Kmcalpin

At the moment, and assuming both are fit, I'd play Bair alongside Biereth up front. The "but" though is that they have to play close together. Also for that to work, they both need a midfielder who can support them. Spencer at right back please.

Just read a post on P & B. Wilkinson and Bair weren't played out wide were they?

No hard and fast definition but I'd say if a manager fails to achieve a single win in a complete round of fixtures, say 11 games. We're now heading towards that. Two tough but normally winnable games coming up but then we face Celtic at Parkhead. Hopefully we'd act before we'd reach the stage of terminal decline. I think you're right about KVV - he was an "unusual and exceptional factor" in our run of results last term. SK deserves credit though for bringing out the best in him.

Yes, we could be looking at 2 wins. Its by no means impossible. Until recently I never believed in bad luck but of late we have suffered some real body blows. Even on Saturday we suffered bad fortune in the shape of several injuries Hopefully that will change. I think the worst posible outcome for the club in the next 2 games is inconclusive results. A couple of unconvincing draws or a single draw. Its a shocking statistic I know, but Stuart Kettlewell is currently the 6th longest serving manager in the Premiership (Barry Robson in 5th beats him by only 14 days). Football has changed and the days of long serving managers like Sailor Hunter, George Stevenson and Bobby Howitt are long gone. Clubs face huge financial pressures these days, with the cost of failure being catastrophic. We, the fans, are far more demanding now than we were say 20 or 30 years ago. The pressure on managers and directors is huge.

I assume that both Butcher and McGinn will be out for this one, and possibly Miller too, given the battering he suffered against Aberdeen. My plea is that whatever formation we set out with on paper, we play with 2 strikers playing close together on the park and to support them from midfield. Oh, and to play round pegs in round holes.

There's a middle course to be steered here. I think he can turn things around but time is running out fast. He has to do so fairly quickly. As you say, we have no pre determined right whatsoever to beat the likes of Aberdeen, Livingston, RC Killie, or St Johnstone but by the same token we should have no expectation not to pick up points against them. To expect some decent results in that run of fixtures isn't unreasonable. Apologies if I'm misinterpreting your comment above but it does seem somewhat.......fatalistic and passive. We cannot afford to simply wait and hope that SK turns it around. To me, its akin to watching a seemingly stricken ship struggle, and saying we'll re-assess things if it goes down. As Gazzy B wrote, if we lose the next 2 then its time for change; that would represent 1 point from 27 - worse than St Johnstone's record this season. Apologies for the nautical theme - completely unintended.

What was the formation today? Despite much pre match speculation, I read a post on P & B suggesting that it was basically the same as in recent games with Biereth on his own up front with Bair and Wilkinson replacing Spittal and Slattery and Spittal replacing Miller. That can't be right surely?

A bit quick, but the clock is undoubtedly ticking. If we lose on Tuesday then the pressure really builds on him. Lose next Saturday as well and that should be it. Next game after that is Celtic at Parkhead. Not nice but that's the modern game.

Yes, bought our tickets for the postponed match. Its a huge game now.

Absolutely. SK is now being tested.

Now 1 point out of a possible 21.

No, we need to get the ball to Biereth. According to the BBC he is totally isolated. What a surprise.

Well SK has certainly rung the changes. Hope it wasn't done in a panic. It'll either backfire badly or be a masterstroke. Presumably we'll be playing the long ball on that disgusting surface.

If we have a choice, I'd leave Lennon Miller out for this one. If Wenesday's game is anything to go by, opposing teams have wised up to him and are targetting him. He looked broken, by the 35 minute mark in midweek. I can't see Killie adopting a different approach to Aberdeen. So time to take the pressure off him a wee bit.

Ruby............. aaarrrrgghhh!

Having seen a few keepers in my time at Fir Park I'd rate Kelly at about a 6.5 or 7 out of ten. Slightly better than average. A lot were worse, a good few have been better.

Not to my knowledge. Shinnie didn't book the ref.

I don't know. If, and it is a big if, this run continues we'll be well adrift at the bottom by Hogmanay. That would test the resolve of the Directors. Fans would vote with their feet. Now stability and continuity are important but these days, clubs don't have patience; fans even less so. We've all seen the shocking events at St Johnstone who have sacked 2 managers in a short space of time. Both fans favourites. That club was renowned in recent years for patience, stability and continuity. A sign of the times.

Am I right in thinking that we didn't have a single shot not only on but also off target in the first half? In other words no efforts at all on goal.

I think we agree about the challenges facing SK in preparing for tomorrow. The problem isn't just the lone striker himself though its the supporting system thats my main issue. In recent times, since the Livingston game, our sole striker (when playing that set up) has been totally isolated, which shouldn't be a surprise to us. Neither wing back has been able to bomb up and down the wings effectively; and the advanced midfield pairing of Spittal and Slattery, don't have the pace to get close to him. If by chance they do, they're isolated when things break down. Add to that, most opponents now have our Plan A/A+ well and truly worked out.

If we play that formation Couttsy, we'll end up shelling long high balls to Bair.

😉

Kelly is a decent lower to mid level Premiership keeper. At a push, I'd say that he was to blame for the 4th goal only and only then partly so. I'll explain. When we signed him and when we continue to select him week in week out, we know full well that he is poor at cross/aerial balls. Thats not part of his game and never will be. Derek McInnes and Alex Cleland will know that, and If SK isn't aware of that weakness he should be. In short, don't expect things to change as long as he's between the sticks. We should be factoring that into our defensive line ups and tactics, in the same way as Rangers did with Andy Goram. His distribution? Thats another matter.

In significant part yes, although not exclusively.

I get what you're saying but the current system, or implementation of it is neither one thing nor the other. Either play 90 minutes end of come what may or add an appropriate amount of time. I know its extreme, but if refs were to be pernickety, it would certainly cut down the amount of time wasting and injury feigning drastically. I'm not suggesting time be added for periods out of play at throw ins or by kicks, unless its excessive. There's a happy medium. Other measures could also be taken to speed up the game such as obligatory booking players who deliberately boot the ball away after play has stopped. Players who get in the ref's face and argue endlessly - Shinnie last night for example. Just card them and move on.