Lobey_Dosser

With Tynecastle and Celtic up next and two Aberdeen games imminent, we do need a result here. If Moult, Skippy and Ainsworth are on form though we should be fine. Hopefully McGhee isn't on too much of a downer; I presume he'll get punted by the SFA this week.

We've been very unlucky with McHugh (albeit the horrific injury was due to his own recklessness). However there was always going to be a huge question mark over Lucas given that he had 4 senior starts under his belt by the age of 24. The idea of muddling through with a brutal midfield until the possible return of Pearson, combined with the failure to replace Marvin after actively trying to punt him for a year, has been such a turn-off for me this season.

There has been some utterly reckless spending since Les arrived which led us to having in excess of 30 first team players at one point. Misinvestment that will now be repaid via player sales; potential income that should have been going towards building a sustainable future of the club rather than clearing debts stemming from mismanagement of the previous regime. I don't know what the alternatives are but I struggle to fathom how fan ownership can be successful when we are starting from -£1mil (initial plan was +£1.5mil buffer) and our support is threatening to go below 3k.

As with most internal promotions at a football club, it would be a huge risk but Craigan just seems like an obvious successor to me. Yes it's a big step up but he has the u20s well drilled and will be familiar with the majority of players that we plan to have in the first team 1-2 years from now. Regarding press conferences, yes he can blether but he generally provides very good insight.

Does McGhee's contract not expire at the end of the season? If so I'd expect him to see it out while retaining our premiership status before Craigan steps up.

We appear destined for a grim season, certainly not capable of putting a string of wins together due to the unbalanced nature of the squad in terms of quality and cover.

10.30 ko at Airdrie on Sunday for the cup game.

Without looking at figures too closely, I feel like we've lost 5-10% of our core support since the club started moaning about the cost of European football and then charged over the odds for the Starjnan debacle. In addition, the odd big game is less likely to attract the fairweather fans these days given the declining standard and profile of Scottish football. I'd be interested to know how this years ST numbers (excluding the kids freebies) compare to the last 4/5 years. A number of regular faces from my area of the Cooper stand have disappeared. Whether that's down to the increase in ST price or not I don't know but as discussed in the summer, the package was becoming less appealing, particularly if you are nailed on to miss a few games.

Pleased to hear Lucas made such a positive impression today. Not been at the last couple of games but encouraged by our ability to bounce back in such emphatic fashion today. Probably no coincidence though that Skippy and Ainsworth were back in the starting lineup.

This gives me the fear. Disappointed it's materialised at a time when our core support is in such apathetic mode.

Forgot all about him but is Lee Lucas back on the crocked list? Fair number of our new signings nowhere to be seen at the moment.

Content we didn't get hammered and a few youngsters will have enjoyed a beneficial experience. Pivotal couple of games coming up.

Tierney will go right to the very top, love watching him.

Delighted to see MacLean get his long awaited debut. Quite a baptism of fire mind you when he has barely featured from the bench. Not quite sure how he fits into the team today though unless Cadden moves into the middle and Moult or Skippy are asked to do the graveyard shift on the left. The boy McMillian is going to need some help.

Celtic to score as many as they want with McGhee implementing the same tactics Scotland have used tonight.

Kennedy and Blyth both getting a game tonight.

Very frustrating if that is the case. We spend the best part of a year talking up the departure of Marvin but don't have an adequate replacement lined up. Heneghan and hopefully McHugh aside, recruitment has been sketchy over the summer, leaving us with an unbalanced squad that lacks pace and creativity.

McGhee said during the summer that he wanted to build the team round McDonald but we haven't seen much sign of it. Think we have to revert to the 442ish shape we had when Grimshaw was here with Cadden on the right and a front 2 of McDonald and Moult. The issue is left midfield though, can McFadden or Thomas fill the void because there are no other options... unless Belic has something to offer.

I presume Ross MacLean was missing from the bench last night due to injury? Shame, as he'd have been the ideal replacement for Cadden.

I thought Tait was not too bad last night.

Lucas replacing Cadden killed the game for me, not that we were particularly impressive beforehand. Few weeks to get our formation and personnel right before the important Fir Park double header with the Highland duo. The balance was never there tonight.

Same team as last week. Putting faith in the front 3 to do the business.

Not an ex player but it looks like our former boss Eric Black is in a bit of bother. Edit - beaten to it.

Solid enough point. Well in Skippy.

Nathan Thomas scores against his old team Plymouth. 2 in 2 for Jutkiewicz, away at QPR.