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Robbo must stay!


Robert

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Love the man, always really wanted him to succeed and have had full faith in him for a while. This will be his first proper season coming up and I predict it will be a good one :clapoverhead:

Edited by CableGuy
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Glad to see a new positive thread in Robbo's name.

Considering the mess the club was in following relegation I think he's played a blinder, and one has to say the Board got their first major decision right.

All the quotes below are from September, when fans were understandably jumpy and depressed (TBF there were plenty in support with some well considered views), the last quote is mine!... When we think of the various outcomes against the statements below, it's hard not to feel pretty satisfied about how the season has panned out, despite just missing out on the play-off, given the low and desperate base we started from.

A turning point for me is that run of 10 clean sheets from 11 in the Autumn (Defence sorted...tick). The fantastic unbeaten run since the start of March shows that Robbo got to grips with the squad, sorted out the driftwood from the decent, and galvanised them, they responded to him and each other so that we now see that famous 'spirit' return, a key ingredient in any successful side. Signing Austin in January is now looking a masterstoke (as was Donaldson earlier), fortunately we had so many games postponed that his absence from the side due to injury perhaps was as costly as it might have been.

Finances/contracts/aquistions and poaching by other teams will all have a bearing on how we start the next season, but hopefully we wont lose too many key players (Vigurs perhaps), the club seems to be quite active already so we should start with a settled and positive squad, the younger ones having benefited from a whole seasons worth of action.

The appointment of Robbo shows the benefit of having a wise older head at the helm (Just like Palace with Hodgson)...... gosh I think I have something in my eye! (and nobody say 'plank')


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Quotes

  • The board's ludicrous "give the manager's job to someone who didn't even apply" experiment has failed. Robbo is a good guy but he is not what we need - the defence needs sorted out first and foremost and he is not the man to do it.
  • The board has let the club down appointing a manager out of the game for as long as Robertson has, acquisitions have been very poor .................  Genuinely think we will be lucky to stay up at this rate.
  • Now I'm eternally grateful for the job he did last time around but he inherited a very good nucleus of talent ...............and I'm not sure if he's capable of building from scratch
  • Robbo is and never was the answer, but right now, the Club doesn't even seem to know the question.
  • I have been told on good authority that the players won't play for him
  • this has been going on too long now and rather than starting to make any noticeable difference, Robbo and the coaches seem to be continuing to make all the same mistakes from last season.
  • There quite clearly is a rift in the dressing room. Players were having a go at each other, the discipline is "shot". Tactically we are shocking.
  • I now think he knows he is out of his depth and can't sort it. 
  • I quite like the tough words from Robbo about the players performances and attitude, although that's usually a short sentence away from 'losing the changing room'!

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Edited by Eagle4Caley
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Don’t mean to rain on the 5th place celebration parade, but if you had told the board 12 months ago that Robbo would fail to make the play-offs and at no stage in the season have us look like we would get promoted, would they have given him the job? No chance.

The season has been a failure in that respect, but at least the recent fantastic run gives us some hope for the future. It’s like when you come back from 0-3 down to draw 3-3, compared to having thrown away a 3 goal lead. Same outcome in the end, but one way of doing it makes you feel much better than the other!

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33 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Don’t mean to rain on the 5th place celebration parade, but if you had told the board 12 months ago that Robbo would fail to make the play-offs and at no stage in the season have us look like we would get promoted, would they have given him the job? No chance.

The season has been a failure in that respect, but at least the recent fantastic run gives us some hope for the future. It’s like when you come back from 0-3 down to draw 3-3, compared to having thrown away a 3 goal lead. Same outcome in the end, but one way of doing it makes you feel much better than the other!

I have never bought into the 'we should have got automatic promotion' viewpoint, I can't see on what basis we had any advantage over the teams already down in the Championship,

  • there was no great amount of parachute payments (300k is nothing),
  • our attendances were bound to fall meaning less income,
  • most of the players from our 2014/15 seasons (our most succesful) had departed,
  • several of our most experienced players that were left would have to go or not recieve new contracts (Meekings/Draper/Raven/OFW)
  • our Board was in flux,
  • our manager had been let go,
  • morale was at rock bottom
  • we had no recognised striker,
  • One of our best prospects, Doran, was still injured
  • we were going to have to rebuild using very young and very inexperienced players

On the plus side we had Vigurs, Polworth, Tremarco and ........

So in reality coming straight back up was a very tall order, maybe missing out on the play-offs is a disappointment, but the likelihood of us (or any of those participating) going up via the play-offs is very slim, and I would say we are (as of today) in as good a position for next season as those above us.

