Kmcalpin

Our first thought ought to be which underperformers we can ship out to make way for new signings or young lads to step up.

Not unduly worried by today's result as it was always on the cards. Hopefully no more injuries. Today was always going to be about which side made the fewest crucial mistakes. If we drop one place by the end of the season I'll still be happy as we'll have finished higher than last year and reached a cup final. The loss of 4 crucial players has simply been too much for us to cope with. Carson and Hartley have been missed the most. No reason for a meltdown though. We keep calm, carry on and reshape the squad at the first opportunity. What has been proved beyond all doubt is that the squad is nowhere near as strong as we or Robbo thought. Too many players are failing to step up when required although they've been given their chance. Put bluntly they are not bottom 6 Premiership standard. As with any manager's signings you win some and you lose some. Hopefully we can end our losing streak next weekend and if we can pick up 2 or better still 3 points from from our next 3 games AND reshape the squad before the Accies cup game, if only slightly, I'll be content. Maybe there's scope to blood one or two youngsters before the year end? We should be stronger for the Dundee game, if we can give the new Greek keper a start. Hopefully we've seen the end of Russell Griffiths - no harm to him but he's not reliable enough. I don't really care how Robbo feels after today's defeat so long as he motivates the team for the next 3 games and is ruthless in personnel matters.

Richard Gordon is one of the main reasons I've stopped listening much to the BBC. He exudes an air of authority and objectiveness but is quite unable to provide an unbiased informed view of proceedings. I agree though he does have plenty of competition.

I've a lot of time for Louis Moult. A decent striker who did well for us and left with decorum. However he'll be replaced and we move on. One more name to add to those of eminent ex goalscoring strikers since 1960 like Dougie Arnott, Tommy Coyne, Dixie Deans, Jim Forrest, Willie Irvine, Joe McBride, Willie Pettigrew, and Michael Higdon. Who will be next?

I did say I was playing devil's advocate. That said I've watched Kipre and Dunne a fair bit this season. I too think another defeat beckons as we'll struggle to compete and outfight, but not outplay, Killie. As for the left full/wing back position I'm undecided. Stephen Robinson will know better than me how things will pan out tomorrow. If I thought we'd have more possession and be better than Killie that I'd play Hammell 10 times out of 10 as he's far better on the ball than Dunne, whose distribution is questionable to say the least. He's also prone to making the odd defensive blunder. Hammell is also vastly more experienced at 35 years of age. If on the other hand I thought that Killie will have the upper hand then I'd play Dunne 10 times out of 10. He's bigger, quicker and more physical and therefore better in the air. He's also a better defender overall. Hammell has always had poor positional sense and was frequently caught out. He also made a few blunders ie at Firhill. So you pays your money and you takes your choice. I suspect that tomorrow Killie will show more desire, be more solid, make fewer errors than us and work harder off the ball. Football wise they may not be any more talented. Hopefully I'm proved wrong.

I suspect he was but that doesn't make for a good headline. While PNE will pay him 10 times more than we are he won't see anything like that in his hand unless there's some tax wheeze in operation. The top rate of tax, which he presumably will pay, is pretty steep and that will eat into the 10 times headline.

I hope we don't fork out a couple of hundred thousand. It could be money, best spent elsewhere, down the swanee. What do you term a decent wage? I'd say £50 + grand a year (which is what Louis Moult was on) isn't bad.

It'll be interesting what reaction to the transaction, if indeed any at all, we get from Radio Aberdeen aka Richard Gordon and Willie Miller.

I'd probably stick with 5 in the middle but we still have loads of options. Playing devil's advocate here. Hammell could come in at left back and Dunne could move into his favoured position in the middle. That would allow McHugh to return to midfield. Fisher and Bowman up front. Tanner can play on either wing and Sid could start - possibly his kind of game where we'll need to break fast from being under the cosh. We also have MacLean champing at the bit. Bigi too may think he's earned a start. No point in risking Frear - keep him safe and sound for a more winnable game against Dundee.

Interesting that Jim McMahon said that we're looking to strengthen a number of areas next month. We've mad a bit of cash this year and even with loan repayments to John Boyle and Les, Stephen Robinson should see a little of that. We all suspect a few players may also move out. So, it could be an interesting month and for once, the enforced break could work in our favour. Hopefully any newcomers, and certainly a Moult replacement, will arrive before the Accies cup game.

