Kmcalpin

We were never going to finish with 11 men on the pitch today. I feel sorry for Slats.

SK rightly kept the same defence, but McGinn apart, I think there's justification for changing it for the next game. If the defence and midfield are going to have a poor game, today is the day to do it. There are more important games elsewhere for us this afternoon.

Hear hear Grizzly. I know there's more to this than meets the eye. To quote Donald Rumsfeld, its a known unknown.

It's terrible all these clubs hoovering up our best talent isn't it...............

On the basis of his recent interview...yes. He said that 3-5-2 wasn't his preferred option but in the here and now it allowed us to go back to basics and be effective.

Maybe we have overdone the old boys act and bringing in fresh faces like Sk and SF who have no real connection with the club will help. Is it a confidence thing? There's more to it than that of course but perhaps a factor. We need to keep it simple; get in their faces; show no fear; take any chance that comes along; have a fair referee; and enjoy a bit of overdue good luck.

A tribe in deepest Sarawak?

Ross County appealed Jack Baldwin's red card from Saturday, but this has now been rejected and his 3 match ban remains.

100% Robbo. Yes, you always get the one awkward employee who is just well...awkward and disruptive. In the main though employees, including footballers, do become dishearterned and demotivated when a manager gives confusing instructions, overcomplicates matters, gives wrong instructions, rubs them up the wrong way or whatever. It takes a damn good employee to ignore all of those traits and still perform at 100%. I'm sure many of us have been there.

Not quite sure what to make of KVV. Despite doubts, he's knocking the goals in for us and his talent should be unquestioned. Almost certainly his form has improved as he's getting more support under Kettlewell than he did under Hammell, where he often ploughed a lone furrow up front. Maybe the change in formation has benefitted him? A great result yesterday and a hugely important 3 points. Credit to the Kettle and the players. We've along way to go to ensure safety and there will be twists and turns to come but its looking more promising. I always thought that the players had the ability to improve and its a case of whether they "downed tools" under Hammy / became disillusioned and demotivated or whether SK has them better organised and is playing to their strengths. Probably a combination of both. Anyway a great result yesterday that gives us hope especially with close rivals losing out.

100% agree but how much do we pay them? £4k a week? Maybe £5k or what about 6k? For us to fork out that kind of cash we'd need to be damn sure they were the real deal.

I'm sure too that Hickey and Ramsay were on extremely lucrative deals that would blow us out of the water.

Reece McAlear is yet another example. Left us early to join Norwich but didn't cut it there. Then joined Tranmere and is now on loan at Ayr. The grass is not always greener on the other side.

On the surface it does seem like mismanagement on our part, but we simnply don't know. It may be that he never had any intention of signing - who knows? Dundee United isn't a good model against which to compare ourselves. For years, they've chucked silly money at young players, they've hoovered up from all airts and pairts.

I think the jury is still out on him although I'm tending towards the view that he isn't quite good enough at this level. If he returns and is given a last chance its important that he is played in natural position i.e. in the centre. However there are 2 other relevant factors at play. What is Queens Park's favoured set up (according to the BBC they played a 5-2-3-1 on Saturday)? Secondly, what type of players sit in support of him?

IF league positions remain the same after the final pre split game, then we will be due 3 home after the split aginst Killie, Ross County and one from Dundee United or Livingston or St Johnstone.

Given the pitch, it was never going to be a classic, but I'm happy we earned a point. The result was the important thing. Sickening a close rival with a very late goal can only be a good thing too and won't do their confidence any good, especially as they drop to 11th place. In contrast it'll boost our rising confidence. This isn't a result we'd have got a fortnight ago. What a goal though. I should feel sorry for Killie but I don't, given that they didn't feel sorry for us when they stole a point from us last December. Its dog eats dog.

After December's debacle I'll happily take a 1-0 win with no shots on target. We're due them a beating.

I don't disagree with your overall thinking about bringing in experience. However I think it's clear that SH was adamant from the outset and throughout his reign that he didn't require experienced help. Therein lies part of his problem.

In that case he may not have taken the job. He made it plain at the AGM that he didn't want an experienced man brought in to help him. Oddly enough, from his comments, SK was not involved in first team training.

Hallelujah! At last.

The world has moved on since then. We couldn't afford to bring in players of that calibre now. Most of our league cannot compete financially with English League 1 clubs.

Great post. It doesn't have to be extreme thunderdome football or silky expansive soccer; it can be a mix. However, long ball physical football is more likely to bring success to a club of our stature. Young home grown talent can provide the skill and experienced journeymen the solidity, in very broad terms. Occasionally we can unearth a talented gem from elsewhere but thats the exception. Does our fanbase want attractive open football or decent results?

Depends who is in the managerial chair I suppose.

Good post San. There should be no cancel culture associated with our club. Keep politics out of it.