17-18 reflection

[LA-Don]

Well, what an interesting season. Many a time I’d have been happy to see DM move on, but now we finish the season 2nd, only 9 behind Celtic and 3 points less than our total of last year. That’s not bad at all. Cups were certainly a disappointment though, and I hope Celtic win the Scottish cup and we get two weeks more of a summer before the European run begins again (if that is indeed correct.)

 

Certainly disappointed to take 4 points out of 24 from the old firm. Hopefully DM has learned how to play those games as the first 6 were pretty depressing stuff. I expect a stronger Rangers next year, but I highly doubt they’ll get too much money and I think at worst second should be the aim. Hearts will be the same and I think we’ll see a weaker Hibs.

 

We have a major rebuild on our hands but I’m good with that and feel better than I did last summer. I’m not bothered to see Woodman, Ball, Stewart, Christie, and Chidi return to their clubs. Christie fell away but will be missed and we need quality to replace him, the rest were squad fillers who should be easy to replace, preferably with mainly youth. I’d take Stewart back but he’s just not quick or athletic enough for DMs system,  or consistent enough for me. OConnor, Maynard, Arneson, and Rogers are no blow to lose either. Devlin will pair up with McKenna with Reynolds, Considine and hopefully a young loon as back up.

 

McLean will be missed, although I couldn’t give two shits about him until recently when he started performing. Would like to see him replaced with McGeough and I haven’t seen the boy flat out say he’s going south.

 

We need back up to Lewis, need a starting left back to add to Logan, and the two boys in the middle. Need a back up to Shay too, possibly a replacement but we have so many other positions to fill perhaps next summer. We need a quality guy to push McGinn, GMS, and Wright, although it’s probably best to see Wright go out on loan. Two center mids to combine with Shinnie, and fuck knows what we do up top. We paid a chunk of money for May and I was happy to get him, but he just doesn’t look good enough for the way DM plays. Opponents don’t fear our center forward and that’s a position that must worry defenders.

 

I’d say we have

 

Lewis

Logan-Devlin-McKenna-signing

Signing-Shinnie

Signing-signing-McGinn

Signing

 

Our bench should include Considine, Reynolds, Wright, Tansey, GMS, May, Cosgrove, and Ferguson. Then we pad out with youth.

 

So, at worst we definitely need a starting left back and two center mids and a wide mid (Cadden from Motherwell?) so that’s four proven quality guys needed to start for us. I’d really say a quality forward too. We took a risk in signing players who could be good because they were good once but none of Stewart, May, or GMS, our big summer signings, were consistently good enough to be key players for us. I see Tony Watt in that mold.

 

Will be an interesting summer. Stand free.

[manc_don]

Good thread.

 

It’s a funny one, the result shouldn’t change your outlook on a season, but it has. The team actually delivered when they absolutely needed to. Achieving second spot with that squad, a manage who looked elsewhere twice and didn’t know his best XI for the entire season? That’s pretty good going. As I said in the match thread, hopefully that’s that monkey off dms and the teams back. They know they can do it.

 

That said, it was an incredibly frustrating one as we know that team are capable of playing better than they have for the vast majority of this season. Countless big games they failed to show up. This isn’t a great Celtic side and they were exposed by plenty this season. I’m glad we finally managed it, first clean sheet at park head since 94, that’s no mean feat. But where was that level of intensity and desire before?

 

As you say, it’s a huge summer and I am intrigued to see how McInnes recruits. Still not sure I trust him to do it, his record isn’t great and May really has been a waste of money. Maybe there is hope for him / Rooney to develop a relationship with Cosgrove, but we can’t afford to have an impotent attack like this season. However, I’m confident that if the service is there, the goals will come so my priorities are midfield and defence.

 

The cups this season have been thoroughly disappointing. Having decent draws in both, we really should have capitalised on them. The manner of those big game defeats is what really needs to change for next season. We’re going to lose games, of course we are, just show a bit more ambition and turn up. Give ourselves a fighting chance.

 

Overall, I’d give a B-, good but could improve

[Ten Caat]

I still personally think DM has taken us as far as he can but concede second place is decent considering sevcos financial advantage ( although we all know they are living way beyond their means). This summer is make or break for DM....simply has to replace outgoing players far better than he did last summer. I'd like to see us try to keep Christie, Ball and Woodman out of the loans but in all honesty though I think Christie has no future at Celtic I also think he will pick up 10k a week at a mid table English Championship club like a Preston.