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The main reason for the disastrous start was the defence. He didn't know his best back 4 due to numerous reasons. Tremarco was injured, Raven was getting forced out (don't know whether that was Robbo or the board who pushed the issue), and we didn't have Coll. Our defence was something like a mix of Calder, Seedorf, Chalmers, McKay and Warren. Once he got the experienced full backs and Coll into the team we started picking up points. I would rather been in our situation than the likes of Morton. They started quite well but fell away badly. We did the opposite. However looking forward, Robbo now knows who he can trust and has a summer to replace or fix the problems that have cost us. Morton are the opposite, they have  low morale and the manager will  probably start the season under pressure. I would imagine Falkirk and Utd/Dunfermline (if they stay down) being stronger next season so we must recruit well over the summer and start well.

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7 minutes ago, Stirling Observer said:

The main reason for the disastrous start was the defence. He didn't know his best back 4 due to numerous reasons. Tremarco was injured, Raven was getting forced out (don't know whether that was Robbo or the board who pushed the issue), and we didn't have Coll. Our defence was something like a mix of Calder, Seedorf, Chalmers, McKay and Warren.

And Elsdon! Plus, Ridgers was making a mistake pretty much every game. Unrecognisable from the keeper we now know.

Having been conceding 2 or 3 week in week out, and 5 at Dunfermline, we have ended up having conceded just 2 more than the lowest goals against tally in the league, quite a turnaround.

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Some managers, as well as players just 'suit' some clubs & it's clear that Robbo fits at ICT like a glove! 

I said on the 'Robbo Out' thread months ago that we needed to give him time - turn of the year would be the earliest we could possibly even begin to judge him. 

Think he has answered all his critics! There is a positive vibe about the club just now & actually looking forward to next season! He has certainly answered the people who critisised his ability to build a team...the "it was Pele's team last time" argument...the current team is, mainly, Robbo's team!

 

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5 hours ago, Yngwie said:

Don’t mean to rain on the 5th place celebration parade, but if you had told the board 12 months ago that Robbo would fail to make the play-offs and at no stage in the season have us look like we would get promoted, would they have given him the job? No chance.

The season has been a failure in that respect, but at least the recent fantastic run gives us some hope for the future. It’s like when you come back from 0-3 down to draw 3-3, compared to having thrown away a 3 goal lead. Same outcome in the end, but one way of doing it makes you feel much better than the other!

A bit harsh. Robbo took over amongst relative chaos in both the board room and the dressing room.

He himself had been out of the game for very many years so it was no surprise that he made some mistakes, some of them fundamental, in his first few months but the last dozen or so games seem to demonstrate that we made the right appointment and, whilst it will be a very tough league again, I have high hopes that next season with confirm that.

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1 hour ago, IBM said:

You are right Renegade, if we're not doing well it will be back to the Robbo Out thread  :lol:

I recollect a thread about a year after Brewster came back up heralding him.  It wasn't that long before everyone (quite rightly) wanted him out.  Don't get me wrong, after a poor start and a few dud signings, Robbo has managed to find a winning formula and a pool of player that fit the mould.  He'll inevitably lose a couple of big player this summer and we'll see what he can do regarding replacements.  Then we can really judge him.

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5 hours ago, TopSix said:

Bring back Yogi. 

He's waiting for McLeish to get sacked so he can get his job.

Failing that he can go for the Morton job. :lol:

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14 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

One month at the end of the season does not a promotion bring. Terry Butcher would have taken us up. Go for Richard Gough again please.

True....but it would be hard not to argue that St Mirren's promotion was, in part, built on how they finished last season

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26 minutes ago, Eagle4Caley said:

True....but it would be hard not to argue that St Mirren's promotion was, in part, built on how they finished last season

Also the not too insignificant investment that the club made last season to back Jack Ross and did so again in the summer. This success from St Mirren hasn't just happened with the squad that was there 24 months ago - 7 new players were brought in last Jan to steer them from relegation (most were Premiership experienced players) with some getting deals in the summer and other additions. We on the other hand are cutting costs and likely to replace some of our experienced & more capable squad with cheaper/lesser ability options due to the mis-management from previous regimes. 

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Regardless of which players stay and which go, the priority for me is to ensure the manager stays.  For all the unrest earlier in the season I think he has done an absolutely brilliant job.  With very little money and very little time to work with in bringing new players to the club he seems to have unearthed some players with great attitude and promise.  Leaving the Foran fiasco aside, Robbo's recruitment has been far, far more effective than Yogi 's despite the lack of money and time available to him.

Not only that, but he has instilled a belief into these players and got them playing attractive, attacking football.  For all the concern about being in the wrong half of the table for most of the season, I have enjoyed watching the games far more than I did generally in the Yogi  years.

I remember at the start of the season, Robbo asking for patience and pointing out that most of the young lads he recruited had never played first team football for any club and it would be a steep learning curve.  We know the budget will be further reduced next year but money will be released by one or two higher paid players either accepting lower pay to play at a lower level than what their current contracts were set at, or leaving the club.  That will release money for more of the type of signings which have been so successful this year.  Robbo has a real enthusiasm for this club and he seems to have been able to develop a squad of players who appreciate the opportunity the club and manager are giving them.  With Robbo at the helm, we should at least be in the top four next year and the footy should be good to watch.

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