joewarkfanclub

Thought it was a strange looking team selection to begin with. But when you look at SODs and Obika being unfit to start, its not actually that surprising. McGinn is currently our 2nd choice RWB, so had to start there. So you have to replace him in the centre so Mugabi is the preferred choice there. Obika being out means either you play young Ferrie or push Spittal up. I would suggest Spittal is the least risky option in a must win game. Paton is our back up midfielder so he plays and Slattery is pushed up into Spittals role. Obviously Oxborough instead of Kelly is unforced, but again not a surprise to give him a run out in case Kelly gets injured at some point and we need him. Given that we are 2 up at half time and cruising, I think we need to give the manager the benefit of the doubt again. He might just know what he is doing.......

Good spot. I hadnt noticed that.

From SKs presser he sounded like fitness has a bit to go so probably wont start but should feature from the bench.

Wilkinson and Ferrie up front should be fine. In that situation Wilkinson is the hold up player and Ferrie the foil. As long as we get support from Spittal and Slattery getting into the box we should still have enough to get the job done. We just need to keep the door shut at the back. It was failing to do that, that killed us at QoS.

I presume its because Viaplay have paid for the rights and wont allow the club to broadcast them. Its been the same for most of our games since last season. Only the exiles get to see livestream as they are outwith the licensing agreement. The rest of us have to make do with audio. Its a bit shit, but not a lot the club can do about it as they dont negotiate the contract.

I agree. The tone came across very much that Joe just doesnt fancy it. I think he always had a year left on his deal. I dont remember him getting an extension. Sheilds got game time in Holland and he is away Fits very much with SK's "They are our contracted players and I will continue to work with them" attitude. Until of course they are not our players. He also dropped hints that certain players didnt fit his style of play. Given his apparent preference for 3-5-2 you would struggle to see where Efford fits into that. Whether thats the case or not and whether thats linked to this latest "injury" is obviously pure speculation, but it passes the time! 😉

Absolutely loved Kellys reponse there. "Ah love playing fitba mate. I'll get a break when am finished" Brilliant! 😆😆😆

Its not just you. SK picks his words carefully. Maybe Efford is one of those players who has been told he isnt going to feature much.

I was as excited as anyone when we got McKinstry back on loan. I felt it was a bit of a coup for us and a chance, that had been denied us, to see a player who we had developed and was touted as having a lot of talent. The reality was a bit underwhelming. The boy did okay and showed flashes of ability, but he was nowhere near the player I thought he might be. He did get unlucky with the change of manager, but there was a reason SK went for Spittal ahead of McKinstry and hasnt looked to get him back after his contract at Leeds expired.

I would expect a full strength team as close to the Dundee starting 11 as SK can get. Hope to get the job done early and start to give other players minutes around the 60 minute mark. At least 1 more new face in the door by then (thats me speculating, not ITK!) 4-0 Motherwell, Obika hat trick (he will obviously need about 10 chances and at least one of them will be off his arse.)

Very interesting to hear him say a minimum of 3. I presume that must be off the back of how successful he has been getting bodies out the door. Thats good news as he will obviously have his targets in mind and he must think they are better the the players he has moved on. Fingers crossed he is right!

Fair enough. Cant really argue with that. I tend to take what SK says with a pinch of salt though. I personally think he uses very clever language at times to cover for the fact that he doesnt rate a player, or there maybe a problem with that player that he doesnt want to go public with until he gets another club to take them from us. He cant exactly say, "I dont fancy Danzaki cause he is shite and way below the fitness levels I expect from a professional athlete" and expect other clubs to take them off our hands. He has been very good at getting a lot of the deadwood off our books. Lets see if he is as good at bringing in players better than the ones he let go.

Im sensing a bit of negativity from you towards the manager and how this window is going, which is generally not like you. Whats he done or not done that is irking you?

