the long ball?

[???]

So that covers last night? What about most games I've seen in the last two years where the tactics always seem to involve the long ball?

 

Lee Miller usually plays up-front, so you play to your strengths.  Like it or not, when you've got a big player like that up-front, you're going to play the long ball.

 

Every football team does this from the bottom up...

 

Do you honestly believe that Calderwood sent that team out to play the long ball to Maguire and Mackie?  If anything, it would appear to me that he hoped the pace of Aluko/Smith/Maguire/Mackie would be enough to get round the back of Dunfermline's defence.

[boboisared]

Lee Miller usually plays up-front, so you play to your strengths.  Like it or not, when you've got a big player like that up-front, you're going to play the long ball.

 

Every football team does this from the bottom up...

 

Do you honestly believe that Calderwood sent that team out to play the long ball to Maguire and Mackie?  If anything, it would appear to me that he hoped the pace of Aluko/Smith/Maguire/Mackie would be enough to get round the back of Dunfermline's defence.

Lee Miller is far better on the deck than in the air.

 

I saw us play the long ball to Lovell, Mackie and Stewart plenty of times.

 

I don't see why everyone seems to think we play good football? We don't, and it hasn't bothered me before because we always seem to scrape through in the end. But this one is unforgiveable.

[???]

Meant to add:

 

The fault of Calderwood last night was that he didn't address the obvious problems within our performance, and the substitutions that were made (although 1 or 2 were possibly forced) weren't enough to make a difference.  

 

With the way the game was going, Wright should have came on earlier in the game (around 60-70 mins) and Severin should have dropped back into defence when Mair came off (allowing Duff or Young to play in midfield, probably on the right, with Aluko behind the front two of Mackie and Wright, Kerr sitting in the middle of the park and Smith on the left).

 

It's all hypothetical now, and hindsight's a great thing, but I really think this is what he should have done.

 

Lee Miller is far better on the deck than in the air.

 

I saw us play the long ball to Lovell, Mackie and Stewart plenty of times.

 

I don't see why everyone seems to think we play good football? We don't, and it hasn't bothered me before because we always seem to scrape through in the end. But this one is unforgiveable.

 

I didn't say that.  However since you've brought it up, we can play some bloody good football at times.

 

As for Lee Miller, he gives us the option of playing the ball on the deck and in the air.  I totally agree he's better on the deck, but you need the other option sometimes.  Berbatov at Man United's the same.  He's about a hundred times better with the ball at his feet but you shouldn't discount what he can offer with his height.

[boboisared]

Meant to add:

 

The fault of Calderwood last night was that he didn't address the obvious problems within our performance, and the substitutions that were made (although 1 or 2 were possibly forced) weren't enough to make a difference.  

 

With the way the game was going, Wright should have came on earlier in the game (around 60-70 mins) and Severin should have dropped back into defence when Mair came off (allowing Duff or Young to play in midfield, probably on the right, with Aluko behind the front two of Mackie and Wright, Kerr sitting in the middle of the park and Smith on the left).

 

It's all hypothetical now, and hindsight's a great thing, but I really think this is what he should have changed.

Can't really argue with you.