joewarkfanclub

To be honest, out of the bookies list, John McGlynn is probably one of the more attractive options given his experience. But there is no way we will be paying the fee required to get him, even if Falkirk were prepared to let him go and he wanted to come. I agree it will probably be a left field appointment based on interview performance.

I think the biggest thing this squad lacks is energy. We dont have a lot of legs in the team, particularly in midfield, even with everyone fit. Its good there are a lot out of contract at end of season as it will allow the new manager scope to carry out a rebuilding job (again). I wouldnt be renewing Halliday or Davor. Paton would be okay as a squad player but not essential. Slattery will depend on his recovery and whether he is interested in staying. But if he returns to full fitness Id offer him something. Id punt Robinson and Stuparevic. Koutroumbis, I really have no idea as we have barely seen him play.

Not really sure what "style" of football Murray's teams play, but he is quite an experienced manager now even at a young age and has a bit of success in the lower leagues. Raiths decision to can him last season after nearly bringing them up seemed very odd, although I dont remember their fans being that mad about it because of the poor start they had made? Wouldnt be the worst choice imho, but would be more of a wait and see kind of appointment. (Which to be fair, is likely to be the case whoever we go for).

I believe he got a pay rise and an extension when he turned the Hibs job down. Ayr have real aspirations of making the top tier this year.

If you read my previous post, you will see I dont have many issues with this window. Its not just this window Im talking about though. SK stubbornly stuck to his 3 at the back system all season. Our tactics have clearly to be to allow the opposition to have the ball and break quickly on the counter. But we didnt sign the correct players to do that. Sure injuries conspired against him and he had absolutley no luck in that regard as it left him with so few midfielders that he was unable or unwilling to change the system to make us more functional. Being unable to field his preferred 11 obviously made things very difficult, buy he didnt address the main issue in this window either. The priority should have been midfield. We have signed 1 youth player on loan. Now I realise that you cant get every target you are after, and the order in which you get them cant always be predicted or controlled, but with Nicholson and Slattery not 100% and the possibility that the injured Miller could have been sold, I would have expected more business in that area of the pitch. Anyway, whats done is done. The new manager will have their own thoughts on how they want to do things. Be interesting to see which way we go.

Stats seem to be the be all and end all theses days. Not saying thats wrong, I guess in the global world we live in, it can cut out a lot of time searching for the right kind of player. I guess Im at an age that Id still like the manager to go and actually see the player play before we sign them. Obviously that wont be possible all the time, but given the markets we usually shop in, shouldnt be impossible.

Oops! So I did! Out of sight out of mind! Fixed it! 😆😆😆

Certainly farming out Wilson to the juniors helped his development. Although I think he could still work on his fitness / diet and his body positioning. Both Wells and Ross still looked like wee boys in a mans world this season. Hopefully they will come back men.

Thats a bit simplistic We no longer have reserve football to get young boys used to playing against senior players. They just go from youth football straight into first team squads. Physical development can play a big part at that age as all boys mature at different rates. Not everyone is a generational talent like Lennon Miller, and even he was a fairly big boy at 16. Of course some wont make it, at least not with us. But a lot of our boys go on to play senior football at a decent level. I think we do ok.

There will be a few needing to be emptied for sure. Particularly once the new manager comes in and see's who he fancies and who he doesnt. Thankfully there are a lot of loanees who will go and quite a few out of contract. Sonthere should be plenty of room for manoevre. Discussions need to be be had about signing policy though. We either pick a formation that suits the players, or sign the right players to suit a formation. SK got the first part right initially. Its after that it all went wrong for him.

So the window is closed. How do we reflect on it? On the one hand, we still have our prize asset who is 2-4 weeks away from resuming training. Probably too late to effect whether we end up top or bottom 6, but hopefully with enough time to come in and flourish under a new manager and generate the kind of revenue we are hoping for at the end of the season. Ive always hoped he might get a Scotland cap before he left and with 2 friendlies at the start of June, it would be nice to see him sign off like that and get his dream move. As for the rest of the squad...... GK - Balcombe and Ward. Injured - Oxborough Bit of a chaotic window in this regard with Heygi being recalled, Ox and Mair both breaking fingers and having to go out and source 2 more keepers. Given the circumstances, Balcombe looks like he will do fine for now and Ward, well, we will see. Defence........ Kaleta, Koutroumbis, SOD, Casey, Balmer, Gordon, Blaney, Wilson, Thompson. Injured - McGinn, Seddon. Certainly sufficient cover for all positions, whether there is enough quality remains to be seen, but the new manager will certainly have sufficient numbers to work with to try and identify a successful formula. Thompson coming in at least allows Wilson to be rested long enough for Seddon to get back and provide competition. Midfield....... Halliday, Davor, Paton, Sparrow, Slattery, Andrews. Injured -Miller, Callachan This has been the problem area of the team all season and we dont seem to have addressed it in any meaningful way. It restricts our ability to alter formations and we dont have enough legs in the team to allow us to press higher up the park and win the ball back. Our best hope is that Slattery can build his fitness up and he and Miller can form some sort of partnership. Sparrow is a willing runner and Paton, although much maligned, does flourish when playing with better players alongside him. Andrews has talent and may also come under that category, but unfair to ask him to shoulder the pressure on his own. Much will depend on the new manager, formation and our ability to get guys fit and keep them fit. Still missing a proper defensive mid. Forwards......... Armstrong, Maswanhise, Nicholson, Watt, Moses, Plange, Dickson. Injured - Robinson, Tavares, Vale, Stamatelopoulos. There should be enough there for the new manager to work with. Key will be getting them enough actual possession to create chances and score goals. Summary..... We have covered most of the problem areas with numbers at least. Midfield is a problem, but with a different manager, set up and outlook to playing the game there looks like there could be sufficient to turn results and performances around to at least keep us out of a relegation dogfight. The huge BUT, is that it all hinges on the right managerial appointment. First big test for the new Board / Chairman. Get it right, and we could have a positive end to the season. Get it wrong and we could be up shit creek.

