The Season So Far

[Kingsmills]

I know that the start of the season has been mixed with form and results, particularly at home, leaving much to be desired but, so pessimistic was I about our prospects this season, that I've actually been pleasantly surprised that we are as high as seventh and have had a fairly good start to the season.

Do others feel that we've done better this season than they expected, that we've done worse than they anticipated or much as they thought ?

[SMEE]

I voted for much as i thought (points wise) except....ad have expected us to beat Hamilton And St Midden but got beat by Aberdire and Maybe a point at Falkirk at best. So...its shaping up as i would have thought.

[CaleyD]

Mixed feelings on this for me.

Whilst I'm not upset at the points on the board, and think we are about where I would have hoped/expected us to be, I do think that the "performance" on the park hasn't been what I expect from an ICT team....Kilmarnock game aside.

Had we played every game with the same spirit as was shown against Killie we may or may not have more points on the board, but I would at least be satisfied that we'd given our all to get what we have.

We can't turn the clock back and do anything about games already played, so I just hope that as we go through the season we see more and more of what we saw against Killie and that progress is being made.

[JockWatt]

Mixed feelings on this for me.

Whilst I'm not upset at the points on the board, and think we are about where I would have hoped/expected us to be, I do think that the "performance" on the park hasn't been what I expect from an ICT team....Kilmarnock game aside.

Had we played every game with the same spirit as was shown against Killie we may or may not have more points on the board, but I would at least be satisfied that we'd given our all to get what we have.

We can't turn the clock back and do anything about games already played, so I just hope that as we go through the season we see more and more of what we saw against Killie and that progress is being made.

Took the words outta my mooth !

[Tug]

i am most definitly in the better than expected camp.

admittedly i havent been to a game yet this season but in all honesty i expected us to be in real trouble from the off this season and my only hope is that we can maintain some semblance of form throughout to stop a late slide appearing

[Dmacca]

Having only watched highlights on the box this season so far I cannot make much opinion on general performance on the park, points wise 3 more would have us joint 3rd points tally, 3 less we would be joint bottom points tally so its a fine line at the moment between success or failure, I guess the best that can be said at is potentially weve got a good platform to kick on and get a top half of table finish, we have to be strong at home to go that extra mile theres nothing more annoying than winning away only to drop points at home the week after, can the team achieve a fortress Tulloch?

[JeffVader]

I think that we have started better than the other seasons in the SPL, we have gone back to playing rubbish at home and semi decent away from home. As long as we keep picking up the points we should be in no real troble this season. It is going to be a lot closer but I think that Hamilton are going to suffer once the first round of games are over as that's when their element of suprise will have gone.

The Biggest thing we need to work on is defending set plays as we are damn near useless at 'em whose fault that is I don't know but something needs to be done as we are losing to much from these situations.

[lizi]

After such a great start against Aberdire at the start of the season, we all had high hopes but, Killie game apart, home form hasn't been great. Maybe v Celts it will again become fortress ICT but I'm not holding my breath, but hope to be a very happy fan by 5pm next Sat.

[FortressICT]

Why 5pm? Why not 3pm?

[Alex MacLeod]

Why 5pm? Why not 3pm?

lizi wants to wait till all the results are in to see how many places we've gained by beating the tic.

[supercaley]

after last seasons start to the campaign i am quite pleased with how this season has started! being 7th in league is nothing to be scoffed at IMO. i'm glad we ain't stuck at the foot of the table and as long as we steer clear of it i will continue to be happy.

although in saying that i would love to see the club progress and finally push into the top six, but a run of form would be the first step me thinks.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

We shpuld ave ammered Falkirk and we should have ammered the Jam Tarts - I thought that we should have picked up a lot more points at home - The one thing that hasnt surprised me is Brewster's arrogance and his tactical mistakes. It is actually even more worrying that he has changed his tact and is almost succumbing to public pressure.

If we had a half decent manager we would be up at the top in a season where the standards have really fallen.

[alternative maryhill]

Mixed feelings on this for me.

Whilst I'm not upset at the points on the board, and think we are about where I would have hoped/expected us to be, I do think that the "performance" on the park hasn't been what I expect from an ICT team....Kilmarnock game aside.

Had we played every game with the same spirit as was shown against Killie we may or may not have more points on the board, but I would at least be satisfied that we'd given our all to get what we have.

We can't turn the clock back and do anything about games already played, so I just hope that as we go through the season we see more and more of what we saw against Killie and that progress is being made.

I voted "better" based on our points total, because I was pretty pessimistic about the season and expected us to lose at Aberdeen and Falkirk, but I agree with Don about some of the performances. In the two away games I mentioned, I was surprised and impressed by how we played, but listening to the Hamilton and St Mirren games was frustrating and depressing - we seemed to have very little fight or composure. If we don't start dominating teams in the lower half of the league, especially at home, then we'll definitely be in a relegation battle right up to the end of the season - there's no Gretna this year.

