I am fairly certain that most fans/posters on here know that at the end of this season there is likely to be a mass exodus of players leaving so my simple question is, would you rather we replaced them with experienced players or youngsters because I am clearly in the youngsters camp but would also believe that we may need some experienced players no matter what league we're in but especially if we're in league 1 which is the worst case scenario but also the most likely unless we can win our 6 pointers against Arbroath, Queens Park and Dunfermline 🤔.

I don't know who's here for next season but I would imagine that the key ones to retain if at all possible are Billy McKay and Mark Ridgers : ictscarf:

Ridgers announces his departure on Twitter.

ETA: It's not an exact "I'm off" but it seems to hint very strongly at it.

Edited May 20, 20241 yr by RiG

8 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

It’s still likely to be rather excessive relative to the amount we would be willing and able to pay now, ie since the cost cutting started mid-season, and exacerbated significantly by the relegation. Previous contract commitments risk being millstones around our neck. As for Billy, we had no credible alternatives up front.

We should just go basic 442 with Brooks and Billy

1 minute ago, RiG said:

Ridgers announces his departure on Twitter.

Think it's as good a time as any to get a new keeper, while he was a solid option, there was more and more errors creeping in

19 minutes ago, RiG said:

Ridgers announces his departure on Twitter.

ETA: It's not an exact "I'm off" but it seems to hint very strongly at it.

Saturday was a sad end to his career with us (assuming it was the end), it wasn't great to see him being booed and reacting to that 😒 But a sign of the frustration and dismal situation we find ourselves in.

1 hour ago, mazza20 said:

Think it's as good a time as any to get a new keeper, while he was a solid option, there was more and more errors creeping in

Cammy Mackay is only 27.  I'd be happy to see him as the first choice.  I remember he had a lengthy run during one of the covid seasons when I could I watch on PPV.  I thought he was fine then, and I remember saying that I thought his ball distribution was much superior to Ridgers'.

Back then, it seemed that Ridgers would have at least one major panic per game, when he would be caught out by something unexpected - or at least, that he didn't expect.  I don't know if that has continued, or has got worse.  I remember looking up his age back then, to see when he might be replaced, and being surprised at how young he was. (He's 33 now.)

Only those of you who've seen him regularly can judge his overall contribution - the good versus the bad.

But if he's off, then League 1 should be the place for Cammy to establish himself.

Cammy has been very patient over the years. As far as I can recall he always looked decent and has never let us down when called upon. 

Pains me somewhat to suggest it but who knows, had he been playing in the games v Hamilton, we might not have been relegated? Such an unfortunate time for our number 1 to have a bit of a ‘mare (which he has apologised for on X) - but he still made fewer mistakes in the tie than most of our other players, and was one of our best players over the course of the season.

9 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Cammy has been very patient over the years. As far as I can recall he always looked decent and has never let us down when called upon. 

Pains me somewhat to suggest it but who knows, had he been playing in the games v Hamilton, we might not have been relegated? Such an unfortunate time for our number 1 to have a bit of a ‘mare (which he has apologised for on X) - but he still made fewer mistakes in the tie than most of our other players, and was one of our best players over the course of the season.

The unfortunate part of being a keeper, if you make a mistake 9 times out of 10 it's a goal, whereas if it's a midfielder there's players around you that can help you recover. I definitely don't blame him for where we ended up this season, it just wasn't to be for him in the games against Hamilton.

I tried to get in touch with Ridgers but he is apparently off line 😁

The mystery board meeting is absolutely key.  We need to have someone in place to build a team for next season now, literally today.  Our rivals in League One are already ahead of us - Arborath signed Callum Gallagher, who has an excellent record at that level.  

So will Arbroath be our biggest rivals? Who’s going to be the big spenders in League one next season? 

1 hour ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

I tried to get in touch with Ridgers but he is apparently off line 😁

This ‘post’ could rebound on you!

31 minutes ago, ictchris said:

The mystery board meeting is absolutely key.  We need to have someone in place to build a team for next season now, literally today.  Our rivals in League One are already ahead of us - Arborath signed Callum Gallagher, who has an excellent record at that level.  

