wellsince75

Dougle wasn't the best striker but I loved his effort. He gave 100% ever game and knew how to ruffle up the feathers of the opposition I'm with FPExcile - Watt is someone who I warm to for his effort and how much he cares about the club. Falls into the same category as Kirk, Lasley, Hammell, Uncle Phil, Faddy, Craigan , Sieb etc for the type of player I warm to. Not many players get called by their first name - that speaks volumes for how we feel about him As for Tony Watt, we are good for Watt and Watt is good for us - really hope we give him a decent re-signing on fee and keep him at FP.

Well done lads - got a great ability to grind out results

This is spot on . Better players are more consistent . vs hearts many of our players played the best they can - this week many were below par. they’re not hungry enough , coupled with 5-6 of them wouldn’t be first choice picks if everyone was fit and at their best

We have 2 key issues. 1) lack of consistency - which is true for many teams. When we play with urgency and the high press we're pretty damn good but unable to play with this intensity every week. 2) abolsute zero control of any game - someone made the point about Charlie Adam pulling the strings - as he did at FP. We don't have anyone pulling any strings . Our lack of being able to hold the ball, pass to one another is an issue - even when we play well. Not overly worried - it's going to be a season of highs and lows, but would we great to at least work on passing the ball

I've been bemoaning the 4-3-3 but wow did I enjoy yesterday. The difference was hunger and the high press. Not dissimilar to the Hibs match. Playing the pressing game in the opponents half rather than defend our box bravely is night and day to watch. As fans I think we all like to see the high energy, 100% effort , push the other team hard. Appreciate it won't work every week but it was a joy and so damn good to beat Hearts. (a team I've despised for decades)

must say didn't expect to win today - another valuable win and by the sounds of it a much better performance.

We’d need to match a similar formation . Otherwise he won’t get a chance to push forward , midfield gets over run and we end defending like dogs for most of the match . He’s better for Scotland than us (personal view) as the formation and team set up play more to his strengths

this is what frustrates me. We have 4 very decent central defenders to pick from. Both SOD & Carrol are suspect in defence but v good going forward. We have no wingers. We don't have 3 proven decent forwards. All day long a 3-5-2 would suit the players/strengths we have. Fair to say it will be 4-3-3.

I don't mind giving the opposition possession overall. Plenty of teams did that to us last season as we couldn't break them down. My frustration is it doesn't need to be an either or. We defend brilliantly (most of the time) + we have some very decent players who will score and create chances. If we can cut out the giving so much possession in and around our box, cut out the 15+ chances we give teams and just push up the park 20-30 yards we'll be a very difficult team for 9 or 10 teams in this league . At some point in time entertainment value is required.

Im with you on this. We are ruthless with the chances we make like us all delighted to win. It' just not enjoyable to have so little play, no progression, limited chances. If this was a short term plan to build towards something better then it would be easier to understand but from what we've gleaned the plan is simply defend deep and go for the smash and grab.

my worry listening to the pre match vid is he talks about defending better. We wouldn't need to fecking defend if we kept the damn ball - as you say, not rocket science.

Kirkie was my favourite player back in the day as well. Particularly against Hearts- he and Walter Kidd would really go at it. That said he could be a bit lazy. Mclean knew when to drop him to get the best from him.

we have very capable players moving forward who can cause damage. We do need to push the play further up the park and quite simply start passing rather than blootering it up the park and missing out the midfield.

Im with you 100% MINTY. Agree 3-5-2 would be good - its easy to flex to 5-3-2 when under the pump Also agree 100% - GA appears a stubborn so and so. Don't see it changing.

Appreciate we all see things differently . many of the games our midfield get over run and there’s little link play moving forward . having 4 or 5 through midfield would give us more strength and I think we can afford to go with 2 up front . just an opinion - not that it matters hugely as GA likely to continue with 4-3–3

personal view is the issue isn't the players - the 3 man midfield is a nonsense. Slattery has limitations , this is why he plays for us not Southampton. Donnelly, O'Hara, Slattery & Goss should all be good enough to do a job but only playing 3 isn't setting them up for success. Appreciate it's old fashioned but a 4-4-2 worked for over a century - can''t be that ridiculous an idea.

Watt will need to prove himself over a more sustained period of time before being considered for Scotland. As for SOD - I think it's worth us comparing our approach to games v's Scotlands. The national team play more to his strengths v's we boot the ball up the park and shout 'chase'

I'm not sold that's his problem. He has a win rate of +40% as a manager but hasn't lasted more than 2 years at most clubs he's been at. I suspect he has a proven method that get's decent results (+40% win) but dreadful to watch and eventually clubs get rid of them as fans can only last so long without losing their shit with anti football. He had a +48% win rate at Salford and on paper it looked very harsh to get rid of him. With this style of play it's understandable why it doesn't last beyond a couple of seasons.

KVV must wonder why he was signed - our style of play just doesn't work for him. Just looked through some of the stats. We''ve ranged from 25% possession when we beat Aberdeen to max of 50%. Against the OF it's less than 30%, against most its 40%. More worrying is we allow the opposition somewhere between 5-15 shots on our goal. We're lucky that the standard of most teams has been poor. Why GA thinks this is a good tactic is beyond me. What we work on in training (other than pure fitness) is also baffling . I just don't see any signs of us working on playing football.

Can’t ever see mugabi getting a game at right back ahead of SOD. I don’t think we’re playing any differently to when we had our run . Luck ran out. The 1-1 game with rangers is a good example - they missed a ton of chances that day - vs today they buried them . there’s been a case to change formation since pre season when 2nd tier teams controlled most of the game - but we got points earlier and put up with the dross . mid we start winning I suspect we will continue to accept points over performance - in short I don’t see GA having any flex to his very limited style

I don't believe blaming the Robinson era is reasonable. GA has signed/resigned +16 players. GA is accountable for the majority of this squad.

Sums up our current position well. Watched Newcastle v Cheslea las night who had all players too deep, got the ball, kicked it to the half way line giving the ball back to the opposition and repeat. Couldn't help but see the similarities with our approach to every game this season. These tactics don't work long term - unless you have a sensational team on the break - which we don't

GA can take great credit for getting us on track last season and for the points tally this season. We are broadly where we should be points and league position wise. Equally he deserves criticism of his 4-3-3 eye bleeding poor quality footy , particularly when we lose or get humped. A thrashing has been coming. We allow too much possession in our final 1/3 and too many shots at goal. I'm not calling for the managers head but I'm incredibly frustrated that he persists with the same tactics/formation each week. I honestly believe we could do a lot better with our existing squad if only we move to a 3-5-2, 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1. I don't see it changing though.

He’s played the same formation and tactics since he arrived and will argue that he’s got out of the relegation dog flight and top half for most of this season . I don’t see him changing any time soon to be honest - not that I’m advocating this turgid dross.

thats the strapline for season 21/22