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Where Now?


jagster

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You are mistaken by my post, I am thankful I am just saying that survival cannot continue to be our objective season after season. This season? Fair enough. Next season? Rebuild and survive. The coming seasons we need to be more ambitious as fans or there is no point

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3 hours ago, Rival said:

You are mistaken by my post, I am thankful I am just saying that survival cannot continue to be our objective season after season. This season? Fair enough. Next season? Rebuild and survive. The coming seasons we need to be more ambitious as fans or there is no point

I can understand where you are coming from but if we can't get another 1000 on our home gates to finance this then the board would need to attract major new investment. If this was possible why hasn't it happened before now?

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On 18/04/2016 at 7:55 PM, wynthank15 said:

Rival, just look at the clubs that are in the lower leagues and whom have been professional longer than we have, and be thankful.

'Be thankful'  What a terrible statement that is.

We are an established top flight club, who need to set the bar a little higher than survival every season. 

 

 

    

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54 minutes ago, forresjags said:

'Be thankful'  What a terrible statement that is.

We are an established top flight club, who need to set the bar a little higher than survival every season.     

I'm rather more with wynthank on this one. Every year since about 2000 (in some respects since 1993) I've looked around me and wondered how on earth ICT has done what it has with the resources it has had. That applies particularly to Premiership survival. I also sometimes worry about expectations which fail to be tempered by financial realism.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36100893

Interesting approach that St J are increasing their player budget due to the arrival of a newly promoted club, seeing them as potential rivals. Given all the discussions of how qualification for Europe losses money for Scottish clubs, then to spend more to try maintain position seems odd. As a team similar in fan base and level to us, is this the right approach and will others do the same to keep up and try avoid the relegation battle? We saw before that clubs spending money they don't have such as Hearts, Rangers and Dundee - this may not be to the same level yet but to increase expenditure based on promotion of one club seems speculative at best.

If others follow this, then ICT will find recruitment and retention even harder, personally I'd rather see our club maintain the philosophy of spending what we have and living within our means even if we end up with a weakened squad and potentially relegation battles - so long as we have a team that tries, plays the best they can and we see signs of development for the future, this has to be better than speculative spending and the potential issues that inevitably come with this?

 

 

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I can see why St Johnstone are doing what they are doing. With rangers and potentially Hibs coming up next season (who will both have bigger budgets than most in the SPL) then there will be more competition for clubs with regards to top 6 finishes/European places and also potentially relegation spots. We all know how badly relegation can hit a club so I think what St Johnstone are doing is a little bit of forward thinking and potentially putting themselves in a stronger position to maintain their recent high league positions. At no point has any one said that means put their club into debt or take on borrowings they cant afford but presumably they have cash in the bank that the chairman has agreed to add to the player budget.

I'm all for sustainability and operating within your means but likewise I think it can be a wise decision to speculate at times with regards to investing in the squad. Its a risk but a calculated risk and for me i'd rather see my team spend a little more on player budget (if they have the resources to do so) than sit with money in the bank waiting for a rainy day. I'd much rather a pro-active approach to a reactive one.

Makes a lot of sense to me what St Johnstone are doing and very interesting to see a bit of transparency from the board/management with their clubs aspirations. It means the fans and the board know the direction they are going. Wish i could say the same for us at the moment

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  • 2 weeks later...
57 minutes ago, AlexJones said:

How to prevent future injury crises? Beetroot juice, ice massages and a "nordbord" machine. (Assuming the cryotherapy ice chamber is out of our price range!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36189778

Been saying this all along! The club could do with some support in the sport science department, which is non-existent at the moment. Managing training load, optimising recovery, and building "robust" players through strength and conditioning can have huge potential not only for first team players but also in bringing through young players, who often struggle and break down when exposed to the demands of full-time football. The number of injuries was a pivotal factor in not fulfilling our potential this season, and I think a lot of that was down to mismanagement of the players' training, particularly during the early phase of the season before the Astra games. I'm intrigued as to how our squad remained so injury free in seasons gone by, and whether this was down to good planning and training strategy, or just good luck!

