El Grew

We never looked like winning this game and I didn’t think we deserved to, but to be fair I didn’t think we deserved to lose it either. St.Johnstone are a poor outfit who created nothing and only got a goal thanks to our keeper making an utter horlicks of a cross. However whilst home draws against teams like this are better than defeats they will ultimately be our downfall. I’m afraid Stuart Kettlewell is out of his depth and does not appear to have the answer to our present predicament. The board must now decide quickly whether they are going to keep him or get rid and if it’s the former, come out and say so.

Todays attendance dipped below 4,000.

Has to be gotten rid of now! It’s pretty clear he just does not have the answers to sort this out.

Gent and Zdravkovski who’ve spent most of their time warming the bench are our two best players today.

Wasn’t a free kick in the first place.

Wtf was Kelly doing there? If you come out for that kind of ball you must get hands to it. That’s St. Johnstone’s 1st away goal of the season!!

Are you being serious?? Ever since football became a mass spectator sport and fans had to pay to watch it they’ve been praising and berating (your word) players. In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s all part and parcel of the football spectacle. The old adage still applies: if you can’t take the heat then stay out of the kitchen. What do think the current crop at FP deserve with the utter dross they’ve served up since September? Laurel leaves?

If that’s your take on it fair enough. Mine is different. It all depends how you view his remarks in relation to the present context.

Stuart Kettlewell comments from the BBC: “There's certainly not been any conversations about my future at the club. We are so knee jerk in this country. We don't strip layers back and look at factors like budget, size of squad and injuries.” Sounds awfully like a pre-emptive strike at the board. And he didn’t know about any of that before he took the job? Who the f*ck did he think he was joining? Real Madrid!? Well that’s it for me. Time to get rid asap!

Whether they meet your out of contract condition or not I’d be adding Blaney, Casey, Paton, Shaw, Bair and Wilkinson to your list. That’s 15 players, and it is a really damning indictment on our playing resources at this point in time.

For reference, here’s the team we had out when we last won a game (Hearts @ Tynecastle, 3rd September in a 5-4-1 formation) Kelly SOD McGinn Mugabi Casey Spencer Paton Slattery Miller Spittall Bair

That particular scenario has been played out umpteen times in clubs around the country and usually ends only one way. Chairman issues statement that manager has the full backing and support of the board. Team lose next game and manager is bulleted.

Do you know whether he knocked us back or we knocked him back?

Kevin Thomson? Good football pedigree and a proven winner. He managed Kelty Hearts to the 2021/22 SPFL League 2 title with a 61% win rate. An ambitious guy by all accounts.

I’m not a Liam Kelly fan but in fairness, even greats like Yashin or Banks would be made to look bad playing in this team.

Serious questions need to be asked about the standard of playing level because something isn’t sitting right and this can’t and mustn’t be allowed to linger on. Change is badly needed and quickly before more people start to lose interest especially for many of us as money is tight with the cost of living and going to football isn’t cheap.

I can offer no suggestions as to who our next manager will or should be but it is patently obvious that changes and a fresh approach are needed. In this respect we must stop going back to ex-players as coaches or appointing from within because it has not, and is not working.

Simo Valakari - at last!?

I’m afraid I have to agree with you on this. The big question is; would it allow us to re-set the club or would we fall away like Dunfermline, Partick, Falkirk et al.

He now has two choices - resign or the axe.

I hate to say it but the players are showing signs of having jacked It in as if they’ve decided they’ve had enough of the manager.

Another game. Another different line-up. Another different formation. Just like Hammell and Alexander before him. He knows he’s only a whisker away from getting the chop and is in desperate mode shuffling the pack in the hope that he stumbles onto something. I’m not one that would call for a manager to be sacked but I’m afraid if he loses this one then it’s time to get rid of him.

I know what you mean but we’ve been in this situation far too many times in recent seasons and one of these times our number will come up. We’ve not been out of the top league since 1985 which for a club our size is quite remarkable. However, If you insist on keeping playing Russian roulette, sooner or later your number comes up. I hope I’m wrong but maybe this is our turn.

Our league record up at Dingwall isn’t too shabby: P21, W11, D5, L5 Win 52% Draw 24% Lose 24% Seems to favour an away win or draw. Bookies going: Home Win 6/4 Draw 23/10 Away Win 9/5 Us to win or draw 1/2 Them to win or draw 2/5

Good post and as I said in response to a very similar one a few weeks ago it gets right to the nub of the problem: “Due to our financial limitations we are unable to sign better quality players or pay more attractive wages than most of our peer clubs. This means it’s difficult to attract a better quality of manager than those we’ve had as the better ones have probably baulked at the lack of finances available to them. Also, the quality of player we have and have been bringing in for a number of seasons now (with a few exceptions) is as good as we can afford and as we’re starting to see, the quality is now pretty poor. I’m afraid I can’t see this situation improving in either the short or long term and we may well need to prepare for lower league football.” Fans need to wake up and realise the financial limitations our club is working under. We craved a fan-owned club after the administration debacle under John Boyle’s stewardship and we got it. However, we simply do not have a big enough fanbase for this model to be sustainable and things are simply going from bad to worse as a result. I’m not against fan-ownership but maybe the model needs to be re-visited. Perhaps with a view to seeking out a business person(s) interested in coming onboard in some sort of financial partnership with the existing fan-ownership. Ill get the Kevlar vest on ready for the flak flying.