joewarkfanclub

Merry Xmas fellow Dossers fae the Shire! 2022 has been pretty stinking. 2023 cant be as bad. Surely..........

Dont see us getting anything from this one on our current run of form. Rangers havent been great recently, but they have managed to grind out results and have home advantage here. If we get out of it with a 2-0 reverse we will have done well.

Precisely my point......

It never did Andy Goram any harm, or McGregor for that matter. I would prefer a keeper who could command his area but its not essential as long as the defence know he isnt coming and are capable of dealing with it.

Didnt see the game tonight, but at 2-0 up against 10 men we really should be seeing this game out. I get the negativity around the result, and the failure to win the game needs to be shared between the players on the pitch and the manager for not having the capacity and where with all to hold onto what we had. We did control the game and score 2 goals against 11 men before it all went south. But we need to stop snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and we need to do it now.

Really dont see us getting any more than another 2 players in over and above the one we have already. Whether they will even improve our options or just give us more back up is up for debate.

Any streams now Hesgoal has gone down the tubes?

More than just a football club......

My point is, it shouldnt just be about football. As a country we should be far more serious about all sport due to the health benefits involved. Facilities are another huge issue that requires joined up thinking and government funding.

I think that still is the case. I think you need as broad a foundation as possible though. Some players develop later than others and many wont be picked up at elite level. Doesnt mean that they cant go on to be good players or make a living from the game.

How about the Scottish Government? We need to start being serious about the health of our nation, and that starts with promoting sport and fitness properly. The benefits for our young people and the savings for our health service would be imeasurable.

Yup. Totally agree. Requires government intervention to imbed football and sport in general as an integral part of our education system. Not everyone can be an academic so we need to be nurturing the other skills of our young people. Not only will it give them the best start in life, but our sporting endeavours as a nation would also improve.

Not a must win game, but it would certainly give us a boost going into the festive programme and give Hammy some breathing space whilst we wait on the window to address the deficiencies in the squad. The Killie game would he a more important victory given current league positions, but we just need to start putting points on the board regardless of the opposition. Any win will do.

Theres a huge difference between airing private medical issues in public, and keeping fans appraised of availability and timescale for return of players due to injury. Both things dont have to be mutually exclusive. Its also sometimes better to control the narrative by giving out a little information, rather than letting supporters come to their own conclusions. The Calum Slattery situation is a perfect example of that.

I also find the lack of information very frustrating. We used to have very good lines of communication between the club and the fans. It all seemed to change with Alexander and hasnt improved since. Im not sure what advantage the club feels we get from it in a league where we play each other 4 times a season and sometimes more.

Not good ones. A certain cup replay v Hearts at Fir Park springs to mind. Still gives me nightmares.

Glad you agree with me! But we have had keepers in the past who didnt even make that benchmark. John Gardiner springs to mind.....

This might be unpopular on here, but I dont actually think Kelly is an international class goalkeeper. And before we get into the semantics of what that actually means, I do think he is probably the best alternative to Gordon we have right now that is available for selection. For that reason alone, I agree he should at least have got the second half so his first cap isnt when he is being thrown in during a vital qualifier if Gordon is injured. But lets not kid ourselves. Kelly is a good shotstopper. But he isnt tall enough, doesnt command the 6 yard box and his distribution is rank. Very good keeper at our level and Im delighted to have him at Motherwell, but he is likely to be exposed playing for Scotland. Marshall (and dare I say McGregor) are still both better keepers so saying Stevie Clarke would bring Marshall back if he could shouldnt really be a surprise, I would too. But they have both retired, so on that basis Kelly should have got game time last night. I do hope for the national teams sake though, that Craig Gordon can go on for some time yet.

Clark is clearly backing Gordon as his no.1 and I wouldnt be surprised if, Gordon at least, doesnt have an eye on Jim Leightons record goalkeeper caps. Im all for continuity down the spine of a team if it allows others to be introduced into the team in a structured manner. That said, I would have started Ramsay and possibly Ferguson and given Kelly at least the 2nd half to get his first cap out the way. I also think, not that it should have been in doubt, that we should ditch the 3-5-2. We were far more effective in the second half with four at the back.

Bah humbug!

Boom! Grizzly G will be getting retired if he keeps missing open goals like that!

The Louis Moult debate is an interesting one, and I guess it maybe depends on what your expectations for him were on his return. If you were expecting the old Louis Moult back after 5 years and a couple of serious injuries, not to mention a lack of first team football recently, Im not sure you were being very realistic. That said, the old Louis was never that quick in the first place and relied on his movement and instinct to create space and chances. He also played in a team and for a manager that had a game plan of getting as many crosses into the box as possible (which incidentally is a feature of how St Mirren now play). Add to that he obviously arrived with a niggle of some kind which limited his gametime but has now been addressed by the recent procedure he underwent. Hopefully this will have cleared up the problem, because for me he looks in decent shape, the little we have seen of him, the ability and movement are still there and he is certainly motivated to do well for the team. Whether he will remain fit and not break down again remains to be seen, but none of us can know that. It was good to see him start on Saturday and last 90 minutes though, even if that was borne out of necessity. Hopefully the 4 week break will allow him to do some fitness/strength work that will help in that regard. Personally, I think he is worth the risk, given what he could provide. The missing factor for me is how we get the best out of him and that comes down to our style of play. To me we need both him and KVV on the park together. They are both intelligent players and I see the makings of a partnership there. I also think you get far more out of KVV when Moult is on the park. His body language completely changes. Whether thats because he feels his position is under threat or he just enjoys having another player on the pitch in his wavelength, I dont really care, but its something we need to take advantage of. Hopefully Stevie Hammell and his team will take the time we now have the luxury of to look at how we play and make the changes necessary to make us a more effective unit in the second part of the season. If he doesnt AND we dont make efforts to address the weaknesses in the squad in the window AND we dont take advantage of the more favourable run of fixtures AND we continue to slide down the league into the relegation places, then it will be time to start asking real questions about his appointment. Until then lets all just chill out and enjoy the World Cup.

Thats certainly the case. Im not expecting miracles in January and anyone we do sign is unlikely to have played much football in the first half of the season. Im just hoping that given we have known the issues since the last window closed, work has been ongoing and there is at least the chance of some decent loans coming in as other clubs now know for certain which players are in their plans and which ones are not.

I think the ones on the bench are considered ready. But you generally blood young players when the game is won and their is no risk attached for them or the team. That just hasnt been the case for most of our games recently. Hammell is under pressure from a lot of the very same fans calling for youths to be thrown in. Its no surprise that he has become reluctant to throw the boys in when his job increasingly depends on getting results.

I think we should take the time to rest the players and get our injured ones fit again. A couple of bounce games the week before hostilities resume will do just fine. Let the fans chill out, save some cash and enjoy the World Cup. Friendlies are pish.