Woodman I really rate....he's still young and obv won't be anywhere near the Newcastle team for ages. Not sure he would want to swap 3rd choice Newcastle for 2nd choice with us.....he needs games and so I think he will go on loan down south to a Division 1 side. I really think he could be Joes replacement in 2 or 3 seasons though...

 

Ball I expect we do have a chance of getting in free as a decent squad player. Stewart obv has bags of skill on his left foot. However I've seen amputees with false right legs that can do more with them than Stewart can with his right peg. Also looks like he is overweight and slow as a wet weekend in Siberia. So he can go back to Bham....he might do well at Motherwell or resigning for Dundee but his wages will be a stumbling block to any Scottish side interested

[Tyrant]

I'm going to give credit where it's due. I never expected us in a million years to go undefeated post split with the fixtures we had. We've never done it in the top six before and Deek has a poor post split record but we had it all to play for. After the crushing disappointment of surrendering in the Scottish cup it was vital that we secured 2nd spot. Finally managing to hurt Rangers and Celtic a little helped paper over the cracks of a frustrating season. It could have been so different. But the squad was poorer this season and Rangers' was stronger. With a strong Hibs in the mix too we've done well over all so credit to the players and management for that.

[BobbyBiscuit]

I'm going to give credit where it's due. I never expected us in a million years to go undefeated post split with the fixtures we had. We've never done it in the top six before and Deek has a poor post split record but we had it all to play for. After the crushing disappointment of surrendering in the Scottish cup it was vital that we secured 2nd spot. Finally managing to hurt Rangers and Celtic a little helped paper over the cracks of a frustrating season. It could have been so different. But the squad was poorer this season and Rangers' was stronger. With a strong Hibs in the mix too we've done well over all so credit to the players and management for that.

 

This is pretty much how I see it.

 

Frustrating that we end up only 9 points behind Celtic when so many points were surrendered so meekly. I know many will say that if we were closer to Celtic they'd have kicked on and that is probably true, but we have to at least ask the question and see if they can cope with that pressure.

 

I hope the club takes the attitude that we can contend for the very top of the league and aren't merely content with competing for 2nd spot. Always going to be hard for us given the disparity in budgets of course, but we have to aim for the top.

 

Yesterday was a great result, and a good team performance. Hopefully that shows the players they can do it, and it gets that monkey off McInnes's back too which is a good thing.  Big summer coming up for us, I hope we show a wee bit more creativity in terms of signings.

[TheDeeDon]

I didn't enjoy the season I have to admit. Too many performances where we were dreadful and pretty awful to watch, but we managed to finish second and McInnes deserves to give most of us a GIRFUY for that as I never thought for a minute we would, but it was still very sweet to do it.

 

We have a big summer coming up on the transfer front and I really hope we can bring in some good players who will improve us, which I don't think any of last summer players did.

 

I would be surprised if no clubs come in for McInnes. We can gripe all we want about his failings, but he has done a decent job with us and has been pretty consistent results wise, which a lot of English clubs will be well aware of.

 

 

[Elgindon]

Canna believe our final points tally given the ratio of mediocre performances this season.

    To be fair to Derek,I think we have to consider that there doesnt seem to be a large pool of players out there of the standard that we want to attract,let alone being available at the right time which might partially explain the imbalance of the positions he filled?Look at some of the names being bandied about.....Ali Crawford,Michael O'Halloran etc.Decent but nae exactly inspiring(though we would have been jizzing ourselves at the prospect a couple of years ago).

    If we can find the right midfield pairing initially,and work out from there,we wont go far wrong.Who that pairing is I have no idea....

[Ramperbamper]

Turbulent sounds about right.

 

Don't like the idea of over-celebrating 2nd, but it feels quite satisfying given all that's happened.

 

If we're being kind and say the summer recruitment was so-so, then McInnes deserves praise for bringing it together well enough to claim 2nd, notwithstanding the poor outcomes in the cups.

 

Peak McInnes was when he completely united the support in his early days. Next season it'd be great if we got regular results against the cheeks, which hopefully would stop sections of the support being dicks to each other ("happy clapper" chat etc) and we pushed on from there.

