Having got to the midpoint of the season, up to 6th in the table, what do people think 2016 will bring?
We are now in a post Ryan Christie, Marley Watkins, Shinnie Bros and Mckay era, a period that saw us in the top six three seasons running and with a Scottish Cup win and a League Cup final apperance, and our first sortie into Europe to boot.
It was a tough start to the season, with injuries, suspension, key players sold/not retained and little money for reinforcements....and irritably we've developed a knack for only playing 45mins and sitting deep on leads. Maybe that was inevitable, with a defence that has hardly been stable and new players taking time to blend in or just plain settle in. However considering what has happened at Dundee Utd, and also Motherwell (who finished 2nd in the league not so long ago) we may have done really well to avoid a potential meltdown!
Arguably December has been a pretty good month going unbeaten with plenty of goals scored albeit with draws snatched from potential defeats and wins (but we would have taken a draw at Aberdeen before the start!).... and winning at Hamilton despite initially losing the lead twice, is probably a sign of the never-give-up mentality coming back.
Good signs are the emergence of Polworth, Vincent still being fit, Devine developing as a solid defender. Williams has been a bit quiet recently (probaly suffering a bit as Mr Versatile in a shuffling line-up) but I expect him to push on. Tansey seems to be increasingly the rock that the team is built around, and Wedderburn now seems to have Yogi's confidence and seems to be putting in some performances. Fon-Williams has done well enough, although I am not convinced he has the fans confidence (am I wrong?) but it has to be a small boost that he could be going to the EUFA championship for Wales (albeit as an un-playing understudy to the mighty Wayne Hennessey)
Question marks are whether we can retain Storey (we clearly want to!) and whether the now-fit Roberts proves to be the real deal, likewise Lopez-Robles and Mbuyi-Mutombo have much to do to impress. Vigurs has provided some impetus in certain games, but seems a stop-gap. I feel over the close season we may be looking at new full backs, as much as I like Tremarco, I don't feel Yogi sees either him or Raven as long term (or have I got it wrong with Raven?)
A problem for us is that in reality with small crowds we have a very low income stream, and the SPFL as a package doesn't seem to generate much income, therefore player retention and recruitment is a bit of a lottery....I could see another sale in the summer being required to maintain rebuilding/regeneration, and the most valuable asset now is perhaps Meekings
My hopes for 2016 would see us achieve a top 6 finish for this season which I would consider a mighty achievement. Scottish Cup wise... in reality cups are a lottery, it needs two goalscoring sources to improve the odds, but I don't see us getting beyond two rounds, and would take the top six finish first and foremost. For the start of season 2016/17 I would like us to go into it with a decent goalscoring threat (and one not on loan!) and a couple of fast overlapping fullbacks.
Having got to the midpoint of the season, up to 6th in the table, what do people think 2016 will bring?
We are now in a post Ryan Christie, Marley Watkins, Shinnie Bros and Mckay era, a period that saw us in the top six three seasons running and with a Scottish Cup win and a League Cup final apperance, and our first sortie into Europe to boot.
It was a tough start to the season, with injuries, suspension, key players sold/not retained and little money for reinforcements....and irritably we've developed a knack for only playing 45mins and sitting deep on leads. Maybe that was inevitable, with a defence that has hardly been stable and new players taking time to blend in or just plain settle in. However considering what has happened at Dundee Utd, and also Motherwell (who finished 2nd in the league not so long ago) we may have done really well to avoid a potential meltdown!
Arguably December has been a pretty good month going unbeaten with plenty of goals scored albeit with draws snatched from potential defeats and wins (but we would have taken a draw at Aberdeen before the start!).... and winning at Hamilton despite initially losing the lead twice, is probably a sign of the never-give-up mentality coming back.
Good signs are the emergence of Polworth, Vincent still being fit, Devine developing as a solid defender. Williams has been a bit quiet recently (probaly suffering a bit as Mr Versatile in a shuffling line-up) but I expect him to push on. Tansey seems to be increasingly the rock that the team is built around, and Wedderburn now seems to have Yogi's confidence and seems to be putting in some performances. Fon-Williams has done well enough, although I am not convinced he has the fans confidence (am I wrong?) but it has to be a small boost that he could be going to the EUFA championship for Wales (albeit as an un-playing understudy to the mighty Wayne Hennessey)
Question marks are whether we can retain Storey (we clearly want to!) and whether the now-fit Roberts proves to be the real deal, likewise Lopez-Robles and Mbuyi-Mutombo have much to do to impress. Vigurs has provided some impetus in certain games, but seems a stop-gap. I feel over the close season we may be looking at new full backs, as much as I like Tremarco, I don't feel Yogi sees either him or Raven as long term (or have I got it wrong with Raven?)
A problem for us is that in reality with small crowds we have a very low income stream, and the SPFL as a package doesn't seem to generate much income, therefore player retention and recruitment is a bit of a lottery....I could see another sale in the summer being required to maintain rebuilding/regeneration, and the most valuable asset now is perhaps Meekings
My hopes for 2016 would see us achieve a top 6 finish for this season which I would consider a mighty achievement. Scottish Cup wise... in reality cups are a lottery, it needs two goalscoring sources to improve the odds, but I don't see us getting beyond two rounds, and would take the top six finish first and foremost. For the start of season 2016/17 I would like us to go into it with a decent goalscoring threat (and one not on loan!) and a couple of fast overlapping fullbacks.
Happy New Year to you all
Edited by Eagle4Caley