Rightly or wrongly he'd be one for the future but he's never played at our level. We're going to need someone who has played at a slightly higher level who can hit the ground running.

A good thought provoking post. The worrying thing is that Roboinson said beforehand that he'd watched Partick several times this season (and so should have known how they'd set themselves up and play). That being the case, his gameplan, although founded on reliable information, was deficient.

No mention of any add ons so far.

Undisclosed fee at Preston's request I believe - par for the course. I suspect Louis will not be fit for Accies game.

I picked upon that too. What must the players be thinking if he's giving them advice and instructions and leadership.

Moult might be offski next month time will tell. It depends if a club is willing to pay us a decent fee. We do need another striker but I haven't a clue who, but we have a good record of unearthing unknowns. I can't see Cadden leaving as English clubs will be unwilling to part with their cash for him at this stage. As for the rest a lot will depend on players leaving I'd think. We need more cover for central defence and a creative midfielder. Players leaving? I didn't think I'd say it but McHugh and perhaps Rose, Fisher, Bowman and Plummer?

Agree with most of the comments I've read but I think we're overemphasing the importance of 3 individual errors. Watching the highlights several features stood out for me. * An out of sorts midfield that couldn't compete in the first half and couldn't shield its defence. * Lack of service for the striker(s) in the opening 45 * Individual errors * Disorganised chaos in midfield and defence. At two of the three goals (free kick & keeper's error apart) individual mistakes were made but the covering, marking and organisation were all sadly lacking. Players were all over the place. There was no onfield leadership. Had we been organised we would have covered for the mistakes and prevented the goals. That to me highlights how much we missed Carson and Hartley. Stephen Robinson has a lot of thinking to do before the transfer window opens. He's got the makings of a good squad but some changes do need to be made.

Yes, he learnt his trade at Hamilton.

From the little I've gleaned I think Fisher will be available and Cadden and Carson may have an outside chance of being fit but thats it. I have no problem, none whatsoever, in playing destroyers and grafters in midfield, so long as thats what they do; but last night they didn't. Changes will be required first and foremost in the manager's approach to the game and by that I mean tactics and team selection. After that I want to see 11 committed players on the park who refuse to be bullied and intimidated and fight for everything. If we can achieve that then thats half the battle. We start off at a disadvantage as Killie will have had an extra day to recover from their expedition up north. The plastic pitch may also shape our thinking.

These line ups are all very well but will Carson and Hartley be fit? If not then we need to make changes from tonight's line up and tactics, for what will be an even tougher game.

In any squad or team there will be better players and weaker ones; no team will comprise 11 footballers of the same calibre. However we seem to have maybe 4 or 5 really good players but a number of weaker ones. Given our injury list it was always going to be a struggle to get anything from the game irrespective of how bad Thistle were. However to lose 3 early goals twice this season to so called weaker teams is unacceptable. What irks me is that we were bullied and outfought in the first half. Early this season we had a reputation for being physical and aggressive but that clearly wasn't the case tonight and it cost us big time. Creativity is great to have but you have to win the ball first and be solid at the back. Its easy to blame the defence tonight with some justification but the powder puff midfield must shoulder a lot of respopnsibilty too for allowing Thistle to get in and around our box. We have to make some allowance though for Campbell and Kipre as both are young lads. I think and Robbo no doubt have seen enough this season to know that some of his acquisitions just aren't good enough. That will happen with any manager's signings - some you win some you lose. Hopefully we can wheel and deal next month to carry out a minor reshaping of the squad. Robbo has been adept at that so far. A big disappointment for me this season has been Carl McHugh, especially as he has the captain's armband, but its wrong to pin the blame solely on him. As others have written its great to see Robbo making changes when things don't work out but worryingly we seem to have to make significant changes at half time when either to tactics or personnel aren't working in the first 45. Despite our bad run we haven't turned into a bad team but we do have some issues to address and they can't be ignored. Hopefully the break in January will allow us to make some changes, some enforced some voluntary. The jungle drums suggest that Robbo is onto the case. .

First we have to win the ball.

We have no right to win games and we shouldn't expect that. No need for a meltdown but getting outfought and bullied all over the pitch is not acceptable.

Do we have a midfield tonight?

Apologies over optimism. Thistle now one up and still on top. Game over?