[Jute]

2nd in the league is a decent finish given twice we had club disrupted by speculation around the manager. Cup performances especially the way we were beaten in both games was very disappointing.

 

Best performance this season was 4-1 destruction of Leith Junkies but there were few games where we reached that level. Performances against the Tribute Act were especially disappointing.

 

The recruitment this summer needs to be better. We need to get players who fit the system we play rather than just getting in whoever is available and trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

[RicoS321]

The recruitment this summer needs to be better. We need to get players who fit the system we play rather than just getting in whoever is available and trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

 

I actually think that was the intention last summer. It's certainly not ridiculous to suggest that. GMS was brought in to replace the attacking of Hayes, with the pace to get back when required. Stewart to replace McGinn on the wing, but drifting into the centre at will. May to be the predator but with a slight injection of pace over Rooney. Tansey to fill the hole left by Jack and Christie to play behind the striker in place of Christie.

 

I'd say all the players fitted our system quite well on paper. It just turned out that they were pish(er) at it. It was only when that became apparent that the shoe-horning plan B came into play. When he started to mix Rooney and May together, when he realised that GMS wasn't consistent enough to be relied on, and finally realised that Tansey had always been gash. It was the too-late realisation that 4-2-3-1 could easily be countered by playing a wide 3 at the back and the dicking about with our own back 3 to try and counteract that - foiled by playing Rooney and May again, and with no reliable left wing back. It took us until we finally realised that playing the big striker in Cosgrove would help us retain the ball higher up the pitch and get possession in decent areas whilst also cutting out the passing around by the opposition defence.

 

I think McInnes will/should have learnt a lot about both his preferred line up and his preferred system. These things go in cycles, and I'd expect to see us flit between a back 3/5 and a 4 next season quite regularly and with a bit better organisation. Key will be a couple of decent midfielders in either system and a new striker with more pace (or power ala Moult if he decides to play two big guys up front like the brutally effective O'Neill tims of the early nineties).

 

We need a minimum of 3 first eleven signings in the summer. It's a big one again.

[Jute]

Although Stewart and the swimmer were wide players they were never going to track back to provide the support to our full backs the way Hayes and McGinn did.

[Ten Caat]

Stewart never tracks back. It's a bit disingenuous to say that Flipper doesn't though. He runs his arse off however his problem is that he is powder puff in challenges......

[RicoS321]

Although Stewart and the swimmer were wide players they were never going to track back to provide the support to our full backs the way Hayes and McGinn did.

 

I totally agree, however I'm saying that it wasn't unfeasible to assume that those two could perform all, or a good part of, the function of the two that left. We weren't going to exactly replace Hayes for example, we sold him for £1.3M, so GMS was easily seen as "best fit". Since the split, he's provided Hayes-like cover too as well as the attacking outlet. Similarly Stewart. Based on his dundee days, it was clear he provided similar attacking qualities to McGinn, but lazy back the way. Again, it still should have fitted into our system as Logan's pace could/should have helped nullify Stewart's lack of it. McGinn was never lightening either. I would have thought that what McInnes assumed he was getting was a budget version of Hayes and McGinn that would have allowed us to retain a system that fed a main striker. He'd have also have thought that in May, he had someone that would have made up for any shortfall in the wide players. He was utterly wrong, obviously, as we were 20 goals worse off. The biggest problem is that he made those assumptions whilst failing to sign a plan B alternative. I'd argue - as I did in January when we signed him - that if we hadn't got Cosgrove, we'd have finished fourth. He allowed us to change system successfully.

 

[TheDeeDon]

Although Stewart and the swimmer were wide players they were never going to track back to provide the support to our full backs the way Hayes and McGinn did.

 

I think we saw more fight from GMS in the later part of the season, especially after the split, but he is good to watch in an attacking sense.  Stewart hasn't got the pace to track back, but still a decent player to have if used correctly, but it is a big if.

[Ernie]

A good season spoiled by regular regular lack of fight/bottle/tactics (I know not what) against the huns and Celtic.

