Kmcalpin

With you 100% on this. I listen to football coverage on the radio on matchdays but thats about it. Hardly ever watch it on the box. Best way to source news on our club is through the net. The TV companies might make money from TV coverage but it doesn't come from me, apart from a miniscule amount from my licence fee.

There's also the gamesmanship angle too. Managers are often reluctant to give opponents too much information in advance. As it stands, unless Gary Locke has inside contacts at Fir Park, he won't know whether Fletcher is in line to play or not. Keep them guessing and make their game planning that bit more difficult.

As some others have suggested I'd start with Watt at RB and Thomas on the wing, for Johnson. Our big problem again is going to centre mid. Thomas is a potential game changer no doubt about that. He's capable of opening up a massed defence such as Killie will probably deploy if and until they go a goal down. His weakness so far is that he is not consistently delivering a telling final ball. Too often so far, his final pass or cross has been weak after slicing open a defence. I think that will come in time. If he can add that to his game then we have a real player on our hands. A wildcard suggestion from FPC boards - Johnson to replace Leitch in centre mid to give us a box to box capability there? Is that too risky?

Thats a possible outcome, but not good enough in my book. On the basis of early season form it seems likely that Killie will be in the nether regions of the league come May. If we can't beat them at home that doesn't say much for our prospects does it? That said we will also have to look beyond the bare numerical result. For example if we are denied 3 points by a totally incompetent referee then you can't blame the players or manager. Last season I and no doubt a few others deluded ourselves when we failed to turn up in crunch game after crunch game. I kept on thinking we'll be ok and finish 10th.....That can't be allowed to happen this time.

My writings have been called many things before including disgusting and obscene but "unhealthy" is a first. Laing had a poor game last night, there's no escaping that fact. Thats by no means all down to Josh Law. In my view Law is out of his depth in our league and he is a factor, but no more than that, in Laing's performances. In short his performances have given Laing an unwanted additional problem but Laing was quite capable of being poor in his own right last night. Others have suggested that I've been unfairly critical of our central midfield but in my view right back and central midfield are and have been responsible for the majority, but not the entire cause of our defensive problems. If we're consistently losing so many goals and losing out in the middle of the park then something somewhere is causing the problem.

I don't agree. Yes, he played poorly last night but in addition to having to cover for Law he, and Kennedy, had no protection by our central midfield. Opposition players were allowed to run at them. But, yes, Laing did have a poor game.

I'm with you on this 100%. Yes neither Ainsworth or Johnson are playing well. However all too often they are given balls behind them or at the wrong height. Also, they are being fed too many balls that they have to come short for - just not their game. As I've said before its frustrating to watch our centre midfield or full backs faffing about and dithering before passing the ball to the wing, by which time both lads have 2 defenders on their backs.

A poor game from our perspective but we did win through and I guess thats the important thing. East Fife were tricky opponents and were certainly fired up. They were very competitive and won most of the individual battles until they tired around the 70/75 minute mark. They closed our guys quickly, put in great tackles, won most of the aerial balls, were strong enough to win 50/50 balls - and thats where their success was founded. We were the exact opposite. On the ball they were quick, tidy, passed the ball well and ran well off the ball. In short we simply weren't competitive enough, much like the St Johnstone game last Saturday. Thought Ripley was ok and had one fantastic save; Kennedy was reasonable; Moult put in a great hard working shift with little support and was rewarded with a goal. Thomas was lively when he came on but needs to improve his final ball - if and when he does that he'll be a match winner. Skippy looked lively when he came on but that was against a tiring defence. Law had a real nightmare. This impacted on an off form Laing, who was affected by Law's performance. Leitch and Lasley were outbattled by their lower league opponents and went missing when we were under pressure. Their service/support to Clarkson/Moult/Ainsworth and Johnson was also poor. Ainsworth and Johnson found it hard against multiple defenders and suffered from poor service again. Clarkson worked hard but received little support and played too deep. Our shortcomings are exactly the same as those that have bedevilled us this season and last and remain unaddressed. Another point evident last night was that we need to cut out aerial balls - we just don't have the height up front to benefit from them. We're through to the next round but the team certainly put us through hell last night. Had Austin's offside goal stood the mood amongst our fans would have turned very nasty indeed. You could sense the anger rising to the surface when he scored East Fife's goal. Its quite some time since I've felt that sense of raw animosity.

A must win game for us no if and no buts. I'd like to see Watt start at right back and I'd be tempted to go with Thomas and Ainsworth unless and until we take a 2 goal lead in which case Johnson is the man. We're desperately poor in the middle and unfortunately I can't think of any realistic alternatives to Lasley and Leitch. Cadden may be worth looking at but right now he lacks experience and its unfair to put too much pressure on his shoulders.

Moult for me. He put himself about and harried the Fifer's defence all night. That was achieved with some pretty poor support for much of the game. Dom Thomas? A possible contender but all too often his final ball let him down.

