Kmcalpin

Really a carry over from last night's game thread. Planning will already have started for next season and contract negotiations may already be underway. As I see it, goalkeeping, defence and midfield are the areas on which we need to concentrate. Our attack will take care of itself. Possibly our greatest area of concern should be midfield. Lionel Ainsworth will probably be on his way. That then leaves us with ZFA, Paul Lawson (as yet largely untried) and Stuart Carswell, and Iain Vigurs all in contract. As things stand we lack pace, physicality and defensive prowess in that department. We don't know about Jack Leitch's contract. Keith Lasley is 34 and out of contract. I think its a given we'd need to replace Ainsworth if, as seems likely, he moves on. Do we offer Keith a new deal? At 34 his legs are not what they used to be and they won't improve over a 1 year period, never mind 2. From Keith's perspective he'd be right to want a 2 year deal. Should we offer him one or even a 2 year deal? We have limited wriggle room financially and if we want to revamp that part of the team there's few players out of contract. Will Stuart Carswell (I'm still to be convinced by him although he's still young) really come good and will Jack Leitch start to challenge for a starting place? Big decision time.

Central midfield could be a big issue for us in the close season and it needs revamped. In that critical area of the pitch Inverness proved too big, strong and fast for us. We also need a physical defensive midfielder in there to face up to and break up opposition attacks. Still that's an issue for another day. Lets enjoy our day and look forward to Sunday.

The important thing is that we won, although it has to be said the performance was downright brutal. In truth ICT deserved a point but I didn't like their style of play. They were very fortunate to reach half time with 11 players on the pitch. The amount of possession that they enjoyed was embarrassing. There are clearly shortcomings with our squad that will need to be addressed in the close season. Still we won our last home game of the season and will finish, at worst a very creditable third. A chance too to say goodbye and thanks to the likes of Ainsworth and Hutchinson. Quite a good crowd last night.

There must have been a few hundred free tickets given out last night to schools/clubs as the southern end of the POD was full where it normally be empty.

Well done to all at Fir Park. A Rollercoaster of a season to be sure.

Looking ahead, we're not too badly off for strikers. In the close season we should look to bring in 2/3/4 fresh faces depending on how many and who leaves. I think we should concentrate on goalkeeper, defence and midfield. The bottom line is that we need to bring more solidity to our defensive capability.

A great signing in my book. He can defend has a good engine in him and can attack. From what I've been told his best position is centre back although we haven't yet seen him there. Very versatile and can play in 3 positions. Get him signed for 2 years.

Don't know about every week but I agree it should be done more often. As you say the catering profits should have been boosted yesterday.

Agreed. On the personnel front we should move Craig Reid into the middle to shore up a vulnerable central midfield. We badly need a bit of pace and defensive cover in there.

I'd rather just read an adult discussion on these boards. Irrespective of which posters are involved we should treat each other / fellow Well fans with respect.

Don't know why, because for the past 2 or 3 seasons they've been perhaps the physically hardest team in the league along with maybe Dundee United. In almost every game against them these days you see late tackles and boots left in. Guys like Anderson are ticking timebombs. Steve May for all his ability has always been a pretty abrasive character. Within the first minute he'd committed a stupid foul on Keith Lasley (unpunished of course). A high ball came over just in front of the dugouts and although standing just behind Keith and more than capable of winning the ball he didn't even try. Instead he opted to wait on the deck and thump Keith in the back as he jumped. The cup final will not be for the faint hearted that's for sure. Its got the potential for a bloodbath. You'll see dives aplenty, late challenges, cynical fouls, sneaky fouls - the lot. Two very very hard sides.

Vigurs or Reid for me, but the latter gets my vote for shoring up a midfield that had gone into hiding when the going got tough.

An important win today which boosts our chances of finishing 2nd or 3rd. First half was good in patches but the second was very poor as retreated into our own penalty box. The midfield went awol, but Craig Reid did help to shore things up when he was drafted in there by Stuart McCall. Good performances from Hollis, Hutchinson, Reid and Vigurs. I thought Saints played like a mob of petulant playground bully boys and were fortunate that the referee was very accommodating. Onwards and upwards.

I would imagine its to raise funds. Surely income from any legal source is to be welcomed? A pound raised from a bucket collection is just as important as one raised from a donation/race night or whatever.

