The African

On paper they were cracking results. How much of the substance of those victories was down to the fact that we were awesome or that they were really really shite? Results and performances this season tend to point to the latter. Doesn't mean that beating them convincingly twice wasn't fan-fuckin'-tastic because it was, but a lot of that was down to how utterly ghastly the vast majority of their support are and the equally vile elements within the Scottish media who were just waiting to welcome them back to their rightful place at the head of the top table, but to read too much into it in terms of football and any hope for future success would be folly.

When McCall left, the team were a bit of a shambles. Small squad with a few players on deals that were unwarranted because they were past their best. We needed a serious clear out and rethink and Baraclough was selected as the best man for the job. A year on, just about, and things are still shambolic, all be it a different shambles. The squad is now bigger but not producing anything acceptable on the pitch, either in terms of performance or results. The aging players are a little older, no better, and still,it would seem, a serious part of our manager's plans. We have average goal keepers ( being kind ), defenders who struggle to defend, a plethora of wide players who drift in and out of matches with the same alacrity as they drift in and out of form, and an over abundance of strikers who cannot score goals. We also have Jake Taylor who looks like he was signed on as extra bar staff and got lost. In short, we are in need of another clear out and I am fairly certain that the current manager is not the man for the job. No point being too hard on anyone about this. As with all signings/appointments there is probably only a fifty percent chance that they will turn out for the best. The fact is though, this one hasn't worked and the time to do something about it is now. We need to get somebody in who is prepared to get stuck into the first team squad and see if there is a half decent side in there. It probably won't be pretty but we need players who are up for the fight and prepared to show the necessary grit and gumption to get us out of the mess we assuredly find ourselves in. If players aren't up for it, they should be let go. If players aren't good enough, they should be let go. We have no space for dead weight. We are fortunate that we are not in a particularly strong league and that we don't require a team of world beaters ro get us out of this mess. A fit, organised and committed side of professionals will be a good start. Too much to ask for?

That has to be just about "time!"? Things may have improved slightly but not by enough. Giving him any more time now just eats into the time that his successor will have to turn things around.

The reasons for Taylor being signed and his subsequent performances, or lack of, are secondary. The fact is that he is a passenger and we are not in the position to carry anyone at present. He is hopefully only signed up until January when we can wave him a fond fair-well. Until then, let's hope he is nowhere near our starting eleven. He can try and find his form in the under twenties but it strikes me that he will not be any use to us in his stint at Fir Park. Money wasted.

Perhaps Ripley is likely to be off back to 'Boro in January? Who knows? Seems an odd decision, even if he is cheap. Really think that central midfield and central defence are more pressing issues.

This. Seen some utter bomb scares in goal for us over the years and Dan is not the worst, by some distance. Samson would be a weird signing. Do we need him? If Long is out injured we could play Dan in the under 20s games and bring in either a youngster or someone from the juniors as cover. More likely to uncover a decent player that way than spending more money on someone we know has not improved recently and is obviously not good enough.

Could it be a case of the fans realising that, should the performances remain at the level currently being delivered, then the chances of the slightly improved results continuing are extremely limited?

Sounds like we were still pish and lucky to scrape a point. From a fixture, as previously stated, that we should be looking on anything less than three points as a disappointment. Shows where we are really. I suppose one point is better than nought and this was the sort of game we would have got pumped three nil in during our worst spell last season. Progress? Seriously, we seem to be nowhere near addressing the obvious issues affecting the side. Not keen on pressing the panic button, but the clock has to be ticking for a few of our regular starters. Lesley, Hammell and McManus add plenty of experience to the side but are they worth their places based on performance? Their contracts are all up at the end of the season and it must be doubtful if any of them will be offered new deals. If that isn't enough incentive for them then perhaps it is time to see what others have to offer? As for McDonald, he needs to be given a little time to find fitness and played in a position that suites him. The lone striker is a tough position and so is the linking role between that lone striker and the midfield. Like the idea of playing three at the back, why persevere with a system if we do not have the quality of player to play it properly? Time to keep it simple with four four two and only allow ourselves the luxury of one winger. Said winger needs to also sign up to the mantra of "total football" from the early 1970s - "none of us are stars when we don't have the ball". Two sold banks of four and we become harder to break down. Start defending set pieces properly and we will be a lot harder to beat. Then, we will only have to score a couple of times a game to, hopefully , get the wins that will secure our status. That would be progress. I think it is going to be another long, hard season.

Three at the back only works if you have the personnel capable of playing the system. I seriously doubt that we are currently in that position. When we tried it successfully, with Mio, Martin and McCart, we had players who were intelligent, quick, and good in the air. We also had decent wing backs who could get forward like a winger to support attacks but we're capable of defending their flank. When we were forced to change the players, for whatever reason, and bring in McLeish or, to a lesser extent, Philliben, it generally didn't work as well. Right now we have no centre half on our books who would fill me with confidence as to their ability to fit into this system, and the same goes for our full backs/wingers as wing backs. The personnel we currently have are suited to a fairly standard four four two, with perhaps an over abundance of wide players in midfield. That must be the way that the current management/coaching team see us playing. I personally like the style of play that a proper sweeper can bring to a team, but players of quality in that position are few and far between.

A couple of things. Personally I thought Barraclough had eight games or so to prove things were moving in the right direction and after four straight league defeats then the clock was ticking. The two wins this week have probably earned him a bit more time but another run like the previous one and he will have used up all the good will that two wins against a fundamentally shite Rangers team gave him and it will be time to look elsewhere. As for the claim that we are a small team punching above our weight, I really don't buy that. In a football orientated country we are a top ten side all the way in terms of facilities, history and even support. Yes, things are screwed a fair bit by the fact that the football watching public in Scotland are split into two groups. The minority who have a genuine love for the beautiful game and the majority who are more interested in a regular re-enactment of the Battle of the Boyne. We are a big club in the context of the Scottish game and should act and behave accordingly. I am not suggesting we get so far up ourselves that we behave like the ugly sisters in Glasgow, but the small club excuse for piss poor performances should not be accepted.

