Kmcalpin

Not sure about Thomas, at this stage, but I agree with your general point. Playing with one out and out striker was tantamount to shooting ourselves in the foot. Erwin should have started or been brought on at half time. John Sutton cannot play on his own up front - how often do we have to learn that lesson...............

Good post. In defence of Stuart McCall he is trying to source exactly that kind of centre back, for the reasons you mention. Simon Ramsden is not a centre back and admits that himself. Bantam fans are surprised that we're playing him there. Fraser Kerr is a good shout in the short term. A bit raw but he has all the attributes and is the fastest guy at Fir Park bar Ainsworth. I do think next week will be easier.

Probably not. The fact that he couldn't get a game for Dundee does make you think but thats no reason in itself to castigate him. At the moment I'm ambivalent about him, but he's due his chance. Early indications are that, performance wise, he's on a par with Lee Hollis and Gunnar Neilsen, but my view my change as the season starts. Of the three Gunnar Neilsen is potentially reckoned to be the best of the three, but that doesn't always translate into on the field performances.

I know what you're saying but some of our guys are never going to be fast irrespective of how fit they are - Keith Lasley, John Sutton and Iain Vigurs being three examples. You can make a fast player run faster but you can't make a slow player run faster. What did concern me last night was that some players couldn't last 90 minutes - thats a physical fitness issue.

Nothing wrong, nothing at all, with a measured response. During his temporary 5 game spell with us last season some of us never saw him as being a "saviour" as you put it. Yes he did well, but some of us felt he was weak in the air because of his lack of stature (not his fault). Thats been evident this season, so what has changed? He also failed to take charge in a potentially costly defensive mix up. That could have been disastrous for us. I for one am not calling him rubbish or whatever alternative term you choose but he has given cause for concern in my book - no more and no less.

Good post Iain. Loads of teams were playing in full scale friendlies before us. St Patricks Athletic, Brechin City, East Fife were all playing in June, never mind July. Another dozen were playing before 12 July. Last night the team was not physically fit and that showed. How many players had played a couple of full 90 minutes, or even one before last night? Match fitness was always going to be a potential issue and it was just too evident.

Nothing - but he didn't cover himself in glory. Fumbled one cross and got involved in an almighty mix up with 2 defenders when he should have taken charge.

He has been doing this all his career, not just tonight. Its his single biggest weakness and always has been. To be fair tonight though he had little or no protection in front of him and our opponents, like many before them capitalised on it. A poor performance tonight on just too many levels. Team was nowhere near match fit and questions must be asked of our preparation. Disappointed too with the team selection and tactics. John Sutton was left too isolated, as we could have predicted, and turned in a performance reminiscent of his spell under John McGlynn at Tynecastle. A single striker was never going to work. We had a fair bit of pressure but no cutting edge. Our build up was painfully slow and predictable. Very few decent individual performances - Law and McManus excepted. I'm a little puzzled about the criticism of Keith Lasley. Granted he didn't play well but he was no worse than quite a few others. Carswell blew hot and cold but had a better second half than first, when he made quite a few careless errors. Stjarnan look to be about the quality of a team like QoS or Cowdenbeath. We should beat them next week but will have to improve our preparation, team line up, tactics, performance and attitude. A very poor show tonight - taking everything into account probably our worst Euro performance since the home game against Llanelli.

Are we there now?

There will be a very healthy attendance from Fife & Tayside - as of last night there were 17 of us going.

You might be right, time will tell. I'm simply basing my view on Stuart McCall's description of him as "a similar type of player to his brother in that he’s a midfielder who likes to get on the ball and create".

Yes. Last season was cringeworthy. Nothing was made of Russell Anderson's illegal goal at Fir Park but we all know how the BBC fell over themselves on the last day of the season to ask Derek McInnes leading questions - just one example. I have no problem with commercial media outlets taking a biased view as their objective is to make a profit, not report the facts, but you'd expect that the BBC would have higher standards, but it does not. Simple solution is to switch off.

We have absolutely no information on Graham's reason for stepping back and its best not to speculate.

I doubt very much if we had reduced prices to say even £10 and £5 that some folk would have cancelled their holidays to attend. Its a pity though if some fair weather fans base their decision on whether or not to attend on the identity and quality of the opposition. That might be the case with neutrals but I would hope it doesn't apply to our own fans. Would bigger teams such as ND Gorica, Ferencvarosi or Rio Ave attract more of our floating fans? Interesting that St Johnstone are charging £27 and £26 for full price adult tickets in their game.

Josh Law?

You did so in your first post. There are exceptions of course the top end of the English first division is probably better than the bottom end of the SPFL but the reverse is also true. Teams like Wolves are in that league for a reason. On the whole, I still think that the SPFL would stand a fair comparison.

He has the talent, that much is clear. However he'll need to toughen up a bit to compete in SPFL football and that should come in time as he fills out. As it stands I think a number of appearances from the bench will give him some experience and help to toughen him up. Time will tell.

Doubt very much that Dom Thomas is ready for first team football yet. Maybe coming on from the bench late on but not from the start. Doubt's over ZFA's injury will also influence SM's selection - will he be fit or won't he?

JP's move to Hibs does seem strange. Does anyone know if the vacancy was advertised? Certainly can't find any reference to it.

In terms of attendance, budget and size of clubs you're correct. However in terms of quality you're not. Teams like Carlisle, Stevenage and Shrewsbury would not compete on the park with ourselves, Celtic, Aberdeen or Dundee United.

Really? Given that Swindon Town finished 8th in the English League One last season you obviously don't rate the SPFL at all. Back to the point though - we clearly require one or perhaps two strikers and a big central defender.

Yes, I'm concerned too Iain about our apparent lack of preparation, but in Stuart McCall we trust. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating though as the saying goes.

Yes both did very well and were plus points. Both showed hunger and desire and some good touches. If he continues to progress and spend some time in the gym to bulk up young Thomas could well turn out to be real prospect. Very encouraging.

He was still getting buffeted and battered by some admittedly pretty big defenders yesterday. No reason whatsoever why bulk should affect speed, unless he's been training wrongly. Most of the world's best sprinters are big muscular guys. Many English Premiership players are built like tanks but by god they can shift. His biggest failing yesterday, as commented by many around me, was his lack of movement off the ball.

I'm optimistic that SM will bring in 1/2 strikers and a decent centre back within the next few weeks. No point in signing players for the sake of signing them. It usually takes until about the end of September before most teams know their best line up.