Time for Levein to go

[Cagey]

7 minutes ago, R.B.B:- Adz said:

I would cite the further demise of our club as we become a Scottish football also-ran akin to Hamilton, Raith Rovers, Dunfermline, Inverness, Partick Thistle, Greenock Morton, Falkirk…

Dundee United have spent an absolute fortune and look perilously close to languishing in the lower leagues for another season. 

Spot on. I was just listing some tongue in cheek advantages.

I think we have to try to stay in premiership as we would probably struggle to get back in.

[R.B.B:- Adz]

1 hour ago, Cagey said:

Spot on. I was just listing some tongue in cheek advantages.

I think we have to try to stay in premiership as we would probably struggle to get back in.

After re-reading I can see that now. My bad!

[johndb]

On 3/5/2024 at 8:44 AM, Cagey said:

Maybe taking a well deserved holiday.

Probably the squad also given a week off in order to come back in tip top condition like after the winter break 😛.

Why are they not pounding the Dunes somewhere?

[Hendo]

Another great day for the Levein/Harris apologists. 

[rik2304]

Shite

[blueheaven]

Does anyone actually still have any faith in Levein?

I just can't see a single redeeming feature to sway me from the thought that he's been an absolutely calamitous appointment, completely wrong for the club, barely giving a sh*t, and when he eventually goes he'll just give a shrug of the shoulders, have a laugh about it with his mates on the radio, and wander into another media job without a care in the world while we're left in an absolute mess.

Couldn't help but notice the contrast in body language between Docherty and Levein on the touchline yesterday. Docherty enthusiastic, encouraging, wanting to be involved in everything. That job is huge to him. Levein, on the other hand: relaxed, casual, hands in pockets while his team falls to yet another defeat. Couldn't even be arsed to bring on a substitute for a player who was literally sitting on the ground during the game.

Oh for the days when our club had the nous and the foresight to go for hungry, up-and-coming managers who actually saw the Saints job as a big opportunity and had a point to prove.

[Gas Monkey]

Levein will not survive the take over

[sixties saintee]

Get rid an pit Cleland in charge till end o season, at least he has pride 

 

[Maskrey]

Lot of people still don’t seem to understand that the foundations of this were laid long before Levein arrived.  We have a really poor squad.  Too many ageing players and too much inexperience is a poor combination.  I don’t get his reluctance to give May more minutes as anytime he does play he makes a difference but there is something more to that situation I suspect.  Levein was appointed with a long term view and I don’t see that changing and if we go down he will be left to build the club so we are in a better position when we do come back up.  We look favourites for the play off spot as County look like they have more about them.  Does anyone give us much chance against the likes of Raith Rovers?  I really think relegation is becoming more and more likely.  If we go down I don’t see any new owners still being interested and that is maybe why it has gone all quiet until they find out if we will be staying in the league or not.  Desperate times.

[Maskrey]

2 hours ago, Gas Monkey said:

Levein will not survive the take over

If we go down there will be no takeover.

[dave mc]

4 hours ago, blueheaven said:

Does anyone actually still have any faith in Levein?

I just can't see a single redeeming feature to sway me from the thought that he's been an absolutely calamitous appointment, completely wrong for the club, barely giving a sh*t, and when he eventually goes he'll just give a shrug of the shoulders, have a laugh about it with his mates on the radio, and wander into another media job without a care in the world while we're left in an absolute mess.

Couldn't help but notice the contrast in body language between Docherty and Levein on the touchline yesterday. Docherty enthusiastic, encouraging, wanting to be involved in everything. That job is huge to him. Levein, on the other hand: relaxed, casual, hands in pockets while his team falls to yet another defeat. Couldn't even be arsed to bring on a substitute for a player who was literally sitting on the ground during the game.

Oh for the days when our club had the nous and the foresight to go for hungry, up-and-coming managers who actually saw the Saints job as a big opportunity and had a point to prove.

Agree with most if this, but Callum and Macca were meant to be up and coming managers, but they’re still accountable for the mess we’re in  

[RandomGuy]

The foundations started for this the moment Steve Brown decided he couldn't be arsed and just picked a massively under qualified mate to run the club in his stead (Ian Flaherty). Callum Davidson holds a lot of the blame for both building a bloated, expensive, squad of absolute dross on multi-year deals, but ultimately it was Flaherty who was letting him do it.

