Malky79

He came in and left us more or less as he found us. An SPL team with a small fanbase and financial issues that seem reasonably pressing if not critical yet. So ultimately a massive disappoinment as he was supposed to be an astute businessman with money to invest to take the club forward. It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride to say the least. I don't bear any strong grudges he tried and made a pigs ear of it, largely cleaned up his own mess but I won't have particuarly fond memories. He still for me carries the can for the administration debacle, his leadership and vision led us there and he left many people short changed for the experience. The visibly moany faced overpaid players that lost out I had not to much sympathy for but others I suspect who were getting or owed much less will have lost out.

Yeah like to see Thomas play a lot more, but given the relegation battle we are in I'd be loathe to start him at the minute. Not totally against it but certainly don't want to load to much expectation on him although he does seem to have some genuine talent. Looks a cut above most of the squad in terms of touch and technique. Wouldn't judge Straker to harshly on that first half, that was a total makeshift looking team. New centre back pairing and midfield lack real midfielders.

Only strolled back to page 9 comments and beyond on this thread and whilst I absolutely agree the Lang sending off was merited, even if it wasn't the most intentional foul he clears out something streaking through on goal, but not seen a lot of mention about the goal as I also reckon he is completely at fault for it. He goes out to contest a header which he wins but having left a massive space for the St.Johnstone player to run into he stands about staring for a few seconds rather than try to get back into position. If he'd immediately looked to get back where he should have been he'd have been in a position to make a challenge. A very unimpressive debut, lets hope for better once he has settled in and maybe got some match sharpness back.

I still not expecting much to happen today although you never know. Only got the highlights from MFC website to go on but fuck me what a terrible debut from Laing. In my opinion at fault for the goal and looked a dumpling in how he caught out for the red card. I'd not write any off for a bad day at the office but an inauspicious start for a player I'm not sure we really needed to be signing. Thinking purely of the run in to this season I'd like to see another midfield body and a forward if possible. Our injuries problems in the midfield have been brutal, if Pearson and Lasley for most of the season can stay fit I'll be much happier. Encouraged as I am by Erwin and Moore we could do with a more mobile forward with a bit of experience not to put to much pressure on them to deliver goals. I certainly want to see both them and Thomas stay involved as between them they've look some of the brighter elements of the last couple of games. Trying to piece to together a definite first XI is still pretty tricky given but a quick stab if everyone were fit I'd like to see starting, new faces could clearly change this also. Twardzik Reid Kerr McManus Hammell Law Lasley Pearson Straker Sutton Erwin Twardzik basically been decent, would like a more commanding keeper for next season if possible. Reid gets the nod just from Ramsden who certainly looked decent in midfield at Tannadice. Kerr is gamble on last two decent performances and fact he is young and ours rather than a loanee McManus for all I think he underperformed we need some experience there Hammell getting older but reliable if fit. Law scrapes into team as despite not having a great deal to offer I think he'll put a shift in and potentially hide less than Ainsworth who I see as still an impact sub for now. Lasley and Pearson probably as good as we'll get in the middle of the park, Pearson should allow Lasley not to need to try and be the midfield all by himself Straker gets the nod over Thomas who again I think is better suited to mainly coming off the bench and making an impact just now. Educated guess on Straker but he looks physically more robust, lets hope he can play a bit. Sutton will get goals if he gets service and Erwin looks able to put himself about, hope he gets a goal or two soon to back up some encouraging signs. Subs Neilson Moore Thomas Ainsworth Ramsden Watt Carswell

No qualms with questioning some indeed quite a few of McCalls later decisions but seriously you questioning him signing Ainsworth on the back of last seasons form? I'd argue Twardzik is definitely an improvement on Hollis if not entirely filling me with confidence. As much as any such award is pretty devalued this season he'd be one of the few contenders for POTY. Reid possibly should have been let go, did us a turn last season though and McCall chose to give him a deal. Kind of player probably useful to have around, probably not on lot of money and can fill in a number of roles. As you say we also had some poor luck with injuries, I was happy enough to get Ojamma in. I'd certainly if offered have taken him ahead of Clarkson at the time but he only really performed in a handful of games. Apart from injuries our biggest issue has been Vigurs and Ainsworth, we needed the former to step up to a more consistent level and the latter to at least play to a similar level as last season. As Tweed often points out as poor as some of our defenders have been, very often a makeshift defence as well, we have really in far to many games ceded to much possession and it's been our should be star turns of Vigurs, Ojamma and Ainsworth that haven't performed and left us up against it more often than not. Also on Steelboys comments on Barraclough. I agree it does seem a bit OTT to apportion much of the blame at his door. Thank fuck we got those first two wins though or I think we really would be calling for his head and if this 5 game losing run makes it to 7 he must be under pressure. If performances match and indeed improve on last saturday I hope the board backs him and believe we'll come good but we are heading into the business end of the season and these signings Barraclough makes now had better be good or we are in trouble.

