Lobey_Dosser

Casey did his job, few others did.

As I say, just a hunch. Beyond his charm, I don’t think there is much substance to what he says. Of course, his messaging to players may be far more convincing but if it is, it hasn’t translated onto the pitch in the last three games. The lack of any response to a poor performance to St Mirren gives me cause for concern. Beyond that, his Bristol Rovers appointment falling through in December due to work permit issues may have some onlookers speculating that a job in Scotland wasn’t on Wimmer’s radar until that disappointment.

This is my hunch too. I just can’t see him being around for long and at best may last until Oct/Nov.

I’d disagree. We have a bench of 9. Despite the known injuries, none of Blaney, Koutroumbis, Dickson, Moses or Tavares made the squad of 20 on Saturday.

I understand the sense of optimism attached to a completely fresh approach that a foreign management team suggests. However, the level of risk taken with this appointment in our current predicament surprises me. Personally, I’d have been more comfortable appointing someone of Wimmer’s profile in the summer or had we 4-6 more points on the board. As it stands though, we’re in relegation form with one of the most bloated squads around which will bring many challenges to someone that has limited experience of man-management, whilst being new to Scottish/British dressing room culture. I sense we’ll quickly work out whether the risks taken by our new Chairman and Board were well measured. My heart will sink a little if he quickly tells us we don’t have the players to play his high intensity pressing style (the style that all managers promise….). That aside, good luck to Wimmer. Hopefully my gut instinct is a mile out and we are genuinely going to have fun. Finally, fair play to Frail. He’s handled things in a very dignified manner.

We can look forward to the new manager regularly bemoaning the need for cost cutting to address the unintended overspend under the previous regime…

When I seen the interview pop up, I thought Caldwell was taking the opportunity to redress the balance and draw a line under things. How naive was I? Empathy is one thing but the grief being displayed is over the top. The suggestion that all the players are gutted isn’t going to be believed by anyone watching us recently. I also struggle to fathom how we’ve got from the Aberdeen game on 5th Jan to Monday morning there and the sole reason for leaving is levels of in-person abuse that weren’t discussed previously. From the moment Kettlewell resigned, Caldwell’s full focus should have been on finding a replacement. Yet, he didn’t seem particularly enthused by the task. I wouldn’t be overly surprised if he chucks it too.

I’ve got mixed emotions about today’s surprise announcement. This may not be a common opinion but I found Kettlewell to be one of our most likeable managers and he undoubtedly worked his socks off for the club. I’ll always hold him in high regard for inheriting a shambles from our most incompetent manager in my 35+ years going to Fir Park and turning our fortunes around overnight. From there we got to see really good talents like Max, Furlong, KVV, Gent, Spittal, Bair and Miller flourish and earn us a good few quid in return. Moreover, despite the poor runs and cup exits, there have been some excellent performances and we ran Rangers and Celtic close with a refreshing regularity. The win at Ibrox is one we all craved. I try and not read too much into press conferences but it’s been evident since mid-late November that his demeanour has been changing and his patience thinning. First he was having a go at the referees, then the players, then finally the fans. Who knows what goes on in the background but I suspect that some relationships with players and/or staff have been deteriorating and indeed recent comments would suggest he’s felt let down by a few. On day one of the job, Kettlewell was clear that he didn’t want any passengers in the building. Ultimately though, we’ve ended up with a bloated squad of 31 and I don’t think Kettlewell will have been comfortable with that. I’ll reserve comment on the abuse, I just hope it was mostly down to the goons online and that he and his family weren’t exposed to anything severe in person. Good luck to him going forward. Whilst he’s had a parting shot at the fans he does appear to have stepped away at the right time rather than let this current slide continue for another month or so. I don’t envy the remit of the next incumbent.

A midweek game on a plastic pitch in January is rarely going to be enthralling so happy to gain a solid point and a clean sheet tonight that puts us in touching distance of 3rd. I remain uneasy with the two-man midfield and hope we have the personnel available to return to a three. Otherwise, it’s going to be difficult to get a foothold in any game, particularly away from home. We desperately need Seddon back as well to provide some quality in possession.

Whilst it was an ugly game, the keeper and the three centre halves impressed. Casey gets the nod for me.

Has to be Tawanda but another good performance from Halliday.

No failures today but Stama and Maswanhise had the two centre halves on toast in the first half. The latter did enough to get my motm. Paton and Halliday contributed well again. It’s just annoying watching the game knowing that they’ll run out of steam early in the 2nd half.

We look to have completely lost our way. There are multiple reasons for this but the easiest one to resolve imo is the back 3. If SK is to persist with the back 3 in McGinn (& O’Donnell’s) absence then it needs to have someone that is comfortable pushing forward with the ball. Seddon was integral to our win over St Johnstone so I’m baffled why he hasn’t started in that role since when the likes of Balmer has been far from impressive, One issue a little more difficult to resolve is the front line. The manager doesn’t appear to have great belief in any of his summer signings and it’s looking increasingly likely that one or two will move on in January. Personally, I thought Stama started brightly enough today and would like to have seem him getting 15 mins alongside both Watt and Maswanhise. Finally, we need to be careful how we handle Lennon. He’s carrying too much on his shoulders at the moment as captain of a dysfunctional team and our sole creative force.

Plenty to choose from today but Kaleta’s class just edges out Sparrow’s endeavour for me. In the absence of McGinn, I really liked Seddon in the back three. Hopefully he can cement a place there as the quality in his left foot is telling,

Vale is a bit of a forgotten man but he would have a key player in linking us middle to front. The injuries to Nicholson and Callaghan though were entirely predictable and we seemingly haven’t done our due diligence on Watt. Long way to go in the season but at the moment recruitment isn’t looking great. My main frustration yesterday was the substitution of the front two but we really chucked the game by replacing Kaleta with Blaney. That signalled we had little intent on attacking. There were multiple better options to have made in that moment.