joewarkfanclub

Nobody could deny that Tony Watt coming back wouldnt improve our squad. Regardless of whether he were to score goals or not, he holds the ball up well and brings others into the game. KVV, McKinstrey, Danzaki and Crankshaw would all benefit from having him on the pitch. Quite how we would fit them all in is another matter. I dont see United letting him come to us, but even if they did, he would need the hide of a rhino to pull it off. Thankfully for Tony, I think he is that thick skinned!

Im not sure we would be in a higher position if Alexander was still here. Just look at our form in the second half of last season. Whose to say he would have got in better players at the tail end of the window. Whose to say he wouldnt have had the same injuries and suspensions Hammy has had to deal with? Whose to say he wouldnt have alienated more of tge squad with his attitude. Kilmarnock have a very experienced manager in place right now that I would have taken over Alexander any day of the week. But they are still bottom and with a far worse goal difference than ours. It has been mentioned elsewhere, but we have all got into the habit of thinking that we are a terrible defensive outfit because of the type of goals we concede (which have been awful). But when you look at the number of goals we actually concede, they arent high condidering our position. I do think a proper defensive midfielder would help us out and make up for the deficiences in our current midfield. We definitely need a LB. Up top all depends on how long Mandron is out. If its more than a week or 2 we need someone else. Tick tock. Tick tock.......

None of us know whether Alexander walked, was fired or came to a mutual agreement. None of us know if the club is still paying him some sort of wage, although it is likely if he was mutualled. I was in total agreement with you last season that there was no way in the world that the club were sacking a manager that had got us top 6 and qualified for Europe, no matter how horrible the football was and how much I wanted him gone. But the absolute poverty of perfomrance, not once, but twice and the level of vitriol towards Alexander after those games made it impossible for him to continue. I dont give a shit about his clothes or his personality, but if the board had decided to tough it out, the first home game would have been absolutely toxic. He couldnt survive that. I totally agree, the timing wasnt good and it has left Hammy under severe pressure because of the restrictions placed upon him as a result. Thats why Im still behind him. He deserves this window to get some players in. Try and effect some change in the squad and improve our results to try and keep us up. If we are into March and he has got some players in and we still havent won a game and seen some significant improvements, then I will concede he was the wrong man at the wrong time. Its gonna be a long 8.5 hours.........

It really didnt work. The 3 people who responded are by and large very supportive of the club and have never stated that it was "mickey mouse". And to be fair, we have enough trolls on here without you joining in the "fun".

Im not sure I follow? My reading of Hammys comments are that we would appear to be getting linked with players he hasnt heard of, so its all rumour and speculation. Hammell and presumably Dawes will still be dealing with the recruitment side of things. He just isnt going to comment until there is something to tell. Re Mandron, Im not sure how anyone at the club could foresee a new signing getting injured in training? Thats just bad luck and typifies the way things have been going for us this season. Unless of course you are suggesting he already had the injury and it wasnt picked up in the medical? If that had been the case, I wouldnt have expected him to last 90 mins at Arbroath.

We definitely need more bodies in today and we have to shake the personnel up if its possible. Saturday was disappointing but with Mandrons injury and Crankshaw having been unwell during the week and Danzaki's work permit not through, Hammy was restricted to what changes could be made. We need to sort that today.

Genuinely excited about this signing. Already has his own song...... Oh Riku Danzaki! Oh Riku Danzaki! Oh Riku Danzaki! (Seven Nation Army)

I kinda think this is where we are at. Although that maybe depends on where Hammy sees SOD. He might feel we need to keep him for cover for Johnston if McGinn is going to play on the left. One thing Im curious about is that Carroll and Mugabi are both listed as injuries with a timeframe on recovery. But McGinley isnt. Makes me wonder if the boy has another health related problem the club dont want to discuss.......

Quietly pleased with the business done so far and with Hammy stating we are still looking to do more it could turn out to have been quite a productive window for us. At the very least the moves that have already happened proves that maybe, just maybe, Hammy does know what he is doing, does know where the problems in the team lie, and has been actively trying to fix them. Of course, we still need to translate that into results, but it would be nice if the manager and the team could grab a few wins and prove a few people wrong.......

Certainly has the "low block" down to a fine art, but can he play a high press?

If we are not gonna play him through the middle and give him a fair crack at his natural position, and there is no evidence to suggest thats likely, then its probably best for both parties if he moves on......

