Les Gray in the Advertiser

[glasgow accie]

Nobody is saying anyone is happy at the moment......I'm happy with my Accies spectacles ......
Mmmmmm....
What will it take for you to aim any sort of criticism at the club ?
Can they do no wrong in your eyes ?
And I also see you didn't say anything about my expectations for the team .
Are they different from your expectations for the team ?

[Accies4ever]

Some posters on here just don't get it. The penny just never drops!

It's not about what position we finally end up this season. It's looking towards next season.

Yes at the beginning of the season, I'm sure we would all have settled for safety from relegation and no doubt that would be viewed as a success if it occurred again next season.

Here is the point:

Before Canning took over: 39pts out of 20 games, giving a ratio of just under 2pts per game. Do I need to remind posters we were sitting 3rd and even discussing the possibility of Euro football early January.
During Canning's tenure: 4 pts out of 12 games, giving a ratio of one third of a point per game.

If we continue collecting points as we are currently doing, we'll maybe end up with a dozen or so points at the end of next season.
We'll be miles behind 11th place and that's not even factoring in Hearts and maybe Rangers back in the SPL.

We simply cannot continue in this vain. Certainly not into next season.
Why can't Les just admit the Canning experiment hasn't worked and we all move on.

As far as his pathetic "let's lower our expectations" thing. How defeatist is that.

Well if Les wishes to persist with Canning into next season, it's his choice, but if it goes pear-shaped like the 2nd half of this season, it won't just be Canning's blood we'll be baying for, it'll be Les's aswell.
It certainly will be interesting Q&A.

P.S. Anyone notice that the club referred to player and commercial questions being answered regarding the Q&A. Not one mention of anything else (ie managerial questions). Well they can't stop us asking

P.P.S. If I hear any more about Neil and Tony leaving etc, as an excuse, I'm climbing a clocktower with my sniper's rifle.
Remember Les even omitted himself it's basically the same team.
Stop making excuses for piss-poor results.

[AmanAccie]

P.P.S. If I hear any more about Neil and Tony leaving etc, as an excuse, I'm climbing a clocktower with my sniper's rifle.
Remember Les even omitted himself it's basically the same team.
Stop making excuses for piss-poor results.[/quote] Before Alex left we had a bad spell when he was on the sidelines. As soon as he got back on the park we started picking up points again. We obviously miss the goals and that wee spark from Andreu but the key man was Neil. He was the boss on and off the pitch. That's what we need to replace next season along with a decent striker. If we can find a player like Neil we might be ok. Not an easy task!

[redandwhite1874]

Now had a chance to look at the full article.

Les says Falkirk wanted £250k for Loy, we were in for Gregg Stewart but Dundee offered double what we could and likewise Loy got double what we could afford. These will be seen as just excuses from some no doubt.

[Alfie Olek]

An extensive interview with Les. As others have said perhaps not a lot new here. He reiterated a few messages that we have heard before and I wouldn’t disagree with most of them.

- The clubs' financial model won’t be jeopardised in pursuit of instant success
- Both he and Ronnie are as ambitious now as they were at the start
- We won’t go out and spend lots of silly money on players that might or might not work
- Andreu and Curier had to leave in Janaury (although for different reasons )

In respect of the future the Board “

now have a new strategy in place based on the start we had to the season but I’m not going to reveal that at this stage that would be a silly thing to do

No I didn’t understand that either.
Already he and Martin are planning for next season and have sat down and discussed what is needed to strengthen the team. Looking for 3/4 experienced players in the summer to strengthen the squad.

Then he goes on about the fans needing to lower expectations.

They need to have a reality check. In the pecking order of of 42 clubs where do fans think we should be.

This is where I start to disagree. Fans want the club to be the best they can be. To finish as high up the league as possible and in time be an established SPFL club who like Motherwell, Saint Mirren, Killie and Saints might just win a Cup. If Les is saying that with our fan base we should never expect top six or even a consistent SPFL future then his version of ambitious is not mine.

So what could have been done to stabilise the team? Andreu’s departure was not a surprise and no club refuses a million pounds. Curier’s attitude has always been a problem and while it would have been good if we could to have kept him I’m not surprised by his departure just maybe the timing. His explanation of what happened with Loy confuses me though. He claims Falkirk wanted £250,00. A convenient figure that I think we would all agree we wouldn’t pay but Peter Houston was quoted as saying Falkirk wanted £100,00 a not unreasonable sum all be it for a soon to be out of contract player. Whose figure is correct?