All good points. Hopefully Celtic are not the only bidder and the clubs resolve does not require to be put to the test as we AND the player will have better options!

The Media have made it worse by platforming guys like Farage and normalising the discourse that surrounds them.

If they come in last minute, then this is absolutely what they are doing. Id take £4m up front plus Luke McCowan though! 😉

Casey has made mistakes no doubt. But he hasnt made more this season than Blaney, SOD, Balmer or even Gordon. His attitude and commitment on the pitch can never be questioned and I think it is more likely that he has been left out for speaking his mind than his footballing ability. If he has indeed signed a PCA with Hearts that may also feed into it. But he isnt any poorer a player than the others on current form.

I think SOD and Blaney have been preferred in recent weeks to try and play a bit more football at the back. Previously we had Casey, Gordon and Balmer and the ball was getting shelled over the top of the midfield to strikers unable to deal with it. I understand why it was done, but it hasnt really worked. Our pass/possession rate hasnt improved and we look more fragile at the back than ever, mostly from cross balls. Our biggest problem all season has been midfield. We havent had the numbers due to injury and illness, and the ones left fit and available simply dont have the legs or ability to make five at the back work unless we push the wing backs high, which leaves us vulnerable at the back. Like KMcAlpin says, we need fresh eyes to look at the sqaud and find a solution that works vetter than what we have been doing. Otherwise we are going to passively slip into a relegation battle we currently look ill equipped to get out of.

Lots of effort. Not a lot of quality. Thompson looked decent and seems to have something to offer if we an get 90 minutes out him.

Our workrate and effort out of possession is commendable. We kept our shape for the most part and the score wasnt humiliating. However, we have absolutely no quality and composure on the ball and provide virtually zero threat going forward. You cant provide any threat to the opposition with 18% of the ball and I refuse to believe the players arent capable of more as they have proved otherwise albeit sporadically already this season. I like Stevie Frail and he has spoken well this week. I also accept that ripping up the way we play against the best team in the league may have not been the smartest thing to do going into this game. But the result we got was so depressingly predictable and if he wont change things going forward he has no chance of being considered for the current vacancy.

This team cant beat Celtic. Especially given the way we will set up. Anything less than 3 will be a miracle. Next game please.

Jordan McGhee would complete the set and should be enough reinforcements to see us through to the injured players returning. I suspect though, that things will continue to look ugly and dysfunctional for a few weeks yet. I do think that eventually we will have enough quality to see us safe, but its not looking great right now. Where that will leave the manager in the summer is anyones guess.

Good news is Im on holiday and cant make this. Bad news is one of the guys Im away with is a huge Celtic fan. Hoping to hide his mobile phone so we dont need to discuss this.

Hard to pick a definitive winner this week as it is based mostly on the first 45 minutes as the 2nd 45 was poor. Best first half were Halliday, Sparrow, Nicholson and Watt. Watt lasted the longest but I went for Hallidaybas I felt he was much improved and showed some leadership until he had to be replaced.

Well, what to say...... Hopes were raised on seeing the team lineups as it looked like a 4-3-3 or similar. Then the game started and it was clear it was still a 5 at the back and my heart sunk. To be fair, the changes did help as we had more legs and energy in the team and were able to press and win the ball back further up the field than in recent weeks. As a result we looked a lot more solid and created a few chances that might have seen us comfortable had better decisions been made in the final 3rd. Second half started ok, but as soon as we started to make changes we just started to retreat to our own goal line. The fact that we get to 84 minutes 1-0 up away from home and cant see a game out is a real concern. SK comments after the game seems to throw the players under the bus. You have to wonder how long they will continue to back him as a group. He is not responding well to the pressure being applied and we arent even in a relegation battle yet. This looks like its heading only one way. I dont take any pleasure in it and Im not going to call for his head just yet, but like many of the other more reasonable posters on here I am at the end of my tether........

Exactly. Anyway. Actions speak louder than words. I will watch with interest as to how we line up tomorrow, the tactics we employ, and obviously how the game pans out. I hope for a positive result!

Seems like we can actually scout more than one position at a time! Funny that! Hopefully he is of the required standard and we get the deal done!