Great post. Most of the first team squad will be on at least £50,000 per year and some considerably more. I don't know how others feel but that's not a bad income in my book.

Offensively I cannot and will not disagree. He's done the business. His pace is badly needed. Defensively he's left a lot to be desired and has offered his full back little or no protection. If we stick with him and he with us then we have to make up for his defensive shortcomings by asking other players to take on additional responsibilities and try to coach him. We pays our money and we takes our choice.

Overall I agree, but with some detailed differences. Lee Hollis I suspect will move on and I'd look to replace him with a better calibre of keeper. Hutchinson will move on so that will leave one vacancy in defence. Given that I'd like us to sign Craig Reid as he can play full back, centre back and midfield - just the versatile kind of player we need. It will of course depend on Stuart McCall's view of our defence. We may come to an arrangement with Bob McHugh to allow him to move on. The other out of contract players? Faddy - I don't know - good on his day but not cheap and injury prone. McManus - not cheap / has he strengthened our defence? Ainsworth - blown hot and cold - good to have in your side if you're better than the opposition, but not so good if we're under pressure. Hammell - will probably resign. Keith Lasley - now 34 and young guys coming through - should we offer him a 2 year deal? A lot will of course depend on a decreasing budget and Stuart McCall's view on whether a very poor goals against record is a cause for concern or not. In this regard, does he look to bring in a better goalie? Is it the central defence to blame? Is central midfield defensively very weak? Offensively, we are in not too bad a position, but defensively we do need to strengthen.

Business as normal I'd guess. Leeann was not an office bearer of the organisation.

I'd like to see us start with a midfield of Ainsworth, Lasley, Reid and Vigurs with the latter playing on the left. ZFA and / or Leitch ready to come on if that proves a disaster.

I'm not especially bothered who manufactures our kit as long as its a good deal for the club and I trust MFC on that. As for the design......it has to be the traditional hoop in some shape or form for me and oh please drop that horrible black away kit.

Just forced myself to watch the highlights. I agree that McManus and Hutchy didn't cover themselves in glory but were probably only culpable for 2 of the 5 goals (thats more than enough). Central midfield and full backs too displayed comical defending. In fact did we have a central midfield?

I think its more the amount of set pieces, crosses from which we concede. If our goalie and centre backs could defend them better then there would be less of a problem, but they obviously can't. Given that, its probably better to minimise their capacity for making mistakes. Against Celtic for example Gunnar conceded a totally unnecessary corner as the ball was going past harmlessly. He did the right thing in palming it out as he didn't know where it was going but one of a number of our lads who could see perfectly well what was going on could have shouted but none did. In doing so we set ourselves up to make a mistake - on that occasion we didn't fortunately.

Very true. Our two full backs also withdraw into the centre when we're under attack making it easier for the opposition to fire in crosses. I would take issue with Weeyin (respectfully of course) in that our midfield is, in part, to blame for the amount the amount of set pieces and crosses from which we concede. They allow the opposition time and space on the edge of our box and on the wings to fire in accurate crosses or have pots at goal. The more the ball is in or around our box then the greater the chance of conceding corners or fouls or crosses. As others point out responsibility for defending runs throughout the team. In part too Stuart McCall's philosophy in not signing an out and out defensive midfielder causes problems. In the short term it may be worth deploying Craig Reid in a central midfield role (I think Shaka mentioned that) to shield the defence. He also possesses a bit of pace which is in short supply in our engine room. Maybe not the answer but worth a try.

I'll settle for 3rd spot Allan, hopefully a European spot, and no more silly beatings.

Pretty well sums up my view. The root cause of most of our onfield problems was the midfield. Fraser Kerr should not have been playing wide right and Iain Vigurs should have been on the left. Jack Leitch was all over the place. The team selection did not match our intended tactics. With a totally unbalanced and disorganised midfield the defence was always going to be under pressure and our attack starved of decent ammunition. Changes should have been effected early on but never were. All that said, the players were not up for it and just did not compete. Get our midfield right and the rest will fall into place. All is not lost and we shouldn't go over the top but lessons must be learned for next Saturday. A start would be an organised committed team able to compete. Bring on St Johnstone.