Tommy Wright

[ex-montrosesaintee]

Best Saints manager in my lifetime.  Really saddened to see that other people may not think so.  We've had a bad few games - happens every season to almost every team.  Motherwell have a budget far bigger than ours and are struggling worse than we are.  That's football.  We will still finish in the top six this year, I genuinely believe.  

 

Our recent run of form has been a combination of injuries, players having bad games, and a lack of confidence that is bred by goals and wins.  Just when it looked like we could genuinely compete without Stevie May up front, MacLean got injured.  That's bound to bring a negativity and pressure to the other players.  It certainly isn't Tommy Wright's fault.  If there is a manager in Scotland who has the man-management skills to overcome this, then it's Tommy.

[rik2304]

Tommy's not perfect but he's done amazing things with Saints and has quickly become a true legend at the club.

Its possible that some of his achievements will never be bettered by another manager.

Its not his fault that the priority list is :

Car park

Astro

Flood lights

Team

[Saintdunc]

I know it is only the begining if October but the feelgood factor has gone out the window as has Summer. Tommy Wright is a legend for all the obvious reasons but, as fat Sally said midweek, no one is fireproof. There is something not right and from what I can gather from afar, we don't seem to be able to correct it. Whether this is down to inexperience, naivety or something else I don't know but we need this break to refocus or there may be a call for change. No sentimentality in football and yes I do believe that we have been punching above our weight but capitualtion is not acceptable. Now it may be that certain players have reached their use by dates and are struggling with old father time so if that is the case then Tommy must take no prisoners.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Saintdunc

[SlickDT]

The team Tommy put on the park (on paper) should of been able to get us three points.

Certain players are simply not performing at the moment. Whilst we can blame the loss of our two strikers on some of the problems, we did look fairly dangerous at points yesterday in the second half. It was a severe lack of ability to keep possession that was our downfall.

I don't like picking out individual players for criticism but Weatherspoon has been a massive disappointment for me this season. Even his first touch has been dodgy. Lappin has yet to impress me too much and Morgan by all accounts isn't at the standard we had hoped for. The defence needs to tighten up a bit aswell.

As much as it dragged a bit, I think most fans of SPL clubs would of been quietly happy with the players we've brought in. Morgan was described as "a naturally talented finisher" by Robbie Fowler, Lappin had a successful spell in England, Graham looks like he will get goals and McFadden's record speaks for itself.

We miss the lads that have left- in particular May and Dunne. McLeans injury is just as damaging. That said I still believe Tommy's got the squad for a top 8 finish. We still have a better squad than the likes of St Mirren or Ross County and need to start showing it by picking up points over the next month or so.

It's Tommy's job to regroup the players and work on things for the next two weeks.

[Wendy Saints]

Would he be any great loss. Tactics & team selection have been crap the last couple of games.

Football fans are fickle eh?!

Don't think many fans have been happy with the results these last few weeks but?!?!

Tommy Wright must be the only manager on the planet to win a National cup for his employer, only to be told there is no money to invest in the club! To add insult to injury he has to watch his star man being flogged off for the lowest pice imaginable.

To be honest I think we are really lucky to have him, a lesser man would have walked away!

(Haven't even mentioned the misfortune of losing Macca, Scobbie & Miller)

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

[Pelosi]

Tommy himself has reported the problems that we have....in many games we have not performed from kick off, comments like " slow out of the blocks " or " we did nt get off to a good start " this appears to be the case in too many matches and we are giving ourselves a harder task by only starting to play when it's too late!

 

We have also lost goals from breakaways, when we on top and pressing the opposition! Pressing the opposition is something we should be doing from the start and not when trying to get back into the game and no matter how we press the defenders and defensive midfielders should still hold their positions. 

 

Injuries hav'nt been kind, but I believe we should have been prepared for this, as in just about every season it's guaranteed one or two players will pick up knocks! Whilst our injuries relate to longer term absentees it's no excuse stating that we could not know that this would happen as in previous seasons it's something the club should have at the very least been prepared for with suitable backup! 

 

Whether it's a Scottish Cup hangover or the players not comfortable with the team formation....this has to be sorted by our manager. We cannot use the injuries to solely be the excuse for our run of poor results...given the extended season for the Scottish Cup and early start due to the Europa League we do not appear to be prepared, although we have qualified for Europe in previous seasons and managed to eventually get off to a reasonable start!

