Have to say that the_arab nailed it with his comments!
As i believe myself to be a realist, i have seen others mention that scenario, i have thought about it, looked at those we have lost and likely to loose that might have got us back up(not many of them), then those that we have recruited and i see battling at the bottom of the table as a very real scenario. It is a very real scenario, but as i have already said, if we can get players out and are able to sign credible replacements, that is not the scenario i think will play out, but we aint going up either.
Can it happen? Damn straight it can like you considered it could early last season. But saying you dont think so and others shouldnt think so is scary head in the sand stuff.
Absolutely no exaggeration in any of that, just an acceptance that there is a set of factors that could lead us to places i have never known as an Arab! I will re-evaluate the scenarios at the end of the first 9, but reserve my right to loose my sh!t at the weekend after my attendance on Saturday, where the next generation of my family will be inducted into the Dode Fox Lower!
First thing is to consider how we managed to get to this point, the consequences of which is the stream that feeds the well is blocked, never mind the well itself being dry!
With that in mind, i think JG is on a hiding to nothing in this situation that MO/TA created, then is not being given an inch from the fans because of his last failure and his reputation as a player. Therefore he needs a miracle that i doubt he will be afforded.
I think you are 100% right. JG is on a hiding to nothing, he has an entire rebuild to do, along with a change of backroom staff and he clearly isn't getting backed as much as previous managers had been. The club needs some poor sod to come in and get rid of all the hangers on and that is going to come at a cost on the pitch. JG is the unlucky fella. Even if we somehow managed to win the league....we are signing loans and 1 year deals that mean that we need another rebuild next year. Unfortunately, there is no magic wand for our situation and I think we have little other options other than clearing the decks and trying to build something from scratch. We are left hoping that that defence somehow manages to learn how to defend and Louis Moult has an injury free season and manages to for some sort of partnership with our midfield that gets him scoring goals for fun! The way I see it, we will know where the club is likely to be at the end of the season in about 4 weeks time. Praying for a miracle as I can never remember any other season when I have been this pessimistic before a ball has been kicked in the league campaign! I don't see any point of replacing JG as I think with MO in budget mode, anything we do will be like moving the deckchairs around on the Titanic. Everything to do with the club right now just has the feeling that something is deeply wrong within the walls of Tannadice! The owner REALLY needs to get to grips with this and be open and honest with fans. Is he backing us financially to get back up or is he looking at selling up. He really needs to sh1t or get off the pan!
Oh dear! I really didnt want to get into this, but you really need to go and carefully read what i have written as you appear to have missed an important point.
Some Arabs across the net have mentioned that this squad is relegation material as one person put it. With an open mind, i have looked at a batch of evidence and agree that could be a scenario that plays out.
My own PERSONAL OPINION is that WILL NOT happen, but WE WILL NOT be promoted either. I therefore DO NOT have us in for a relegation fight by the end of the season.
But considering myself to be realistic means i am willing to consider various scenarios despite what my own opinion is. In the coming days, i might go to my first match this season and change my opinion on what i see, for the negative or positive. In the coming weeks, the season starts for real and the window closes, so again, my opinion may change. In the coming months, we will get a proper look at our assembled squad, see how the ownership plays out and a new transfer window opens. Should any of that go the way of the sh!t, those rose tinted specs aint helping anyone!
JG took the gig and has put himself in a position to be unlucky, his signings, his formation and his tactics. If what he sees in training is good enough then it's on him to change during games when its not.
He digs himself a deeper hole with his comments during interviews.
Regardless if we do find the club battling near the bottom, enough fans are fearing this.
Probably the same ones who were scoffed at for voicing relegation concerns early on last season.
If Jim thinks this 'group' is good enough then it's on him to ensure they get the results.
If he is scared to say the squad needs better quality then he's brown nosing the owner, letting himself, the team and the fans down.
He needs to be answering the hard questions not this staged nonsense.
I do have a load of questions for our owner though, they all start with
'why did you..., with some 'when will you ..?
what i found interesting was that he hooked glass at HT
Now he actually had a half decent assist and for him to be hooked at HT the manager must have seen something really bad in his first half display.
It must be his defensive work and without the ball stuff, to be fair I think it was non existent too and possibly explains why he couldn't get a game for cove last season.