Valentino Bolognese

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Everything posted by Valentino Bolognese

  1. Not sure I agree. Can't see him being a big enough name for Sevco. Next season is too important to them and I think they will want to go 'bigger', especially with Gerrard's connections. Could maybe see him going to Hibs but he'll not get ahead of Naismith at Hearts. Aberdeen wouldn't have him back, which only leaves Killie in the top 6. I don't see that it would make sense for him to go to a Blackpool or a Bristol Rovers, maybe make more money but pretty risky I think. I can't see that he's really in a position to ask for much more of a wage than Tony Watt. He's been hyped up but look at the division he's been playing in. Hard work yes but the quality was on show in the playoffs. Surely he'd thinking that even mid-division premiership is better than top 3 Championship? If I were him I'd be looking at Matty Kennedy and thinking it would be better to skip the bit of the career on loan at 3rd division English clubs. I think he'd be a bit of a risk but I think we could be good for him and I'd welcome him. 24 Championship goals could well be 15 Premiership goals after all.
  2. Reading that it sounds like he's going to England, but surely that would be 3rd tier at absolute best and most likely 4th. I don't think he'd get a start at any of this year's top 6, maybe Kilmarnock. I wouldn't rule us out. The 'he's a complex boy' comment is interesting. Sounds like the type of challenge Tommy normally enjoys. I think it would be a good move for the player, only real downside being that it rules out playing for Scotland if he's really serious about that. Whatever happens he really needs to kick on and dispel the doubts that he's absolutely at his level. I'm not sure that a move to England would do that. My prediction is Killie.
  3. This, absolutely. It was basically the team that he took on when he joined, when they were bottom. The key players like Power and Dicker were moulded by him. I don't think they will be top 6 next year with a journeyman like, say, Gary Holt.
  4. You don't think that we could attract players from the 4th or 5th tiers in England? With a reasonable chance of top 6, an outside chance of European football, probability of the later stages of cups, regularly televised games and frequent games in front of 50,000 crowds? Even our poor gates are comparable with the lower quarter of the 3rd tier in England, plus we get the extras I've mentioned and you don't have to live in shithole like Gillingham or Scunthorpe.* Transfermarkt values the SPL at 210m EUR, which is 30% higher than English League 1. Now of course this is top-weighted but it's a fact. With the wages we have freed up this year I expect us to be able to buy better than we have for many years as we don't have quite as many places to fill so I'm hoping for quality over quantity. Honestly, I fully appreciate our place in the pecking order but we're not as wee a club as some supporters believe. We do pay relatively low wages but for a player in any of the English Leagues below Championship we are at least worth looking at. If I'm a talented player/agent that's looking for exposure, where better than the top division in Scotland? Let's face it if the standard is as poor as some seem to think then even if I'm half decent I'll be getting massive coverage. And all that's before looking to the continent. Frankly I can't see any reason we should go shopping in Scotland, at least not as first option. *to be clear I've never knowingly been to either these places. They might be lovely. I doubt it.
  5. Absolutely get the argument. Nothing wrong with picking up out of favour, but talented, players on the cheap. It's very savvy for club of our size. I see this as different as he's not just a bit out of form, or been poor, he's been utterly dreadful. From what I've seen there's almost no sign of his previous talent. And secondly, as others have said, he won't be cheap. I can't answer the 'who else' question - that's why we have scouts. I doubt any Saints fan would have mentioned the name 'Drey Wright' this time last year. But I am opposed to May's return unless he's so cheap he's virtually free.
  6. Not really, all different and much cheaper, and neither Swanson not Watt have worked out, MOH has taken months to get back to form and fitness and has arguably only had 1 good game for us. I do expect him to kick on based on recent form but he could just as easily go backwards, and at the time of writing he's not been great value. Craig wasn't the disaster after he left that May has been at Aberdeen. Everyone has an opinion but I think that @ScottMann's comment is on the money. I think it's rose-tinted specs.
  7. Because he's past it and will be too expensive. It would be very poor value for the risk involved, and TW is good at getting value. Can we please just bin this talk as it's making me nervous.
  8. Why though? Seriously, absolute mince all season, we should have cash, have had 2 great successes with new players (not returnees). I want to see fresh blood in the team, continue with the rebuild.
  9. True about outside the ground, but allowing it inside legitimises it. I accept also that it's societies problem, but these football clubs are enablers and they profit from hatred. I don't overly care about the content of the singing either, to the extent that it's not part of my life, but I don't want my 10yo hearing it and I don't want sectarianism normalised in my country.