Yes, I fear we are hopelessly unprepared for building a new team for this league. It doesn’t help that we got rid of our head of recruitment who would otherwise have been drawing up shortlists for both league scenarios.

8 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Yes, I fear we are hopelessly unprepared for building a new team for this league. It doesn’t help that we got rid of our head of recruitment who would otherwise have been drawing up shortlists for both league scenarios.

Who was that then?

It was part of Robbo’s role

8 hours ago, SteveA2 said:

There's a centre half at Buckie, Jack Murray who's 23, has been one of the best players in the league supposedly. For a defender he has scored 26 goals in 51 games which is phenomenal. I'd be much happier if we're looking at these kind of players rather than useless jobbers coming up from England.

Strongly linked with Cove unfortunately. 

2 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

It was part of Robbo’s role

Explains how we found Alex Samuel then

6 hours ago, RiG said:

Ridgers announces his departure on Twitter.

ETA: It's not an exact "I'm off" but it seems to hint very strongly at it.

OTB it’s rumoured. 

So what's the current thinking about artificial pitches, and how that might affect our squad?  We'll be playing a lot of games on them.

It used to be said that there was greater injury risk, perhaps because of the ability to change direction more quickly (ie too quickly).  Also that it was harder on joints.  Is this still true with more modern pitches?

I know we've rested players in the past rather than put them out on an artificial pitch.  What are the implications for our older players, such as Billy, and Aaron Doran if he was fit?

Ourselves and arbroath will play over half our matches on turf. 

That should be an advantage in terms of impact on players. 

But we do need to be training on astro pitches as part of our training regime.

 

And we do need to improve facilities at Fort george to reduce  injuries. 

 

 

 

 

 

The short answer is yes, it does affect players. I don't know the sports science behind it, although I think it may be due to the infill material where soil under grass, even when hard and compacted, is still softer than the infill then cement/concrete under turf. Hate that we have to play on it and we absolutely need to be factoring this into training if we are not to have an even more horrendous injury list this coming season. 

Artificial turf has come a long way since the carpet burn Astroturf like they have/had at the Bught, and some of it is now FIFA approved and woven into real grass and such like, but with all due respect, I don't think we are encountering the top of the range stuff in League 1. It's too expensive to maintain and very few clubs could afford it including most Premiership clubs.     

Went down a bit of a rabbit hole with this page but seems to have been a lot of research, mostly on American Football, done in US universities that do correlate turf and increased injury risk. https://www.sportsfieldmanagement.org/knowledge_center/synthetic-turf/#accordion_injury_research

 

1 hour ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

I know we've rested players in the past rather than put them out on an artificial pitch.  What are the implications for our older players, such as Billy, and Aaron Doran if he was fit?

Cant afford the luxury of passengers next season who will only play 50% of the league games. Apart from the budget issues it does nothing for continuity and a settles starting line up - we are unlikely to have a packed schedule where we need that level of squad rotation.

Need to avoid guys who get injured looking at artificial pitches - we know the situation so should be preparing for it accordingly.

Sneak preview of our team for the pre-season friendly at Clach.

On 5/20/2024 at 10:19 AM, SteveA2 said:

There's a centre half at Buckie, Jack Murray who's 23, has been one of the best players in the league supposedly. For a defender he has scored 26 goals in 51 games which is phenomenal. I'd be much happier if we're looking at these kind of players rather than useless jobbers coming up from England.

Just after we got relegated we took Buckie's captain on trial, Kevin Fraser, and wanted to sign him but expected them to just release him for nothing.  They didn't and he never signed.

We also had Blair Yule on trial that close season, he was highly rated at the time coming out of the Highland League with Cove.  Arbroath signed him in League one for a year and then he returned to Cove where he's been every since.  I think I'm right that Scott Davidson, centre-forward who previously played for Fort William also trialled with us that summer but we didn't take him and he's continued playing in the Highland League for various clubs.

Not sure of other Highland league players we've had on trial since then.  Do we even scout the HL?

We will have Cameron Ferguson as our Centre Forward.  It is likely he will be signed on a long contract to ensure we make a small fortune from the subsequent transfer fee.

One day soon I hope to wake up and find this has all been no more than a nightmare................................

Who do we think is currently scoping out and recruiting new players?????? Anyone ??