I certainly agree we couldn’t compete with Dundee in offering him a 3 year contract that would be reckless in this day and age but I still think we could have spent some of the money we have received over the last 9 months on a couple of good players without bursting the financial model had the club had a list of targets for the january window.

Whatever it is clear that unless Martin jumps ship he will be manager at the beginning of the next season. “it takes time for management team to settle in” (Well the 2/3 that are left after swailes went). “he needs to settle in , bring in his own squad and develop his own players.”

And yes the word ‘ethos’ isn’t mentioned once. Hurrah!

Finally I note that Les says

if we could get paying season tickets doubled that would make a difference to our budget.

I don’t want to be a pessimist but if this run of form continues you can add whoever you like to the squad in the summer but I would have thought the number of paying season tickets will go down not up and for the record I will be renewing.

[RyanT]

This all feels quite familiar. Remember the long period when the club insisted that Billy Reid was their man and that they had his back 100%? We were underperforming and the tactics were always poorly judged on the pitch, yet he seemingly could do no wrong in the eyes of the board. This feels like the same thing all over again...

When we switched to Neil, we went on a good run of wins and that provided the springboard we needed to succeed in the next season. This season, as things are going, we will have a very long run of losses and heads will be down going into next season. Worried...

I get that Les has his vision, but sometimes you have to realise that you got something wrong and have a rethink on things.

[glasgow accie]

^^^THIS^^^
Spot on ......

[DC United]

Disappointing to read what I consider a lack of ambition. A football club is primarily about results. Thats why fans turn up. This attitude of 'results don't matter' gives all underperforming members of the team an out when results are going badly. And it shows that even if Canning doesn't win a game by the end of the season the stuborness of the board will allow him to continue regardless, rather than accept a mistake was made.

[Whiskeytown]

Canning lost me when I heard his radio interview after the Motherwell humiliation. He was asked if he was concerned, he said "not at all". What? No wins in 11 with 8/9 of the same players and you're not concerned!

I still think we can beat United on Saturday but even that might not be enough. If we struggle in the bottom 6, I cannot say for definite that I'll be buying a season ticket as I could not face defeats week in week out. Canning is too vital to the team not to play and he will play more than Neil who was in for two games then out for four injured. We need a dugout manager. The Canning appointment will see us back in the Championship come August 2016.

[Willie Wastle]

I don't imagine being a player-manager was in Martin Canning's career plan for next season, never mind this, until a few turbulent days in January saw him thrown in at the deep end. It's been a tough couple of months for him, and for all of us. Football fans are an unforgiving lot, and we expect instant results, which he hasn't delivered. If we'd picked up one or two wins, in the process securing top six, the debate would be more balanced - as it is, I can see why some have decided Canzo has no future managing Accies.

So here's my attempt at perspective.

Saturday saw us officially avoid relegation. St Mirren can no longer catch us. First objective of the season achieved. It's still arithmetically possible for us to fall into the play-off spot, but even if our current poor form continues, still very unlikely. And if results go for us over the next week, we could still finish in the top six, our highest post-war finish. I doubt we will, but we've got to within one game of accomplishing something that wasn't even on our radar when the season started.

Being asked to adjust our expectations is harsh, but they had become unrealistically high in the first half of the season. Challenging for Europe is surely an unrealistic expectation for a club of our size and scope - great if we could somehow do it, but not something we should ever expect.

For most of my life we've been in the bottom half of Scottish football. At best, under John Lambie and Billy Reid, we have yo-yo'd between the top and second flight. Alex Neil briefly promised to take us higher, but didn't complete a full season in the SPL. It was a dream unfulfilled; it was never an expectation, or should never have been.

I'd still rather have our model than Dundee's, even if they contrive to buy their way to a higher finish this year.

[Alfie Olek]

Challenging for Europe is surely an unrealistic expectation for a club of our size and scope - great if we could somehow do it, but not something we should ever expect.

