Kmcalpin

Hopefully we'll be able to bring in a new signing in the next few days.

As far as Keith Lasley is concerned, its unreasonable to expect him to play box to box - thats Pearo's job. This season I'd judge him on his ability to protect the centre backs and goalie. Put in blocks and close attacking players down. In short a critical off the ball role. The question of a new central midfielder is an interesting one - time will tell.

Going into this game, what concerns me, from a defensive perspective, is that so far, we haven't really improved our midfield or defence personnel wise (one or two players may have improved on an individual basis). For the past few years we've lost far too many avoidable goals and last night was typical of the kind of goals we've been shipping. Its the management team's responsibility to analyse these losses and I just wonder what conclusions they've drawn and what they will do/have done to rectify them. Offensively I'm quite happy with the personnel we have although it may take time for our new strikers to gel - this game may come too early for them. I'm with the African on this - if we can defend well for 90+ minutes we'll take something from the game. That may be a big ask though.

It depends very much on the type of player Ian Baraclough eventually lands. Thought you'd know my answer by now ;-)

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water - the Traveller is entitled to his/her opinion. Yes, he is very accomplished on the ball and has a great first touch. However for me, its when he's off the ball that his defensive frailties show - too often he gets caught out of position allowing an opponent those vital few seconds and yards to whip over a cross, putting our central defence and goalie under pressure. All that said if he was a better player he wouldn't be with us.

Hard to predict at this point. If we go into the game with the current squad ie no new central midfielder & goalie then I can foresee a narrow loss say 1-0 or 2-0. This early we still seem to have the same defensive weaknesses as we did last season. Ainsworth is also banned and it looks like Joe Chalmers will be allocated the left wing berth - not sure he's suited to that on the albeit limited evidence so far. Our new strikers will not have had time to gel properly at the other end.

A bit harsh but yes he did not close his man down for the cross at the first goal. Thats always been a weak part of his game - he's better on the ball than off it. Second goal, our central midfield allowed the scorer far too much room. We played some decent football although we must be more clinical. Not sure about Chalmers playing wide left - doesn't have the pace for that but I guess he'll slot in there for our first 2 league games. A good workout though which highlighted our weaknesses in defence and central midfield. Hopefully Ian Baraclough will put that knowledge to good use.

Thats it. I assume that we also asked the SPFL to schedule our league game away from home. Some drainage work has been done and the pitch reseeded I think.

To do that our 2 full backs, whoever they've been, need to stick to their wings and cut out avoidable crosses and they simply haven't been doing that. Whether thats down to poor positional sense or playing to instructions, Idon't know. Also our central midfield need to play further up the field again to minimise cross balls.

Hows the total coming along Iain? I'd hope with the size of the website's membership we can entice a few more posters to contribute even a fiver.

College car park to the south west of the stadium and a 5 minute walk down the hill and over the burn?

If we signed someone like Jackson Irvine who is to say they wouldn't get a regular start? You can't assume that they would not. I sincerely hope that the days of a player being an automatic pick irrespective are well and truly over. We need competition for all positions.

A very good question. I doubt if Ian Baraclough will even know yet. For starters I'd say Moult and MacDonald - but that could easily change. Maybe we'll adopt a horses for courses approach? I can certainly envisage Craig Moore dropping down the pecking order.

Very pleased with that news. Welcome back Skippy.

Thats my impression too. Of course he could sign for us but will he? There are also many other keepers out there who could also sign for us.

A great workout today against a lower league team with something to prove. Livi proved to be a big robust physical outfit with a few nasty tricks up their sleeves. For me Louis Laing was a standout and strolled through the game. Kieran Kennedy also put in a fine performance. Luke Watt looked steady at right back and capped it with a fine goal and will surely be pushing for a regular start this season. In midfield Pearo had a very good game as did Davie Clarkson when he came on. Good to see Chris Cadden make an appearance - would like to see more of him this season as he looks to be developing into a strong player. Livi defended in depth and made it difficult for our front men who had to live off scraps for much of the game. Ainsworth had a reasonable game but unsurprisingly Johnson didn't look anywhere near match fit. Fletcher showed up well in flashes but for me Craig Moore was a big disappointment - didn't contribute anything at all. All in all a decent workout with a better second half than first. Referee (Kevin Clancy?) had a poor game with a string of inconsistent decisions.

Top class players need to put on muscle. Its about core body strength. When Faddy went to Everton he put on at least a stone in his first year. Players like Russell Latapy and Morgano Gomis to name but two weren't big but they were solid muscle. On more than one occasion I saw Gomis flatten Stephen Craigan, a much taller player, in 50/50 challenges. Both lads were heavy and strong enough to fend off big defenders barging in to them and still retain the ball. It took quite a physical assault to take the ball off Latapy. Weight by itself does not reduce speed. Just look at the world's top sprinters (very few thin guys there) like Usain Bolt who is about 15 stones - all big, muscular and heavy.

I thought Jim Griffin worked for Celtic in some capacity? Anyway good to see Ian Baraclough check out our first opponents. Ryan Christie - talented yes but his propensity to dive all over the field last season was a bit annoying.

100% spot on. A few years ago I spoke to an acquaintance whose son didn't make the grade at Tannadice. He was told by a coach that United didn't want talent alone they wanted winners.

Good post. Thomas unquestionably has the talent but he now has to develop physically and step up from being an impact sub. Its all very well to give young players their chance but they have to be good enough. Much is made of the youth talent at Tannadice but to get anywhere near their first team young lads have to be the creme de la creme and bite, scratch and claw their way up a ruthless youth ladder there.

I'll be very surprised if he does - not sure he's going to make the grade. His big drawback is lack of pace and that was recognised by the previous regime. Cast your mind back to the 5-1 thrashing at Tannadice a season or two back - his weakness then was cruelly exposed.

We need to bring in a defensive midfielder as cover or replacement for Keith Lasley. Someone who is both mobile and a grafter and able to put in tackles and close players down.

Thought he did ok - looks to be a decent footballer but he does lack pace.

I don't know but several other players today were played out of position for spells eg Joe Chalmers at wide left midfield and Luke Watt at left back.

A reasonable summing up. Strengthening the defence and central midfield must be a priority. We're still shipping cheap goals which isn't surprising in that the players are largely the same. Dan didn't impress in goals and looked all at sea at the first. Pearson, McManus and Laing were the pick of the bunch in my view. We badly need to bolster midfield and that may well mean bringing in a more physical and mobile replacement for Keith Lasley. Bradford were the physically stronger side in the middle of the park and it showed. Hard to judge today but none of the younger players impressed, although Luke Watt was brought on at left back oddly enough - maybe Chalmers picked up a knock??