Reckon we'll sneak a win. Twardzik Law O'Brien McManus Watt Ainsworth Carswell Lasley Thomas Erwin Sutton If Hammell is fit I'd slot him in, bit risky having two young lads on the left but we're not spoiled for choice. Be tempted to give Cadden a start ahead of Ainsworth as well but trying to remind myself Ainsworth did actually hit double figures for goals and assists last season?

Watched those highlights and whilst I am not doubting we were woeful Dundee were jammy as hell. Wicked deflection for the first goal and spawny rebound from a good save for the second. Now you make your own luck somewhat and if we are doing better with the ball we aren't giving the opposition the chance for those pot shots but it certainly isn't what you need inside the first ten minutes or so of a game. I have a little sympathy for Ojamma, it was a push away with the arm rather than a clear violent swipe but it was still stupid considering how high his arm was. 3rd goal a pure keeper blunder, in Twardzik's defence he has made a good many solid saves both in this game an throughout the season but there is no getting away from the fact he lacks presence and doesn't deal with crosses all that well. I'd happily keep him as he is far from terrible back up but not ideal as a first pick. 4th goal I find it hard to believe my eyes, I'd guess keeper needs to take responsbility here although both players are culpable. It merely salt in the wound at this point.

Can only hope that goes through with no problems then as we need some input of leadership or ideas. Problems won't be fixed overnight or in a transfer window or two but Barraclough will certainly know he has his work cut out now.

That why he resigned Ainsworth and brought in Ojamma instead of Clarkson who he pointedly said didn't have the pace he was looking for. Don't get me wrong there is much to criticise McCall for, the questionable dishing out two year deals to Hammell, Lasley and McManus being one of them. I think the only one that was seriously questioned at the time was Lasley and well of the three he is probably the best value for money right now. I'd argue he not having a great season but is generally being left to be a one man midfield with the various imposters he is playing with. McCall over the piece was a tremendous manager for us but whether it was a decreasing budget or lack of insight to just exactly where the team was going we have a team that is currently falling apart at the seams and to many experienced players are just picking up a wage for no return and a good few of the younger/fringe players on the books look like a waste of a wage as well, Kerr, Cummins and McHugh standing out there.

I think Flow himself is less the target than the perception that we lose a Chief Exec and replace her with a General Manager with less of a mandate to run the club giving the impression of a rudderless ship. Sure Flow has took some personal flack in there, some of it as this thread indicates a bit unjustified but his appointment seems to reflect the current poor state of affairs around the club as a whole. We now have a new manager and well the ownership of the club seems to have been stabilised, with influence of Les Hutchison and is it his daughter now on the board we shall hopefully soon see signs of progress. Right now though there is precious little evidence of it thus far. Results and performances on the park are pretty horrendous and ultimately people look for targets when that is the case.

Well I was comparing it against the level of performance against Accies. Possibly a bit generous but I've got a sliver of sympathy for Kerr given the amount of times McCall bundled him into the team on the right hand side of midfield and was a complete fish out of water. So whilst I inclined to agree he generally looks like a haddy and the vague memories of a few decent performances in the earlier part of his time with us are likely a flash in the pan in the absence of a stand out right back I'd not be that be unhappy if he got a decent run of games to see if he can play at all. If Josh Law does well there today however it might be we have an answer for this recent problem position.

Football and American Football are two very different sports with considerably more impact in the latter. So even if they were using 3G rather than the older type I vaguely recall seeing them use I'd find it a poor comparison. I'd take Jan Ekstrands position over anyone else mentioned right now unless some other rigourous study has been undertaken to show increased risk of injury.

Was there not talk of us being involved with a new training facility in some sort of redvelopment of pitches in Motherwell area not that far from Fir Park? Irrespective of what we play on for matches we certainly could use better year round training facilities. I'm not really bothered what we play on provided what we watch on it is worth paying for. I understand a certain degree of skepticism but I not entirely convinced by the alleged injury fears of certain players and managers regardless of how well or poorly their team is doing at any time. Players pick up injuries regardless of the surface and I'd pick the current level of artificial surfaces over a churned up mudheap every time. Offer me an excellent grass pitch and by all means that would be my first choice. It would seem Fir Park isn't well suited to an artificial surface so it might well be out but unless we do move to summer football(although with the winter break instead of summer a grass park might not recover to well in any case) if we ever move from Fir Park it would seem to be a sensible option to consider should a new site not have the same barriers. Hamilton don't seem to have to many issues adapting when they go back to a grass park as their 4-0 doing of us earlier in the season indicated, and as for getting people to use it why not? Fir Park Corner pay to use the pitch behind the South Stand and so do others for game of 7's already. With a better surface and playing in the ground or at our own/shared training facility I don't forsee a major issue getting people to use it.