 

I would rather Tommy had stuck to what he stated at the start of the season, when he admitted that due to our circumsabnces the younger players would be given their chance. Even if this had not been successful upto this point it would have at least been an excuse for our indifferent form! In recent matches teams have fielded younger players who have contributed greatly to their teams...both Ryan Christie and Adam Drury are both 19 and scored winning goals! Our response is to have Caddis and Adam Morgan in and out of the 1st eleven and that's before we even attempt to field players such as Dylan Easton, Ally Gilchrist or Gareth Rodger! 

 

Our only positive at the moment is that Motherwell are struggling and both Ross County and St Mirren are still below us in the league.

[ancientsaint]

Has the Car Park been fixed ?

[SaintSam1884]

I am by no means a Steve Brown sympathiser and was as disappointed as any by the summer signings but some people really do need to get some perspective.

We own and operate a stadium where thousands of people gather every other week. We have a duty of care to the people coming to our stadium that it is maintained to a good and safe standard. The club are also rightly intent on using the ground to generate more income for the club out with football matches. As a result, the facilities they use for these purposes must also be maintained to a good standard. This all costs money.

The astro turf needed replaced so the club have no choice but to use the money from our success last season to do that. The car park is nothing short of dangerous in some parts and will probably cost a small fortune to be fixed. Once again, the club have no option but to use the money we made from last season to do this.

I would be happy to hear from the main critics of Steve Brown where they think the money for these kinds of things comes from? Particularly when the club has been operating at small losses for a couple of years before now. The club has had to put signs up warning of uneven ground in the car park to cover themselves for the horrible state of it but I suspect there comes a time when that won't actually cut it if someone does fall down a pot hole and break their ankle.

We made a small profit last season and got a large sum of money from the sale of May. We will not have had that kind of money to play with for a long time and the time has come to upgrade the stadium. Brown is only taking advantage of the opportunity to do so. I thoroughly believe his dad would have done the same thing.

The team issue quite clearly comes down to the Stevie May saga. It was made very clear that the contract on offer to May wouldn't have allowed us to sign any other players. Brown went above and beyond to keep the player which is something we all wanted. The length of time it took to sort that out is the main reason we missed out on other targets though. A lot of the blame for that actually lies with May himself. It dragged on and on until he decided he actually fancied a move and then by all accounts Brown went into overtime trying to get that sorted out as quickly as he could. However, by the time it was done the new season had already started and the better options had already found themselves new clubs. I actually think we have done well to end up with Lappin, Graham and McFadden given the circumstances.

It's not ideal but it's not all Steve Brown's fault.

Edited October 5, 2014 by SaintSam1884

[SlickDT]

I am by no means a Steve Brown sympathiser and was as disappointed as any by the summer signings but some people really do need to get some perspective.

We own and operate a stadium where thousands of people gather every other week. We have a duty of care to the people coming to our stadium that it is maintained to a good and safe standard. The club are also rightly intent on using the ground to generate more income for the club out with football matches. As a result, the facilities they use for these purposes must also be maintained to a good standard. This all costs money.

The astro turf needed replaced so the club have no choice but to use the money from our success last season to do that. The car park is nothing short of dangerous in some parts and will probably cost a small fortune to be fixed. Once again, the club have no option but to use the money we made from last season to do this.

I would be happy to hear from the main critics of Steve Brown where they think the money for these kinds of things comes from? Particularly when the club has been operating at small losses for a couple of years before now. The club has had to put signs up warning of uneven ground in the car park to cover themselves for the horrible state of it but I suspect there comes a time when that won't actually cut it if someone does fall down a pot hole and break their ankle.

We made a small profit last season and got a large sum of money from the sale of May. We will not have had that kind of money to play with for a long time and the time has come to upgrade the stadium. Brown is only taking advantage of the opportunity to do so. I thoroughly believe his dad would have done the same thing.

This isn't the place for well thought out posts!

[Widge]

I am by no means a Steve Brown sympathiser and was as disappointed as any by the summer signings but some people really do need to get some perspective.

We own and operate a stadium where thousands of people gather every other week. We have a duty of care to the people coming to our stadium that it is maintained to a good and safe standard. The club are also rightly intent on using the ground to generate more income for the club out with football matches. As a result, the facilities they use for these purposes must also be maintained to a good standard. This all costs money.

The astro turf needed replaced so the club have no choice but to use the money from our success last season to do that. The car park is nothing short of dangerous in some parts and will probably cost a small fortune to be fixed. Once again, the club have no option but to use the money we made from last season to do this.