What would he cost? We should consider taking a punt on him if he was as good as some are saying tonight. Seriously, we could even cover some of the cost by leaving him on loan at EF until January.

Truth be told, things probably have improved since last season. The question though, is have they improved enough? We had a few runs when we were getting pumped three or four nil last year. We are in a run of losing by one or two goals. If it goes on for too long, it will still get us relegated. We are not in a good league. When we have a decent result (Inverness) or what is perceived as a decent performance (Dundee Utd) other results show that we are really clutching at straws and we are genuinely struggling. I doubt we will be as lucky as last year and find one of our rivals is as weak as St Mirren were. Perhaps Killie but they will no doubt punt Locke in the very near future and may well improve from there. Have the issues in our team been sorted from last season? Goalkeeper looks still a bit suspect, right back is hopeless, left back is past it, Central defence is looking stronger but we are still poor at defending corners, midfield still gets overrun because our captain has not got the legs anymore, we play two wingers who don't do enough when we don't have the ball and therefore leave the under performing full backs and central midfield with too much to do and the goalkeeper and central defence over exposed. Our best attacking player is short on fitness (an issue throughout his career) and is having to drop too deep to help the struggling midfield and the two new strikers are either injured or left to fend for themselves in a thankless lone striker role. On the bright side, as well as probably shipping fewer goals than last season, we are creating chances, though unfortunately we are not taking enough of them. We have moved on and we are in a better place. It seems to me that it is only fair to give the current management and coaching team some more time to see if they can take us forward to where this improvement is seen in terms of points and wins. What is clear though, is that the rebuilding is not yet over and we need cover or replacements in a couple of crucial areas. The clock is ticking and if we continue to lose then any confidence that the side currently has will go and it will be a serious struggle to stay up.

Do the team look noticeably more fit?

This game could tell us quite a lot about where we are and how the season will pan out. Let's hope we can get back on track with a decent performance and three points. This time last season we failed to turn up for this kind of fixture. If we have moved on from there then we should at least be competitive and take something. After three straight losses we could do with adding to our points total. A defeat would not be fatal, but it would point to a long hard struggle ahead this season. One each, with Ainsworth scoring for us.

Bad result. Third bad result in a row. Seems like we cannot manage ninety minutes of decent football but , at home, we can put in half a shift. We create a few chances but not enough to make up for the couple of goals we gift to the opposition. Goalkeeper and fullback still seem to be issues and are there still questions over the general fitness of the squad? The Hamilton result today probably puts the United defeat into perspective. Disappointing that the obvious problems from last season do not appear to have been addressed.

If the best we could get for Murphy was around £150,000, what is the likelyhood that we were able to negotiate any kind of sell on clause? I would love it if we were due anything from this deal, but we were pretty much screwed by the deal with regard to the size of the fee so I can see no reason why it ended there. Hope I am wrong mind.

Early days, but it sounds like a poor performance so it cannot be seen as acceptable. Another game without a goal and fewer chances created. All very well to say we have a tough start to the season but really this is a pretty tight league and all teams will be taking points off each other. We went over some horrible runs of form and results last season and it nearly cost us. Do the same this year and we will probably pay the price. Time to kick a few arses and drive home the fact that we now need an improved performance on Saturday with some return in the goals and points columns. The fact that the game is against one of the better sides in the league is immaterial.

Having picked up nothing from what looked like our easiest fixture in our first four, it would be nice to see us leave Tynecastle with something tangible. We need to start taking some of the chances we are creating as I doubt we will keep a clean sheet. Ainsworth should return so I reckon we are capable of coming away with something.

Never happy with a loss, but at least we were in the game for ninety minutes and it sounds like there were a few decent performances. No doubt there will be a few more of these types of results this season as we continue the rebuilding process. Let's hope we don't make a habit of it though, as confidence can be a fragile thing, and much easier to break than mend.

As long as it is not Craig Samson.

They can afford it. Wealthy owner and cash rich league.

You seriously think that it is perfectly fine for fans to invade the pitch?More importantly, given the circumstances, you seriously think that such actions would not lead to the footballing authorities sanctioning the club? Please note that both of these questions are rhetorical so I am in no need of an answer, or indeed any lesson, from your good self. Edit, read the original as " here endeth the lesson" rather than " discussion". As such, apologies for my unwarranted "lesson" comment.

Actions have consequences. Are you suggesting that to be aware of these makes someone a Nazi? Now that is stupid. Fans going onto the park has not been acceptable to the football authorities for over thirty years. If you or anyone else attending a football match in Scotland are not aware of that fact then you and they are stupid. This stupidity is then compounded by the fact that they were warned by the club not to do so, but chose to ignore it. Did they think that this would then be ignored by the said authorities? If they did so then that is more "stupid". Did they not care? Then that is ignorant, a special kind of "stupid". Lots of "stupid" going on and the unfortunate consequences of it will, most likely, be some form of sanction against the club. You cannot really blame the authorities. How else are they going to stop this unacceptable behaviour?

Stupidity has a price. Unfortunately it. Is not just the stupid who pay it. Does your "no harm done" argument work for driving whiled pissed? As for fences, personally not a huge fan so not sure where you get the idea of me campaigning for them. Hyperbole on your behalf?

I am sure they did, but obviously not enough because of what happened, and so our argument begins to fall apart.