Alexander.

[C&A not the shop]

7 minutes ago, Yodo said:

Eh he signed the players but your willing to give him another go in the transfer market cannae believe that 

He signed based on a large squad, I'm saying the extra cash per player from carrying a smaller squad will help with quality and a settled line up will let players know their role better. 

It's an optimistic way of looking at things, but since we all know he won't be  getting bagged it's as well to hope as it is to be miserable about it.

[Yorkyred]

7 hours ago, dennyc said:

Our “current form” form is that we have been abysmal since the start of 2022 and our Manager has been unable to reverse the decline. And that assessment of decline is not based on a few poor results over a couple of weeks. Four months is a long time to most football fans.  He has shown no intention of adjusting tactics that have been found out by our opponents and are exposing our players week after week. For whatever reason he has marginalised numerous players and played others out of position in an effort to shoe horn in others.  Performances when selected appear to count for nothing. Good or bad.
Our Cup record is that we were terrible in the League Cup, scraping through a Group of lower league teams….were you at Airdrie?….. and ultimately losing out to the team more than likely who will finish bottom of the Premiership. Fans were questioning Alexander back then. Clearly too early in the day but a sign of things to come. In the Scottish Cup we had a wonder goal to thank for struggling past a Morton team nowhere near a Championship play off spot, a great result against a struggling  Aberdeen and then blew it against a Hibs team who were later consigned to the bottom six. That Hibs result in my opinion due mostly to Alexander persisting with a player at right back who was an accident waiting to happen in order to facilitate a formation that has become so predictable. A decent Centre Back but a liability at full back. 
And you will see I did give credit to Alexander and the team for our position at the break. For our position but not the style of play or for entertainment value. The league position made that just about bearable, Just. 
Unlike you, I do not have faith in Alexander any more and I would not be disappointed to see him replaced sooner than later. Yes I accept that the squad next season will look a tad different, although nineteen of the current squad ( many of whom Alexander signed ) are contracted beyond 2022. Our best player pre break has already departed and our best player since the break is also heading out the door. I am not convinced Alexander has any intention of changing the approach currently adopted or of recruiting players to make that even possible.

In summary, I believe our success in making top six is despite Graeme Alexander and not because of Graeme Alexander. That and some big name rivals who were just as poor on and off the pitch but who have since taken steps to adjust those failings. Opponents who are looking forward and not looking to a time when their manager and players were performing to an acceptable level.

Time will tell who is correct because Alexander will be in charge next season come what may. Meantime the debate will continue. 

Well in fairness it is down to Alexander, he’s been our manager this season and signed many of the players. It’s impossible to say if we would have made top six with another manager in place.

[Yorkyred]

49 minutes ago, Yodo said:

Eh he signed the players but your willing to give him another go in the transfer market cannae believe that 

Yodo it’s not even a debate, he’s going to get the summer to rebuild, no way is he getting sacked. I’m struggling to believe you or indeed any other supporter genuinely think he’s getting sacked at the end of this season regardless of what you think of him.  Not sure what the odds are at the bookies but take a punt and make some cash if you think it’s going to happen.

[David]

4 hours ago, dennyc said:

We are now at the “win at all costs stage” as far as Europe and climbing the league is concerned. We cannot keep relying on others. A situation brought about by his and his team’s performance in the past four months. 

See, I don't agree that we're at the "win at all costs" stage. We hit that kind of approach when we're sitting 9th or 10th and we're fighting to retain our premier league status. As it is, we've secured top six, so we've hit our target for the season. Europe would be a great bonus, and I certainly want the team to go all-out for that 4th place, but it's certainly not "win at all costs."

Although I am pretty sure there will be fans who see us failing to get 4th as a failure on Alexander's part, which would be ridiculous. 

8 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

Well in fairness it is down to Alexander, he’s been our manager this season and signed many of the players. It’s impossible to say if we would have made top six with another manager in place.

Exactly. If we're going to give alexander pelters (and rightfully so) for our poor form post-Christmas, we need to give him the credit pre-Christmas.

[dennyc]

1 hour ago, David said:

 

Although I am pretty sure there will be fans who see us failing to get 4th as a failure on Alexander's part, which would be ridiculous

4th was a realistic if challenging target given our position pre winter break. So to miss out on that is disappointing and highlights repeated failures since then. And missing out on European qualification  (given that  5th position now qualifies) would be an even bigger disappointment. If you are suggesting that our Board and Alexander did not reassess our target in light of our position after 21 games then that lack of ambition is even more disappointing. Perhaps having the original target of avoiding relegation in the bag so early is one reason for the downturn.   But if some fans wish to ignore our form over the past four months then fair enough. We will just agree to have different expectations..

