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Here's the black one

The game has changed though with centrehalves being on the ball a lot more and more building out the back and facing different defensive shapes and presses. I'm looking forward to us playing St Mirren so we can get the benefit of Dunne's inability to pass for a change. Going back a fair bit longer I remember the Dortmund match at Fir Park as a kid and it felt like Sammer and the Dortmund defence were cheating knocking the ball about on the halfway line. I had never seen that before.

The defensive concerns I see are mostly down to the fact we have a Manager who insists on playing with only three midfield players. Once teams catch on to that we get over run and the defence is constantly put under pressure. Far too little protection in front of the back four and no creativity to supply our forwards. Four lower league clubs realised that and at times each and every one of them embarrassed us by taking control of midfield. We changed it against QOS second half but not against Airdrie. How did those games end up? On Sunday Hibs were a bit slow on the uptake and we more than matched them first half. They moved an extra player into midfield second half and, although we had a couple of chances, that extra man saw them take over the match and run out comfortable winners. Lamie and Mugabi might not be world beaters but they are not bad players. And when we rescued last season they were at the heart of our defence for a good few games at a time when our Captain was playing silly buggers. And I am pretty sure Lamie is very much in Alexander's plans so I doubt we will see him dropped. If we stick with a midfield three against Saints I fear they will get outnumbered and bullied, resulting in another depressing defeat.

Checked the lyrics, I knew "come on eileen" and "to-rye-ay". I prefer their song about darts anyway.

1982. The scene - a pub anywhere in Scotland. A tune comes on the video jukebox (it 's an upmarket pub). A few folk start mumbling the tune. The chorus kicks in and the singers ramp up their volume, "Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, ay" they roar in unison Then "Over the hill with the swords of a thousand men" 50% of them end with, thinking it was Tenpole Tudor they were listening to.

Poor old grizzlyg...

Didn't even get the first word right

I think the line up listed by Wellsince makes sense and is an option. Given our squad and allowing for flexibility with scope on the bench to change things to a more attacking or defensive formation as the game dictates. I think starting with a three in midfield immediately hands the initiative to our opponents, exhausts the players concerned and eventually leads to us hanging on/ chasing the game late on. We mostly got away with it against the lower league Clubs although Airdrie held on assisted by the fact that for some reason we only brought on one substitute. It's all about opinion of course but I would rather see us adopt a more cautious approach to begin with, even if that means sitting a winger on the bench. There is no shame in winning a game in the last 20 minutes which is the time under the current set up where I see us running out of steam as our midfield disappears. Hibs put an extra man in midfield and dominated the second half. I don't believe that was just about quality off the bench. No matter what formation is used by any team, it does always comes down to the quality of player. You need exceptional players to make 4-3-3 a success. I don't believe we have that quality. Perhaps 4-2-3-1 might suit our squad better, protecting the defence but also allowing scope for the likes of Woolery to play in a wide role. Let's see what happens on Sunday. Hopefully I'll be proved wrong

Again I ask the question, what formation are you using? 442? Who is playing wide midfield in your 442? Will your wide men really operate as wide midfielders or wingers, as I suspect Woolery and Amaluzor would do? So you would effectively be playing 424. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm having a go at you personally but the idea that 442 helps you win midfield is a nonsense unless it's a Terry Butcher style midfield with Pearson and Lasley at wide midfield. The last 442 we played to any kind of positive effect was McGhee second time around and that was a squinty 442 with 3 midfielders and one winger, so basically a 433.. The idea of only playing two central midfielders is a nonsense. Teams playing 343 invariably have two attacking midfielders in the front three who drop in to prevent being outnumbered. The 4231 is basically a 433 as the central figure in the '3' is a midfielder, who drops in. I seem to recall 352 taking a beating on here during periods when Robinson's team performed poorly. And likewise 433 when he used that. The only time I ever agreed with Maurice Malpas was when he said formations don't win you games, players do. The obsession with 'only' having three in midfield is a red herring. On Sunday we weren't tirng because we were chasing possession so much as we were tiring because of the lack of options on the bench. Hibs were able to freshen things up with no real drop off in quality. We couldn't... Obviously if someone comes up with a way to play four in midfield, I'm all ears...

Agreed we don't have quality in numbers but at least put the extra body in there so as to limit the space and freedom our opponents always seem to have. Also it might mean our guys are not shattered after 60 minutes. Not saying they are not fit or talented, but the amount of work they are being asked to do is massive. If that means sacrificing one of the three forwards for an hour then so be it. Any successful side makes sure the core of the team is secure before becoming more expansive. Sometimes it not just about putting the best individuals out there from the first minute ( as in squeezing in three talented forwards). Why not start with only two with the scope to switch to three in the last 30 minutes when most games open up? On Sunday Davidson, McCann and Craig will be licking their lips at the thought of bullying our midfield three and so controlling the game. As happened so many times of late when they have faced us. We need to change it.

Everyone knows it.

That's just about as bad as his old away kit

Just watching the StJ game, the Galatasary strip would be a nice template for us, they even have a nice black away kit as well