joewarkfanclub

He also thought we would lose by 4 at Tannadice and pretty much forecasts a defeat every week. Now there might be a little bit of self protection or reverse psychology going on there, but Id be depressed as flock if I thought there was absolutely no hope for us every game we played. Happy to admit that I have absolutely zero expectation that we will get anything tonight, but neither did St Mirren when they beat Celtic. These things dont happen very often in a season, but they do happen, and sooner or later it will be our turn. I do think the St Johnstone game is huge for us though after the run of fixtures we have had. I think we need at least a point to stop the rot and go into the break feeling ok about ourselves.

Taken a while to digest yesterdays result and performance and read through all the comments. Lots to process. Without disecting every incident I would summarise as follows. We looked tidy on the ball for the most part but we still make way too many unforced errors with our passes that costs us good field position and destroys momentum. We get into really good areas with some nice play but regularly lack composure to play the right final pass or work the keeper with our efforts on goal. Without the ball we are less impressive and dont seem to be able to track runners. Our marking at set plays is awful (see Hallidays header). We did at least look better against 10 men this week than last and after Moult came on looked like the team with the extra man. When it got to 2-2 I really fancied us to win it until we shot ourselves in the foot again. We got a break with the red card which I felt was harsh, but then every other crucial decision seemed to go against us. Thats not why we lost the game, but it did impact it significantly. KVV is a different beast with a partner alongside him. We need to ditch the lone striker thing and find a way to get him and Moult on the pitch together for as long as possible. His finish for the disallowed goal was sublime. We have no pace at the back. We need to find a way to continue to pass and keep possession of the ball without exposing this weakness. Kelly needs to work on his kicking. He is a great shotstopper but his distribution has become terrible. We cant play that open against Celtic or we will get scudded again. We are not a good team at this point, but neither are we "utter dugmeat". The break cant come soon enough.

I went for Goss. He is a tidy player with a great range of pass. He was constantly taking the ball under pressure and looking for a forward pass. Without him we would offer far less going forward.

I think we need to go 3-5-2 / 5-3-2 in this one, but not sure we can do that unless McGinn is fit. Pack the defence/midfield. Agree with Cornelius as the extra body in midfield. Not sure if Moult would be fit enough to give us 45/60 minutes but if he is it definitely makes more sense to have him on when we are still in the game. We can change him out for Sheilds as and when he is done. If he cant give us that much and we have to make do with another cameo off the bench, then Id play Sheilds through the middle with KVV to chase knock ons and make Celtic sit deeper. Unfortunately I dont se Hammy doing any of that and we will probably match up 4-3-3 again. If so, it could be a long night.

Not sure how you can say that definitively if he hasnt been played throught the middle for any concerted period. You may well be right, but if we dont play him there we will never know. If we are not gonna play him there we would be as well letting him move on and sign someone who is a genuine wide player. Not really Hammells fault. He didnt sign him and right now he has limited options so has to go with what he has and make the most of it. I agree, if we are sticking with the current set up, we need a natural replacement for Efford in January.

I think the problem tomorrow, similar to that at Easter Road, there isnt really an away stand as such due to the number of season tickets they have sold to their own fans. We get a section of the away stand and segregation takes up the rest. Was speaking to the club before the Hibs game and they have dialogue with the home team over how many tickets we are likely to need. I think we base that on looking at previous attendances and make a judgement based on that and current form. We asked for 800 for Easter Rd and hadnt quite sold them out on matchday. I guess it would be a similar number for tomorrow.

Personally, I thought it was Penney, but glad to see McKinstry win it. Hopefully give him the confidence boost he needs to kick on for the rest of the season.

Getting Penney on a permanent contract would be a great piece of business. He is a massive upgrade on Carroll and McGinley. Cant help think there will be suitors with more cash than us to offer him. But you gotta be in it to win it........

He has shown he isnt good enough to play wide right. Not sure you can judge his ability to play through the middle on that. There have been a couple of bad misses, last Saturday in particular. But KVV has had more. He gets away with the criticism because playing through the middle he gets more chances to rectify it.

Kelly McGinn Sol Lamie SOD Goss Cornelius Slattery Penney Shields KVV

If we are playing 3-5-2 why not play Sheilds throught the middle in his actual position? He has pace to burn and the one time we actually played him there he scored a sublime goal. Given that KVV likes to come deep and plays with his back to goal it would make more sense to play someone who will run beyond him than Tierney who would sit in the hole......

No offence caused here. I think we can all be guilty of forgetting that footballers are just human beings with the same lives, loves and losses as the rest of us.

I think the death of his mother probably has more to do with it. Given the explanation given after the court case it seems clear the two were linked. Id also like to think we are the kind of club that supports its staff during difficult times, rather than ditch them because they are struggling........

Another 0-1 shitfest to spread more karma down the Gorgie Road!

That is a big blow, not only for the player but also for the team. Efford is the most improved player at the club and without his pace and delivery we have looked much less effective going forward. That has a knock on effect in the midfield and defensive thirds. So on top of of the players we already needed in January we need someone in that position. Stevie Hammells gonna be busy during the World Cup break!

Didnt see the game yesterday so cant comment. However, overall this season Ive felt reasonably entertained. We havent always got what we deserved out of games, so our points total isnt what it might be, but our current peague position suggests we are competitive in the league. We can always improve and with a couple of more reliable signings I think outwith the big 2, we can give anyone in the league a game.

The players and performances did improve under Hammell. You only need to look at the performances and points in the first part of the season. Efford is a prime example of that. We have just had a tough run of games which we had to play with a lot of our forward players unavailable through injury and suspension. That has disrupted our play and heaped more pressure on the defence. We need everyone back and some extra cover in January.

