weeyin

8 shots at goal, 6 on target, according to the Beeb. That is pleasingly uncharacteristic compared to our recent efforts.

It's almost like getting the new players fit and then playing them is a viable strategy.

On the bright side, maybe Livi's "pitch" will be the push the SPFL needs to ban plastic from the top flight.

Way too soon to say that. 2 league games into the season and you have written them all off already? Hasty and short-sighted to say the least. As I have pointed out more than once on here, this time last season, a number of posters were moaning about how shite they thought Dunne was. Same point this season, they are moaning how much we miss Dunne while deciding none of our other new signings are good enough. We'll find out how good the new signings are a few months from now, not on a plastic pitch at Livi today.

I watched Fisher the other night against Aston Villa. He had one great effort that curled past the post, and took (and missed) a bad penalty when it was 0 - 0. Commentator mentioned he hadn't scored in his last 7 games. So not sure he would have been the answer.

If you listen to his interview, that's not exactly what he says. However, what you or me would say is irrelevant. Lots of players and managers spout BS in front of the media these days. I guarantee Bigi was coached on what he should and shouldn't say. However, in the grand scheme of things, I doubt I could care less about what he said if it means he gets a game and puts in some decent performances.

It's better PR than "I left for England because Robinson's hoofball left me on the bench in favour of talentless thugs." Same as it was PR fluff with the McHugh "giving up" the captaincy as a selfless act. Even in his pre-match, Robinson makes it sound like he's almost reluctantly playing Bigi "with his passing" because he has lost bigger, more powerful long ball specialists.

Or it could be all PR fluff, and the two of them did fall last season.

Wiki has him at 100 league appearances with 25 goals. Still not sure about him, though.

I miss the old "Jennoe" posts from when he moved to Coventry.

Not sure playing with just one striker is the way to go against Livi.

Defensive midfielders seem to make up about half our squad.

They aren't saying it's better than Accies poor plastic. They are saying "it's the worst plastic pitch I have ever seen".

Moult starting and scoring in the diddy English cup tonight. Alex Fisher narrowly missing with a great effort against Aston Villa then following it up with a penalty miss later in the game.

Most of whom were regularly abused by a significant number of fans at games and on here as being useless.

Playing with wingers too. Will never catch on.

Robinson doesn't want wide players in the traditional sense - he wants wing backs that track back and cover in defence. Typically, that means natural wide players - or wingers as the old folks call them - aren't part of the mix. He's happier to play a defender that can run up and down a bit, than a winger that can take people on and hit the bye-line.

I think we're playing one dimensional football. I don't think we need to - even with the current squad. What won't work is fielding players that can pass a ball and expect them to adapt to long balls down the channels. As for the defence, Tait, ATS and Johnson can all play full back, and Aldred, Hartley, McHugh, Maguire (and Mbulu) can all play centre. So while it may not be his preferred approach, there's no reason we can't play a back 4 in the short term.

20 quid for a ticket to theTony Macaroni is pasta joke.

Sammon is nowhere near as bad as Bob Malcolm. (Bob Malcolm who, by the way, when we signed him, was touted by many experts on here as a classy, footballing midfielder. I kid you not). Johnson is the one we need to develop, though. Sammon was brought in as cover, then Bowman got injured and Main needs a cow's arse / banjo refresher.

Accies, Livingston, Dundee and probably St Mirren are all going to be in the bottom half mix. Our early fixtures could have been better, but I still think we'll do enough to keep relegation out of the picutre. I'm more concerned about entertainment value. No point in finishing 6th or 7th if we are unwatchable.

Far too soon to be thinking about relegation. With guys like Hartley, Aldred, Campbell etc. it's not leadership we are lacking. It's putting someone in midfield who can pass a ball. There's no point in sticking on players with 25 minutes to go and saying "2 goals down, save it for us". I was hoping Rodriguez might be that player, but he might not get that chance. Likewise, no point in playing Bigi, if the tactics are still to launch long balls over midfield and up the park.

The worst possible tactic to play against a deep lying defence is the long, high ball. You either need to play it wide and hit the bye-line, or find a through ball. Both of those tactics require someone in midfield capable of passing a ball on the deck - either out wide, or to find someone in the box. That will never happen while we're trying to earn the right to play football. Deep lying defences give the midfield time to create. You see good teams probing and playing short one-twos in and around the box. The opposition has invited you to play football - no earning required. We just aren't smart enough to do it.

ATS, Johnson, and Rodriguez all have the potential to be good signings. The new boy, Mbulu, could be a good one too (although not convinced we needed to re-sign Aldred at the same time given we had already picked up Donnelly). Whether you are a fan of Frear or not, there's no doubt he was one of the better performers in the League Cup group - and has been rewarded with zero starts in the league. Combine that with guys like Bigi, and Turnbull (and Dunne, Bowman and Tanner when they are fit again), and we have the potential to be more creative, play a bit more football. I'm not suggesting we suddenly turn into a silky smooth tiki-taka side, but there is plenty of room in the middle ground to be something other than a long ball team. It's all about balance. There was no point, for example, to bring in Sammon for high punts when it's obvious he scores 90% of his goals from passes on the deck. It's unclear whether Robinson just doesn't know what his best team is, or is scared to change his approach, but if you're the opposition, it's a lot easier to set up to defend long, high balls than it is to dfend against players taking you on, and good through balls. I knew we were in for a long afternoon against Accies after all the pre-match buildup on twitter etc. with the emphasis on "battles" and "fights" and "steel" etc. that plays right into their hands. Accies are poor this season, and the way to beat them is with a bit of football - just like the last game of last season. There will be games against Hearts, and Rangers etc. where we will need extra dig, but even then, we'll still need to create chances. I hope we take a step forward before the Livi game, because we struggled to adapt to the plastic pitch at Clyde in a game that was crying out for someone to put a foot on the ball and start playing some short, crisp passes. The Livi pitch is, by all accounts, worse than Clyde, and long balls don't work on plastic at the best of times - the ball just bounces too high and runs away from players. But I'm not panicking at this stage. I think it's going to be a rocky start, but I don't think relegation isn't in my thoughts yet.

The ball at Fir Park now gets more air time than the podcasters...