joewarkfanclub

That is correct. Problem is that jersey pulling and holding goes on at every corner and every free kick in every game in every country all over the world. It very rarely gets called when the wee team needs a result. Rangers AND Celtic are beneficiaries in Scotland. Spain were beneficiaries against Scotland in Seville. VAR hasnt helped this phenomenon. It has amplified it.

Home tie v lower league opposition. Doesnt get any better than that. Must win tie. Winning well and with some style would be nice. Over to SK and the players.

Totally agree that this next period will be season defining. Good points return from the next 4 games and we go into the Rangers game, and indeed the New Year, with confidence and buy ourselves some breathing space at the bottom of the table. Poor return and the Celtic game looks like a blip in an otherwise downward trajectory, the pressure mounts and the board have a decision to make prior to the January window. I think 8 points would be more than respectable from the 4 games. 2 home wins and 2 away draws would do nicely. This being the first home game therefore becomes massive for us. Hoping for a similar structure to the Celtic game but with some tweaks in personnel to get us on the front foot. Ive defended SOD on here for long and weary, and I dont think he has done anything to deserve to be dropped (more than anyone else at least) but we really need the width and dynamism that Gent and Spencer would provide in their natural positions. Whether we would still need 4 in midfield in that formation or try Obika up top with Biereth, is up for question, but Id like to see it given a go. Id start....... Kelly Casey Butcher Blaney Spencer Gent Slattery Paton Spittal Biereth Obika Try and get goals up early doors and use SOD and Mugabi in the "Celtic" formation, to shore things up defensively when the legs start to go up top.

Didnt see the game today, but listened on the radio. From what I heard, it sounded to me that SK had learned the lessons of the last few weeks, set us up to be difficult to beat, and try and play on the break. Given the level of opposition it appeared to be the right team selection and tactic to get the best out of the players available. Its a great point that alleviates some of the pressure caused by his recent mistakes. However, he now needs to back it up with a more positive performance at home v Dundee next week. Hopefully this is the start of something and not the end......

McSkimming had actually been quite good at Kilmarnock and on the face of it felt like a natural replacement for Phil. Whether he was worth the transfer fee is another matter, and he obviously didnt live up to expectations, but I didnt think it was the wildest McLeish signing at the time. John Hendry and Andy Roddie were much worse.

Will wait and see how this lines up before making any judgement. But at least its not 4-3-3 with 2 strikers in wide areas, and if as suspected Butcher is in midfield, at least its something different.

AMEX have also invested £100m in Brighton. On top of the TV revenue they get every year and the European money they are now getting as a result of their success. Sure they have recruited shrewdly and could have pissed that against a wall like a load of other english clubs have over the years in search of success, but Im not sure how that helps us? FWIW, I do agree we have seemed a bit rudderless recently, but I think thats been a bit longer than Alan Burrows departure. No idea what goes on behind closed doors, but we havent had whats looked like a structured transfer window for a long time now......

Great news!

Surely SK cant line up 3-4-3 in this one? If he sets us up solid in a 5-4-1 with Biereth up top and the fabled diamond in midfield and Gent and Spencer in the wing back positions we may stand a chance of scraping a draw or at least avoiding a hiding. If he sets up like the last 2 games it could be a silly score. Hopefully the international break has given some time for reflection......

Wasnt at the game yesterday, but when I saw the team selection alarm bells were ringing and unfortunately my fears turned out to be correct. Ive backed SK thus far and I still think he has what it takes to get us out of this. He has been very unlucky with injuries and suspensions at key times. However, he is starting to over think things and is contributing to his own downfall. Yesterdays formation was understandable v Kilmarnock on a horrible plastic pitch. But having seen it fail there and with the improvement in performance when we started getting the ball down and playing football again, to repeat the same mistake yesterday on our bowling green is unforgivable. As others have said, he needs to get back to basics. Get the square pegs back in the square holes, and the round ones in thebround holes. If he does that he should be fine. If he cant or wont, he could be gone after the Dundee game. We need Spencer at RWB and Gent at LWB to give us width. Against the bettter teams we should get back to playing a diamond in midfield that gave us control over midfield and will allow us to playbthe ball into Biereths feet, instead of humping it long to him. Against the weaker teams we could forego a midfielder and play someone else up alongside Mika. Whether that be Wilkinson or Bair, I dont really care, but we should never see them.as a 3 again. Thank goodness for the international break and some serious thinking time.

Our standard of play in the last few games has been generally poor. But what about our standard of play at the start of the season including our game at Tynecastle where we got a clean sheet with 10 men? Just as our performances have deteriorated in recent weeks, if SK get his tactics and team selection correct, it could improve......

