Big Stall

He was very good last season. Has been below the standards he set this season. To the extent that is why some of the fan base are understandably questioning if it is time for him to be given a rest

Theres absolutley nothing wrong with having an opinion. The point is that goal keepers do get dropped when form dips

Thats not really an argument at all. Every club carries a reserve keeper. Reasons are to cover for injuries and suspensions & to give competition. Same as any other area of the pitch, if you dont perform & there is someone better then you lose your place. Simple. See Arsenal currently, Liverpool previously and even Joe Hart back in his day. I dont think anyone on these forums has ever suggested that Oxborough is going to be brilliant. All people have been questioning is why he hasnt been given a chance when Kelly has clearly not been performing at the levels he can. Now it might be as simple as Ox is not good enough. Or maybe he doesnt contribute at training or he could even be a bad egg in the camp. That is all entirely plausible. If he isnt good enough then why not bring in more competition in january. Given we paid a fee for this lad then its fair that supporters assume he must be half decent. My opinion (not in the know) is that Ox will be off, even if the club wanted him to stay- which doesnt look likely. You dont hang around as an understudy and get zero game time when the number 1 is in poor form. It would be interesting to hear how his relationship is with kettlewell. Can imagine its a kick in the baws every week being on the bench.

In a round about way you have raised a very good point. If our number2 keeper isnt good enough to get a chance infront of an under performing/out of form number 1, then why didnt he look to bring in another keeper in January?

I dont see it either. To be honest he should have been dropped/rested/taken out the spotlight back in November. Greenock aside, he hasnt been too bad the last set of games. I thought he had turned the corner and was hopefully coming into some form.

Cant see us offering the Ox a new contract, if he had something Kettlewell fancied we would have seen him by now. If we did offer him a contract, why would he take it when he hasnt had a look in while the number 1 has struggled for form. Either an extension for Kelly or two new keepers i reckon.

A fuck shit pile of crap tonight. No fight, no skil, nothing to offer. A horrific performance for most in our colours. Wont fix things but kelly needs 'dropped' or 'rested' or however we want to slap his arse. He has been a shaddow of himself all season & if the reserve keeper is so bad that he doesnt deserve a shot...... well thats on MFC Not just kelly. The rest need a good hard look at themselfs

In the big bad world, if you project your losses early doors & plan for them then its not really anything to worry about. Unexpected losses are however a different story. *except in the world of internet forums

Given only 2 weeks ago we started a game with 1 striker on the pitch & no recognised strikers on the bench then i have no issue with Shaw being here as an option. I would be very surprised if he is considered a starter, but as a squad and bench filler then he is better than heehaw

Not bad for a team that were getting relegated a few weeks ago

Im not a fan of his but i think he has been very good both Saturday and lastnight. Long may it continue

Great night, great to watch. We destroyed County and it could have been by a far wider margin. Spittal gets MOTM for those goals but the pleasing thing for me was how well the team played. I didnt see any performers standing out miles better than anyone else - probably because they were all at it & really working well as a unit. Onwards to Friday...... She wore.....

The pitch was the worst its been on Saturday for years. Have to go back to the McGhee era when it really was a proper disaster. Once we got it fixed up, we have never looked back, but Saturday was a regression. No doubt about it. Whether thats to do with the summers investment, groundstaff or different techniques, no idea but it didnt look good

But that hes 'trying hard' so he gets a pass for not doing an essential part of his job.....

You have said this or something similar in a number of posts now. In any job, you can try as hard as you like but if you cant pull off the goal despite trying then it is only right that people question abilities.

To be fair, Paton isnt the only pish one we have. They all did well today but by christ the standard has fairly dropped off in the last 5 - 10 years

Good performance, take a point at the start of the day. We were the better team although not by huge amounts. The biggest positive for me today was that we actually looked like we were playing as a team. One with a shape and purpose. Compared to some of the shite we have seen served up this season, its a major improvement. Bair getting better with confidence. Will be good to see with more attackijg options. Really could be doing with 3 points on Tuesday Mon the 'well!

Not a kettlewell boo boy but if we cant sign 1 striker in the window to replace/compliment or even give competition to the only striker we have (who was signed as a 3rd option prospect) then that is another black mark. Granted, some of that may be due to others at the club but its a shambolic state of affairs

Brophy doesnt fire the imagination, but he's better than heehaw

No idea what he gets paid but i thought we paid money to sign him. Assume we planned on selling kelly & would have a good keeper in the Ox ready to step in. Would make sense that he is on a decent salary. Which still might be nothing like the figure quoted.

The fact that Spittal is one of our better players, just shows how poor our standard (and our peers to be fair) has dropped in the last few years. The guy is not irreplaceable, he's not even that good. He's just less shite than most of the rest of our squad. If he wants to go to St Mirren, good luck to him.

Well, given that we were going to get put out on penalties at the weekend then any stay of execution is a good thing. It also gets more money in the coffers

Gent by a country mile. Spittal did get two good goals so needs credit for that, but he did have plenty shockers in there

Leaving aside his goal, Gent was by far our best player today. Really good to see someone take the initiative and keep pressing forward. Miller made a difference when he came on, thats another big plus. Sadly the rest huffed & puffed but lacked any kind of quality. (Ok, Spittal managed 2 flashes). First half for some reason we would not commit men forward when we are attacking. At most 2 men trying to support. The other 8 hanging back. Second half to be fair to them we put a ton of good balls in the box. A number 9 would have had a field day. Big Theo is a trier, but he has no natural (or even learned) instinct, in where to go in tje box and get on the end of things. A striker really has to be a priority signing now. Through to the next round so thats the main thing but we are not looking good right now.

I thought he was attacking mid but hopefully im wrong.