weeyin

Hope he didn't show his face at the Cup Final.

Aye, I meant his first season in charge at the SPFL. The "devalue" argument doesn't hold water for me. No relegation meant no pressure to win games, but we were just awful that season reagrdless. McLean's SPL record was: 9th from 10 (bottom 2 relegated - saved by reconstruction) 8th from 12 8th from 12 9th from 10 (only 1 relegated that season) 6th from 10 6th from 10 10th from 12 9th from 12 3rd from 12 Great last season, great Cup win obviously, but plenty of bottom half league finishes and a few relegation dogfights. First 4 years in particular were spectacularly unspectacular. But certainly not an unusual run of league form for us.

Donnelly and Cadden are the young guns.

Agree with the points above. When Robinson took over he had a big task on his hands. We needed to shore up a leaky defence, avoid relegation and rebuild an entire team in the summer. He achieved all of those and gave us (and himself) the platform to build from. We are now firmly in phase two, and for me, that should involve tweaking key positions in the team to add a little bit of quality and variation. To some extent it parallels what Tommy McLean had to do the season he took over. Having said that, the only reason McLean was successful was because when we finished bottom of the table, the league's reconstruction saved us from relegation. It took him a number of years to build the team that won the Cup and he was able to sign guys like Bobby Russell and Davie Cooper along the way - but you could see he had a plan. Well, some of us could see that - others were demanding his sacking early on in his tenure. I doubt Robinson wil be given the same amount of time or money wee Tommy had, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to see incremental improvements here and there. Like ONeils40yarder, I'm not delighted we are near the bottom of the table, but it's a situation I have experienced much more often than sitting in the top 3 or 4. What I would like to see is a little more football. I have been a critic of the "having to earn the right to play football" approach since day 1. I understand the need to impose yourself on a game, and the fact that games open up in the 2md half. However, for me that doesn't preclude imposing yourself by passing the opposition of the park and sitting in their half of the park. I'm not sure we have the players to do that right now, but we surely have the players to play more attractive football than we did against Livi. It wasn't until Bigi came on that we actually had a player who managed to make passes to his team mates.

If we're not capable of competing with Dundee, Accies and St. Mirren - regardless of who is managing them - we deserve to be relegated.

I'd rather be where we are than where Ross County are.

When teams hit a poor run of form, there are always rumblings - usually from players trying to abdicate responsibility for not playing well. Suddenly they are all world beaters who'd be winning league titles if they were just given the chance. (And, of course, managers have players - and types of players - they prefer. That's why different teams play different formations and tactics).

Likewise. He's said himself it was a big leap to try and adapt to a wing back role, but he's still one of the few players we have that offer an out ball, and can hit the byline for a cross.

You have to be good at something when your parents call you "Broque" - seems to have been doing well recently.

I'd assumed it was because Robinson had reverted to grinders in the midfield as he tries to "restablish our identity as a club", but that's just a guess on my part.

Semple is young even for an U20s player, no need to overplay him; especially in the middle of international duty. One post, people are complaining about Cadden and Campbell having to play for the U21s when they need rested, and the next they are complaing we aren't playing 17 year olds against senior pros just after an international game. As for today's game - playing senior pros who need game time was one of the reasons it was reinstated. Not saying I completely agree with the notion, but this is why the club's wanted it back. Robinson obviously hopes Newell can play himself back into contention, so picking a 21 year old to start doesn't seem outrageous.

Sorry he's having to retire. Delighted we finally stopped calling him Humphreys.

Biggest waster I've ever seen at Fir Park. Huge footballing talent only surpassed by his ego and laziness. Could have been a top class player if he had bothered trying.

If that's the answer, I can only assume the question was "How do I make myself look like the most ignorant, sexist and clueless moron that posts on here?"

Not to rain on anyone's parade, because I'm delighted we won and the style we used to win. Don't forget, however, that guys like Dom Thomas, Bob McHugh and Craig Moore were stars at this level but never quite managed the step. So while I agree we should be giving a few of these guys their chance, it's no guarantee they are the next big thing.

Against teams of similar ages and experience they certainly do. Their performance against a more experienced Rangers Reserves (a 6 - 2 loss) showed the extent of the gap that needs to be bridged to step up.

Even if we beat Ukraine, it's unlikely we'll get the result we need against England. In typical Scotland fashion, it was our draw with Andorra that killed any realistic chance.

So a wee bit better than hartley So a bit better than Hartley then.

22 is a youngster as far as defender is concerned. Regardless - I'd be amazed if the fans giving him pelters are doing any analysis about who he might be keeping out the team, where their best position is, if he's being adequately supported by the senior pros etc. before they start screaming at him.

Wouldn't be steelmenonline if we didn't insist we should play youngsters and then immediately complain they are useless. None of this "give them time to develop" nonsense on here, thanks.

I waiting for the elections for the "Overseas Board Member Who Does Nothing But Swan In Once or Twice a Year to Eat the Pies" position, before I stand. Candidate Statement: I like the pies.

I suspect few would mind if we introduced an actual Colt system - although financially it might hit the bottom line of teams in the lower leagues. The ONLY time it's mentioned in Scotland is in the same breath as our Glasgow friends moving to different league. If we had 12 or more new teams to add to the lower leagues, that would add to the fixture congestion too. Plus the teams with a legitimate claim to be added to the senior leagues might be a little upset that St. Mirren U20s take precedence. The biggest issue, though, is that our administrators (and let's be honest, many clubs) have little interest in developing our game and even less ability in implementing any development plans.

There's a seethe because the OF want to bugger off to England and leave their B teams at home to keep skimming cash out of the Scottish game while they (they hope) rake in big money down south.

It's called looking out for your players. Good managers do that - great managers made a career out of it. That's why guys like Wenger and Fergie never saw their own players commit a foul or give away a pen.