Overall though, the market we are able to deal in is evident again and it is clear that we will be relying on frees, loans and cheap options.  I'm amazed we can keep the standard up to enable 2nd place four years on the trot. If Celtic, sevco or anyone in the top three divisions in England fancy any of our targets they will get them.  Makes for interesting management though!

[manc_don]

I totally agree, however I'm saying that it wasn't unfeasible to assume that those two could perform all, or a good part of, the function of the two that left. We weren't going to exactly replace Hayes for example, we sold him for £1.3M, so GMS was easily seen as "best fit". Since the split, he's provided Hayes-like cover too as well as the attacking outlet. Similarly Stewart. Based on his dundee days, it was clear he provided similar attacking qualities to McGinn, but lazy back the way. Again, it still should have fitted into our system as Logan's pace could/should have helped nullify Stewart's lack of it. McGinn was never lightening either. I would have thought that what McInnes assumed he was getting was a budget version of Hayes and McGinn that would have allowed us to retain a system that fed a main striker. He'd have also have thought that in May, he had someone that would have made up for any shortfall in the wide players. He was utterly wrong, obviously, as we were 20 goals worse off. The biggest problem is that he made those assumptions whilst failing to sign a plan B alternative. I'd argue - as I did in January when we signed him - that if we hadn't got Cosgrove, we'd have finished fourth. He allowed us to change system successfully.

 

Your last point is spot on. In Cosgrove we suddenly had a striker who was able to hold the ball up and successfully lay it off for others around them. Not something Rooney or may are really capable of. Rooney’s qualities of course lay elsewhere. Obviously scoring goals is crucial for a striker so I hope he (Cosgrove) adds that to his game over the summer.

 

Think you’re probably right about McInnes’ thought process, I’d also say he probably had to make a few rushed signings so went for logical, albeit cheaper replacements. I really hope he has a summer where he’s not distracted. That’s what really fucked us over last summer.

[SeeBass]

I'm a bit like Deek.  No matter what I love watching my team Live just we don't get to do it enough.  I attend eleven matches this year and must say our 'Top Six' highlights were as follows;

 

1. Scott McKenna's Kilmarnock piledriver.

 

2. Graeme Shinnie's Cypriot curler.

 

3. Stevie May's second against Dundee was a very emotional moment for me as I hugged older bloke next to me for about three or four minutes afterwards.  I've not really felt emotional engagement with our team for a very long time but in that split second it returned but for a fleeting moment.  Nothing against the lads I think it probably has more to do with what has been going on in one's private life and that goal just reminded me how important the team are to yours truly when chips are down.

 

4. Never get tired of watching a 1-0 victory and an Adam Rooney winner like between Christmas and New Year versus Partick Thistle.

 

5. Saw two hat-trick's too.  Adam Rooney (St.Johnstone) and Gary Mackay-Steven (Hibernian) which must be a first for me.

 

6.  Meeting such a polite young man in Ryan Christie on second floor of Union Square Shopping Centre morning after he scored opener against Siroki Brijeg. 

 

[Goldie03]

I'm a bit like Deek.  No matter what I love watching my team Live just we don't get to do it enough.  I attend eleven matches this year and must say our 'Top Six' highlights were as follows;

 

1. Scott McKenna's Kilmarnock piledriver.

 

2. Graeme Shinnie's Cypriot curler.

 

3. Stevie May's second against Dundee was a very emotional moment for me as I hugged older bloke next to me for about three or four minutes afterwards.  I've not really felt emotional engagement with our team for a very long time but in that split second it returned but for a fleeting moment.  Nothing against the lads I think it probably has more to do with what has been going on in one's private life and that goal just reminded me how important the team are to yours truly when chips are down.

 

4. Never get tired of watching a 1-0 victory and an Adam Rooney winner like between Christmas and New Year versus Partick Thistle.

 

5. Saw two hat-trick's too.  Adam Rooney (St.Johnstone) and Gary Mackay-Steven (Hibernian) which must be a first for me.

 

6.  Meeting such a polite young man in Ryan Christie on second floor of Union Square Shopping Centre morning after he scored opener against Siroki Brijeg.

 

What a lovely post Seebass, made me smile at work yesterday when I was having a particularly rotten day.  I too was at the game to see Rooney's hat-trick. Haven't seen them score too many other goals at games I attended this season so that was my highlight too. The dons are very lucky to have you as a fan