[+Gringo]

Baring in mind we haven't played the (so called) big two yet, after eight games we are only four points better off than at this stage last season. The better judgement may come after 11. Having said that, from what I've seen on the park, I believe the team are better than last season but only slightly. I had grave fears for us this season and these fears, although allayed at the moment, may still return. Are next three game are against Celtic (h) Motherwell (h) and Rangers (a) and I think we'd be lucky to come away with a point. Brewsters tactics and his hooking of players for personal reasons is a big worry. I,m with IHE on this one were he say's "If we had a half decent manager we would be up at the top in a season where the standards have really fallen"

[JeffVader]

Baring in mind we haven't played the (so called) big two yet, after eight games we are only four points better off than at this stage last season. The better judgement may come after 11. Having said that, from what I've seen on the park, I believe the team are better than last season but only slightly. I had grave fears for us this season and these fears, although allayed at the moment, may still return. Are next three game are against Celtic (h) Motherwell (h) and Rangers (a) and I think we'd be lucky to come away with a point. Brewsters tactics and his hooking of players for personal reasons is a big worry. I,m with IHE on this one were he say's "If we had a half decent manager we would be up at the top in a season where the standards have really fallen"

I still dont get this preoccupation with getting rid of Brew, he's done **** all wrong so far. As for getting a half decent manager, who? We will not attract a "top" manager and we are not a big enough club to take a manager from another club of similar level.

Edited October 12, 2008 by JeffVader

[absent friend]

Baring in mind we haven't played the (so called) big two yet, after eight games we are only four points better off than at this stage last season. The better judgment may come after 11. Having said that, from what I've seen on the park, I believe the team are better than last season but only slightly. I had grave fears for us this season and these fears, although allayed at the moment, may still return. Are next three game are against Celtic (h) Motherwell (h) and Rangers (a) and I think we'd be lucky to come away with a point. Brewsters tactics and his hooking of players for personal reasons is a big worry. I,m with IHE on this one were he say's "If we had a half decent manager we would be up at the top in a season where the standards have really fallen"

Well, I for one don't always understand Brews tactics especially his late subs BUT I am not seeing the training all week, don't know the players strengths and weaknesses like he does nor can I tell if they are carrying an injury. HOWEVER, this is getting like Celtic park, subs and players on the bench are due to personal conflict within the camp as can be seen from the above.

If he is hooking for personal reasons it is high time that the teams below us did the same thing so that they could enjoy our, not too lofty, position but better than theirs!

Back on track,..... yes we are doing better than I expected .....but then I believed all the posters, before the season kicked off, that told us we are the new Gretna and doomed to the lower leagues! Yes, I know, the season is not over yet so that saves some posting.

[+Gringo]

I still dont get this preoccupation with getting rid of Brew, he's done **** all wrong so far. As for getting a half decent manager, who? We will not attract a "top" manager and we are not a big enough club to take a manager from another club of similar level.

The thing that bothers me JV (and one or two others) is, what appears to be, Brewster's dropping and hooking of players for personal rather tactical reasons. Ian Black is a prime example. I forget which game is was but Ian had a great first half and was hooked for the second..why? Maybe CB would be the 'half decent' manager we are looking for if made changes to benifit the team rather than his ego. And yes, I agree with you, we are not big enough to attract better managers.

[RiG]

Was that the Hearts game Gringo?

I'll keep mine simple - points have been much better than I thought (and thus position) but the actual football has been much like I expected and the Home performances have been exactly as I had anticipated e.g. Hamilton, St. Mirren and Hibs though Killie was a nice surprise.

[Ronaldo]

The fine line between success and failure for me just seems to gets thinner every season

[Kingsmills]

Especially this season where there are no obvious fall guys and no great likelyhood of anyone going adrift at the botom of the league affording the rest of the mediocre clubs such as ourselved a bit of a comfort zone.

[absent friend]

Especially this season where there are no obvious fall guys and no great likelyhood of anyone going adrift at the botom of the league affording the rest of the mediocre clubs such as ourselved a bit of a comfort zone.

From the above remark I assume you mean all the teams except the old firm as only 10 days ago(ish) we were 4th in the league.

[Kingsmills]

As things stand, I would indeed include all the non Old Firm clubs in that catagory.

[gordyfromsneck]

We are about where I thought. Just to be contrary, I predict that this will be our best season ever. It will be far from pretty, but we will be Top 6, after bobbling about a bit. Thereafter we will pick up at least one other place. This is the season when the Brewster plan begins to click into shape.

[Ronaldo]

That's the spirit we need GFS!

I fancy a bit of Europe myself, but I'll settle for fourth place

[Kingsmills]

Personally, I'd still settle for anything above bottom.