Kmcalpin

Although we're going through a bad spell just now we need to take a bigger view. We had a huge rebuild in the summer with a lot of new players coming in. Our tough schedule has meant that many of them have been put under the microscope moreso than usual. Some have done well, sone not so well, but thats only natural for a rebuild. Other things being equal I reckon it'll take Robbo about 3 years to get the squad he wants, so given our achievements this season so far, as another poster said to me recently, we're ahead of schedule. Next month will be a big month for us and I'm sure there'll be a few squad changes. I know the club has a few irons in the fire, no doubt including a few surprising ones, if past dealings are anything to go by. Players could also leave. A critical issue will be who we bring in to replace Louis Moult. We aren't awash with cash but do have some. That might make squad adjustments a bit easier.

Sevco are not that good but neither are we just now. For once our defence is ok, but our midfield isn't performing defensively and fell into long standing bad habits last Saturday. Our attack is non existent. Some of thse issues can be put down to tiredness and injury but others are more deep rooted. However, as others recognise, if we can limp along to Saturday evening without taking on too much water we can take the ship into dry dock next month for a refit. I can't see us scoring tomorrow except through a set piece and penalties don't come along too often at Ibrox. A win is not out of the question on Saturday but a draw is much more likely and I'd settle for that. The best we can realistically hope for tomorrow is a draw or narrow defeat, but a win would be great.

I think it largely depends on how fit individual players are. Traditionally managers rest players for trips to Ibrox or Parkhead. I tend to go along with Shaka in that the Accies game is the more winnable of the two. What happened to Fisher yesterday by the way? I've heard contradictory explanations.

Sorry, I was referring to an incident near the centre line. A bit rich of McGowan to eyeball Tanner for supposedly diving eh?

No, never in a million years. MacGowan's effort however was plain dive - he was on the deck even before the challenge came in. For some reason the referee took an almost instant dislike to Chris Cadden -is there history there? Agree with Andy P's assertion that "In the very short term however we're creaking again numbers wise and absolutely powder puff up fron. It seems very much a case of limping through the next two games and re-grouping after the New Year with some refreshed players and new additions."

Very true. One can't attack the other can't defend.

Normally I'd agree with you but not now. Given our injury situation and Moult's "unavailability" the games starting with Hearts and ending with Accies next Saturday were always going to be tough. Prior to this game, I didn't expect us to win today but hoped for a draw. My thinking was if Dundee score its game over unless we can score with a set piece. I was expecting a 0-0 stalemate. I don't expect anything other than a defeat on Wednesday. Next Saturday will probably be similar to today (hopefully Robbo has learned some lessons) and I'll be happy with a draw. I'll be comfortable with 8th or 9th spot by Hogmanay. We can then regroup next month by refreshing the squad and bringing in a strikeforce, as we don't currently have one. If we do that I'm comfortable we'll kick on from there. Big mistakes were made today off the pitch. I did wonder if we knew anything about Dundee beforehand as I got a shock when I saw the size of some of their players at kick off. Surprise surprise they won most evertything in the air and physically bullied us. Robbo would not have liked that. Quite clearly Cadden was nowhere near fit and we were a man down at 3pm. Bowman and Tanner just didn't link up. The former worked hard but thats it and the latter looked good, took his penalty well but all too often there was no end product. To be fair he's not a striker and never will be. Newell looks promising but is a youngster recovering from a long term injury and should be nowhere the first team just now - thats how poorly off we are for strikers. I thought Tait, Kipre, Hartley and Dunne played well and were let down by a powder puff midfield in fron of them. MacGowan's goal was a shocker. He took it well but had all the time and space in the world to pick his spot. Unlike our attackers he did better than just bring out a good save from the keeper. Carson did very well with one fantastic save in the second half to give us a point. Midfield was very poor and got steamrollered at times. McHugh let his defence down badly with poor off the ball play. Grimshaw battled away well but was bested by bigger and heavier opponents. As they say in boxing, a good big un is better than a good little un. Bigi had reasonable game. Robbo made more crucial errors just after the break with a double change. I would have kept Bowman on, as he was the only experienced striker we had. By all means change Campbell for Grimshaw. Frear should never have been brought on. I'd like to have seen Newell feed off Bowman, however limited that may have been. Make one more change yes but keep a sub in reserve as I always had the feeling someone was going to be injured and we'd be left short. I'm just not sure of these big changes after half time - it smacks of getting the orignal line up wrong. Overall we were fortunate to win a point but we were due a bit of luck.

I don't get the acrimony towards Frear. Cadden wasn't stretchered off nor did suffer a head knock. He too had hamstring problems. We sit by the half way line and Frear walked, not hobbled, off the pitch - exactly the same as Cadden. Both were clearly injured and both should have been taken off sooner. The longer they stayed on the worse any injury might be. I don't want to see either play again until the Accies cup game.

Me. I thought he had an excellent game defensively despite having little or no cover in front of him. Yes, his passing wasn't great but overall my MOTM.