I would be happy to hear from the main critics of Steve Brown where they think the money for these kinds of things comes from? Particularly when the club has been operating at small losses for a couple of years before now. The club has had to put signs up warning of uneven ground in the car park to cover themselves for the horrible state of it but I suspect there comes a time when that won't actually cut it if someone does fall down a pot hole and break their ankle.

We made a small profit last season and got a large sum of money from the sale of May. We will not have had that kind of money to play with for a long time and the time has come to upgrade the stadium. Brown is only taking advantage of the opportunity to do so. I thoroughly believe his dad would have done the same thing.

The team issue quite clearly comes down to the Stevie May saga. It was made very clear that the contract on offer to May wouldn't have allowed us to sign any other players. Brown went above and beyond to keep the player which is something we all wanted. The length of time it took to sort that out is the main reason we missed out on other targets though. A lot of the blame for that actually lies with May himself. It dragged on and on until he decided he actually fancied a move and then by all accounts Brown went into overtime trying to get that sorted out as quickly as he could. However, by the time it was done the new season had already started and the better options had already found themselves new clubs. I actually think we have done well to end up with Lappin, Graham and McFadden given the circumstances.

It's not ideal but it's not all Steve Brown's fault.

Brilliant post. There's certainly an element of blame with Steve Brown, but it's a fraction of what people are wanting it to be. I firmly believe he did the best he could this summer, it's just so happened it's coincided with poor form and a poorer squad and as such folk will jump on that.

[Aitchy]

I don't think anyone is upset at Steve Brown making improvements to the stadium and surrounding area, it's more the way the whole situation has been handled by the club.

After our cup win the club was at an all time high. The interest in the club amongst the general population of Perthshire was at its highest for years, yet rather than try and capitalise on this, the figurehead of the club was in the media portraying a picture of doom. I can't remember the exact wording of it, but his "If you want three new players, then someone better stump up 170k" was crass.

If Steve Brown and the board had come out in the weeks after the Cup Final and said something along the lines of "The club has just achieved it's most successful season in history and as we have made a significant profit we have taken the decision to enhance the facilities at the club, which will ensure the club is financially secure for years to come", then maybe people would have understood more.

However the reality was, the manager, our club captain and several of our senior players were all quoted in the media as saying new additions had to be made to sustain success. A balance needed to be struck between improving the infrastructure and improving the footballing side of things. After all we are called St Johnstone Football Club, not St Johnstone Conference and Car Park facilities.

Sure we have brought a few new faces in, but it's obvious many of them weren't Tommy Wrights main targets. Leaving our transfer business so late has left us having to bring in guys like McFadden and Lappin. Both decent players, but their lack of games over the past few years are very evident in the way they are playing at present. Another problem with bringing in players so late, is that they do not get the opportunity to get a pre season under their belts. Pre season is an imperative part of a clubs preparation for a season. Ideas on tactics, roles within the team and team spirit are all created during pre season.

In regards to Stevie May, sure he was a massive player and the club were right to offer him the best deal any player has been offered in the history of our club, however it should have never been allowed to drag on as long as it did. We continuously heard stories from January of this year that the clubs were in talks with him regarding a new contract and that "we don't envisage any problems". Now obviously Stevie Mays head was turned by the wages on offer down in England, but the club should have set a deadline for the end of June for him to make a decision, rather than letting it drag on. After all "nobody is bigger than the club".

Steve Brown has also been quoted a few times in the media as saying if we had more fans coming through the door, then we wouldn't need to cut back so much, but what do the club actually do to entice and retain fans? Sure the deal for kids is great, but it's hardly been promoted to the wider public. A friend of mine had to give up his season ticket this year, yet not once have the club contacted him to try and establish why. No many businesses would let go of a customer who spent £300 on a yearly basis without getting in touch to establish why. Steve Brown can moan about the poor support, but the fact is he has done very little to try and improve it.

The club have recently made a few new additions to the non playing staff and I have great faith that Ross Cunnigham can improve the PR coming out of the club and try to get more people through the gate, however I fear a lot of the negativity surrounding the club may take some time to fix.

[Pelosi]

We had the excuse before when Saints had'nt won anything, that we are a prudent club and the long term survival is the key.

 

I admire both Geoff and Steve for what Saints finally achieved, I also believe Saints need to progress both on and off the park.

 

Were any of the things you mentioned unforeseen...could any of the repairs, replacements, upgrades or whatever not be done over a longer period, whilst still tackling the issues that may or may not result in Saints being liable, or as part of their duty of care and still leaving something for a playing budget? Clearly our manager thought so, when pre-season he announced his intentions for the coming season!

