Butchers experiment

[bigman]

Well I suppose it could be seen as a success. We are still an SPL outfit, I choose my words carefully, we are not a team.

The days of playing for Caley seem to have gone, apart from Ross Tokely he is the exception, he would run through a brick wall for Caley although slightly slower these days.

Last night we survived not as a team but as a bunch of individuals who looked like they had never played together. It was difficult to tell who was doing what apart from Esson, midfield, we had no flair player or leadership. Up front we had a wee guy who ran his socks off but he is not a target man, he should be playing off a target man. We are a team of journey men who are not quite good enough for the teams they are on loan from.

A success, but were do we go from here? Is it going to be the same again next year, or are we on the verge of something better. One can only hope, having to sit through the same again I am afraid from my point of view is not on.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Well Maurice - as we probably cant pick or attract a decent striker we are going to have to make one ourselves.

[finmack]

I really do believe this is our worst season in the SPL. Butcher's experiment of bringing in new players, and getting rid of Grant Munro has not worked. He has stated that he wants to keep most of this squad together for next season. If this happens we are real candidates for relegation. (let's face it we only secured our position in the third last game of this season). If we want to play with the "Big Boys" we need a bit more support and income to let us do that. (Just like County)!

[AJS]

What i will say is that last season we were a small squad of closely knit players who had a great understanding of each other and how they played and had it not been for a few unlucky performances it would have been a side that made the top 6. IMO that was a side that deserved another crack at the top 6 but that Butcher subsequently dismantled bit by bit.

I didn't agree with it because i felt he didn't have to do this but he chose to. I'm not going to shoot it down instantly because for the entire season we have had so many different and difficult circumstances disrupting our season and has allowed the better players who would be in the side virtually no time to build an understanding with each other, which could be the cause of such poor performances.

Some players have not been good enough and for that the manager has to take responsibility and i hope they are disposed of and replaced. He needs to start signing players with an aim of keeping them here long term. Can only build well on stability and continuity.

Agreed with the above that the board need to back him more in the market as at the end of the day Butcher can only attract players with the money he is given and if he really does have aspirations for making the top 6 he needs to be given the money to attract a better quality of player as opposed to just filling the numbers missing in the squad.

[Scarlet Pimple]

Right on!