joewarkfanclub

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.

Apparently his missus loves Scotland and she always wanted to live up here. Not sure ML1 was what she had in mind though!

I actually think the suggestion of Neil Warnock could be a good shout. Very experienced manager with a good track record of helping clubs out of trouble. If you can get past the Mrs Doubtfire impersonation he could be our next Craigy Broon! Whether he would be willing to do the job for what we pay and with the resources at our disposal is another matter.

I had thought that with the international break and the positive performance and result at Celtic Park, SK had managed to clear his head and focus on what was required to get us back on an upward trajectory, but that team selection tonight was the kind of thing that would get any manager sacked. We had only lost Paton from Saturday yet he felt the need to tinker with the whole team and place yet more square pegs in round holes. Returning to a formation that had failed miserably only a few weeks ago was madness. Quite how he thought that would work is baffling and the sign of of a manager in crisis. He then doubled down on this with even crazier substitutions. His decision making is shot and it looks like it may be ireparably so. Ive defended SK up until now, but if results go against us tomorrow and at the weekend we could end up bottom of the league without a win in 14. He could not and should not survive that.

I agree that we need to start winning games and the next game is always a good time to start. But a point away from home is never unacceptable. But if we dont win tomorrow night and go into the weekend without a win in 13, then not beating St Johnstone at home would leave SK running out of road.

Another disappointing performance, but given the circumstances a more than acceptable result in the end. The Paton red card is a poor decision for me. In real time you can clearly see he is going for the ball and McCowan just nicks it in front of him. Could easily have been the other way about. The yellow card was the right decision and not a clear and obvious error so VAR shouldnt be getting involved. The minute VAR is involved and you slow things down and use freeze frames you are taking the context of the tackle away and its easy to make it look horiffic. Its good to see the team keep going until the end and digging out a point with another late equaliser. Shows the team spirit is still there. Just wish we didnt have to keep doing it. Big couple games coming up for SK.

Are you using reverse psychology on yourself?

Thats about as big a "Come and get me" as you could see. Unfortunately more than just us will be interested and money talks. Particularly with an in contract player on wages that are way more than we can afford. Id be flabbergasted if he ends up back at Fir Park.....

Not defending the poor parts of the performances. Its unacceptable that a team and manager who are capable of such good things at times should really get things so badly wrong at other times. Just trying to highlight that the team and manager are far from a lost cause. They do need to start proving it on a more regular basis though.

Not having a go at you personally Gaz as plenty have the same opinion as you and you are all entitled to it. The 10 games without a win is undisputable. And there have been some terrible performances. (2nd half v Livvy, first half v Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, first 60 minutes v Ross County). However, in those 10 games there have also been some very good performances (St Mirren, Rangers, Celtic, Celtic). We have also come back from being behind against Ross County, St Johnstone, Celtic and turned 0-4 v Aberdeen into a 2-4. So this is not a team without any redeaming features and they havent downed tools like Hammells team did at the end. The summer transfer business was poor. I dont think anyone would argue that, however, we dont know if there were other targets who didnt want come or we couldnt agree a financial package with, so context is important there. As Ive argued before that althought the signings may have been the best the management thought they could get at the time, there are still 2 problems with them. In some cases we may have let better players go, and the length of the contracts given to Bair and Obika in the circumstances were mad. We seem to be getting over our injury worries now and the managerseems to have had time to reflect on the Kilnarnock and Hearts debacles and gone back to a more recognisable shape. The next 4 games are important for him though. We need some decent points on the board to try and consolidate our position. We are quite fortunate not to be detached right now so we cant afford to spurn many more chances. This one feels huge. Home game v a direct rival. We need to see shape, resilience, some sort of tactical plan and hopefully a good performance. I think we need to target 8 points from these 4 games. 6 as a minimum. 3 on Saturday would be a big step towards that.

Anyone actually at Saturdays game shed any light on how Butcher played in midfield? Is it something worth pursuing with? Mugabi certainly gives us an aerial advantage in defence that we dont really have without him. I wouldnt be averse to keeping him there if Butcher was the protective influence in midfield we need. That being the case you could keep the diamond with Slattery, Paton and Spittal, or drop one of them to play Obika......