redandwhite1874 wrote:silverfox wrote:I think we would all agree and are thankful that Accies have progressed in 15 years since the points deduction and all the ramifications therefater.
However, I think it can be difficult to be objective about a season if you constantly measure it against those events.
I make no apology in being disappointed in a season that with better planning, Accies could have been in the top three.
Just better planning was required to get top 3? Perhaps if we were lucky and retained all the people we had in place we could have done that. It would have been truly astonishing but maybe we could have. Take out the 4 hardest to replace, and perhaps most effective, people at the club; including 2 people you could say were part of the foundations over a decade and I think it would take far, far more than planning to maintain that.
For me the myth that some investment and an experienced manager would have continued the same level of glory is being repeated to the point of almost certainty for some. For instance third might have been a reasonable goal for a certain club in Lanarkshire at the start of the season; who had stability, some investment (certainly in terms of the kind of wages we have structured around currently) and an experienced manager. We didn't strengthen in the window and that is a reality and failing but the real challenge was getting the club back on an even keel after the turmoil of January and loss of key staff. It would also be interesting know how much guys like MacDonald, Swanson, Pearson etc are on to gauge if they were realistic targets for us?
Many clubs have struggled after the loss of a hugely effective and influential manager; let alone a small club like ours who were already over performing and operating with the smallest first team budget. Man U went for Moyes and gave him cash for example.
You're right in so far as no one can say what would have happened if Accies had hired another manager. Well we probably could ; he wouldn't have been given the time Martin has been given, he would be on his way.
As regards planning, Accies have actively embraced the dynamic model of being a selling club where players and management can move on to further their careers.This model means that approaches can be made at any time, however whilst no one really saw the management team moving on in Jan, was that a failing under this fast moving model..... given the run Accies were on and Alex's profile as a fast emerging manager?
We were also lead to believe that there were over 60 applications of the highest calibre for the managers position, and yes I know that doesn't guarantee anything, but possibly the apparent standard could have softened some the blow of losing Alex, but as regarding your mythology point ............we will never know.
It looks as though the money generated from the business in Jan may be spent on the Accies dome, so I have no idea whether we could have afforded any of the players you mention, but personally I would take McDonald for Nigel any day of the week and hope the quality of signings will be better next season than this January's.
Since I have been supporting Accies (15 years) there have been huge successes, and I would like to challenge your view that if we achieve success then we are "over performing", as surely that wouldn't be enough to explain this sustained phenomena on its own?