Kmcalpin

In the early stages of the game last night I was expecting more of a high press but we didn't seem to do that. Sule was left isolated with little support. I looked the look of Just, but he was sitting too deep to really hurt their defence. Watt and Slattery also sat deep. once Peterhead scored, of course, the game changed and they were happy to sit back with 11 men behind the ball and waste every second they could with the tacit approval of the ref.

JBA is clearly trying out players and assessing them and trying to mould them into his way of thinking. This will naturally take time. A fair take on things and I now understand your comment from Saturday about our midfield. Most of us agree about defensive deficiences, so no need for me to bang on about them. A raw looking Longero impressed though and his pace will be a real asset. We tried to play patient, ground based football last night and that was encouraging but the tempo was way too slow and some players overelaborated. I don't think Watt and Slattery played well together. Not quite sure yet where Watt fits into the team and Slattery is being played far too deeply. Probably the wrong combination as well. Poor Tom Sparrow looked lost. Just looks the part but again played too deeply. Fadinger really impressed me. We need to beef up the midfield and add a bit of defensive aggression to beef up the back line. See Ya Beezer's comments above. Jordan McGhee anyone? I wasn't convinced by Sule or Ap Stam. To be fair, Sule wasn't given much service and for much of the time was left to fend for himself, despite all our possession. As Weeyin says, Ap Stam is a penalty box striker but looks lightweight and failed to make an impression last night. Encouraging signs and we did win...eventually. The players will need to adjust to a new system and that will take time and perseverance. Likewise JBA will need to learn the strengths and weaknesses of his charges and play them to suit their individual abilities and skills. Last night's game could have been played by AI. It was so predictable. To be fair, its very hard to judge us given the way Peterhead played and their early goal. Not many teams will come to Fir Park and play like that. Early days of course, but we seem to be shaping up as more of a counterattacking side. It'll be interesting to see which type of player comes in during this window and who leaves to balance squad numbers.

What is parking like in the vicinity of the ground? On street?

Very much so. We played some nice stuff in short spells, but didn't really use our pace to much effect. A lot of possession but little to no penetration until late on when Peterheed tired. A few flashes down the left early on with Manny though. Poor movement off the ball. We looked pretty toothless up front, but in fairness Sule was left isolated in the first half. I thought Just looked impressive but sat too deep. All that said, Peterheed made it difficult for us by putting 11 men behind the ball. They were always going to do that though.

Yes, this is something we picked up on last night. To be fair McGinn is never a central defender in a back 2. The midfield looks talented and pacy but soft and Ap Stam looked tiny and lightweight last night. We don't need to be a team of hammer throwers but we do require more physicality as we struggled to compete in 50/50s in much of the match last night.

We were never going to achieve a clean sheet, but that wasn't down to him. . I didn't think Matty had much, if anything, to do to be fair. his distributiuon was generally very good although he did cause a couple of heartstopping moments. How would he cope against the hulking 6-4 central defenders and strikers he'd meet in the Premiership though?

Yes, we'll win but Peterheed will be stuffy opponents and we'll make it hard for ourselves. They'll likely net one at our place.

It was a double edged sword. Result wise definitely. Clyde are a middling league 2 side and whilst we have no god given right to beat them we really should be. Having watched the highlights, both goals we conceded were howlers and Clyde could've scored more. Preseason preparation wise it was a definite success. More gametime for the players and JBA got to see the players in competitive action being themselves. A chance too to put across his ideas. League Cup group games are about striking a balance between being competitive and getting gametime. We'll know if JBA got that right, once the group stage is over.

Like others, I think SOD's best days are definitely behind him and he's back up, at best. However he's an honest professional and a good ambassador for the club and doesn't deserve the type of abuse he received yesterday.

Understandably, after the frenetic pace of last week's arrivals, and yesterday's debacle in the sun, there's been more talk of the need for additional arrivals. Thats to be expected. However, JBA may also wish to loan out or mutual a few players he doesn't fancy to balance numbers. An interesting few weeks ahead.

I get that, but why play a right sided back on the left side and leave 2 left sided backs on the bench?

I wasn't at the game today today and so won't comment on specifics but the performance and result was a big let down. Whatever way you look at it, we should be beating a middling League 2 side. The League Cup is one of only 2 trophies that we have a realistic, if outside, chance of winning and we treat it like a pre season bounce game. I get the heat and the plastic pitch but it was exactly the same for Clyde, who couldn't even field a full bench. In terms of condition of the pitch, there should be rules in place to ensure a safe playable surface eg watering, but thats another issue. Our pre season was difficult for several reasons, but an extra bounce game would not have gone amiss. What happened to the 2nd game in the Netherlands which didn't take place? The players, of course are still adapting a new system. The starting line up was nothing short of weird and who knows the factors that lay behind that. Fitness obviously played a part. The game did highlight deficiencies in the squad, most of which we already knew about i.e. a very fragile defence. It will clearly help if we can ship out a few underperfomers, if only on loan.

There's limited scope for change. GK and central defence pick themselves because there's no-one else. If AP Stam isn't fit, the Sule has to start even although he hasn't played a full game, because there's no one else. There's scope to change the left back position and switch Koutroumbis to the right and shake up the midfield. A big improvement required.

Not 100% sure about GK but you're spot on about the other 3 positions.

An interesting comment. I couldn't make the game today so not quite sure what you mean. Are you saying that they played high balls over our defence or do mean that they drove straight through our midfield on the deck? If its the latter, that suggests big problems with our defensive midfield.

We really have pushed the boat out in the past few weeks, strengthening midfield and up front. That's great. However, I still worry that the defence will ship goals. I know there are issues there with the number of legacy players but JBA may still want to shake things up in that department.

I think you've hit the nail on the head.

From JBA's interview he expects to bring in one or two more. Time will tell. He's certainly being backed and seemingly exciting players being acquired. Great to see some pace being injected into our previously pedestrian squad.

Tiickets for Stenhousemuir can be bought from their website, although there's a link from ours. A bit confusing though as we can't buy seated tickets in the Norway Stand. Standing only I'm afraid. Hope you're not vertically challenged like me.

Another winger incoming?

That's my understanding too. He can play RB and central defence in a back 3, but primarily thats not why he was signed.

As far as defenders go, we now have 8 on the books, Of those 4 are out and out full/wing backs. Of the remaining 4, 2 (McGinn and McGhee) can play in central defence as part of back 3. If we go to 2 at the back then that leaves us with only 2 out and out central defenders, Balmer and Gordon. A tad tight methinks. Is Balmer a first choice pick?

Another central defender now please. We're getting spoilt. Happy with our new left sided signing. One more piece in the jigsaw.

I can't comment on Sule, but Apstam can't play on his own up front. When we do have to take route one, as we will have to on occasion, or want to convert set pieces we'll struggle as it stands. Corner kicks too? Our defence isn't the biggest either and there's no Dan Casey now to cause havoc at corners. Also useful to have a big target man if opponents defend deeply and we have rely on high balls into their box. As Texan says, it good to be able to deploy different attacking options.

We seem to be bringing in a bit of pace, which has been a lomg standing failing of ours. How many wingers do we have now? Just, Maswhanise, Ross and Nicholson?