 

This was contradicted by the chairman...citing infrastructure....when all is said and done there will be no need for the things you mention if we don't have a team performing on the park at their highest level! Sponsorship and the use of the facilities you mention also depend on this success! I believe the Astro Turf replacement is being funded by the Ryder Cup grant.

 

Saints losses have come on the back of our most successful period, I fully realise that this may not be sustainable at the present rate, however if the chairman is going to go on record stating that we require more money in the way of increased season ticket holders, he will not achieve this by an under financed and under performing team. he cannot ask the fans for more and then fail to invest himself, I'm sure he has had to invest in his own business before and may even have gambled at some point, but not only that he'll undo all the previous hard work of bringing onboard the fans we have!

 

Too often in the past Saints promised to deliver and failed to progress from their success. Too often in the media previous press, players and managers have congratulated Saints on their success without the club having actually winning something! After our Scottish Cup triumph I believed that Saints had turned this around and like many others invested time and money with the belief that we would/will progress. I still believe Saints can, but they will have to think further ahead and plan for it if they are'nt already?

 

Regardless on whether Stevie May stalled on the resigning of his contract, he was going to leave at some point, therefore it was important that like all our younger players he should've been on longer term contract! in the scenario of him leaving all our younger players will only show faith in us, if they are given their chance. These players of which May was one need to play in order to improve, but we must also show belief in them by getting them under longer term contracts sooner rather than too late in this instance!....more money or sponsorship required I know, but longer term reward perhaps? Many things have improved with Saints in a very short period, especially on the back of recent success, but we may look back on this pre-season as a missed opportunity?

 

 

I am by no means a Steve Brown sympathiser and was as disappointed as any by the summer signings but some people really do need to get some perspective.

We own and operate a stadium where thousands of people gather every other week. We have a duty of care to the people coming to our stadium that it is maintained to a good and safe standard. The club are also rightly intent on using the ground to generate more income for the club out with football matches. As a result, the facilities they use for these purposes must also be maintained to a good standard. This all costs money.

The astro turf needed replaced so the club have no choice but to use the money from our success last season to do that. The car park is nothing short of dangerous in some parts and will probably cost a small fortune to be fixed. Once again, the club have no option but to use the money we made from last season to do this.

I would be happy to hear from the main critics of Steve Brown where they think the money for these kinds of things comes from? Particularly when the club has been operating at small losses for a couple of years before now. The club has had to put signs up warning of uneven ground in the car park to cover themselves for the horrible state of it but I suspect there comes a time when that won't actually cut it if someone does fall down a pot hole and break their ankle.

We made a small profit last season and got a large sum of money from the sale of May. We will not have had that kind of money to play with for a long time and the time has come to upgrade the stadium. Brown is only taking advantage of the opportunity to do so. I thoroughly believe his dad would have done the same thing.

The team issue quite clearly comes down to the Stevie May saga. It was made very clear that the contract on offer to May wouldn't have allowed us to sign any other players. Brown went above and beyond to keep the player which is something we all wanted. The length of time it took to sort that out is the main reason we missed out on other targets though. A lot of the blame for that actually lies with May himself. It dragged on and on until he decided he actually fancied a move and then by all accounts Brown went into overtime trying to get that sorted out as quickly as he could. However, by the time it was done the new season had already started and the better options had already found themselves new clubs. I actually think we have done well to end up with Lappin, Graham and McFadden given the circumstances.

It's not ideal but it's not all Steve Brown's fault.

[Plastered]

For goodness sake, get a grip on the realities of low budget football.

 

Last season was the highest of highs for this club in 130 years, that means there were 129 seasons which were not as good.  In fact quite a few of those years were just awful.  I can't imagine what some posters on the forum would have said during those years if such things had existed.

 

So big surprise, the mighty high flying diddy club along the Tay isn't winning week-in week-out at the start of the season. What the hell do some of you expect.  Doesn't every club of this size not go through bad patches every season?  Are you all really expecting Saints to be so consistant that 9 points in 9 games is seen as so bad as to think that all the older players, the manager, and the chairman should do the decent thing and consider their future? 

 

A club this size with a small squad can only maintain the high standards if all goes well and confidence remains high.  Losing players and having key players injured are enough to have an affect on results.   This is the second season of Tommy as manager, is he expected to repeat last season irrespective of budgets and everything else?  Has he suddenly become a bad manager?  Are the team not expected to have some sort of hangover from last seasons party?