Think we have little choice but to persevere with McManus. We need consistency in the fullback position next to what I presume will be the first choice centre back pairing for the rest of the season McManus and O'Brien. Ideally that will be Hammell getting over his injury woes and one from Ramsden, Reid, Kerr, or Watt? I know Watt started left back against Aberdeen but he is clearly right footed. I'd be inclined to giver Kerr or Watt the nod. Ramsden we should be letting go in the summer hasn't looked like the player pre injury last season and Reid is a decent utility player but isn't an ideal first pick. Terrible pass aside I didn't think Kerr was that bad against Aberdeen, and Watt a few shaky moments aside look not to bad. Not hugely confident in any of those 4 as yet but I'd be looking to the younger ones to see if either of them can establish themselves with any authority there given a run of games.

Sad fact is he probably is the best centre half we have. McManus has been howling this season, O'Brien is rough around the edges certainly but as good as we have so keeping him a bit longer is no bad thing. Moving on some fringe or clearly underperforming players and getting a replacement or two in will be a bit of managerial genious if you ask me I have fingers crossed but not holding my breath.

Had to vote for Thomas, sure it was a cameo appearance but he looked composed, willing to take men on and got by them more often than not.

Agree with all of this and whilst our level of performance wasn't good by a long way it was a million times better than what we got served up on Sunday. With what we had available we didn't disgrace ourselves, that being said how Ainsworth lasted the 90 on that performance is a mystery. Thomas was definitely a bright spark, I hope he is used sensibly in the second half of the season. Definitely got talent but shouldn't be burdened with to much expectation to dig the team out of our current mediocrity.

I do wish we had Clarkson and McFadden in the squad as I reckon they could both contribute. Clarksons goalscoring form leaving that in very little doubt. However if I'd been offered the choice of Ojamma or Clarkson in the summer I'd have taken Ojamma in a heartbeat given Clarkson had more than fair share of injuries and looked a bit less than fully fit. McFadden looked a shadow of himself last season and whilst when played a bit more centrally and further forward improved he was hardly a stand out at any point and depending on wages you could make a case for keeping him here he was not making a cast iron case to be kept on. I did find McCalls comments about the competition we had for forwards odd though given we only had one proven striker at the time and in McHugh, Erwin, Moore a mix of very raw talent one of whom we'll all pretty certain isn't good enough and the other injured for the first few months of the season.

Billy McKinlay sounds promising, after bizarre treatment at hands of Watford he might be willing to start on a slightly lower rung after a few years coaching. Having read Tommy McLeans autobiography he sounded like he had kept involved enough in the game not to have been totally been left in a bygone age. Paired up with someone like Keef as a notably younger assistant, grooming the younger man to take over in a season or two perhaps. Someone questioned Lasleys leadership and fair enough he not the shouty type but always led by example whether he was captain or not with his attitude. Could life with Owen Coyle also despite the failure at Wigan on the back of his time at Bolton going bad. What he did up here, then Burnley and in the beginning at Bolton before he lost a few important players suggested he wasn't entirely clueless.

Looking at our fixture list and my shift pattern the only consolation is that the next game I likely to be at isn't until December. No surprise to see Clarkson score today. I trusted McCalls judgement when he didn't sign him, he's had a bad time with injuries and maybe didn't look up to the job in the summer. I never doubted his ability to do a job in the SPL if he was fit so I'm pleased for Clarkson to see him start so well for Dundee but disappointed he isn't doing the business for us. Was always full of endeavour even when things weren't going his way and certainly a player I wish we had in our squad right now.

Any win will do here. Fortunately I'm on holiday for this, hopefully a cheeky win will get it off to a good start.

How did we line up?

I thought Twardzik should have done better with the Starjan goal that put us out but the other 20+ yarders I've seen he's had no chance with. Only got text commentry of the game yesterday but the most common phrase was about quality Twardzik saves. Much as he is no Randolph I don't think he is the reason we are looking so poor right now and a keeper is way down the list of our problems. Square pegs in round holes elsewhere with injuries at left back and arguably some questionable signings elswhere seeing w lack a left sided midfield option and any sort of natural foil for Sutton seems a bigger problem. Perhaps some 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation with Ojamma and Ainsworth supporting Sutton or Erwin might work of a solid midfield trio comprising 3 from Lasley, Carswell, Vigurs, Leitch, Lawson, Law. Certainly we don't seem to have the personnal for the traditional 4-4-2.

Aye our success and quality has been as good as ever last few seasons and fans drift away.... The success and quality will be joining it sooner or later.

Terrific player, no disrespect to the midfield that took us to third place in 93/94 but I often wondered might we not have done even better if O'Neil hadn't had that injury and was the same player as he was in 90/91 alongside Lambert and O'Donnell! Hope he on the mend, one of my all time favourite players.