Kmcalpin

Jack MacMillan is a right back. Apart from that decent assessment.

How well did Griffiths play in goal last night?

I go along with that Greg, although I wouldn't be concerned if Tait moved on. He's ok but not a great defender and I'd like to see us build from the back for once. We have to sort out our defensive game.

Just watched the TV highlights yet again. Given that Cadden was playing wide right midfield you'd have expected him to be lurking somewhere at the back post or in the vicinity of Craig but he was in the middle of the box and realised the danger far too late. It really is a feature of our play that our wide midfielders frequently get sucked into the middle of the park when defending.

The problem is Haggis that due to the the way we play we don't have a strongest side. My strongest side for games against the bigger clubs away from home is not the same one I'd play at home against the rest.

Agreed. In this game and at the likes of Parkhead, Pittodrie and Tynecastle, Bowman should be our preferred choice. Whilst Moult is the better striker, Bowman is the better target man. He's big and strong, can run all day and hold the ball up. In his limited gametime recently he's shown he can give us something.

Agree 100%. I thought he had a decent game yesterday and was the better of our 2 full backs. Looking at St Johnstone's move from start to finish he was the only one who tried to defend and received no help from anyone. On a wider note, I'm not sure if the return of Tait, McManus and Heneghan, whenever that is, will improve our defence markedly. Its been very poor all season and indeed well before that. The kind of errors which led to Saints' goals yesterday are typical of those we've been conceding all season. Sportsound pundits commented on our poor defensive record and said that our inability to stop unhindered crosses coming into our box was a fundamental weakness of our game. Its not all down to the defence though, our midfield has been rank for years at protecting the defence. When McHugh returns to midfield that should help.

Come the split I think we'll finish up with about 31 points, with Ross County on 29, Accies on 28 and Inverness on 25. However its almost impossible to predict outcomes. I reckon we'll pick up 4 more points from our remaining pre split fixtures. The home games against Accies and Inverness will be hugely important and it will be important to get two wins but I reckon we'll need to settle for one win and one draw.

Agreed, he's been a big disappointment so far. OK age is catching up with him but he's being played in a defensive role which just isn't his game. Too often yesterday he sat deep and allowed Clay to play further forward which he isn't suited to doing.

Just watched the TV highlights. Quick comments on Skippy's penalty claim and the 2 goals we lost. It was a definite penalty (from both the front and back views) as he was wrestled to the ground. So Saints were lucky to get off with that. First goal: Hammell caught badly out of position and he allows the St Johnstone player both time and space to pick out his target. How many goals like this has Hammell cost us over the years? That said our central defenders allowed Craig too much leeway to get his header in. Samson not to blame. Second goal: a horror story from start to finish. On our left flank we have 2 players who could and should have closed the Saints player down but instead both back off (exactly the opposite of how Saints would have dealt with this threat). The Saints player has all the time and space in the world to pick out Craig. Ferguson has lost his man but then again Samson could have given him a shout. Not just Ferguson though - no other defender near the back post. Could Samson have done better at his near post? Maybe? These defensive shortcomings were evident from start to finish yesterday and are typical of our failings this season, irrespective of who has been playing. No wonder we have the poorest defensive record in the league.

It was hard to say at times wasn't it? Improved effort aside, it could well have been him in charge today. In terms of organisation and tactics I couldn't detect much difference. What hasn't worked in the past didn't work again yesterday. We have to be fair to Robinson though in that they probably weren't his tactics - he will not have wanted to change too much too soon. It could well take him a handful of games before he can make much improvement tactically. Midfield and defence looked disorganised for long spells and the hard working Moult and MacDonald were poor. We're still playing lads out of position in midfield and attack - hopefully he'll sort that out quickly.

A very telling post, which hits the nail on the head for me. Over the piece I don't think we did quite enough for a point. Certainly Robinson has given the team a bit of lift in terms of effort and thats plain to see, but I think we, not him, got our tactics a bit wrong. Certainly we were hampered by injury but all too often our old faults were evident. * Moult ending up playing wide * MacDonald sitting too deep and not linking with Moult. * Us using Moult & MacDonald as targetmen with long high balls. * Shambolic defending with Saints players being afforded too much room and time - our players not supporting each other. * Playing Pearson in the wrong role. Saints were far more organised and workmanlike than us; got in our faces; and supported each other. They didn't make nearly as many errors as we did. They were also far more clinical than us in taking chances. Interestingly the corner count was 9-2 in their favour. It took us over 35 minutes to register an effort on goal and we hardly troubled their keepers. That said, we scorned a good few chances. Admittedly Saints were carrying a good deal of luck and shocking officiating didn't help our cause. In the second half we improved a bit and exerted more pressure but Saints always looked like they had more in their locker and so it proved. As Tweed wrote I was a wee bit baffled by our substitutions, although Robinson did try to shake things up. A worrying note for me was in the first half when Saints had a corner. Frear was trying to cover 2 men just outside our box. Faddy gestures to him to move up the park, which he did. The 2 Saints attackers stand their ground, by now completely unmarked, one gets the ball from a poor clearance and fires off a decent shot. So, some signs of improvement for me today in terms of attitude but we have a long, long way to go.