[wellsince75]

top 6 is an excellent outcome.  No quibbles with the outcome of our league position. Anything higher will be an even bigger bonus.  

How we got there was brutal and will continue to earn debate until we get some form of entertainment. 
 

[gaz7]

It's quite straightforward I think if we get europe then everyone will be OK and happy.

If not then I think the last of the goodwill will end.

League season is over 38 games and if it all ends happily then whilst the football won't have been great (unless next 4 changes dramatically) he will be deemed a success.

Fingers crossed for that happening 

[grizzlyg]

Been lot of debate on both sides of argument which is good as we all have our own opinions.  I think a big problem is Alexander's personality,  he doesn't come across as a manager you woukd want to play for and his interviews are cringeworthy.  At end of day if we beat utd on Saturday this forum is a tad more upbeat but I still feel GA has a lot to improve on. This is a man who despite being a full back seems to have a problem recognising a good one..ie..Carroll...mcginley and playing bevis there...COYW

[stephmc1886]

33 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Been lot of debate on both sides of argument which is good as we all have our own opinions.  I think a big problem is Alexander's personality,  he doesn't come across as a manager you woukd want to play for and his interviews are cringeworthy.  At end of day if we beat utd on Saturday this forum is a tad more upbeat but I still feel GA has a lot to improve on. This is a man who despite being a full back seems to have a problem recognising a good one..ie..Carroll...mcginley and playing bevis there...COYW

Nail on head grizzly!

[SteelmaninOZ]

2 hours ago, grizzlyg said:

Been lot of debate on both sides of argument which is good as we all have our own opinions.  I think a big problem is Alexander's personality,  he doesn't come across as a manager you woukd want to play for and his interviews are cringeworthy.  At end of day if we beat utd on Saturday this forum is a tad more upbeat but I still feel GA has a lot to improve on. This is a man who despite being a full back seems to have a problem recognising a good one..ie..Carroll...mcginley and playing bevis there...COYW

And that’s no joke   Spot on well said 

[David]

9 hours ago, grizzlyg said:

This is a man who despite being a full back seems to have a problem recognising a good one..ie..Carroll...mcginley and playing bevis there...COYW

I'm not so sure it's a case of being unable to recognise a good one, and more a case of not having a good one to choose from. Or even being able to find a good one in our budget.

[Winning by Name]

11 hours ago, gaz7 said:

It's quite straightforward I think if we get europe then everyone will be OK and happy.

If not then I think the last of the goodwill will end.

League season is over 38 games and if it all ends happily then whilst the football won't have been great (unless next 4 changes dramatically) he will be deemed a success.

Fingers crossed for that happening 

In my opinion, and it is my opinion, by getting top 6 it has already ended happily. Fourth or fifth would make it VERY happily ended.

[bobbybingo]

1 hour ago, David said:

I'm not so sure it's a case of being unable to recognise a good one, and more a case of not having a good one to choose from. Or even being able to find a good one in our budget.

If we can't find a decent full back in our budget, god help us when it comes to finding midfielders and strikers in the summer.

[gaz7]

18 minutes ago, bobbybingo said:

If we can't find a decent full back in our budget, god help us when it comes to finding midfielders and strikers in the summer.

Yes I agree with that regarding our recruitment however we have an international full back and whilst we can all have our opinions on that SOD is that and I'd imagine when he goes it will be a long time before we have another

There's no doubt in my mind the groans and moans from East stand have impacted him hugely. Our stand is very close to pitch and in any line of work if people are moaning at you all time it has an impact.

I totally get frustrations this year but it winds me up when I hear some total negativity on a Saturday from a noisy few.

Last night on twitter the club released a  thing saying ," fully prepared ".

Every response other than 1 from about a dozen was negative. I'd imagine the players on twitter read it and the ones not will hear of it. 

The anonymous nobody's of social media are anonymous nobody's in their own homes id imagine but they can have a huge influence unfortunately .

P.s that's not a dig at yourself 

[David]

42 minutes ago, bobbybingo said:

If we can't find a decent full back in our budget, god help us when it comes to finding midfielders and strikers in the summer.

It depends who's available at the time, doesn't it? The players available and the talent levels will differ for each transfer window. It may be that a player who would be a great fit for us in a position we need is available in the summer. I think much of it comes down to a bit of luck, especially when you're operating at the level we are financially.

[bobbybingo]

29 minutes ago, David said:

It depends who's available at the time, doesn't it? The players available and the talent levels will differ for each transfer window. It may be that a player who would be a great fit for us in a position we need is available in the summer. I think much of it comes down to a bit of luck, especially when you're operating at the level we are financially.