Hiring MacLean was just the final half arsed move from Steve Brown which has probably ****ed us this season too.

Leveins clearly only bothered about developing players and being able to claim he's great at it, so if he stays we'll just get more absolute punts in the hope a couple come off and he can tell everyone how he spotted a rough diamond and made them great.

[Strawman]

I have zero faith in Levein but I’m at the stage I don’t care if he’s sacked or not, either way he’s not the long term solution for us.

We desperately need new owners, hopefully they bring a freshness, new manager and a reset.

I do believe we need to stay in top league, it’s how we keep young fans. The Ormond stand had a decent number yesterday, I know they were all free but it’s getting them interested. I bet every one of them has either a Playstation or Xbox, they go home and play as Saints and get further interested. If not top league your not on the game I don’t think.

When my lad was younger, I wouldn’t like to think how much I spent on Match Attax cards, again my understanding is only top league.

Back in 80s when I was a kid, Panini sticker albums only had player stickers for top league. 
 

All sounds like nothing but for kids it’s important.

Levein feels like a follow up to Davidson in a way it seems like we might has well have kept Callum, and I desperately wanted rid of Callum a year before he left. The Macca period was just a lucky start followed by a disaster, in no world should St Johnstone be 4-0 down at home to Stirling Albion.

My biggest hope is Levein keeps us up, he can celebrate that little success and we get new owners, fresh broom and move forward.

[SlickDT]

Been a real mixed bag for me from Levein.

We are in a better position than when he arrived, but the football has been brutal at points.

I like the look of Keltjens, Sidebeh and Kimpioka. I am not so keen on his insistence on picking Max and the fact he clearly didn't rate Sprangler.

The squad he inherited seems very unbalanced. We don't have the players to play a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 in my opinion, but we also lack the wing-backs required to play the 5-3-2. The more I see of Gallagher, the more I believe he is miles away from what we need on that left hand side. We also lack that player that links the midfield to the attack. Sort those two positions out and I think we would look alot more fluid.

Yesterday was again a mix of things I like and things I don't. He clearly pushed the wing-backs forward and told them to stay very wide.... It helped pin Dundee back and created chances. I like the fact he is playing with two up front and allowing them to build a partnership. I don't like the fact that one of our strikers is clearly on his last legs and yet he doesn't have his replacement warming up and waits until cramp sets in. Little things like that look naive and short-sighted.

I do wonder what the squad would start to look like over the summer if Levein and Kirk were allowed to have another window. I believe it would be moulded into being more balanced.... Whether the football would look any better is another matter!?

The new owners will be the biggest factor in what we do, who is in charge and what the future will look like. I suspect they will want their own man.

[blueheaven]

8 hours ago, Maskrey said:

If we go down there will be no takeover.

Based on what?

[blueheaven]

6 hours ago, dave mc said:

Agree with most if this, but Callum and Macca were meant to be up and coming managers, but they’re still accountable for the mess we’re in  

Callum yes, but could anyone say Macca fit the description of hungry for the job? He was pretty open about the fact that he didn't even want it and only took it because he was asked.

[blueheaven]

8 hours ago, Maskrey said:

Lot of people still don’t seem to understand that the foundations of this were laid long before Levein arrived.

I'd be amazed if there's anyone on here who isn't very aware of that.

[blueheaven]

5 hours ago, RandomGuy said:

The foundations started for this the moment Steve Brown decided he couldn't be arsed and just picked a massively under qualified mate to run the club in his stead (Ian Flaherty). 

I'd say it goes back beyond that. This all stems from Steve Brown not doing enough to keep Tommy Wright happy. Go back in time and put that right, and Tommy would still be here and we'd still be a successful top flight club getting decent cup runs and league positions every season.

[blueheaven]

10 hours ago, sixties saintee said:

Get rid an pit Cleland in charge till end o season, at least he has pride 

 

Right now this is what I'd do too. I think it would probably give us enough of a short-term lift to keep us up.

[Maskrey]

2 hours ago, blueheaven said:

Based on what?