Not been a huge fan if pyro in the past as I dont enjoy the experience of being in the thick of it. However, I think its time we had an adult converation about safe standing. Celtic have it at Parkhead. We kinda have it in Block E but without the fancy seats / stanchions. If each ground had a designated area for these things then fans would have a choice of whether to be involved or not. That can be easily managed for home fans but the problem comes at away venues like Perth where everyone is shoehorned into a small section. The young ones are the lifeblood of the game and the next generations moaning old codgers. Football needs to evolve with the times, within safe and legal limits, obviously

Thats a tweak that works for me. You could actually slide in and out of both formations during the course of the game depending on the situation. The other option is to just go with Mika up top on his own and put Davor in, but I dont like that so much as we have no real idea how good he would be in there or otherwise. Think we need to stick with tried and tested right now though.

I remember when Maxi moved on being concerned that we wouldnt get another goalkeeper of that quality to replace him. And we went and got a 6'5 dutch maverick with a pornstar moustache! Im not sure he was the best goalkeeper we had in my time supporting Motherwell, but he was certainly the most fun to watch. Catching baĺls over the penalty spot was just food and drink for the big man and his mazy dribbles round opposition forwards before clearing the ball had Wee Tommy tearing his hair out. Add in the rather colourful goalie top we had at the time and he was quite the character. Of course we replaced Sieb with Stevie Woods, so Davids original point does stand! 😆

SIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEBBBBB! 😆😆😆

Miller out for 3 months and McGinn for 6 weeks are big blows. 2 of our more influential players this season. Davor might get some gametime yet. The back 3 will no doubt need to remain as is now with Mugabi for cover. SK doesnt have his problems to seek.

Xander Clarke would be my first pick. But you are right. With no other fit keepers, Kelly has to keep his place....

I must admit, I do find the lack of any gametime for Davor quite mistifying. He was undoubtedly a Kettlewell signing as he properly bigged him up when we signed him and I had hoped we had found the new Ali Gorrin. I can only guess that he either doesnt show up in training or the form of the other players looks better to SKs eyes. Its disappointing, because I think the defensive security a player like that gives you in front of a back 3 can allow you to play the likes of Spencer and Gent in the wide areas in the same way we did with Furlong and Johnson last season to much success. I also agree with Bair starting, purely for his work rate in the early part of a game. We need to start better in games and not be 1 or 2 goals down before we figure out what we are doing.

Just seen the highlights and feel sorry for Wilkinson as it was a really cool finish. However, the law is clear, any handball committed in the scoring of a goal is a foul regardless of whether it was intentional or not. Its a shite rule, but it IS the rule so we cant argue it. Wilkinson clearly has some ability, but its how we manage to get him in positions to allow him to show it thats the problem. The same could be said for a few of our players and I think its in this regard that I think criticism of SK is fair. He signed the players knowing their strengths and weaknesses, I would have hoped he had a formation and tactics in mind before doing so. Of course injuries and suspensions have hampered a settled team selection, but I hope he he is getting closer to identifying who he can trust and how we want to play.

Agreed, but I dont think we are really in the market for top level keepers anymore unless we rear our own or get someone young with potential in on loan. See St Mirren.......

If his form had been magnificent all season and he had been keeping us in games I would agree. But it hasnt. Now that could just be because he has been playing behind a defence that has leaked goals in recent weeks, but the goal at Kilmarnock was down to him and it hasnt been the only occasion. He makes some very good saves most weeks, but If you compare the individual mistakes he has made to those of say, Mugabi, and compare the criticism that accompanies it, Kelly flies under the radar. Now, Im not saying I would hunt Kelly in January. But if a suitor comes in with a reasonable offer, I think we would be crazy not to consider it.

I think Carson was better as well. Kelly is a good shotstopper, but he doesnt come for cross balls and his distribution is poor. He is definitely a good enough keeper at our level, but whether he is value for money is a different matter. None of us really know what money he is on, but he came in on loan from a bigger club able to pay much higher wages and is reputed to be our top earner. For me if we were looking to trim the wage budget I would have moved him on and gone and got Carson back in the short term. For me he shouldnt be near the Scotland team. The fact that he is shows the dearth of talent among Scottish goalkeepers right now. Given that he doesnt want to talk contracts right now, it seems like he wants to run his contract down and see what offers come to him in January. Thats fair enough and his perogative, but I wouldnt lose any sleep over moving him on in January for whatever fee we can get.

Another point on Saturday would consolidate things going into the break. 3 points would be most welcome. Id go with this............ Kelly Spencer Casey Butcher Blaney Gent Paton Slattery Spittal Bair Biereth McGinn and Miller are the only others in contention for me right now but both likely to remain out. I wouldnt be averse to giving Oxborough some game time, but given we are clearly trying to punt Kelly, Im sure that wont happen.

Good point in the end. I think slowly but surely SK is getting to know the players he can trust and those who keep making individual errors and letting the team down. I expect once this round of injuries clears up we may start to see a more settled team. Another point on Saturday would continue to steady the ship. Three would be awesome.

The circumstances for this game dont feel great for us. Saints have fired their manager, got their first win and will he looking to impress their new manager. We on the other hand are on a poor run, have several injured players and are low in confidence going to a venue we have historically found difficult. Id take a point right now just to stop them gaining ground on us. Glad Im working tonight and can just find out what happened after the fact!