joewarkfanclub

Thought it was a solid if unspectacular first half today, but given our current predicament I was more than happy with it. St Johnstone never troubled us and Kelly had nothing to do. We didnt create any clear cut chances but we definitely threatened their box more than they did ours. Second half turned on that absolute howler from Kelly. Terrible decision from a player whose confidence is clearly rock bottom. Unsurprisingly our heads went down for a period and we could have conceded a second before we steadied the ship. The subs, somewhat surprisingly did make a difference and Bair's cross for the equaliser was excellent. The players are clearly still behind the manager and that might just keep him in a job a while longer. Hopefully he will realise that Gent, and Davor can be trusted and that the goalkeeping position needs looked at. We cant keep gifting teams goals and expect to win football matches. The injuries and suspensions are a concern. We could really do with one or 2 more being available next week. The holding pattern continues.......

I went for Gent as well. Very solid display defensively and gave us the much needed width we have been missing. Thought Davor also had a very good game. Makes you wonder why neither of them have had a sniff of a start until they were the only fit players left.

I never said it never happened. Just said I never understood it. Totally counter productive. Pretty sure the fans berating the players want the team to do better. But their actions arent going to help. Players being told they are shite mostly go into their shell and become frightened to try anything remotely risky. Its why a run of results like this becomes self perpetuating as confidence drains game by game. By all means, berate away, but you arent helping the team by doing so.

So looks like Butcher, Casey and McGinn are out for Saturday. Doesnt bode well at CB, but might force SK into playing Spencer and Gent in their natural positions if we only have SOD, Mugabi & Blaney available for the back 3. Hopefully no more Wilkinson in midfield either!

He did. He would just prefer if the fans left it until the end of the game. I think thats also fair comment. Ive never understood fans berating players in the middle of a game. I dint know anyone who goes to work and gets better at their job by being shouted at whilst their doing it. By all means shout encouragement. But screaming at someone how shite they are only ever has a negative effect. Saturday is huge. Lets get behind the team for 90 minutes. If they lose and the performance is another gutless one, then SK, the players and the board become fair game.

I thought the opposite. Considering the run we are on and how much pressure he is under, I thought he sounded quite upbeat. My concern is what he means by back to basics. If he means keep it simple and hoof it forward and play your football in the final third, we could be in for a long afternoon. We have already shown that we are not very good at that and that its a total waste of Mika's talent. Hopefully he has remembered what made him and us successful last season and try and replicate that.

The 5-4-1 can work if the 4 is a diamond and Spittal is the one trying to get up in support of the lone striker who at this point would be Mika, a massive upgrade on Bair. But if we are going to create sufficient chances and not let the midfield be overun as has happened regularly during this awful run, then the wingbacks need to be dynamic enough to get up and down the park. Unfortunately for him thats not SOD. Although given our injuries at CB he might still get a place in there this week. Assuming that Casey, Butcher and Mugabi are all injured, that would leave us with.... Kelly SOD Mcginn Blaney Spencer Gent Davor Slattery Paton Spittal Biereth If Mugabi or Butcher are fit and/or McGinn isnt then the back 3 could be any 3 from 5.

Sorry, but if the board dont intervene and SK cant see the wood for the trees, what happens then? Relegation? Sack SK? I agree that the board should be reviewing matters so we dont make the same mistakes again, but we are a club. All the working parts need to be in communication with each other. That probably includes the fans given we are a fan owned club.

This ^^^

I voted. Hopefully for individuals that would push for change......

Hopefully McGinn and Mugabi are fit. Otherwise we are looking at SOD, Blaney and a.n.other as our 3 CB's....

You've got me. See you there......

As a self confessed "happy clapper" I have to agree. Faddy should be nowhere near the job. Similar to Hammell, who I didnt think should have been appointed, but backed to the hilt until the bitter end. Its kinda what supporters are supposed to do.

Great post.

That definitely has to stop. This is where we could really do with the Well Society stepping up. If we really are a fan owned club then we should be able to influence the direction of it. Demanding that the correct processes be put in place for a secure future would be a good starting point.

Surely that comes down to the remit during application or preferably headhunting process? I honestly believe we dont need too many players in January to avoid the drop. We mostly just need to get the best out of the ones we do have. Id love SK to be the guy that does that but he is showing no signs of it at this point. We need to get back to basics. Get hard to beat. Play players in their preferred positions. Kinda like he did against Celtic and then immediately forgot that had happened. We could do with another midfielder although if he would play Davor that might not be quite so urgent. But what gave us and SK success last season was dynamic wingbacks and a guy in the middle that could score. Get Spencer and Gent in their proper positions and give Biereth something to feed off. The 3 of them are being ruined in our current set up.

Craig Gordon will be on the plane.

These are all very good points and precisely why Ive been defending him throughout this turgid run. However, as someone who heavily criticised his summer signings, do you think its wise to give him another window? Im not sure anymore. If he had purely been hamstrung due to the dearth of talent at his disposal (making allowances that the players he signed werent his top targets and all he could get on our budget) then I could be persuaded. But his decision making these last couple months has been chronic. He isnt even getting the best out of the players we have, let alone new ones we dont even know yet. Stick or twist. Its a huge decision for the board.

There is a lot of merit in what you say. However, I dont necessarily think the players have chucked it, or are so bad that we couldnt get out of the situation we are in. They have shown in the past that with the right shape and personnel in place they can be effective and play some decent football and there have been spells even during this run where they have shown spirit and determination to come back from behind and snatch points. However, for the last few weeks SK has been playing too many players in roles that are not their natural positions or that they are just not suited to. That has led to an erosion of confidence and some really haphazard performances. I had thought that after the international break we would get a reset and get back to playing our best players in their natural positions. However that hasnt happened and last nights team selection and substitutions certainly didnt give any confidence that SK was aware of what the problems were or how to fix it. That performance had the feel of last seasons St Johnstone game that led to Hammells demise. That being the case, I reluctantly feel that it may be time for a parting of the ways. But as you say, there are deeper problems that a change of manager wont address on its own.

Not disputing that. But if all we are gonna get is another internal appointment, and we agree thats not what we need, what is the point of sacking SK? May as well just limp on and save ourselves the settlement figure. Personally, Im not so defeatist and if there is a parting of the ways, there will be someone out there willing to take us on.

I agree that we could do with an experienced manager. But Craig Levein doesnt fit the rest of the profile for me. He will probably prove me wrong on Saturday mind you!

If thats the case, there really is no point in sacking SK. We better buckle up!

Lol! My bad! It just feels that way!

Can we have the no vote button back?

We really needed 6 points minimum from this 4 game run to stop the rot and solidify us in mid table. The fact we have lost the first 2 doesnt bode well. Of course we could win our next 2 games but given our current form and the further injuries picked up tonight it seems unlikely. The board might be tempted to give him St Johnstone, but if he was to lose that one he is definitely toast.