The performances are only worrying if you dont put any context around them and only look at the balance sheet. Since the Dundee United game you highlighted we have played the following in the league...... Hearts (H) 0-3 - vibrant attacking performance, created a bucketload of chances and got picked off on the break. Hit the woodwork 3 times and Craig Gordon pulled off numerous saves. Should have won the game. Got mugged. Celtic (A) 1-2 - gave a good account of ourselves at a difficult venue against a very good Celtic side. Unlucky not to nick a point. Ross County (A) 0-5 - tight first half with little quality on show by either side. Dominated the 2nd half played some good football and scored 5. Hibs (A) 1-0 - tight game at another difficult venue against a side with far superior resources. Denied a stone wall penalty which VAR would have given and continued to threaten even at 1-0 and a man down. Rangers (H) 1-2 - Another tight game against opposition with far greater resources. Well in the game first half before we shot ourselves in the foot twice before regrouping and getting a goal back. Rangers hanging on at the end. Poor quality in final third prevents us ffom getting anything from the game. Aberdeen (H) 1-2 - Another tight game against opposition with far superior resources ( you might see a pattern here). Poorest first half performance out of all the above. Changes made at the break, dominate 2nd half, score a good goal then shoot ourselves in the foot again before continuing to press for an equaliser. Denied a stone wall penalty and VAR inexplicably fails to intervene. Im happy to accept our performance levels have dropped off in the last few games, but if you look at the opposition, our injuries and suspensions, there are more than enough mitigating factors.

Definitely want us to stick with the passing game. We have been infinitely more enjoyable to watch this season than last, and our points total is not that disimilar, although the last week or so has impacted that. I agree our squad is thin and we need to bolster it. We may need to take a chance on some of the youngsters between now and the next window just to see us through. I also think more pragmatism against the big 2 might have to be considered. I think we will be fine. But it has been a rough couple of weeks.

Same as Saturday, a lot will depend on personnel available. Getting Efford back would be a help purely because of his pace. It forces opposing teams to defend that little bit deeper and gives us more space to play. Not really seen enough of Dundee United to know how they are going to line up, but hopefully Stevie Hammell has learned a lesson and will be prepared to change it quickly if Dundee United change formation to stop the way we play. Its a winnable game, but we need to be at it and cut out the self inflicted stuff to have any real chance.

The infringement happened before the final whistle. It shouldnt matter that the review wasnt completed by then. I cant actually believe that is the real reason it wasnt reviewed or given, but as Texan says, without clear dialogue we are all left in the dark guessing.

The crazy thing for me is that on the whole, we have defended well for large parts of most games since the start of the season. It makes it even more inexplicable how we manage to contrive to to cough up such easy chances that continue to cost us goals and points. Im no master tactician, so Im not sure if its just a lack of concentration or poor decision making under pressure, but its something that plagued us last season as well, and we werent set up as open as we are now. Last season I felt it was because we invited pressure upon ourselves, as we didnt take very good care of the ball. This season we have been much better at that side of things but the same mistakes persist. Not sure what the answer is other than winning the Euromillions and being able to sign better players.

Re our 3 penalty incidents yesterday. The first one with Tierney is difficult to tell. The contact from the stand side camera is obscured by the Aberdeen player and the camera behind the goal doesnt pick it up until after Tierney goes to ground. I thought it looked like a fair shout in real time but I can understand why VAR cant over rule the referee on that occasion. Re the handball, it is quite clear to me. I watched Sportscene last night and Shelley Kerr is saying it clearly hits his hip. Really? My eyesight must be shocking as it looks like it hits his hand to me. The question would be was it deliberate, and again thats subjective. Some will give it, some wont. Finally the Lamie incident isnt even a question. How VAR could look at that and not think that is a penalty I have no idea. Its as clear a penalty as you will see. Of course we still have to score it to get anything from the game and the form KVV was in yesterday gives no guarantees. But these are the fine margins that decide games in our league and regardless of the performance yesterday, our fans need to show a bit more understanding when it comes to their assessment of the manager.

Maybe his judgement is that the players he is picking are the best he has available right now? Our problem right now is that that the youth players who are considered ready are Maguire, Cornelius and Miller. Given how Goss, Slattery and Spittal had been performing, there wasnt a case to drop them going into games against Celtic and Rangers. Ive no idea if young Ferrie is good enough or not, but it would have been unfair to throw him in before now. It will be interesting to see if he is given a chance in the next run of fixtures.

Firstly, we were poor yesterday. No arguments there. But the reaction from the usual suspects is unsurprisingly OTT and gives no consideration to the circumstances of the last few weeks. We have gone into a really tough run of fixtures with a threadbare squad and little ability to change things up as most of the missing personnell are in the same areas of the pitch. Our results have been poor, but yesterday was the first time I felt the performance fell well below the required standard compared to the level of the opposition. My one criticism of Hammell yesterday was that once it was obvious Goodwin had set Aberdeen up to counter our set up, he didnt go and match him up. We had the players on the bench to do it and I think it would have protected our defence a little more and given us a better platform to play from. That said, the changes he did make got us back in the game and a bad KVV miss and an inexplicable refusal to use VAR for the penalty decision are all that stood between us and a point. I also thought Tierney had a decent shout for a penalty in the first half and surprised VAR didnt look at that either. Its clear to see where our problems are and there is no hiding from them at the moment. But most of them are not of Stevie Hammells making, so we need to get behind him and the players as they are all we have at the moment. We need to try and scrape a few more points before the break and then hope we can get some players back fit and also sign a couple in the next transfer window. The time to judge Hammell is not now.