 

Some footbal supporters can't see passed 3 or 4 games.  I expect such attitudes from the OF bunch where 2 consecutive losses means a crisis, but this club is a long long way from being in crisis.

[rik2304]

Is it safe to say then that if we hadn't won the Scottish Cup and sold May then we would have been screwed financially as the repairs etc would still have been needed presumably.

[Pelosi]

I just want progress, if in 2 - 3 months we're higher up the league, like all Saints supporters I'll be happier! 

 

Having watched Saints for decades...I just don't want to see Saints repeating the same old mistakes of the past, but somehow I know that's impossible, however improvement with or without a decent budget is not!

 

Tommy is doing a good job under difficult circumstances, but even he has'nt resorted to blaming injuries or individuals for our results, however I can see that these injuries are and many repeated errors are. I'm sure both Tommy and the players can turn this around as the season progresses. 

 

If there are any positives to be taken from the season so far..it's the performances of teams like Dundee Utd, Hamilton, Inverness and Kilmarnock, all clubs which Saints can match and clubs who are ahead of Celtic and Aberdeen.  

 

If there was a season in which Saints should be performing, then this is it....no OF dominance has created a great opportunity and I for one just want Saints to be in the mix! 

[ex-montrosesaintee]

Is it safe to say then that if we hadn't won the Scottish Cup and sold May then we would have been screwed financially as the repairs etc would still have been needed presumably.

It's not the point Rik. It could be another 129 years before we win a cup and sell a Stevie May.  Reckon the car park might be in a bit of a state by then!  In many ways, I can see the chairman's approach to spending the windfall on work that will tide us over for some time until the next windfall.

 

If we hadn't won the cup and sold May, then surely people equally wouldn't be looking for investment in the team either?

 

The problem has been purely a PR one and the negativity flowing from the club at board level.  This clearly conflicts with the positivity that comes from Tommy and the players.  That just shows that Tommy is doing the right thing as a manager.

[rik2304]

It's not the point Rik. It could be another 129 years before we win a cup and sell a Stevie May. Reckon the car park might be in a bit of a state by then! In many ways, I can see the chairman's approach to spending the windfall on work that will tide us over for some time until the next windfall.

If we hadn't won the cup and sold May, then surely people equally wouldn't be looking for investment in the team either?

The problem has been purely a PR one and the negativity flowing from the club at board level. This clearly conflicts with the positivity that comes from Tommy and the players. That just shows that Tommy is doing the right thing as a manager.

But Tommy won't be able to do anything significant with a five star stadium and two star players.

Look at the boost in crowds that europe brought in. Increased season tickets and merchandising that the cup win has brought in.

Nobody was demanding investment to the detriment of everything else.

But clearly putting the cup winning team and managers 2nd was a huge mistake.

[R.B.B:- Adz]

I am by no means a Steve Brown sympathiser and was as disappointed as any by the summer signings but some people really do need to get some perspective.

We own and operate a stadium where thousands of people gather every other week. We have a duty of care to the people coming to our stadium that it is maintained to a good and safe standard. The club are also rightly intent on using the ground to generate more income for the club out with football matches. As a result, the facilities they use for these purposes must also be maintained to a good standard. This all costs money.

The astro turf needed replaced so the club have no choice but to use the money from our success last season to do that. The car park is nothing short of dangerous in some parts and will probably cost a small fortune to be fixed. Once again, the club have no option but to use the money we made from last season to do this. .

Why did the car park, pitch, floodlights, AstroTurf, painting blah blah blah all need to be done this season. Who is to say that if we had prioritised the car park and AstroTurf and invested the rest in the squad, we would have not made an even bigger profit this season, won more silverware and had an even better year in Europe.

It's very very short sighted to say we had one good season so use that money to improve infrastructure so that when we get relegated we have cash in the bank to rebuild a squad to get promotion again.

[SaintSam1884]

Why did the car park, pitch, floodlights, AstroTurf, painting blah blah blah all need to be done this season. Who is to say that if we had prioritised the car park and AstroTurf and invested the rest in the squad, we would have not made an even bigger profit this season, won more silverware and had an even better year in Europe.

It's very very short sighted to say we had one good season so use that money to improve infrastructure so that when we get relegated we have cash in the bank to rebuild a squad to get promotion again.

