Kmcalpin

Not sure how to interpret this news. Its obvious that neither lad has yet made a breakthrough but what are we supposed to make of it? In their admittedly very limited appearances so far neither has made much of an impression.

A fair question Jim. For some fans the alarm bells are quite definitely ringing ie the guy from Wishaw who rang James Traynor yeserday evening. Its too early to question Stuart McCall's future but fans are entitled to ask serious questions of him. One home win from 8 games is very poor. Stuart McCall is under pressure. Yes, we have a limited squad and yes we only see most opposing teams once or twice at Fir Park in a season but we do have to query why some "budget" players from St Mirren, Inverness and Queens Park made some of our lads look decidely ordinary.

This was an entirely predictable performance yesterday and the sad truth is that we were beaten before kick off. Our home record this season is nothing short of abysmal, so why persevere with the same unsuccessful starting 11, formation and tactics? All our usual weaknesses were plain for all to see. Substitutions were far too late, and just wrong. Puzzled as to why Steve Jennings was on the bench at all if not fit. Equally as puzzling was his introduction approaching FT. We are now 4th although I wouldn't bet that we'll remain there if this current form dip continues. We now have 4 big games coming up - all winnable on paper. Stuart McCall has to turn things around at home quickly or he will lose the support of the fans.

The problem that Kilmarnock will encounter is the law of diminishing returns. No matter how many good players they bring in they can only field 11 at any one time. Hearts had and still have the same problem.

In my book the toughest game of our entire cup run that year.

I'm saddened by this news. Bill served the club well for decades and was a real fan too. I spoke to him on a good few occasions and always found him to be a real gent. Always ready and willing to help out when needed. He will be missed. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues at Fir Park.

Good news indeed. Steven deserves a bit of good luck.

Spot on Weeyin. I remember a midweek game at Tannadice when Stuart McCall first took over. We lost 2-0 I think. The formation was 4-5-1 with John Sutton playing as a lone unsupported striker up front (does that sound familiar?). It was the day Mark Fitzpatrick left. He had an awful game and did absolutely nothing. When Jeffers played alongside him he found far more space and was far more effective. Case proven in my book.

Morton will fancy their chances against us as would most First division sides. It'll be no walkover for us but as Dundee found out last season to their cost it won't be easy for them either. I'd expect Morton to bring 2,000 - 4,000 fans through. Should be a good day.

Good on you mate. Spoken like true fans. We sometimes go on about some folk cheating the system and the club by abusing schemes but this is the other side of the coin. We have season ticket holders for example who rarely, if ever, see a game and regular PATG fans who give their gate money to FP if they miss a game. Good luck with your association.

I don't think so. Yes we are a selling club and always will be and every player has his price. That said the club has valuations for each player and if the circling vultures don't meet that price then there's no deal. There's no way that Jamie Murphy would be allowed to leave for £50,000. The club might not have much cash but its not in debt and there will be no fire sale.

What about some of our fringe players? Will Stuart McCall look to move some of them on to free up a wage or two and bring some fresh blood in?

We seem to be going through a bit of a lean spell just now with few young prospects having appeared in the last couple of years and seemingly nobody on the horizon with the possible exception of Steven Lawless. Probably last two successes have been Jamie Murphy and Shaun Hutchinson and they haven't fully proved themselves yet. Learnt a surprising fact yesterday at the game. What do Celtic's James Forrest and Darren McGeoch have in common with Brian Easton, James Macarthur and James McCarthy? Yes, they're all former Accies players. Rangers have just snaffled 4 of their youngsters as well. I think we ought to be looking closely at whats happening across the Clyde.

We're through to the next round and thats the important thing. 4-0 scoreline was totally misleading. The actual performance was a big disappointment with the fringe players failing to impress. Our midfield was totally overrun at times and that is a cause for concern. Tim Clancy was my MOTM. Henrik Ojaama? Only on for short spell but he really impressed. Early days but you can only score against the team you're playing. For whatever reason the crowd atmosphere was flat even in the normally raucous East Stand. Pitch looked excellent.

Tim Clancy for me. Very few competitors for MOTM today. Jamie Murphy notched two but again looked unsuited to his roving/defensive role. If he'd played further up the park he could have caused some real damage.

According to Stuart McCall on MTV he has picked up a chest infection.

I see that the club has applied for planning permission to erect a lift for disabled fans outside the Cooper Stand. Details can be found on NLC's e-Planning page for anyone interested. If it helps our disabled supporters enjoy their football a litlte bit more then it can only be a good thing.

SM said in a recent interview on MTV that Steven along with Lee Hollis and Nicky Devlin was making very good progress. Good luck to all 3 lads.

Pretty much agree with that Andy. In his second season with us he would be anonymous 5 weeks out of 6 and then show glimpses of brilliance in the 6th week. He always seemed to go missing in crunch games. He undoubtedly has talent but is a bit lightweight. Still good luck to him. He was a model professional.

100% agree David. We simply can't rely on picking up 3 points frequently in away games. Tynecastle proved that.

That is also very true of our home games.

Cheers Iain. A good New Year to you and all fellow Steelmen.

Does anyone know when the office re-opens this week? Cheers.

A bit pessimistic if I may say so, but I agree with your overall point. I've never subscribed to the "Don't worry about our home form our away form will see us through" view. We're not going to win every game but the 2 points dropped aginst St Mirren were entirley avoidable. We really do need to address our home form both in terms of points won and goal difference.

David's entitled to his opinion Andy and you should respect that. It doesn't mean to say that if you disagree with him then his opinion is "brain dead". Yes, some folk will be deterred from going by the weather (fair weather fans??) but if anyone makes their decision on the basis of preferring to watch the OF then he is right.