joewarkfanclub

Ooft! Thats rough. I can make peace with the exciting 4-3 much quicker. Im getting older, I dont like to waste what time I have left! 😆😆😆

Winning is the most important thing. There are different ways to win though and they way we are currently doing it is the hardest to like. This is mainly because the margins are so narrow it doesnt take a lot to go wrong for a win to turn into a draw or even a loss. We have seen that a lot recently. There are mitigating factors. But they are wearing thin. If our injury crisis isnt going to clear any time soon we need to be more active in the transfer window than we had anticipated. If we are only a few weeks away from things improving that may be less urgent. Going forward Id like to see us playing a little bit more possession based football. With Slattery and Andrews we have 2 players that can actually keep the ball. Paton could have a role to play and hopefully Miller heals quicker than anticipated. Attacking from secure possession would expose us to less risk at the back and would give a platform for creating better chances than we have been used to of late. Doesnt mean we cant go long or in behind when necessary. As someone else said, there are different ways to be entertained. I quite like nice interplay, but Im also partial to a bit of thunderdome and excitement of just getting the ball in the box. We have done that at points this season. Just not often enough to change the narrative....

For balance you should add that if we lose a really turgid game 1-0 I will be even less happy! Other permutations are also available. 😉

Cant even contemplate this game until the cup game is out of the way. That has to be the priority right now. With the larger than normal away support the manager surely needs to win that one. How many players we have left standing at the end of it will determine whats possible the following week.

Anyway, back to the game. Hopefully the players have enjoyed their day off and taken time to recuperate. Interested to see what comes out of the club in the next few days regarding injuries, comebacks, signings. We could do with some good news for a change. There hasnt been much of it lately.

It is the way........😆😆😆

Slattery. Played precious little football until he came on and scored a really good goal.

Was he any good? And hows his barnet looking?

100%

I will wait to see who is available to play before making any predictions about this game. Glad we have a full weeks rest between games at last. We are going to need it.

Why wouldnt you expect things to change when better players become available? SK hasnt always been anti-football. Its just the way things have gone this season. Last season we went to Ibrox with Slattery, Paton, Miller and Spittal and played some of the best football Ive seen from us in years. Miller is obviously injured and likely to be sold on soon, but a midfield of Andrews, Slattery, Paton and Nicholson could be decent. In that company Halliday would probably show up better as well. Obviously not going to happen in time for Saturday and things look pretty bleak right now, but the darkest sky is always before the dawn! 😉

First and foremost football managers need to win games. If they dont do that they will be out of a job as the same fans complaining about lack of entertainment will be the ones demanding their head. That said, the football has been generally brutal this season and save for the odd game when things have clicked into place, there hasnt been much entertainment on offer. Id like to think there is a happy medium to be had where there is sufficient entertainment to be had whilst also picking up the necessary points. Lets not forget that this is the same squad that beat United 4-3 and drew 2-2 with Rangers. Both thoroughly entertaining games. It has been the exception to the rule though and it is something that does require to be addressed. A football club is nothing without its supporters to play in front of.

There is some merit to this argument. I do feel that SK sees the same problems as the rest of us. Its just his solutions to those problems often seem quite mental. Same with his in game management. That said, I know you are a big advocate of going to a back 4, and under different circumstances I would agree. But the majority of our injuries this season have been to midfield players so dropping a defender to put in an extra midfielder would be next to impossible, paricularly as we dont have a decent defensive mid to sit in front of a 4. With Vale back, I do think 4-3-3 is a possibility, but with his red card, it definitely wont be on Saturday. In short. SK has had a really shit hand dealt to him this season. I think there ARE things he could have done to make life easier for himself, but we arent in possession of all the facts and information he has at his disposal, so he will continue to get the benefit of any doubt from me for the moment. If we get knocked out of the cup and get dragged into a relegation battle and he is still doing the same things, then my patience will be severely tested. Right now, I will continue to suffer like everyone else.

