Kmcalpin

Time now to kick this topic off.

Maybe time to start a 2019-20 Rebuild thread.

Yes, maybe aimed more at others, some of whom are not getting a game (ref Pie and Bovril). We have quite a few players who are likely to move on in the summer.

I no great fan of the SPFL but as usual I suspect that the TV companies and Police will delay matters. As Sinjy says the Celtic/Sevco game will determine other fixtures.

Interesting post match comments from Robbo (Ref: Casagolda and Captain Oats on P & B). He said that our play in the final third wasn't good enough but also said that any player with his eyes on other things (or words to that effect) wouldn't be selected post split. Presumably that comment referred to those moving on, of which there could be a few. Agree with Superward about McHugh. I'm not anti McHugh as he's done a decent job for us in the past but for me he's more suited to central defence and is limited in midfield.

Just watched the TV highlights. On admittedly limited evidence, Aberdeen seemed to outbattle our midfield. Their first goal was a fluke but the second was down to us defending too deeply and the third down to poor defensive cover. Hastie took his goal well but what a pass from Tait! Hopefully lessons will be learnt. Just hope too that Mark Gillespie is ok. He's done really well this season.

I suppose it depends on how the management rate Rohan Ferguson. Don't know much about him at all.

Tonight's results were pretty much as I expected and I don't envisage any further change in bottom six league positions or points totals before the split. If we go into the break a point behind St Johnstone and 2 in front of Livingston I'll be content. Our recent away form has been poor losing 3 out of 4 games, scoring 2 and losing 9 in the process. I assume that Gorrin was being rested and that change would have upset our midfield balance. Disappointing tonight to lose Gillespie and I just hope his injury isn't too bad. On the bright side, a chance to assess Rohan Ferguson, albeit for a short time, in a competitive but ultimately meaningless, fixture.

Probably. After the last game or two Gorrin has had his knee in an ice pack.

No cause for complaint certainly, as they played within the rules, but Hearts did field a far more experienced side. Their starting eleven had 189 Premiership appearances behind them compared to our 35. Edwards (112) and Morrison (25) as opposed to Donnelly (6) and Johnson (25). Their average age was about a year older than our lads. As others say its the system thats wrong.

By the looks of things Hearts fielded a more experienced side than we did and that may have contributed to the outcome.

Presumably we will be awarded 3 home games and 2 away to balance fixtures out. We're then due to meet Dundee and St Mirren at home and Accies, Livingston and St Johnstone away. So, it would seem that one of the latter three will travel to Fir Park to make up our 19 home games. Thats the theory anyway.

I'm sure I've read somewhere that Carl McHugh wants to return south at the end of his contract and that Alan Burrows has quashed any chance of us holding onto Ariyibi.

I don't get the chance to watch our reserves/Under 20s so I can only presume you're referring to the likes of Liam Brown?

You could well be right. I think the defence will be pretty much ok, its the midfield and strikers where we might see most movement. Up front Sammon will definitely move on as will George Newell. Danny Johnson has a year left but looks to be out of favour and doesn't suit our current playing style, so could be moved on. Curtis Main is out of contract and I suspect he'll move on. So we could be looking a completely new stikeforce with a still raw James Scott waiting on his chance. In midfield its possible that quite a few from Cadden, Frear, Turnbull, Gorrin, Campbell, McHugh and Hastie will move on. I think this will be the area of biggest change for us. So it might be prudent to give a promising and talented youngster like Reece McAlear some time on the bench before the season comes to an end. As always time will tell.

Did Saints not win the toss? I agree that the sun is an unlikely explanation.

We just deserved to win yesterday, but perhaps not by 3-0. St Johnstone surprised a few of us by parking their bus and defending in depth, presumably setting out for a draw. Credit to them they'd done their homework as I knew they would and they defended exceedingly well and high up the pitch. They hassled, got in our faces and closed us down. Thats where the plaudits, if I may call them that, end though. They were cynical and set out to nullify us at all costs. Their intentions were clear from the kick off as they conceded 2 fouls in the first 90 seconds. I was wrong in thinking that they'd double up on our wingers they trebled up on them. Their attacking intentions were limited to set pieces and the odd breakaway, fuelled , in part by our careless passing. Not surprisingly we struggled to break them down and showed a lack of creativity. Oddly ,we played the long high ball too often and this played straight into Saints' hands as they highlighted our vulnerability at high balls. Had the tractormen scored first with the penalty or otherwise it would have been a very different game. This pattern pretty much continued until our inspired substitutions about halfway though the half. The introduction of Cadden and Frear turned the game in our favour and we scored 3 goals in the last 20 minutes. We also started to play decent football. Despite his long lay off Cadden looked fresh. Robbo will want to learn lessons from the game. In particular, we still lacked a bit of penetration and we were vulnerable in the air. A good win though which allowed us to leapfrog Saints, at least for the time being. I thought Euan Anderson had a poor game throughout and was far too lenient with Saints' cynical and niggly approach and allowed himself to be conned all too often. Davidson and Kane were the main beneficiaries of his generosity. Having just watched the TV Highlights I'm sure he blundered badly by awarding the penalty. Kane and the other Saints player collided and went down and whilst Gorrin may have made very slight contact it was never a penalty and they should be hauled up for simulation, but we all know that won't happen. What is it with us & St Johnstone and wrong penalty decisions?? Still a good day at the office and we're safe from relegation in 7th place.

The opposition. I accept that if it happens once it could be pure chance, but when it happens twice and involving teams like Accies and St Johnstone it looks like a very strange coincidence.

He has a slight calf strain.

I did wonder about that. IF Jake Hastie was to sign a PCA with another club, it occurred to me that management at FP might "protect" him. IF again, he was to sign for another club, I would bear him no ill will but would not play him and instead play lads who would be with us for next season to test them out and give them experience.

I think we should hold fire on commenting on Jake Hastie until there's an official announcement. Someone is spreading fake news either by accident or design. When quoting salary figures its important to bear in mind that higher salaries presumably also attract very high rates of tax ie 40% or 45/46%. Good news about Adam Livingstone.

Pretty much agree with recent posts about the squad overhaul in the summer. Add to those names those of Conor Sammon, whose loan will be ending and perhaps those of Peter Hartley and Danny Johnson. Hartley isn't getting a game and isn't getting any younger. Johnson doesn't seem to fit Robbo's curent formation. So, a pretty substantial overhaul is in prospect. We can also add to the above lists possible departures of Cadden, Hastie and Turnbull. At the very least we're going to need some new strikers and maybe, just maybe some new midfielders. Time will tell. Hopefully Gorrin will sign a new deal to give us some stability.

Cadden, Devine, Semple and Donnelly all score to give us a 4-1 win over St Mirren.

Chris Cadden starts for the reserves today.

Don't agree, there are several worthy candidates . I do agree though that he's been very impressive and is therefore my young POTY. Also a candidate, I admit, for POTY. My choice was Aldred although there are other candidates. They are two different kinds of players and in that respect its hard to compare them. In the main, its what Turnbull does on the ball and his goals that gets him noticed and thats not surprising. Aldred is a different kind of player and, with the exception of his match winning brace at Hamilton, its what he stops or prevents that is his strength. In years to come no-one will recall his crucial role in stopping opposition strikers from scoring in individual games. The statistics will not record that. My point is that there are several worthy candidates for POTY and posters are not being ridiculous if they hold different views to yourself.