Jump to content

Ambition For Next Season


Kingsmills

Recommended Posts

Up until now the aim for each season we have been in the league system has been obvious.

During our times in the lower leagues it was always to win the league or at the very least secure promotion which we managed to acheive three times in a decade.

The aim for our first season in the SPL was equally obvious namely; to avoid going straight back down and I suppose the same could be said for the season just finished.

Next season we need to have more ambitious

aspirations than simply to stay in the league.

It's a tall order but I believe that there's no reason why we shouldn't be targeting fourth place and the possible UEFA Cup place that goes with it.

Celtic, Rangers and Hearts are likely to be well ahead of the pack but in my opinion there's little to choose from between the likes of ourselves, Hibs and Aberdeen and we can now legitimately aspire to be the fourth best team in the land.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4th place? No way. Not unless we see some serious investment at ICT in terms of transfer budget and increasing the available wages. Don't get me wrong I would love it to happen but we need to be realistic and if folk start getting ideas above their station then that is just inviting trouble. A more realistic challenge is trying to get into the top 6 again as we don't have the finances to compete with teams that will realistically go for top 4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SPL survival MUST always be our first priority.

You just need to look at Dundee & Livingston - 2 teams who tried to grow beyond there means - look where they have ended up.

Decent cup runs would be nice as well as lucrative

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with Kencar, survival must be No 1 Priority.

Similar aspirations as last year challenging for top six would be great but with a more even split of points home and away,

I can't see us being quite as good on the points tally away from home

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If we can keep the squad together, as is now looking more likely, and bring in a couple of fresh faces, then sixth would be a possibility. As Barry said in the Brewster GIRUY interview,

"The aim now is to break into the top six. Last year we finished eighth and this time around it was seventh, so going one better seems like the natural progression."

Not sure if we'll hear the same words from CC, though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 Finish in top 6

2 Win against Aberdeen

3 Win against Rangers/Celtic

4 Good Scottish Cup run

5 European football, either through UEFA or Intertoto means

That would be mine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SPL Survival is the most important every season because, without that, we can't finish top six, can't beat Rangers, and can't get into Europe.

After that, then we can consider improving on our league position and going on a better cup run.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure about that, Sam. With the size of crowd we get, and our overall budget, then yes, we should just be thinking about survival. But we could have said the same thing when we were in the second and first divisions too.

The fact is that the current squad have twice shown they're good enough to finish seventh, so shouldn't we be focusing on higher targets? It would start to change the way the club is perceived (in the press, with future players, and even with our own fans) if we started to showed a little ambition. Let's state top six as the target and see how we do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the things about ICT over the last 12 years is that with only 1 exception (I think), we have consistently performed better than the previous season. We are fortunate never to have 'enjoyed' the bitter taste of relegation and it really has been a case of onwards and upwards each year ....

From now on though, I feel our biggest fear should be relegation and the financial implications that brings. It is great but not realistic to fantasise that we will continue to improve each year and eventually win this division in the same way that we were challenging to win every other division we got into after playing in it for a year or two.

I would say that right now we are a comfortable 'mid-table' team and that is fairly re-assuring. If we flirt with positions from 4th to 10th, have decent cup runs, and maybe get into Europe on the odd occasion over the next few years, I will be delighted ... but we need to keep the relegation fear close at hand to avoid becoming complacent. We have no divine right to finish anywhere and have to earn it each year.

Cetic, Rangers, and (for the moment) Hearts have the resources to make sure they should always be at the top. Hibs, Aberdeen and Dundee United all have the potential to be near the top year in and year out given their resources and fanbase, but they have not always earned that in recent years. The other 6 teams should by rights be jockeying for position in the bottom 6 ... 7th was good this season, perhaps 6th next season or even higher ? after all, at least 2 of the 3 teams with 'potential' may have issues to deal with in the close season ......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

following on from what I said, I think it would be realistic to set a target of 6th, but I wont be too disappointed if we dont quite achieve it .... so long as we dont look like we will be relegated !

With Hibs/Mowbray speculation, Brewster/DUFC rebuilding, and Aberdeen under-performing then yes 4th is a distinct possibility ... but it should not be the target as that would be far too much pressure on the players ... Getting into the top 6 is achievable so thats what I think they should do ... IMHO :002: :010: :002:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While I agree with all you say Scotty, apart from Celtic, Rangers and Hearts there is no other team in the league likely to be so much better than us next season that we can't at least aspire to finishing fourth.

Erm Aberdeen look set to strengthen seriously over the summer, even if big fees aren't involved. Hibs have a fantastic set of youngsters coming through, Killie have a very shrewd manager in Jefferies who gets a lot from his players, United are likely to be backed heavily again from ET....

...there could be a lot of strenghtening going on over the summer. It will be interesting to see what we do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some people are naturally "Glass Half Empty" in their approach to thought and reason. Personally, I don't care all that much about what other teams are doing, especially when they have a history of getting it wrong or being very inconsistent. It's what ICT does or does not do that I care about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Top six ambitions are realistic but can we really expect to have such a good away record again next season. We must sort out our home form if that is to happen if we dont do that then who knows what might happen. Our main objective has to be survival as we dont want to be back downstairs playing with our lesser friends from over the bridge :015:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hit the nail on the head jagster,

top 6 ambitions are fine, expectations are not. We are still only a small club looking forward but to have expectations of

top 6

beating rangers

aberdeen

cup final

uefa cup

are just unreal. il settle for 11th place and decent cup run.

Its all about mentality, think positive but dont get carried away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest caley till AYE die

top six,score alot of goals,good cup run,try and progress from the intertoto into the eufa cup

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy