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Everybody is agreed Bair is not a goal scorer and if we had one ready to replace him then he would not be starting. But we don't, so he is currently our best option and the team is structured on that basis. Shaw might be that man but only time will tell. Repeatedly banging on about his shortcomings and blatantly ignoring any positive contribution is so blinkered. You were not so vocal regards Bair after the Hearts victory. Have you ever considered that, under our current circumstances, Kettlewell may be playing Bair looking for to him to assist others to take the chances he and the rest of the team create, rather than racking up KVV like numbers for himself? Kilmarnock being another positive example where Bair helped us win a game that looked lost. Was I delighted when we signed Bair? NO. Do I recognise that he has contributed towards our excellent start to the League season? YES. Do I expect him to feature in the team for ever and ever? NO. Where I do agree with you is that Kettlewell's efforts at finding a KVV replacement have fallen short. That's not really unexpected though and in truth Kettlewell did highlight how difficult that task would be. He was quite open that goals would likely have to come from other areas to compensate. And that is exactly where we are at. I assume Bair has now joined your list that includes SOD and Spittal. Players whose every mistake is shouted from the rooftops, but whose every positive contribution is ignored.

See, that’s it right there! It’s the hope that kills you when, once again, we fail. Hence today I am resigned to the fact that we will get nothing. However, by Saturday evening I’ll be 100% convinced that we’ll be taking all 3 points.

Bair simply isn't good enough. SOD is a liability in defence and toothless in attack. Spittal has good aspects to his game and should focus on them while losing the delusion that he's good at shooting or crossing the ball. He also needs to work on his fitness, 25 minutes into the game and he's literally walking back up the park while we are defending in our own half.

Yeah I actually think Bair done really well today and the same at Tynecastle the other week. He done well to set up Spittal against Hearts and he blazed over when it was easier to score. He had two chances today one just past the post and one that he should perhaps have buried close in had he got a better purchase on the shot, he's hardly the semi professional player an admin had spouted earlier in there countless war and peace style posts on the ins and outs thread.

Are we just ignoring Biereth? Hardly SK's fault he is unavailable to us. His replacement Shaw is not long in the door and has had a couple of cameos from the bench. Bit early to be writing him off. Signing Obika is up for criticism based purely on his injury record and there hasnt been much from Wilkinson to give encouragement. But based on his previous career / stats, he wasnt disimilar to KVV. Bair is the one that everyone was thinking WTF, but honestly, he has been way better than I thought he was going to be. Nothing startling but a big honest laddie that will run about and try to create space for others to fill. Todays result isnt really a surprise given our injury woes and McGinns suspension. The fact that we were able to still put in a decent performance and just couldnt take our chances is what is frustrating. I think once everyone is back fit we will be in a strong position. Just need to try and grind out a few results until then. The next two weeks will be tough assignments.

I thought his scoring effort in the first half was ok. His angle was very tight and well covered by the goalie so he went for a more difficult option of putting it in at the far post and narrowly missed. It wasn’t an easy chance. The one in the second half he just snatched at it as it came to him quickly.

Bair is playing as a target man rather than a striker as I read someone else point out and this sums him up I think. By only having him up top it allows our 4 in midfield to get a grip on the game and hence slattery paton and Spittal are all having gd games recently going forward whilst miller sits deeper and keeps things ticking over. Curtis main done similar role when turnbull arriyibi and hastie were tearing it up and he also got some stick on here. We will switch between I up which will help us dominate midfield and 2 up which will mean more direct route as season develops I feel on a horses for courses basis.

Agree Ferrie may well have potential. But let’s be realistic. He is nowhere near ready for the first team. Most obvious is how easily he gets pushed off the ball, bullied. Cannot fault his effort though. I think we have scrapped our reserve team, which is a pity as maybe that would have given Ferrie a chance to develop and mature physically in a fairly competitive setting. Not sure what he can learn at youth level. Sadly a sign of the times at most clubs. If it’s a comparison of Bair, Shaw and Ferrie. Bair is big, strong and links up well. Works his socks off. Sadly not a natural finisher as his record shows. Shaw is mobile, links up well, decent in the air, looks to have a bit of pace and has scored goals elsewhere. Admittedly he should have done better when fed by Paton. Given more game time he is likely to be our top scoring striker this season. Ferrie has potential but that’s it at the moment. If Obika and Wilkinson are ever fit again, then they will also be ahead of him in the queue and for me that speaks volumes. Like you I was in despair when we signed Bair, looking his record elsewhere. I saw it as a waste of limited funds. Unlike you I am trying to move on from that and recognise what he does contribute to the team. Tynecastle and yesterday proved that he can add value. But somehow Kettlewell has to find him a goal scoring partner to play alongside him which might be a challenge given our preferred formation. Had we won yesterday, I doubt we would be having this debate today. If Bair is eventually dropped, then Shaw seems the best option to me.

Oh for Davy Cooper yesterday, as our crossing and set pieces were very poor and predictable. He could vary his deliveries and in a game like yesterday's, where aerial balls were totally ineffective, he'd fire in hard, knee high balls into the 6 yard box, knowing they were a nightmare to defend against. On paper, our best chance of snatching a goal was perhaps set pieces but that was never going to happen. Currently, Shaw is the only other fit senior striker we have but we don't know if he's match fit quite apart from the fact he might not be good enough. I'd like to think though that we'll now cease "the lone striker as Bair" forced experiment forthwith. There are other, albeit limited, avenues to explore hopefully.

oooooooft you dont like him mr moderstor do you ??????????

We will play worse than that and win this season. The number of chances we are creating gives me some hope that we will have an improved season and are heading in the right direction. I think we were always going to miss KVV’s goals and that criticism of our summer recruitment is an easy but lazy option. Who were we supposed to be bringing in to replace him on our budget? Two tough fixtures coming up where anything gained in terms of points will be a surprise and a bonus. Hopefully we come out of these games without too much damage to our confidence and can get back to accumulating points in the matches against our financial peers.

Ferries has shown absolutely nothing to suggest he could do anything. Let's not get blinded because he's from our youth.

You've been warned plenty. Your comments will be approved until you've shown you can behave yourself.

Just the usual Robinson scumbag tactics.

Hard lines today. I thought we played really well in spells and largely controlled the 2nd half. There’s few games we don’t score in but the absence of 3 strikers is obviously going to cost us as times. Hopefully Wilkinson is back by the start of the October. The bench was very inexperienced today and whilst I’m pleased to see the club significantly reduce our staff costs this summer, we could be in for a lean spell on the pitch at some point this season. Particularly if Spittal, Slattery and Miller run out of juice, which feels kinda inevitable. In the meantime though, we have a team that is good to watch and we have little to fear going to Ibrox next week. McGinn for Blaney should be the only change.

Disappointing. Our poor summer business coming back to haunt us. If there's a positive then it's that we should be spared SOD for a while and Spittal will be surely be told not to go anywhere near another dead ball.