No new owner is going to come in and invest in a club who could be languishing in the lower league for years.  They will be waiting to see what happens.

[Gekko]

7 hours ago, blueheaven said:

Callum yes, but could anyone say Macca fit the description of hungry for the job? He was pretty open about the fact that he didn't even want it and only took it because he was asked.

He also said that he didn't think he was ready for it, in a press interview! But thought he couldn't turn it down when offered.

Surely, if he'd said this to Steve Brown, and I presume the chairman would know this since it was public knowledge, he should have then searched elsewhere, or could he be bothered?

Remember his "If he doesn't work out, it's not my problem" line on the pitch when he was leaving at the end of last season. That sums it up.

[Gekko]

5 hours ago, Maskrey said:

No new owner is going to come in and invest in a club who could be languishing in the lower league for years.  They will be waiting to see what happens.

They wouldn't be up to much as new owners if that were their attitude. In fact, they shouldn't be running anything with that kind of mindset.

They should be coming in strong, with a plan and a positive attitude that no matter what happens, or where we are, we're up for the fight, getting better all the time and moving onwards and upwards.

If they're waiting to find out what happens, then that isn't taking control of the situation and I'd rather they didn't bother.

Proper owners will relish the challenge whatever, or wherever it is.

[Cagey]

2 hours ago, Gekko said:

They wouldn't be up to much as new owners if that were their attitude. In fact, they shouldn't be running anything with that kind of mindset.

They should be coming in strong, with a plan and a positive attitude that no matter what happens, or where we are, we're up for the fight, getting better all the time and moving onwards and upwards.

If they're waiting to find out what happens, then that isn't taking control of the situation and I'd rather they didn't bother.

Proper owners will relish the challenge whatever, or wherever it is.

 Nobody relishes a challenge when their money is at stake and there is no money outside premiership.

[Gekko]

40 minutes ago, Cagey said:

 Nobody relishes a challenge when their money is at stake and there is no money outside premiership.

I'd have to disagree with that.

Plenty of investors and business people welcome a challenge, regardless of the situation, financial or otherwise.

In a situation like ours, it's very often not always about money. In fact, the more they have, the less it matters. That's not a rule, but it's true in many cases.

And kind of repeating what I said earlier, if all they were after was return on their investment, then there are far better options than a Scottish football club, and if that was all they were interested in, then they'd not be the kind of people that I'd want in charge.

If money were all that mattered, they'd be selling the land at McDiarmid and we'd be ground sharing with Swifts or Kinnoull in no time. I'm confident that Geoff will do all he can to make sure that doesn't happen.

The new owners are more likely to view us as a passion project. In other words, not looking to make loads of money, but more for the excitement and the rollercoaster ride of owning a club like ourselves.

Which takes me back to what I said in the previous post, proper owners will relish the challenge whatever, or wherever it is.

[Maskrey]

22 minutes ago, Gekko said:

I'd have to disagree with that.

Plenty of investors and business people welcome a challenge, regardless of the situation, financial or otherwise.

In a situation like ours, it's very often not always about money. In fact, the more they have, the less it matters. That's not a rule, but it's true in many cases.

And kind of repeating what I said earlier, if all they were after was return on their investment, then there are far better options than a Scottish football club, and if that was all they were interested in, then they'd not be the kind of people that I'd want in charge.

If money were all that mattered, they'd be selling the land at McDiarmid and we'd be ground sharing with Swifts or Kinnoull in no time. I'm confident that Geoff will do all he can to make sure that doesn't happen.

The new owners are more likely to view us as a passion project. In other words, not looking to make loads of money, but more for the excitement and the rollercoaster ride of owning a club like ourselves.

Which takes me back to what I said in the previous post, proper owners will relish the challenge whatever, or wherever it is.

You are living in a fantasy world if you think any new owners are going to have a passion for St Johnstone.  Any new owners/investment in a Scottish club is more likely to be a vanity project.  It’s a play thing to look good in front of their equally rich friends by owning a sports team on the cheap.  If we fall into the wrong hands it could be the end of us.  Geoff Brown wants his money nothing more nothing less.  This is a really dangerous time for Scottish clubs who are being invested in by foreign owners as you never know the mess that will be left behind when they have had enough.