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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/02/2018 in Posts

  1. Although I'd agree our close season transfer dealings have been poor and the players brought in aren't good enough I still believe all our current woes stem back to the beginning of last season. We won 6 out of our first 10 matches but people forget about many of the performances. Against Kilmarnock and Ross County the team was literally booed off the field at half time, we put in dismal first half displays, were generally given the runaround and were lucky, due to poor finishing from the visitors, to still be in the match. In the 2nd half we improved and we managed to get 1-0 leads with two late penalties, one each match to wrap up the points. The introduction of Allan Campbell from the sub bench turned the match against Ross County. It showed one thing, that Robinson's choices that he'd brought in - Bigirimana, Rose, alongside McHugh were not good enough as a midfield. And as has been proven time and time again ever since, when Allan Campbell is not present our midfield rarely if ever functions. Yet while this was evident to anyone actually analysing the matches rather than just looking at the results nothing was done about it. To this day, more than a year on and two transfer windows past, we still lack quality in midfield. A football team with no midfield will always be destined for disaster. And so it's proved. So how did we win 6 out of 10 then? Our initial success was based on a number of factors - new players, an unusual formation and 'throwback' tactics in an age when 'good' football meant playing on the ground, as well as having the best striker in the league, a good bit of luck and a favourable opening run of winnable home fixtures. However, we were easily figured out after one match, luck doesn't last forever and our striker was injured and then sold. Once teams had played us and adapted, we were easy to counter. The classic example was Aberdeen. Soundly beaten in what will probably be remembered as the best performance of the Robinson era in the league cup, Aberdeen returned the following weekend, changed their tactical approach and completely shut us down and won 1-0. More or less every team did the same after the first round of matches - a fact that saw our form go off a cliff and never really recover beyond a few wins against relegation bound Partick and an end of season kick about against Hamilton in the Bottom Six matches. Here was our second mistake - not replacing Louis Moult. While Main started brightly at the club it soon became apparent that he was no penalty box striker and while he often did good work outside the box the goal return was nowhere near the player he replaced. Yet, again, like the problem in midfield, nothing was done. Another transfer window and Connor Sammon was brought in, a player far too similar to existing players in the squad and a striker with a poor goal return. True, Danny Johnson was also brought in but here was a player with fitness issues and who clearly needed time and matches to adjust and step up a level. He wasn't ready to step right in. So last season while the midfield was not good enough at any point but we could get away with it because we were defensively sound and had a great striker. Then when Moult was sold we couldn't really get away with it a lot of the time because we were depending on not conceding to get anything out of games. If teams scored first they generally beat us. Form suffered badly, goals dried up and our form went into free fall. Finally we get to this close season. Both midfield and forward positions were not significantly strengthen, something that should have been apparent for some time and then disaster happened - the last functioning part of the team - the defence - fell apart. Dunne was injured, Hartley came back from a serious injury and didn't look the same player, Kipre was sold and our best player last season, Trevor Carson, took a major dip in form. So as it stands no area of the pitch is good enough. Carson's poor-ish form may improve but defensively we have been very bad - 14 conceded in 7 league matches and not a single clean sheet. We have exactly the same midfield as last season - a Chris Cadden going backwards at a rate of knots, Rose, Bigirimana, an out of position Tait, and of course ,Campbell, a player that, as good as he is, desperately needs help. The only 'improvement' in midfield was moving McHugh out of it into defence. So while it's tempting to blame Sammon, Donnelly and ATS for the poor start to the season I still maintain that, really, our problems stem back to last season for the above reasons.
    2 points
  2. I can see a wee bit of that hysteria creeping in among the fans, but I do think it's completely devoid of perspective at this stage. Since August we've played 8 games. 3 of them we'd have hoped to have won (Dundee, Accies, Livi) - we've won 2. The other 5 were against Rangers, Hearts, Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen. We've lost 4 and drawn 1 however, it's not 2012 anymore - the city clubs have got their shit together and are miles ahead of us in terms of finances and recruitment. Despite that, with the exception of Hibs on the opening day, there hasn't been a great deal between us and them. We really need to wait until after the opening round of fixtures to ask this question.
    2 points
  3. Same reason as mothers use their kids' full names when they are about to get into trouble.
    1 point
  4. Are you giving up your season ticket or something?
    1 point
  5. Aye interesting also that a well fans facebook group had a poll on Robbo that last time I looked was 300/20 in favour, so whilst folks are not happy and a bad October would change the figures, the vast majority (silent majority?) do not want change now. As Busta said on the pod those calling loudly for his head now are the ones who were against him from the start. Really hope he can turn this round Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk
    1 point
  6. The thing I don't like is the rhetoric that we are being punished for individual mistakes and then losing by the odd goal, seems to be implying that we make one mistake, lose a goal from it and lose the game. That bad luck is playing it's part and it will turn. It's absolutely ignoring the fact that what's actually happening is we're making 10/15 mistakes in dangerous areas every single game, and losing a goal from at least one of them is inevitable.
    1 point
  7. Think we tried that in Forgie with some Congolese. give it a few years yet.......
    1 point
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