This is where Im at. Unfortunately, up until this point, we havent had enough fit midfielders to successfully play more attacking football, or change from 5 at the back to a 4. With the signing of Andrews and with Slattery, Nicholson and Paton all coming back, I would expect to see a move towards more of a passing game. The first half yesterday was generally fine out of possession, other than the 2 absolute abherrations from Halliday and Wilson, but in possession we were brutal. Zero shots at goal in 45 minutes is horrific. Second half was much better once Slattery came on. He, Andrews, Vale and TJ all have that little bit more quality about them. I actually feel sorry for Ewan Wilson. He has needed rested for a few weeks now, but the injury to Seddon has cost him that opportunity. That said, his positioning for the first goal and decision making for the second were very poor. SOD has also looked well off it since his injury and his positioning for the corner leading to the penalty was criminal. Pretty disappointing as he had started this season pretty well. SK has some big decisions to make for the Cup game. We are back to where we were after the Hibs game at Fir Park where things looked very bleak. He managed to turn that around with a couple of good performances and wins and he needs to do the same again.

Its deliberately endangering an opponent. Rugby players get sent off for it and they are allowed to batter each other.

Fair point caller. We have certainly been less effective in an attacking sense without Miller pulling the strings.

We do that anyway (well, a lot of the time) and we dont have anyone to make it effective. Id be ok with going long if it didnt keep coming straight back again.

I think he is overweight!

Stama still out, so our attacking options will be as they were. Need to get the ball to Watt and Maswanhise on the geound into their feet and give them a chance. Hopefully McGinn starts. He will improve that.

Fair chance. It was alluded to a few weeks ago that we were in the market for a defensive mid. He was one of the names suggested. Think he is more of a utility player than an out and out defefensive mid, so no idea if he is what we are looking for or not. Cant say Ive ever paid him much attention.

We will undoubtedly set up the same way against St Johnstone. We have done it twice already this season and beaten them twice. The game at Fir Park they played really nice football but barely had a sniff at our goal. I dont mind that as long as when we have the ball we do something with it rather than just shell it long. My hope is that we have our better players on the pitch to allow us to do that. Counter attacking football can be quite entertaining if done properly. Just ask Leicester fans! You do of course require a plan B for teams who wont come out and let you play that way. I dont expect St Johnstone to be one of them.

Between Casey and the Ox. Went for the Ox as he ensured we got a hard earned point. His save in the first half from point blank range was excellent!

Maybe giving his boy Luke a lift to the game?

I expect that now we are back on grass a few more of the players returning from injury will get more game time. I expect McGinn to start. Stama will be back and maybe Seddon. Nicholson, Slattery and Andrews should all get more minutes. Hopefully that should see an upturn in performance levels and a bit more football being played. Still a difficult place to go and Hibs are in good form so a point will be more than acceptable and keep us ticking over going into the cup game.

First of all, really awful watch last night. It was never going to be a great game of football on that pitch in those conditions given the players at our disposal, but we were so far off it first half it was alarming. We did steady the ship a little second half and were more competitive, but we did so by dragging Kilmarnock down to our level rather than being more creative. All that said, we got a clean sheet and a very good away point in really difficult circumstances, so it would be churlish to ignore that. It kind of feels like we discuss the same things on here most weeks and folks positions are fairly entrenched, so not trying to change anyones opinion here, but I do wonder what some of us expect. We have seen what happens with Hammels team when you try and play football in this league without the quality of player required to do so. Simo is proving it again at St Johnstone right now. We havent had a fully functioning midfield due to injury since the start of the season. Things are starting to look a little brighter on the horizon, but its going to take a few more weeks to get Nicholson, Slattery and Andrews up to speed. But at the same time we have lost Miller and Paton. Our only 3 fully fit midfielders last night were Davor, Halliday and Sparrow. I would have been tempted to bring Sparrow on at half time, but that would have meant taking TJ or Vale off who were both putting in a shift anyway. Kaleta and Wilson both had very poor games last night which with a 2 man midfield isnt going to end well. But with Seddon out Wilson has to play and Kaleta's replacement is the much maligned SOD. The way I view this is that the first half of the season has been a means to an end. If we are still playing the same way in March, I will start to ask questions. Sure SK could help himself at times by making better in game changes. But for once last night I thought they did improve us a little. Back on grass on Saturday with hopefully Stama and Seddon back and available and hopefully McGinn in the starting 11. A bit more game time for Nicholson, Slattery and Andrews and we should be looking a bit more competitive going into the cup game. File last night in the delete/trash bin.