Its hard to say. If we are given 19 home games, which is by no means certain, we'll be due 3 home ties after the split. If things stay as they are we'd be due to play Kilmarnock and Ross County at home and Hamilton, Dundee and Inverness away. However one of those 3 "away" games would be played at home.

Winning games isn't all about great football its often about hard work, organisation, not making mistakes and taking your chances. Thats why Saints won and we didn't.

The Directors, in consultation with the manager set the overall playing budget. How that money is spent is the responsibility of the manager

and if so, why?

I'd think twice before placing too much emphasis on red top stories and we don't know what went on behind closed doors. However if this particular rumour is true I don't know how they could have handled it any better. If 2 candidates, irrespective of how they arrived on short leet, pull out of their own volition then I don't see how the Directors could be blamed for that.

I always thought that managerial compensations were adjusted to take into account new earnings. For example Manager X is given £100k total compensation for a year. He takes up a new job immediately for £50k per year and so his compensation is reduced by £50k. Clearly its more complicated.

A well reasoned and set out post El Grew, which has generated discussion, but I don't necessarily agree with most of it. Are we no longer an attractive club to manage? Were we ever? I've trawled through our previous managers and I really don't think the current recruitment pool is any worse than it ever was. Its full of first time managers - Sailor Hunter, George Stevenson, Bobby Howitt, Roger Hynd, Davie Hay, Alex McLeish, Billy Davies and so on. Also quite a few managers from Scots lower league clubs such as Bobby Ancell, Tommy MacLean, Bobby Watson, and Willie MacLean. Also a few wild cards like Harri Kampmann and Ian Baraclough. At the time of appointment would they be much different to the likes of Simo Valakari, Lee MacCulloch, and Barry Ferguson? In terms of lack of finance, are we any worse off than say St Johnstone, Partick, Inverness, Hamilton, and Kilmarnock? As for Mark McGhee's departure there may have been more to it than a group of young lads protesting. Two very bad hammerings, a poor run and erratic behaviour. Whilst there was most certainly a small public demonstration, almost universal talk in the stands amongst fans of all ages was that he should go. Yes, there were a few who thought he should stay but not many. I think more than most managerial changes, quite a lot has gone on behind the scenes with this one that we aren't party to. A few well founded snippets have emerged such as contact with Owen Coyle. I'm still not 100% comfortable with the process and outcome ie why invite Simo Valakari across from Finland and then pass him over in favour of the internal candidate, but I don't know the internal behind the scenes goings on.

Must admit they were and still are my concerns. I would have have been a bit, but not a lot happier, last weekend if we'd had 2 or 3 decent efforts on target, but still lost. As for the Killie game you're right but I suppose we could all trawl the season and asked ourselves what if such and such had happened. Still Robinson did manage to beat Killie and the old adage held true its better to be lucky than good. Of course we have to tighten up our defensive game (as opposed to our defence), but in the coming run of home matches we'll need to do more than just defend well, we'll need to score and win.

That could well be down to the formation that we've played. I'd like to see Pearo or Frear start wide left and stay there. Pearo often plays in a deep left central berth and that leaves the left back exposed. If Frear plays he has to be given the ball. Cadden's game will improve if he's given more support and we play with more than one outball ie him. Too often this season Cadden has broken out of defence only to receive no support when he's closed down by 2 or 3 players. If we have an outball on the left hand side that creates more space for not only Cadden but the 2 strikers.

I'll sit on the fence with this appointment. This season I'm not looking for exciting football just survival. Robinson has the big advantage of being able to hit the ground running as he knows the club and many of the players and staff. However, he is inexperienced. He's been coaching senior players since 2014 and had an unsuccessful six month stint in management at Oldham. As Catweazle's Ringpiece wrote he can't rely on an experienced No 2 in Faddy, who is still learning his own role. Its all very well to slate Robinson's appointment but who were his competitors? Valakari, Hughes?, and two other unknown candidates. The bottom line is that he's a risky appointment. That might turn out very well or it might turn out very badly. We'll know in a couple of month's time. I'm certainly surprised that he's only been given an appointment until the end of next season. Still, he has my support.

Raith Rovers?

Quite telling I think. I wonder if loyalty / integrity will be a quality our Directors will be seeking. Again we have to caveat our comments as Hughes' involvement is simply a rumour at this stage.

I admit he's a bit smarter than he sounds but I've never been convinced by him. At Falkirk he had a reputation for getting them to play fine football but I saw little evidence of that. A Falkirk supporting work colleague, at the time, said he was baffled by that claim and it was down to a fawning media. At Starks Park he has a difficult job with Raith lying in 3rd bottom spot (maybe a bit similar to us) and he's done nothing so far. So, to sum up I'm just not convinced of him. However, his name being in the ring may just be conjecture, nothing more.