It's clear that these improvements have been needed for a while but we haven't been able to afford to do them. That's presumably part of the reason why we have been gradually trying to reduce our spending and squad size. It just so happens that last season we unexpectedly made a lot more money than we are used to making and the chairman obviously feels that he needs to take the opportunity to get them done while we have the extra money available to do so.

Winning trophies and selling players for close to £1million are things that happen once in a life time for clubs like ours and our chairman cannot give the manager a playing budget based on the likelihood of that happening every season. They have to give him a budget based on the guaranteed income which they presumably forecasted would be lower after the relegation of Hibs and Hearts.

I personally have no problem with the club using the extra income to improve the astro turf and the stadium. I appreciate Aitchy's point that it's not what the club has done but how they've done it as being the real issue from his point of view but I think a lot of fans seriously expected us to reinvest that money in the team to try and compete at the top end of the league. That is financially unsustainable for us.

Great cup runs and selling youth players on for huge profit is not something we can rely on when setting our budgets. The biggest problem was how long the May thing dragged on for and the terrible injuries to key players we've suffered this season. We have a good squad and a good manager who need our support, not our negativity.

[ancientsaint]

It's not the point Rik. It could be another 129 years before we win a cup and sell a Stevie May.  Reckon the car park might be in a bit of a state by then!  In many ways, I can see the chairman's approach to spending the windfall on work that will tide us over for some time until the next windfall.

 

If we hadn't won the cup and sold May, then surely people equally wouldn't be looking for investment in the team either?

 

The problem has been purely a PR one and the negativity flowing from the club at board level.  This clearly conflicts with the positivity that comes from Tommy and the players.  That just shows that Tommy is doing the right thing as a manager.

 

 

 

Pretty sure they could have had the car park fully tarred by contacting ---phadraigmcmurty@cheeptarrin.ie for next to nothing

[ancientsaint]

But Tommy won't be able to do anything significant with a five star stadium and two star players.

Look at the boost in crowds that europe brought in. Increased season tickets and merchandising that the cup win has brought in.

Nobody was demanding investment to the detriment of everything else.

But clearly putting the cup winning team and managers 2nd was a huge mistake.

 

 

aye - but if the car park was sorted the club could have charged the bairns a fiver a go sledging doon it OR the downhill skiers £300 a season on practice slopes !

[Brogan]

Why did the car park, pitch, floodlights, AstroTurf, painting blah blah blah all need to be done this season. Who is to say that if we had prioritised the car park and AstroTurf and invested the rest in the squad, we would have not made an even bigger profit this season, won more silverware and had an even better year in Europe.

It's very very short sighted to say we had one good season so use that money to improve infrastructure so that when we get relegated we have cash in the bank to rebuild a squad to get promotion again.

 

Actually it's short-sighted not to use the opportunity of a modest profit to fix broken things. Unless you think it would have been good business to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds upgrading during all those years when we were making increasingly worrying losses.

[rik2304]

It's clear that these improvements have been needed for a while but we haven't been able to afford to do them. That's presumably part of the reason why we have been gradually trying to reduce our spending and squad size. It just so happens that last season we unexpectedly made a lot more money than we are used to making and the chairman obviously feels that he needs to take the opportunity to get them done while we have the extra money available to do so.

Winning trophies and selling players for close to £1million are things that happen once in a life time for clubs like ours and our chairman cannot give the manager a playing budget based on the likelihood of that happening every season. They have to give him a budget based on the guaranteed income which they presumably forecasted would be lower after the relegation of Hibs and Hearts.

I personally have no problem with the club using the extra income to improve the astro turf and the stadium. I appreciate Aitchy's point that it's not what the club has done but how they've done it as being the real issue from his point of view but I think a lot of fans seriously expected us to reinvest that money in the team to try and compete at the top end of the league. That is financially unsustainable for us.

Great cup runs and selling youth players on for huge profit is not something we can rely on when setting our budgets. The biggest problem was how long the May thing dragged on for and the terrible injuries to key players we've suffered this season. We have a good squad and a good manager who need our support, not our negativity.

Then I would argue that the repairs should have been an on-going project, getting something else done each year as the playing budget was being reduced.

Nobody has said on here or PnB that we should be investing to challenge at the top of the league. But the manager and captain publicly stated their hopes for strengthening. They were correct imo.

How can you forecast a guaranteed budget?

[rik2304]

Actually it's short-sighted not to use the opportunity of a modest profit to fix broken things. Unless you think it would have been good business to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds upgrading during all those years when we were making increasingly worrying losses.

Is it short sighted to allow the number of broken things to stack up?

[andrew]

Hamilton