SOD can play left back fine. Maybe not ideal, but the few occasions he has played there he hasnt let us down and has probably shown up better than many of the games he has played RB. Im hoping Blaney is going to be an upgrade at CB, which is where our real problems lie. Hopefully he gets a start this weekend.

Mines is we lose at least one ball to the North Sea.....

How about we beat Arbroath, he drags us over the line in the league, he learns from his mistakes and gets a proper summer window to get his type of player in and makes a better fist of it next season with a team that allows him to throw in and develop the odd youngster?

From my point of view, I was meaning more with the board than the fans. I accept that a lot of fans already want rid and ultimately the pressure from them will be telling. But Ive never thought there was any chance of the board sacking him before the window and giving him the chance to fix this mess. Unfortunately, we are now in the window. We now have 3 players in and possibly a couple more to come. He cant lose to Arbroath, especially if he goes same again, now that he has a few options to change it up. I do accept that even if we beat Arbroath the league results have to improve as beating Arbroath should be expected (although not taken for granted).

I did think that myself yesterday listening to the game. What I would say though is that these things can change very quickly. I think most fans are desperate for the team to do well and in particular for Hammy to do well. But the way things have been going those fans go quiet quite quickly and all you end up hearing are the more negative voices. All it will take is a couple of wins at home and a move up the table for the majority to get back on board the bus. Confidence is an issue with the fans just as much as it is with the players.

It really is a must win game. Arbroath arent in great form but it is still a difficult place to go. We need to be ready for a really nasty cup tie and be prepared to roll the sleeves up for this one. Good opportunity to start Blaney as he will be used to these type of games.. If we lose the manager is in serious trouble.

Didnt see the game yesterday but listened on Sportsound. The weather conditions were truly atrocious, but Ross County appeared to cope with them better than we did. That said, they didnt have a single shot at goal in the first half whereas we created 4 or 5 very good chances. I was extremely relieved when we got the goal, and from that point we really should be seeing out the game, but more poor defending has once again cost us the 3 points. This is where our biggest problem lies. We have scored more goals than the teams above us and conceded fewer. But individual errors are killing us in games. We just cant keep going on like this. Ive defended Stevie Hammell up until now because defensively he hasnt had any options to change the personnel until we got to the window. Young Blaney has been brought in, and whilst it might have seemed a risk to throw him in, in such high pressure games, he must surely start against Arbroath. For me, Sol has to make way. He cost us again yesterday with his poor decision making and lack of awareness. I also hope that there is another defender in the pipeline as Lamie was poor again yesterday as well. If he isnt going to change the personnel, he must change the system to make us harder to beat. I know he put McGinn in midfield yesterday to try and protect them, but ultimately it was a ball in behind that did for us which is absolutely criminal. With the new faces coming in Stevie has to show he is willing to make the tough decisions that will save our season and that starts with a must win on Saturday against Arbroath. A cup win can breed confidence. But we need to be aware of what we are going into and be ready for it.

No often Im right, but wrong again! 😄

I think its more likely to be back 3. McGinn on the right and Lamie in the left so Sol knows he has to stay in the middle! Makes most sense given the Johnston and Penney like to get forward. Good to see some changes and a fresher looking starting line up. Should stop some folk losing their shit before kick off.... .

Aye but so will Spittall so evens......😄

Riku Danzaki? Seemed to be a pretty firm report. Presume we are waiting on him finishing with Brisbane and international clearance......

One more in defence and Riku Danzaki and Im quite happy. Love a midfield enforcer as well but cant be too greedy.

So we now have 3 players signed with 1 more definitely in the pipeline and possibly more on the way. Lets park the negativity for 24 hours and get behind the team for 90 mins. We need to win. Any which way we can. Lets do this.

Its really not bewildering at all. The most recent Skysports deal down south has scewed the entire wage structure of football within the UK to the extent that some Conference clubs can pay more wages than most SPL clubs. Thats where we are at, and there is nothing Stevie Hammell or any of the other SPL managers can do about it. Short of taking punts on young players with ability that can improve or taking punts on players form overseas leagues theres not much more he can do. Its all the more reason a club like ours needs to bring through its own talent from our academy. Unfortunately COVID meant 2 years without boys football so there is a huge gap in our system there that will take time to address. Our job is to compete with the other clubs in the same position as ourselves, so we are talking Ross County, Kilmarnock, St Johnstone, St Mirren, Livingston. If our new players can help us take points off of these clubs we will survive. If they cant, we wont. Simples.