He's left to pursue a career in first team football management.....

I think we are relatively stable just now, or will be once players return from injury. I'd like to bring in at least one striker to replace Moult and a solid defender no frills central defender for cover at the back.

You won't need a ticket for Saturday's game. Its PATG.

Great point. The basis for this "rumour" is a bit of a black box. I suspect, but don't know, that some form of pressure has been put on the club by a third party. I doubt if the stewarding company would have the clout; the Police are a likely source; but its also likely that the club knows its being watched like a hawk by the SPFL after the Sevco play off report, which the club should have challenged in the courts at the time. Senior police officers have previous for "pulling strings" behind the scenes but are unwilling to be up front that its they who are effectively taking the decisions on things like seating, ticketing and stewarding. They are quite happy for the club to take the flak from irate posters on here. Back to the case in point. Would there be any season ticket holders in the sterile zone, if one is imposed? Where would the Bois move to? Would they simply commandeer a block of seats irrespective of who sat there? If this proposed move is in response to coins being thrown at players I can understand it up to a point. However, back to Wellowell's point. How would moving the Bois prevent visiting supporters from throwing missiles like seats and mobile phone chargers at fans and players? Why not create a sterile zone in the south stand? Why not move their Green Brigades or equivalent - keep the first 10 rows/moste easterly seats vacant? The club needs to be more open about this although I can understand its reticence about "upsetting" the police.

Its a one year long loan.

An interesting one. I'll be more than happy if he turns out to be nothing special but 100% reliable, dependable and solid, making only very rare mistakes. In other words a good mid table Premiership player. Just the sort we lack and which we need.

That doesn't surprise me. I've learnt from previous AGMs that the club is often at the mercy of individual match commanders and local high heid yins. Believe it or not individual police officers have different views and different pet policies. They're not always consistent much to various parties' frustrations. It doesn't do to fall out with the police.

If the Police are behind a desire to move the Bois then I suspect it'll be more of an order than a suggestion. A wee bit concerned about talk of Celtic and Sevco fans in the POD Stand, especially in light in unsatisfactory policing, but we'll await further information on that.

Thanks for the excellent summary Andy; that must have taken some time. Well, lets hope that put to bed the issue of undisclosed fees once and for all and some posters now cut the club some slack. Hopefully too it answers some of the criticism the club received over the paying below the minimum wage story. An interesting comment too about players and agents upping demands if they think the club is awash with cash.

IF Cadden is back we have to play him wide right. He is far less effective in the middle.

My wife doesn't agree.

There's a middle course to be steered. This is no time for meltdowns or pressing the panic button but action must be taken in January. The more mercurial amongst our support should remember that we've been missing our most influential players and that would affect all teams outwith Celtic. So, cut the club some slack. However the more laid back amongst us should appreciate that the absence of several key players has exposed funadamental weaknesses in the squad which need to be rectified. All part and parcel of building a team. Plan-Execute-Monitor-Review-Plan-Execute-Monitor-Review. By his own admission Robbo has been impressed by some fringe players and unimpressed by others. As John Lambie once said its like carpeting (nowadays flooring) a house. Do you pick top quality flooring for one or two rooms and cheap stuff for the others or do you select medium quality all round?

Very hard to call and it really all depends on which, if indeed any, of our casualties are well enough to return. If Carson and Hartley can return then a draw is not beyond us. Scoring will be a different matter. At the very worst and assuming there are no more injuries, then I'd say the new Greek keeper and Newell (if fit) should start. Things should be clearer by Friday night. One worrying thought is that Carson was out with a shoulder injury at the start of the season. Is his current injury the same? Is it a fairly recent problem or has he had it for some years?

We have a largish squad by recent standards with maybe 6/7 good players perhaps bulked out by a number of mediocre players of Championship / 11/12 place Premiership standard. There are a few first choice picks but most of us don't know our strongest 11 and I doubt if Robbo does either. Take away our good players and the rest is relegation fodder. I don't think we will be in a relagtaion scrap as our better players will return at some point, maybe next month. Watching the TV highlights, our attack yesterday really was powderpuff and its no sursrise we couldn't score. Apart from the goal I'd say the second best effort that I saw was Jordan Jones' shot which Griffith's scrambled away with his outstretched leg - to be fair he received no protection from midfield.

Absolutely. Points count hard luck stories don't. Yes, there are mitigating circumstances in that our best performers are out injured right now, but the fact is that much of the rest of the squad is bang average or poor and thats why we're losing games. To quote but two examples, we don't have a reliable, not great, back up keeper, and we have little or no alternatives up front (the largely untried Newell excepted).

The manager proved ruthless and adept at moving unwanted players out during the summer. I don't expect wholesale changes next month as many lads are under contract and in any event we don't want to disrupt the squad completely mid season. However Robbo has hinted at some departures and also that some fringe players have not impressed. We could also receive unexpected and unwanted bids for some of our better players.