Im not sure the football was grim when we got to the 2 cup finals. It was physical and combative, sure, butnit had a purpose and I found it very entertaining. It had run its course by the following season though and as Robinson tried to find a way to play more football with new players, we started to get found out. I think there is a fine balance to be had at our level between being competitive and easy to watch. For me SK got it just about right last season. Whereas Alexanders version was absolutely brutal to watch, even when we were winning. Now that the majority of the deadwood is all but gone, it will be an interesting couple of weeks. I dont expect a flood of signings, but it would be nice to get a couple in that you could be enthused about.

Pitch looked excellent from the Hunter Stand. Am I missing something here?

Spittal is one of our best and most productive players. He didnt have his best game yesterday, but his work rate and attitude were still first class. Even when things are not coming off for him his head doesnt go down and he is always available for a pass and tries to make things happen.

Thought the back 3 were all generally solid with McGinn being the pick of the 3. But for me, MOTM was Slattery. Always looking for the ball, always looking for the forward pass, and generally at the heart of anything good we did today.

Felt it was a comfortable peformance today albeit a little underwelming. There were periods of the game where we controlled the pace of the game and dictated the play, but we werent able to maintain it for any period of time. Queens Park knocked the ball about nicely, but we contained them pretty well for the most part and limited them to very few chances. The last period of the game would have be a bit more comfortable if we had got the 2nd goal, but we didnt and invited a bit of unecessary pressure on ourselves as a result. Re the squad. I think the back 3 looked more assured today but agree re the wing backs. Soare looks short of fitness and SOD continues to look awkward at times. His first touch is generally excellent and he does some very good things, but continually spoils the good play by doing something stupid. Midfield is a work in progress. Miller was decent enough first half but faded badly in the 2nd. Slattery had a decent game today and Spittal showed plenty of energy but was far less effective than usual. Up front Obika has to be a starter at the moment. Not seeing anything from big Wilkinson as yet to suggest there is a player in there, but its early days. My preference next week would be to see Ferrie alongside Obika, unless of course we have someone else waiting in the wings. Overall 6/10 today.

I think whats most encouraging at the moment, is that there appears to be a plan and structure about the way we are going about our business, which sets it apart from the splatterdash signings under previous managers.

Alexander wasnt that great....... Boom! Grizzly is missing all these open goals....

This is likely to be the toughest game of the section. Thankfully we are at home and on a good surface. Hopefully we can get Casey and Blaney on the park and shore up the defence a bit. Looking forward to seeing Soare in the flesh to see what quality he has. I would imagine it will be Obika and Wilkinson up top again and the midfield picks itself. I will go 2-0 Motherwell.

Some decent highlights there. Obika looks like he was really unlucky not to score at least 1 goal. Hitting the woodwork twice and a good save from their keeper. He should do better with the one in the second half, but he is getting in good positions. Lovely lay off for Slatterys goal.

Tonight was always going to be a tough fixture. Away from home on a plastic pitch only 3 days after our first competitive match of the season. Its no surprise that SK rotated the team (and defence in particular) as he has to protect certain players from an injury that could ruin theirs and our season. We are already without Butcher for a good few months. We cant afford to lose Blaney or Casey at this point, so Mugabi and Lamie had to play. I would doubt very much that we will see them again as a partnership unless its as a last resort. Sounds like we created more than enough chances to have won the game (18 with 12 on target) and SK has questioned the award of the penalty. QoS had 5 attempts at goal and scored 3. General play doesnt seem to be an issue, but being better in both boxes is a must. Overall, disappointing not to win the game but we did get the bonus point so its not a disaster. Be interested to hear from anyone at the game how Miller and Oxborough played, as well as the new boy Soare?

At least this is a debate I can engage with. Your probably right. It seems Im in the minority on here and thats fair enough, but its what I felt when I saw the strip. Being brought up in the West of Scotland certainly influences the way you think about certain things and undoubtedly makes you more sensitive to things that other people wouldnt give 2 seconds thought to. Suffice to say, I wont be buying this particular shirt. We move on.

Lennon Miller for me. Very solid performance and good goal to cap it.