Giving a new contract to McGinley neither helped our financial position, nor solved our left back problem.

[bobbybingo]

41 minutes ago, gaz7 said:

Yes I agree with that regarding our recruitment however we have an international full back and whilst we can all have our opinions on that SOD is that and I'd imagine when he goes it will be a long time before we have another

There's no doubt in my mind the groans and moans from East stand have impacted him hugely. Our stand is very close to pitch and in any line of work if people are moaning at you all time it has an impact.

I totally get frustrations this year but it winds me up when I hear some total negativity on a Saturday from a noisy few.

Last night on twitter the club released a  thing saying ," fully prepared ".

Every response other than 1 from about a dozen was negative. I'd imagine the players on twitter read it and the ones not will hear of it. 

The anonymous nobody's of social media are anonymous nobody's in their own homes id imagine but they can have a huge influence unfortunately .

P.s that's not a dig at yourself 

 'International full back' is O'Donnell's biggest problem at Fir Park, but I'm happy he's here. It's Alexander's choice of replacement and the other side of the park that concern me. 

 

[David]

8 minutes ago, bobbybingo said:

Giving a new contract to McGinley neither helped our financial position, nor solved our left back problem.

It depends really. He's an able backup by all accounts, but certainly wouldn't be my first-choice. I'd rather have him than no one available in that position.

[C&A not the shop]

Didn't one of the behind the scenes/interview type videos have someone either a coach or fellow player saying how good McGinley is in training? I may have made this up but I'm sure that was mentioned.

Hard as a manager not to reward players that train hard and look good and are just over trying in a game. You always have that feeling that they'll come good.

[Stuwell2]

I don’t think that at the moment Alexander’s job is either safe or under threat for next season. 
Surly when the season has finished, the board will sit down with Alexander and review the season. 
Firstly I’d imagine that there would be praise for how the season started and how he managed to get us into the top six but after that I’d like to think that he would be given a hard time making him explain what happened in the second half of the season, why our results were so poor, then what he intends to do to improve again and his vision for next season. 
If he impresses them with his answers he stays, if he doesn’t then he’s off. 
 

[David]

50 minutes ago, Stuwell2 said:

Firstly I’d imagine that there would be praise for how the season started and how he managed to get us into the top six but after that I’d like to think that he would be given a hard time making him explain what happened in the second half of the season, why our results were so poor, then what he intends to do to improve again and his vision for next season. 
If he impresses them with his answers he stays, if he doesn’t then he’s off.

It's probably worth bearing in mind that it's not as if he's doing he's been doing his job remotely then will speak to the board at the end of the season. He's no doubt been conversing almost daily with Burrows, so they'll know his thoughts and his reasoning behind the fall in results since Christmas.

His results this season, which include the top six finish, will earn him the right to try to make the required changes going into next season. He's being paid to manage the team, so it's on him to bring in the right players in the summer and get everything clicking.

If he doesn't, and we're languishing at the bottom end of the table in November/December he'll be gone by Christmas. It's that simple really.

What we won't do is bin a manager who's hit his targets this season based on the fear that he may not be able to get the job done next season. That would be mental.

[Haggischomper]

  he doesn't come across as a manager you woukd want to play for

Please explain.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Stuwell2]

David, Agree that Burrow will be in contact with him but I’m not sure about the rest of the board. 
as I said I’d expect a review at the end of the season - and fully expect him still to be here next - but if his answers don’t come up to scratch, I’d also expect the board to move if they don’t have confidence in him rather than wait. That’s what they’re there for. 

[grizzlyg]

19 minutes ago, Haggischomper said:

 

 

Please explain.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk
 

 

Just my own view, when you see him in front of camera he doesn't come across as inspiring.  Maybe a different person away from the camera.   A bit like me, on this forum my jokes are brutal but outwith it they are hilarious..(OK....I made that bit up)

[David]

16 minutes ago, Stuwell2 said:

David, Agree that Burrow will be in contact with him but I’m not sure about the rest of the board. 
as I said I’d expect a review at the end of the season - and fully expect him still to be here next - but if his answers don’t come up to scratch, I’d also expect the board to move if they don’t have confidence in him rather than wait. That’s what they’re there for. 

You could be right, but if I was forced to wager on it, I'd say he's going to be given the first half of next season to get things back on track. If we're looking dodgy by November/December then there's hard questions to answer, but the board have invested in him by handing him a long-term deal, and also by signing players long-term. I don't think they'll throw that away by sacking him if he finishes 5th or 6th.