I know what ur saying but for a moment it just was possible. 4th might have been good enough depending on who wins the scottish cup, but even if that was unrealistic then at some time if we did establish ourselves in the SPFL a cup win is not out of the question. Saint johnstone and motherwell have all qualified and played in europe. Even Queen of the South did it (clearly they don’t realise there is a pecking order) and you should speak to some of their fans who made the trip to denmark for their tie and Broadwood for the second leg. This year I understand the prize money is to increase by 67% so even qualifying might have been financially worthwhile. If we can’t aspire to such things then we might as well get back to the championship ASAP and stay there as thats where les seems to think we should be in the pecking order

[DC United]

I don't imagine being a player-manager was in Martin Canning's career plan for next season, never mind this, until a few turbulent days in January saw him thrown in at the deep end. It's been a tough couple of months for him, and for all of us. Football fans are an unforgiving lot, and we expect instant results, which he hasn't delivered. If we'd picked up one or two wins, in the process securing top six, the debate would be more balanced - as it is, I can see why some have decided Canzo has no future managing Accies.

So here's my attempt at perspective.

Saturday saw us officially avoid relegation. St Mirren can no longer catch us. First objective of the season achieved. It's still arithmetically possible for us to fall into the play-off spot, but even if our current poor form continues, still very unlikely. And if results go for us over the next week, we could still finish in the top six, our highest post-war finish. I doubt we will, but we've got to within one game of accomplishing something that wasn't even on our radar when the season started.

Being asked to adjust our expectations is harsh, but they had become unrealistically high in the first half of the season. Challenging for Europe is surely an unrealistic expectation for a club of our size and scope - great if we could somehow do it, but not something we should ever expect.

For most of my life we've been in the bottom half of Scottish football. At best, under John Lambie and Billy Reid, we have yo-yo'd between the top and second flight. Alex Neil briefly promised to take us higher, but didn't complete a full season in the SPL. It was a dream unfulfilled; it was never an expectation, or should never have been.

I'd still rather have our model than Dundee's, even if they contrive to buy their way to a higher finish this year.

Here's my perspective: With the tremendous foundations for the rest of the season in place when Neil left, challenging for top 4 was not unrealistic. Albeit things could have gone pear shape even if Neil had stayed, being realistic. The problem was that with his three games in charge on an interim period Canning showed he was not right for the job. Another appointment from the 60 or so we are told applied might have not won a game by April too, however at least it may have shown ambition from the club to progress, rather than accept failure after a wonderful 2014. Lack of ambition, to sum up.

[redandwhite1874]

As a club it looked like the plan was to try and play thro the season with the team plus a few others who did so well for us. so even with Alex N in charge he was apparently (?) not looking for the club to show more 'ambition' or spend more than we did. We can only speculate if Lucus and Sumsky were ok'd by Neil before he went; or if there were others he wanted to come in.

Even if we had been prepared to splash out £250k on a player worth nothing in months then I doubt his agent would have accepted half wages when he probably already knew what Dundee were willing to splash out. We also don't know how much the players that strengthened other SPL teams are on e.g. MacDonald, Swanson, Pearson, Vita etc. We should have been ready for Tony to go but it appears that even under Alex/Frankie there was no realistic replacement set up. Sumsky and Lucas look like a million others we signed in the top division ie punts rather than realistic players ready to go (happy if they now prove me wrong), and Nigel is only now 2 months later ready to contribute. Re the above I would be interested to hear what Les has to say as 'we don't know what we don't know'.

It would also be interesting if we have made any moves in the pre contract market.

It looks like under a spectacular manager we might have achieved spectacular things by getting the max out of a mainly average/good squad; otherwise Europe is always pushing it.

For me Les is not just ignoring results or thinks that martin is doing great; at the meeting he may even come out and say with hindsight his signing policy might be different. He is willing to give Martin time to learn and come out of a huge upheaval; he has identified what he thinks are qualities he thinks can bring success - I assume qualities he has seen before at a club like ours.

[silverfox]

For me Les is not just ignoring results or thinks that martin is doing great; at the meeting he may even come out and say with hindsight his signing policy might be different. He is willing to give Martin time to learn and come out of a huge upheaval; he has identified what he thinks are qualities he thinks can bring success - I assume qualities he has seen before at a club like ours.[/quote]


Les may think Martin has management qualities, however, I'll believe what my eyes see each week..........which is that Martin doesn't.

[Todd_is_God]

A win against Dundee United could be so important now tbh.

Les Gray right now is sleepwalking the club into "doing a Hibs"

Forget about being safe already from relegation. After tonight no longer think we are.