  10. I expect that they have calculated the baseline and the potential maximum crowd sizes. It's a difficult one, but the wider point here is that if Saints fans turned up then there wouldn't be the extra seats to sell to away fans. I think it would be irresponsible to continue to have empty seats that could be sold, and the extra cash invested in the team. If that drives better performances and results then hopefully we will start to see demand increase, at which point we can reduce the away allocation again. But appreciate the point that in some respects it could be seen as giving up, or the thin end of the wedge. Edit - a thing to consider is that this is just the OF, for now. I don't take my boy to these games simply because the sectarian atmosphere is toxic. I understand this is what keeps the home crowds away. If the SFA had the balls to stand up to them and stamp this out, we'd not have a decision to make. To me, it feels like the bad guys are winning here.
  11. If it's really £200k in the bank then I agree, probably worth it. Will be odd feeling like the away team at home games though.
  12. OK, so my last post on the matter as it's reminding me of working for a company I hated. These systems in essence are really simple and we should be pleased that we're using it. RFID chip > chip reader > network connection > database. The chip identifies the user. Information associated with user is on the database (e.g. name, seat number, birthday, shoe size ... whatever information you want really). Technically you can put more information on the chip, but that just puts the cost up for no real advantage. There will also be other databases, i.e. McDairmid seating inventory, and sales management tools. If the club want all Ormond stand users, or everyone with size 10 shoes, or whatever, to have access to the Main stand it should be a 5 second job, as should allocating seats as they are sold. All you need to do is change the appropriate data. The data isn't on the card. That would be like saying that all your current account information is 'on' your debit card. Be as sarcastic as you like about 'expert posters', but I have actually specified and bought similar systems and what you have quoted from the club, is, basically, what @garydavidson and I are saying, with some extra stuff about encryption to make people feel secure and reassured. The point is that this is a welcome move from the club and provided they have bought from a decent supplier and have a proper rollout plan, training etc this is very positive move for the club which I'm sure will provide a better fan experience and be a good investment. Also seems to me that they are (sensibly) keeping some human operators at the turnstiles, at least until the system has bedded in, who would be able to manually open the gates if someone's made an arse of the database. So well done Saints.
  13. This ^^ I have an Ormond Stand season ticket, and I've not been told about having an allocated seat in any other stand, either in my renewal pack or any other way. I used to work with software suppliers for hotel room card keys. You can programme anything into the system and change it easily in real time. It's just a chip on a card that holds a number. With that number tied to a database record, you can 'tell' the system whether or not to open the door for that card. You just have to change the database to allow 'open' or 'not open'. I expect that the turnstile system will operate in a very similar way. This is tech that's at least 20 years old. In all honesty the best way would be to move to full e-ticketing (I've worked with those systems too), where the season ticket holder is sent their ticket the day before the game to store in an electronic wallet, or all the tickets for the year. As an aside it will make it much simpler to gather data on crowd and individual's behaviour. If the clubs were inclined it would be very simple indeed to harmonise ticketing to a single system across the SPL. It would make allocations, anti-social behaviour control, tailored marketing etc much, much easier, especially if it's tied to a biometric id such as fingerprint or retina so that only the card owner could use it. The recent nonsense about ticket allocations for the playoffs, for example, would have been much simpler for both clubs. But as it's Scottish football I'm surprised I don't have to barter for my pie with shiny shells.
  14. Craig's only 32. Not the quickest but seems to be making up for that with experience, no real signs of not being able to play a full 90 minutes. I reckon he's got at least 1 more season in him, probably 2.
  15. Agree about the pitch, but the other reasons (though valid) are fan's reasons, not football reasons. Heart, not head. Also agree that I don't think that we necessarily threw the game but it was very clear that getting the win was not the main item on the agenda, and frankly I agree with that as I think it's just good strategy to increase the chances of less threatening opposition next season and to use the game for other reasons.
  16. Don't mind if Alston goes. Has his moments but he won't get regular starts, so fair play if he wants to move on. Think Easton should get one more season and a utility player. Scott Tanser, if he kicks on as much next season as he did this year, has the potential to be as good if not better IMO and offers a great set play option. Danny's had more than enough time. Time to say bye bye. Joe - similar to Easton. Rolling contract, utility player, giving us cover and shape change option. Pass the armband to Liam Craig.
