wellsince75

3 games that could easily define our season

We've not scored a first half goal since early September and only scored twice in the first half all season. One of them was against Dundee in the opening game of the season. We need out the traps early, get ahead and take 3 points.

I moaned my wee arse off in the first half about anti -football. Must say delighted that the team kept their shape, worked hard and did the basics well. Much prefer an ugly point than playing well and getting pumped +4 - 0 like many many times before. SK earned his coin today . Well done.

Bevis caused the penalty he didn’t clear the ball and subsequently lunged in and didn’t win the ball . he works hard but is a liability , always has been

Bevis is just too clumsy

I appreciate Celtic are the far superior team etc BUT This is complete anti football. Parking in our own 1/3 and simply hoping they don't score is a complete waste of team and for those at the game they're hamemoney. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

agree - if we had 2 decent strikers I'm sure we'd play with 2 but we don't Butcher should add a bit more dig in midfield which for me is the weak area of the pitch, teams have breezed through our core recently and hoping bit Butcher will halt them in their tracks.

Ha - I was quickly changing that To be fair we're more than a man down most games due to selection and lack of quality .

Butcher must be pushed in midfield. Otherwise it's a 6-3-1 type formation . Hoping it's 3-2-4-1 or 5-4-1 depending how we need to flex. Which I have no issue with ,given our current squad it's about as strong as we have. We need width . I'm lost to why we don't just play Spencer on the right and Gent on the left.

To @wellfans points I thought we were heading to the land of decency, long term stability at the end of last season. Getting rid of the complete dross , reducing squad sizes, bringing in youngsters, small squads with better quality. Playing simple football, doing the basics well. The issues that we have are 1) clear vision and lack of exco members to run the club 2) we signed worse than we let go (hard to believe that was even possible) 3) on the pitch lost our confidence and lost our way in doing basic things well. We should be a club be edging towards to top half of the league. Importantly we should have clear vision and signs of being progressive, incrementally improving. A well run club would indeed be around 6th and every few years have something better. We may be 80% there but need to address the points mentioned above to stop this 1x per year need to replace a manager, that really isn't solving the other 2 points.

Half of that prediction could easily come to pass. suspect SK has until Xmas at minimum

Why would anyone sign KVV when we have Bair, Wilkinson and possibly Obika back in the team.... Oh, I see.

If Wilkinson was in a team who played with wide men pinging balls into the box I suspect he’d score 10+ goals every season. Overall lacks pace , strength and the ability to hold the ball. Think the guy knows where the goal is but needs much better service .

I liked his dad George Adam’s - reasonably sure he unearthed lots of decent players for us when derek was at the club . Think he’ll do ok , knows his way round the game but would rather have his old man as chief scout

having a poor midfield doesn't help either our defence or attack. I'm less worried about defenders albeit concerned how we defend as a team. We need better protection from front to back.

They really do - wonder if we could offload some of this years signings to them. First reaction was similar to @grizzlyg they're welcome to him. He wasn't great for us and suspect our current perm left back is far superior , wait...what..... ?

certainly not one that worked .

I think you could further and say we've not had a shot on goal in the first half for most of the games. Most of our first shots at goal come in +70th min when we've brought subs on.

Im with you @mio . At the moment I don't think SK can see the woods from the trees. He needs to take a step back and regain the perspective that he had when fresh into the role. Managers who stand the test of time can handle the pressure and have clear view. At the moment he's lost in the detail. We need him to get back to basics and pull his head out his backside. Hopefully the international break gives time for reflection and gets back to doing simple things well.

We need to get back to basics asap . With current crop of fit players I personally believe we need get back to either a 3-5-2 or old school 4-4-2. Defence . Both Spencer & Gent need to play on their natural side. Midfield. If go 4-4-2 we can sit Butcher and Paton/Davor in more defensive and push Slattery/Spittal further up. Strikers. Obika partner with Mika or result back to 1 striker with Spittal just behind to support. Simply put S'OD, Wilkinson, Bair, Shaw should never be close to starting. Simpler put. When SK came in he succeeded by playing to strengths, players in their position. Time is running out, I don't expect to win but I do expect to have a clear , simple plan that even us punters understand and can get behind.

I wish Craigan would the the gig. He talks so much sense and would be awesome as a manager. Sadly he's made it clear that he doesn't want it. He's happy doing what he does. A real shame as I think he'd prove to be a great mgr for us.

Would be harsh not to give SK credit for when he came in. He did the obvious things that eluded others. Playing with 3 centre halves, 2 wing backs. Getting shape into the team. Playing with a strike partner. Since closed season he shipped out a lot and has brought in dross but we started the season well, kept a simple shape and did the simple things well. Since September it's gone from being close against the OF to just being poor, lost the plot with formations and lost the plot with playing players out of position. Today was such an obvious choice to play the 3-5-2 that pivots to a 5-3-2. Spencer/Gent as wingbacks. SK like many previous gaffers need to show he has a plan B and can get teams out of the brown stuff rather than going deeper into oblivion.

Hearts were there for the taking today. 3 months ago our well drilled team would have won that game. For the first 20 mins Hearts struggled to pass, find players and looked very weak at the back. BUT we made life very easy. Poor control from likes of Bair, Wilkinson and the atrocious inability of all team to make simple passes brought them into the game. Defensively we had no cover in the left back position.We allowed crosses to come in to the box without coming close to either the first or 2nd ball. I don't really blame the players, again set up far too narrow with a 4-3-3 that doesn't suit the players or the way we've been set up since Feb. We have become the gift that keeps giving and it's difficult to have any confidence that current regime will get back to basics and pick up points.

Formations/performances/people out of position are getting worse. We're a team that ship simple goals whilst offering nothing in attack. 1 shot at goal again, at home. Each week passes looks less likely that the manager will turn it around. His credibility/stock value has crumbled. 3 months ago our basics were superb - players were average but we were well drilled. That's gone out the window. A huge turnaround in approach is required.

like the one who create the goal in midweek - wonder what happened to him