County employed a sport scientist last season and I've noticed there players wearing GPS units during games to quantify match demands, with some of the players commenting on how it had helped them improve this season. I'd like to see us do something similar, although it wouldn't come cheap!

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, lightwelter said:

although it wouldn't come cheap!

I think it's all relative. How much did the injuries cost the team this season? I'm just guessing and I have 0 facts to substantiate my claim, but I would say that this kind of investment would pay for itself very quickly.

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I agree.  But it is not just about keeping injury free.  It is about fitness levels and general physical conditioning of all the squad.  It's about having that extra little bit of oomph in your legs that allows you to get to the ball first in the 90th minute.  Specialist expertise in sports medicine would be a very sound investment.

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10 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

I agree.  But it is not just about keeping injury free.  It is about fitness levels and general physical conditioning of all the squad.  It's about having that extra little bit of oomph in your legs that allows you to get to the ball first in the 90th minute.  Specialist expertise in sports medicine would be a very sound investment.

And to that end, how much has the dropping of points in the last 10 minutes cost us? Top 6, cups etc. ££££££

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We've had 2 particularly bad injury seasons in the last 10+ years....one of them involved a few shoulder injuries and the like.  That's far from being an indication that there's any underlying physical conditioning issues.

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Where now?
I wondered where this thread might go and it's been really interesting reading all the suggestions from sports scientist to possibly spending a bit more like st j because of the other half coming back up to the top league 

It's also interesting looking at individuals viewpoints about survival being our main objective or thinking we should be more ambitious and aim for higher than that. I guess that's the great thing about football and our love for ICT that we all have different ideas, views etc and it's what makes the emotional roller coaster of following your local team so incredibly fulfilling but at other times so exasperating and frustrating.

There are many types of fan, some who go to all the games, some occasional and some rarely, there are fans who can't get to games at all for various reasons  but we all have a common bond and I for one think we are incredibly lucky to have the team we have. 

I'll be there tomorrow night in my usual seat in the north stand with my son. We will have a beer before the game and win lose or draw even if it's not the best game and a bit of disappointment ensues for a few mins after the game we will still have a laugh and a joke after and enjoy our night at TCS 

There has been incredible games Hearts semi Celtic semi Raith Rovers and supercaley etc and incredible disappointment Think Falkirk . We  only have 3 games left this season and then it's time for a wee break and then it will be where now? Is it the dreaded shopping with the Mrs on a Saturday or doing the garden etc through the summer.  Euro championships etc don't come close to a Saturday/Sunday/ Friday / Wednesday watching our own team in sun rain hail etc 
3rd 2nd 1st or premier Where now will be watching and supporting our team and as long as they put in the effort and try their hardest I just can't imagine anything else comes close to being in the crowd (moaning or not as the case may be) on a match day 

Let's all enjoy our team and live for the moment it doesn't get any better 

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On 05/05/2016 at 7:31 PM, CaleyD said:

We've had 2 particularly bad injury seasons in the last 10+ years....one of them involved a few shoulder injuries and the like.  That's far from being an indication that there's any underlying physical conditioning issues.

True that we have a good track record for keeping our players injury free in the past, and this is likely not just down to luck, but also to proper management of the training load, recovery strategies etc. However, I think there's plenty of indication this season that there has been physical conditioning issues. Losing goals late in games and the number of injuries we've sustained would support that notion.

I definitely think playing in Europe killed us in many ways, as it has done to other teams in our league in the past. It doesn't allow you to have a pre-season where the focus is on gradually increasing the conditioning of the players, and if players aren't conditioned, they are susceptible to injuries. 

A good point made above that having the proper support staff in this area can pay for itself, and allow you to work with a smaller squad whilst ensuring players are in peak condition. You only need to look at Leicester City as an example. 

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As far back as I am aware, the club have never skimped in regards to looking after players health/fitness, wellbeing and recovery.  Not including doctors, there's currently 3 people who monitor players and assist with setting specific programmes for each of them.

I've never heard a bad word from any of the players in this regard...in fact, just the opposite.

Interesting topic for discussion though and I will get around to having a proper chat (on tape) with these folk so we can all get a better insight into how this area of the club operates.

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