wellsince75

Completely with you , these positions have been an issue for +12 months likes of shields , SOD would be of interest to other clubs .

We've got a pretty reasonable run of fixtures coming up. To get out of the mire winning 3 from our next 7 games would make a huge difference. Suspect one of the teams in and around us will hit a purple streak , equally StMirren/St.J could get sucked into the mix. I rather hope it's us who can create our turn of good fortune.

agree about the 3 positions you mention. Re Penney, he may end up being a 'Well player longer term. Although back at his parent club it's clear we're keen on him, they will want some form of fee. Suspect on the last day on the window he'll come back. Re SOD. A player of his capability should be an easy pick each week - particularly given how poor our defence & midfield have been BUT it's not worked for him over the last 2 years. Should be an easy player to offload to many clubs in the SPL.

a win and a clean sheet. to the next round we go. More of the same over the coming weeks please.

good call @Richie

Really happy to see some changes . Needed a shake up . feel a little for Cornelius - I’d have him ahead of the core 3 we stick with . we need to be solid at the back and win this one

Good luck Clarky - I honestly didn’t recognise him in the pic . he understands our youth system , cares about the club . Good appointment .

Probably semantics over salary. As long as loan and gone by end of season , then everyone's a winner.

certainly more mobile.

McCart for me would be a very good signing. He was excellent for StJonhstone , always played well against us. There must be lots of affordable options for centre halves. What I find a little concerning is it's mostly attacking options that we're linked with, when it's the defence thats the key issue. It may be just how things are progressing. But to your point, someone like McCart would be a very welcome addition.

Like you I've backed Hammell and have a level of sympathy re who he can select, equally Im fed up with his tolerance to accepting repeat errors from the same players. He needs to be ruthless. Irrespective of how raw Blaney is he should have started before now. Sol costs goals every game, as does Lamie. Stevie needs to be much stronger in terms of dropping players for costing us. I'd drop both of them, it's a risk but he needs to make it crystal clear that these types of repeated errors are unacceptable. We need to start winning games to inject a little bit of confidence. I'd drop several of the recent regulars for this game and beyond. A cup run would be a welcome distraction from the league. Like you mentioned, anything other than a win puts serious doubt over the mgt team.

probably true - suspect why GA dropped him for so many months. If he was an outstanding footballer he'd get away with it but he isn't and at a club like ours I believe we need everyone working their arses off. Tolerance part of our problem, we tolerate players not quite fit, we tolerate same mistakes from Sol/Lammie, causing us goals every week. I know this is rose coloured specs but under McLean some of these guys would have their arses kicked and dropped/shipped out. I'd happily get rid of some of our journeymen and put faith in our youngsters.

Some great points made @supermarv , I agree with all of them. Defensively Lamie/Sol both need dropped and if Blaney is as poor then shame on the club for signing him. An absolutely waste of time and money. We need central defenders who are significantly better. Agree re Spittal - Cornelius for me is a much harder worker and better option. Ditto re Johnston. He was there all the time. For me will be better than S'OD or McGinn. In short our younger Well Players coming through including the return of McKinstry are proving to be better than muckiest of the dross we've signed in recent years.

McGinn can play holding midfield and protect the centre halves .

nice. 6ft 3. Beginning to make sense, couple of wingers, balls into the box etc. Nice to see new faces coming through, sounds like there will be more to come which is great.

Listening to Stevie talk pre match it’s clear that he’s committed and working his socks off . We need players to stop making basic mistakes - that’s on individuals not the gaffer. agree huge game - 3 points is the tonic we need.

No concerns with the player's we've been linked with , understand the level we're at. I'm with @El Grew re why we're signing wingers - that for me isn't the area to improve. Maybe 1 but not 2. The issue to solve is stopping the rot at the back. There may be more players to be signed, ideally defensive players come through. Central defensive and holding midfielder. I''d be hoppy to look at some from the Scottish championship and do swaps with likes of S'OD , Shields, Maguire etc - pretty sure people would be willing to trade with us.

You're right, I've no idea if they're ready or not. There's several players that I'd drop and give some of the younger players a chance to show what they can do. The flip side is we'll be on a hiding to nothing if we end up losing games by 2,3,4 goals rather than the odd goal. A few Years ago Turnbull and Hastie saved our bacon, would be nice if we could repeat that.

I've got a fair amount of sympathy for SH. Previous gaffers have come out post match and spoken utter dross. At least he comes out and calls it for what it is. Basic mistakes , irrespective of coaching it's individuals making stupid mistakes each week. Why - because they're not good enough. SH needs to have some level of accountability - which means being ruthless in terms of who he drops. The dilema is he'll need to bring in youngsters who're not ready. To be fair that's the roll of the dice he prob needs to take. Ideally we need Burrows to come out and show some financial backing.

So why sign him ? If Lammie is better what’s the point in signing him .

The same line up frustrates me. The same players is likely to equate to the same outcomes. Some players need to be dropped, others given opportunities. Likes of Tierney/Maguire/McKinstry are no worse than some that start each week. The fact that Blaney walked straight into our shitshow of a defence is not a good sign. If he's not good enough to start games, why did we ever sign him.

I'm with you on this, our recruitment hasn't improved in any way shape or form in the last 2 years. Equally those in control of purse strings have a lot to answer to. We deliberately reduced the size of squad . At best Hammell is allowed to recruit to replace Moult/Aarons , eg 2 new heads. It could be called brave, optimistic but honestly feels foolhardy and we're running a risk that things will get better than they've been for 12 months. We need something to give the lads confidence and it's becoming more likely that spark needs to come form within.

I thought he showed a nest more steel in this interview . Which is exactly what we need from the team . Both teams have been dire , got a feeling there could be a good few goals . Perhaps not quite the 6-6

I thought he was back at his home club being assessed post op but with no obvious way forward.

Appreciate we rode our luck a few times but given we've been in the league since the 80s it's not ridiculous to expect us to stay there. Although crowds are at 4k when you compare us to Ross County, Livingstone, StMirren, St Johnstone then I think it's reasonable to expect us to be performing better than them. I do think we've been rudderless for a while in terms of not having a long term plan that continues to focus heavily on youth. A decent amount of players came through our ranks since the 80s , many very decent pro's and a few exceptional ones. We need decent pros to come through , sadly we've struggled in last couple of seasons and made some of the most horrendous signings I can recall. This cocktail has led to very average players , lack of leadership and lack of fight for the club. Hence why relegation is now looking a strong possibility. Its poor stewardship and the club need to dig deep, find the cash and the players to sort this out.