  17. Well now that all that's died down, and since it's a game thread, I guess I'll chip in on that. I'm a bit taken aback at some of the views on here berating the team, claiming it wasn't a nothing game, poor season etc. I'm actually with Random in this. This was big picture football. Saints were in a position where they could influence the team that went to the playoff with zero - and I can't say this enough, zero - downside to losing the game. As a professional manager in that position, Tommy has to look at next season and ask, would we rather have a consistently bang average and relatively poorly financed Hamiltion, or a St Mirren with deeper pockets and some momentum about them? The professional, strategic approach was to do what was best for the club. Secondly, Tommy had a golden opportunity to answer some questions, such as; - Has Hendry got what it takes (still a maybe but he's not the 15 goals guy) - Should I bin Danny (please yes) - Can I bring Brian Easton back (maybe) And probably a few others. All this stuff about what the club 'owes' to the supporters is simple to me. To take the best decisions for the long term viability and success of St Johnstone FC. I would say that given Tommy got a free hit yesterday at answering his questions and we came out the other end with no injuries and no suspensions, and we have increased the chances of a weaker leauge next year. To have a go at the players and manager is baffling to me.
  18. Never liked bovril. Nothing wrong with a cup of tea. You should try a chorizo (chor - ee - thow) pie. You might like it. You're never too old for exciting new experiences.
  19. Would never actually want us to lose but I have changed my position on this and would far rather see St Mirren go down than Accies. Nobody likes playing on a green carpet but 'the buddies'* are insufferable. *even their nickname is shit
  20. I don't understand why the behind the goals top tier are more expensive than close to the pitch half way line seats (for adults at least). You'd have thought that the Jambos would put a premium on being closer to the pitch as it's better for throwing coins and flares.
  21. Did he feel he had been entertained? I agree with him though. I've hardly ever carried cash for years. Still pisses me off I can't even buy a pie at McDairmid. It really is stone age. Letting people use contactless would speed up the queues too.
  22. I completely believe that it's fairly unsophisticated agent nonsense in a transparent bid to try to ramp up his offer. I'm sure that Saints won't be complacent as I'm sure there would be some demand in the market for him, but I also exepct they have a realistic understanding of his value. In any contract negotiation involving McNamara vs Wright/Brown, I know who I think would be the smarter operator.
  23. Was amused to hear Tommy's post match about the penalty. First comment suggested that although Scott was the nominated taker, he was worried that Kane wanted it. He also clearly didn't think it was a great penalty 'from the view that I had at least'. Have to say it didn't look great to me either, will be good to see it back. I think that there's been a common view that any dead ball situation we have that involves a left foot should be Tanser for quite some time now. In fact I think it was last season he hit the stanchion with a belter from about 35 yards (home game, honestly can't remember the opposition) - I've been an advocate since that day. On his day he is a quality striker of the ball.
  24. Agree with all your post, but I would say that Muzz's has been poor against both top and bottom teams. I think that like with the rest of the team something 'went wrong' after the break. That could well have been the unsettling inclusion of Sean Goss, the effect of the run of OF games, experiments with a back 3/5, losing Drey Wright or whatever but the 'failure' against the top 5/6 teams has been a feature of the season. Other than a good away win against Aberdeen, a couple of good performances against Hibs, and an away against Rangers, we've had our arse handed to us by them. Outside of the old firm I've been most disappointed with how we've played against Kimarnock (sitting too deep and letting Dicker and Power dictate the middle) and Hearts (just gutless for some reason). Either we're giving these teams too much respect or it's simply that we've not been able to make the step up in the way that Killie have done. Good point about the high balls. I noticed Kane and MOH pressed high and market the full-backs until the second goal, so their keeper didn't have much option other than to kick. I also think that we went long ball a bit too often. I honestly don't think that with a couple of key summer signings, outside of Celtic we should be expecting to pick up 4 or more points against each of the top 6 next year.
  25. I actually went MOH for this one. Thought he absolutely terrorised them and the pace and work rate was phenomenal at times. Much more action up the right than the left and he outshone Kennedy which is high praise. Matty wasn't firing on all cylinders but certainly didn't have a bad game. Murray bossed the midfield after the penalty. I've been quite down on him recently and in all honesty thought he was done. That's why Tommy's the manager though and suspect benching him and seeing Callachan put in some good performances has given him the encouragement he was needing. Honourable mentions to goal machine Tanser, Craig (do we REALLY need that holding midfielder now?), and the centre backs.