Saturday's crunch game will tell us a lot. On one side the new players are still settling in; we've lost a couple of key ones through injury; we're above 11th spot; and we've had a tough set of opening fixtures. On the other we've lost 4 games on the bounce and are not playing well; we struggled badly against a lower division side; and we still have the same weaknesses we had last season. You pays your money and takes your choice. IF we are going to fire Ian Baraclough, how long do we wait? Given our track record of long drawn out recruitment processes we can't afford to wait too long. Christmas is far too far away. The question in my mind is should we act on Saturday (if we don't beat Killie) or wait until the first round of fixtures are over (if we are still struggling badly)? All that said, we might suddenly start to hit form beginning on Saturday and Baraclough's stock may suddenly rise. Yes, Saturday will tell us a lot.

I've had managers I didn't like or agree with from time to time but yes I just got on with it - call it being professional if you like. I have absolutely no idea of the relationship between Ian Baraclough and his players. What we have heard may just be rumours.

Its often not a case of wanting to vary your performance Al - it just happens. Some bosses undermine their staff, don't trust them, shout abuse at them, constantly criticise them, or embarrass them. In such circumstances its very hard indeed to stay motivated. I was fortunate in my career that most of my managers were fine but the odd one demotivated me big time and that wasn't a conscious choice on my part.

In most areas of the team yes. However where is the cover for Pearson & Lasley?

Chalmers is a decent player but does lack pace unfortunately - maybe not the best guy to motor up and down the park.

I'll probably have a spare ticket tomorrow if anyone is interested - looking for face value ie £15.00. One of our group has had to drop out. If interested PM me.

Which young player is ready to step into Las's boots as of now Greg? I simply can't think of any. Of the current crop possibly Watt and Thomas seem to be the best but neither could remotely be described as an out and out ball winning defensive midfielder. Over the years, I've witnessed many young lads come through the ranks at Fir Park, but I can never recall 11 or thereabouts covering all positions, breaking through at the same time. For a year or two we might see strikers, then it might be the turn of midfielders a few years later, then perhaps a centre back. For some positions we have to accept that there are currently no ready made replacements ready to step in and that buying in is the only solution.

Ian Baraclough in today's interview said that we hope to bring in "one or two" new faces before the transfer window closes next week.

Yes its nothing new. Given that we should have been looking to improve the defence I'd have thought that this would be a position we would have looked to strengthen. Downright baffled by the decision to award him another deal.

Absolutely Andy. We often complain that our midfield disappears when we're under pressure or opposition players can run straight at our central defence or we're too soft. As captain and our holding midfielder thats Keith Lasley's responsibility. Unlike others I don't think he's he's played well this season (I wasn't at Tynecastle or Inverness). He's played well in patches but thats about it. On Saturday he couldn't compete with younger, fitter, more aggressive and physical Saints opponents. After 30 minutes or so yesterday he just disappeared along with others of course. In his defence, it doesn't help that he's partnered with either a young player who is unlikely to make the grade or a new acquisition who has been anonymous.

Very hard to say. I've now watched him in 2 games and am no wiser. On both occasions he was totally anonymous. He's certainly not a hard defensive player but by the same token he's not an energetic box to box player. Just not sure where fits in.

For me the jury is still out ...just. What struck me yesterday at Perth was the number of moderate/usually reasonable/middle of the road fans who mentioned that Ian Baraclough's position was becoming very shaky indeed. For that reason, I think the thread should remain open. Whatever your view, this is a topical issue.

Good post. Jim Gannon thought the same thing and he was right. The problem is though that we don't have the players to play the ball out. You can just envisage the ball being rolled out to Stevie Hammell; he is closed down rapidly by the opposition so he plays quickly it to McManus, who in turn is also closed down and he gets rid of it to Law who is pressed and then gives the ball away. Unless you have quick skillful players at the back its a dangerous game. The opposition quickly learn to press high up the park and close us down. You're also right about our off the ball tendencies. I was very impressed with Saints' off the ball work yesterday especially defensively. At one point in the second half Lasley got rid of the ball quickly to Johnson who then had 3 defenders close him down immediately. They worked hard off the ball to close us down and deny us any space. Aberdeen were the same. At throw ins in both games opponents closed us down irrespective of which half we were in. These sides work hard and quickly when off the ball to smother any threat immediately and thats something we just won't or, more likely, can't do.

In terms of pitch size, New Bayview is slightly larger than Fir Park, which in theory should suit us. I think we can afford to make two or three changes without weakening the team and indeed may even strengthen it on recent evidence! I'd be tempted to give Dom Thomas a start, but he won't find East Fife any physically softer then Premiership sides. I'd also be tempted to switch Clarkson for MacDonald but then again he isn't suited to a deep role either. Kennedy for Law is a good shout and I'd give Chalmers another run on the left. No idea if Taylor is eligible or not.

I agree that we need a new right back and defensive midfielder but for me we need a stronger starting 11 never mind strength in depth.