Yorkyred

Who cares.

Yodo is going to be furious.

End of the day if the attitude is the players can’t improve we are in trouble, I would hope our manager has a different mindset. Again as previously stated we are not starting with a new squad in January, it’s going to be more or less the same group with two or three additions. The whole midfield are not suddenly leaving to be replaced by superstars or even players on a different level of ability, that’s not the way it works at clubs at our level. This group of players have had some decent performances and picked up points at places like Aberdeen, they CAN do that again with the right coaching.

That’s the hope, we will be in a good position to pick up the points with a bit of organisation.

Hopefully the pessimism is unfounded and we see a good performance.

Another game that’s very winnable, this is a poor Dundee United team, however I fear with the goals we’re conceding another defeat could be on the cards. Hopefully we had some home truths in training with everyone understanding their job on the day because we certainly have enough in the squad to beat this Dundee United team with anything like a competent performance.

One of the problems we have is a lack of pace across the whole team, this is where we need a balance in how we play, dare I say this is where that naivety comes in at times.

I think Hammell summed it up when he stated before yesterdays game that we need to be better in both halves. The stats don’t lie but they can paint a bit of a false picture. We had plenty of the ball but yet again failed to do many of the basics well, we continue to make basic defensive mistakes and can’t hit a barn door from five yards up front, that’s the story of the season, the lack of points over the last 7 games back it up. We do need to start picking up points and again that will come if we become better organised, work harder and get those basics right, there is no reason why some of our players should be going backwards the way they are, that comes down to what happens in training, a couple of wins will also see the confidence increase which is also important. Hammell needs time but I’ve not seen a lot to convince me he was the right appointment in truth, but of course it is early days and he wants to actually play attractive football which in itself is a refreshing change.

He sort of already has gone with his own judgement by picking them.

Spittal not so much, Goss and Slattery have shown their qualities in the past, Goss more recently. I honestly can’t remember you rating a single player we’ve signed in the last 5 years though so it’s a tough one for yourself when no one meets your standards. Academy replacement suggestions suggest you were on the drink last night. Hopefully you’ve sobered up mate.

I would agree he still needs time and if possible support from a more experienced head, we could realistically be going into the World Cup break with one win in eleven and that’s a pretty frightening prospect. Two of the four games however are very winnable so maybe he can grab a few points which would settle things.

Dropping experienced midfielders for academy players in a team already struggling is a new level of madness for me.

To be fair he was not forced to apply for the position. Hammell is in exactly the same position as the last four managers have been, taking charge of a struggling team in a poor position with supporters stating the squad were rubbish. He was obviously fully aware that his job was to turn that around on a limited budget as Robinson and Alexander did, I don’t believe this squad is any worse than those inherited by those previous managers. I’m afraid he will be judged on results and will be blamed if we drop into the bottom two, that’s just the way football has always been. He won’t get two years to build his own squad if we’re in danger of relegation and will have to work with the majority of this squad while in charge given some of the contracts, January is not going to see a massive change in personnel. It’s going to be tough, and yes it’s harsh but it’s the reality of where we are in the pecking order.

Again if he did not miss these easy chances he would not be playing for us. This is what he’s done his whole career and yet he’s still our leading goalscorer. We knew what we were getting, that’s not going to change.

We need to start by making improvements with what we have, we won’t be changing half the squad. I’m simply not accepting this thought that we can’t be better than this with the players we have. Take Lamie as an example, for some reason he’s gone from getting to the point of being very reliable to all over the place at times, the midfielders as a group have also gone backwards. At the moment we’re making poor decisions game after game which are totally avoidable regardless of the quality of the players. We signed two strikers who are not fit enough to start a game, we need them fit and up to speed to give us those options up front.

I love the way it always comes back to Van Veen, there are another ten players behind him most games including the other strikers. It’s been said before that if he was prolific we could not afford him. Let’s look at why other players are starting to look like they have never been on a training pitch first because today was yet again full of the basics not being done. Even the more consistent players are all over the place. We got beat by a pretty poor Aberdeen team today.

We’re actually going backwards I’m afraid, totally disorganised.

Very worried again, we’re not looking good.

Var pen given against Celtic and the correct decision.

I still think Efford has something about him.

I’m personally happy to see him given more time dependant on the loan arrangements. IF he’s ever fit he’s an asset but obviously there come a point that we need to cut our losses.

Pretty much sums it up, need to be better in both boxes and attractive football needs to be matched with points.

It’s a real shame given the guy is still not that old, it was a risk given the limited number of games he’s played over the years, that was not going to change just because he came back up north. We need strikers that can play for 90 minutes on a regular basis.

And of course given our record against them we should, I do worry however that we’re not in a great place and we could see problems. We need the win so hopefully a worry that ends up unfounded.

I would agree, it was a statement of the obvious, nothing the rest of us are not saying anyway. He was not trying to be defeatist simply being honest. The old firm themselves say the same thing about some of their European apposition after they get a doing, nothing different. What we need to concentrate on is doing the basics which in itself is effected by far superior opposition and have that mental toughness. We could do with a couple of real leaders which would make a difference.