Kmcalpin

I'll go along with that. There are obviously big personalities in the dressing room and whilst it great to have one, two or more is usually disastrous. The new man will need to command the dressing room, although there are various ways of doing that.

Maybe I'm being a bit negative but I'm surprised that names like Mixu Paatelinen and James Fowler are being mentioned. While the former did well at Kilmarnock his spell at Easter Road was far from impressive. The latter has been in management for 12 months only and his taken his side to 6th out of 10 ie mid table. Stephen Craigan is completely untested.

McCall has had his day and I wouldn't even contemplate bringing him back. By his own admission he ran out of ideas last season. Malpas is a definite no go and would not be welcomed back. I agree though a steady experienced hand is the way to go. In our current position its not a job for a rookie. We need a good man manager.

Agreed Iain - no disagreement on my part. He's always given 100% and thats all you can ask of a player. In our squad we have the makings of a decent team, albeit with some passengers/poor signings. For whatever reason Ian Baraclough was not getting the best from them.

Very unlikely I'd say. In any event left Tannadice under a cloud if I recall rightly.

The only central midfielder we have who is capable of supporting the attack is currently out injured. I don't know about Cadden. Its a fundamental weakness in the squad.

Absolutely. If last night had been a one off then I would disagree but as you say, with the exception of the play offs, we have been unconvincing since IB took over the reins. We are displaying the very same weaknesses that we were months ago. I quite accept that new players take time to settle in and gel but they can't be given forever; certainly not in our position. I think its dangerous too to over rely on the return of Pearson and Fletcher. Those 2 players can't hide serious deficiencies elsewhere in the team.

Post at 10.37 last night "should be given time to sort, knee jerk reactions of fans hurting is not the answer." In our support there will be others, although they'll be very much in the minority after last night.

We're all wise in hindsight and yes, I can understand that he'd come across well at interview but surely that is only part of the selection process? I keep going back to his track record. Poor at Scunthorpe and very mixed at Sligo. Surely his previous managerial record would have been taken into account? We certainly took an inordinate amount of time to select him.

Hard to say Mitch. For a new manager to utilise a youth set up quickly he has to depend on the achievement of previous incumbents. IF he doesn't rate the youngsters he's been bequeathed or there are individual issues what does he do? Of the current crop, Thomas is not ready to start in my view and he is being used sparingly; Leitch won't make it but is being used sparingly; Luke Watt - something not right? Stephen Cadden - I genuinely don't know. I doubt if there are any others ready to step up.

Yes, one person has.

It pains me to say it but you're right. Hopefully it won't come to that however but we'll find out soon enough. Short term pain long term gain. We delayed McCall's departure and Baraclough's managerial selection and appointment considerably last season and look where it got us - 11th spot. No repeat please.

Just forced myself to sit through the TV highlights (a bit of a misnomer). Although the personnel may have changed a bit last night night, our faults were the same as they have been all season and indeed all last season too. Lack of determination and fight, very poor off the ball play, little organisation....I could go on. Morton were afforded all the time and space to do just as they wanted. Our central midfield problem of the past few years just goes on and on.

Normally before a game we discuss likely team line ups and tactics but on this occasion there are bigger fish to fry. Will IB still be in charge? We cannot contemplate a repeat of last season. If a managerial change is to be made it has to be done sooner rather than later and an appointment made relatively smartly. Given the events of tonight who knows how we'll approach Saturday's game. The support will be in no mood for failure thats a given.

I wasn't at the game fortunately but I was shocked to learn the starting line up. Central midfield was always going to be a problem for us with or without Lasley. However to play 2 wingers and one striker with no link to the rest of the midfield beggars belief. If a lad like Ross Forbes can outshine our central midfield that speaks volumes. If Baraclough's game plan was to rest players for Saturday and hope to squeeze through tonight it has backfired spectacularly.

Quite shocked at the starting line up. Surely we should have started our strongest side? Thats quite a central midfield - just asking for trouble. Not surprised in the least that Robinson is isolated.

Thats only about 3/4 games away. We have a winnable game on Saturday against Partick Thistle but then 2 very tough games against Celtic and Dundee after that. I cannot see us taking much from these last 2 games to be honest, even with a good manager at the helm. In effect Saturday is the crunch.

Very doubtful indeed, given the nature of our support and posters on these message boards. If there's one thing I've learnt over the years its that there's always someone with a contrary or different opinion!

We are definitely fitter, but I'm not 100% sure that our passing has improved. In quite a few games ie East Fife I've witnessed rank poor distribution. Quite a few posters on here have also reported poor distribution as being a feature of games. In particular distribution to the wingers is rank. Balls are all often played too late and 5 metres behind the wide men. Thats not the service that Ainsworth and Johnson like.

Most definitely a capital yes.

Absolutely. I watched the highlights and one thing that stood out for me was Accies off the ball play. More often than not if our player got the ball he was crowded out and closed down by 2/3 opponents and had to work hard to do anything. By comparison when they got the ball they enjoyed acres of space and time.

I suspect Hammell will return as this game is on grass. Other than that, the central midfield should be under the microscope as we've found it it hard to compete against most sides we've come up against in that critical area of the pitch, including East Fife. Without Pearson we have no attacking element in the centre and I fear that we are relying too much on his return.

If Ian Baraclough fails to win the Morton game or more importantly the Partick game then his time will be up. If he wins both games he still has a lot of work to convince many fans, including me, that he is the man for the job. We are some 9 months into his reign and we still can't field a competitive side and our central midfield is still a massive problem.

I'd give him, as you say, a few games more, but not many. Yes, some players are underperforming but as far as Scott MacDonald is concerned we simply are not using him to his strengths. He is an out and our striker nothing more nothing less. Until he is given a run in that position we shouldn't judge him.

I've been away on holiday for the past 10 days and so haven't been at the last 2 games. Not surprised in the least that Hammell and Johnson were left out yesterday given the plastic pitch. What formation did we field yesterday - did Robinson play alongside Moult or between him and the rest of the midfield? I can understand why we fielded 3 central midfielders but just looking at the line up and, based on the little I know about Grimshaw, it was obvious that there was no creativity there with the exception of Ainsworth. With 2 defensive central midfielders and another who I can't yet pigeonhole for well documented reasons where was the creative spark? First and foremost we need to field 11 players who can compete off the ball and we just don't seem to have them.