wellsince75

good summary as always . Re your who we solve the defence. I thought Casey made a difference and would keep him in the team. The simple answer is drop Mugabi. Neither Butcher or Mugabi would be in my first 11.

We set our stall out to stifle Hearts and counter . Did ok first half started 2’d half well but completely toothless in front of goal , simply didn’t take our chances . Davor gave away a needless free kick - like he does . Led to them putting in a ball that caught mugabi flat footed - like what happens in many games . Shankland scores and from there only going to be on winner . Plan B , putting on all strikers and taking off midfield players is simply folly . hearts deserved their win today

Sod was weak there - far too easily bumped .

We’ve been toothless today - not really looked like scoring and can’t remember worrying the keeper

Stupid stupid stupid free kick to give away - punished another set piece that we can’t defend

Gent is injured Devine moves to left and sod slots into right

Time for a sub me thinks would like to see Nicholson on for Paton

Hearts changing their shape for 2nd half - be interesting to see how we handle and adjust

Well done Vale - some really decent link up play - looks a decent baller

Got to hit the target defensively improved - not offering much in an attacking sense

cracking starting 11. Miller and Davor sitting in holding positions allowing spittle to connect with Bair and Vale. Well done coach

Being allowed to play with 12 men would be the dispensation we need . Just looking at last run of results we've conceded 24 goals in last 13 games - in which we've been decent overall as a team/chalking up results. Completely agree about not breaking the working bits which are generally wingbacks + Spittel + Bair (and now Vale). The hard but obvious choice is changing how we defend set pieces - I'd be putting Casey back in and probably swapping Keeper - I don't think we're helping Liam or the team by ignoring how weak we are at set pieces .

sort the defence McGinn mugabi casey or play with just 2 and strengthen midfield by adding miller or be brave and drop Kelly - appreciate this is old ground

Brilliant to go 3 up but FFS we can’t defend or control a game . 2 big issues 1)the midfield can’t hold the ball. We missed Halliday. 2) worst defence I’ve seen for quite a while . Every cross , every set play we look like we’ll concede . we need to change the defence now . Whether it’s formation , players or both it needs to happen

I do get the 2 victories in 20 league games but to politely challenge it's 5 wins in 25 league games this season. 5 wins, 9 draws , 10 losses. Not many Well managers get sacked for this type of tally or league position. The narrative has been bottom 3 budget. As such the expectation should be perform v's the budget The acid test comes at the end of the season. If we remain 8th or better with a budget of 10-12th SK will deserve a bit of credit.

Our issues are beyond an individual manager. Scottish football has been on an ongoing decline for decades and all the clubs are wrapped up in the gulf between us an other leagues. The club needs to sort itself out and build a more sustainable long term future with CEO, Chairman etc. Financially s a 50:50 split on playing/non playing side is hurting us. I don't see the same investment in youth, it's not the machine it was in the early part of this century. Then you get to the first team, we've slashed the squad size and suspect salary per player. SK has made poor summer signings but fair play for how he's resolved it. He's also made some errors in formation, in game management. Overall though given what he's been up against my personal view is he's performing pretty well and not convinced there's a queue of any better managers waiting in the wings to do something magical.

can't see Liam being dropped after the comments made by SK.

Very decent goal. Good play by Devine and good finish by Vale. A few things spring to my mind as being obvious about the current team/set up. 1) Kelly - being rested is no bad thing. This happened to Maxwell back in the day and he benefited from it. 2) Centre Halves - we don't have 3 good centre halves - so don't always play 3. 3) Devine and Gent both look very good in the wingback area play them both please. 4) Play both Bair and Vale - BUT when you bring on Obika -one of them needs to come off. They are not a good front 3. We've got more than enough goals in us to progress but we need to move away from being a soft touch for any set plays/crosses.

Not all keepers come off their line - Gorum is an example . no question Kelly has had poor games and looks devoid of confidence . As poor as he was for the first goal last night the defence were equally poor. The amount of crosses into our box where the opposition won the first and second ball is disgraceful and frankly a key reason we concede so many goals . Someone posted earlier at lack of spine - good keeper , good centre halve, centre mid and forward - we lack all of the above . Butcher looks done as a player - I’d rather bring Casey back in and see if he can regain last seasons form

SK's primary issue is not having a decent plan B and being able to adjust mid match. Last night become obvious by 20 mins that we were being outfought.We should have changed formation in first 25 mins. He waited until we were 2 down - that's a huge error. Then just brought on 3 strikers when it was obvious we had to break them down. There's a lot the manger does well and he has people playing for him but his in game mgt is poor. Hence the amount of draws & defeats.

Last week SK said with lots of games coming we’d need to rotate team . he didn’t do that . After 20 mins we were being outfought . waited until too late before changing it . When changed it Vale & Halliday made sense but equally we needed to break them down , Nicholson was the obvious choice . God only knows what formation we ended up with . very poor man management and equally piss poor all over the pitch

Kettlewell needs to take a huge amount of blame for tonight we all knew what we’d face and he put out the wrong team and sun choices and structure out the window

I don’t get why Nicholson who has a bit of guile isn’t hasn’t been used - instead obiika - complete nonsense

I can’t believe Nicholson hasn’t been brought on

I’d go with Sod , Paton and maybe miller off nicholson , vale and Halliday on