El Grew

As bad a run as we’ve been on (and it has been grim) it’s interesting to note we’re only 5 points behind Hibs - a city club with gates four times bigger than us and resources well above us.

I’m not going to criticise Kettlewell for this as I don’t think now is the time to bring youngsters into the team when we’re struggling. Better to wait until we’re out of the relegation mire and then give them game time.

Looks like Kettlewell set us up to sit-in deep hoping to hit on the break which is wee a bit surprising given Hibs home record this season which is no great shakes: P9 W3 D3 L3 GF11 GA9 And as they’ve shown so far they are very shaky when put under any pressure.

We should remember that Theo Bair only turned 24 in August and this is only his 2nd full season in Scottish football. I believe if he gets a proper run in the team he could develop into quite a decent player. He also seems to be a good foil for Biereth. They’re both still young and raw but there is definitely something to work on with them.

The ends justify the means. The 2nd half has been utter pish as all we’ve done when in possession is heave the ball up the park!

Are we incapable of playing the ball on the ground? We’ve allowed ourselves to become sucked into playing the way Livingston like - aerial and physical and we’re being dominated.

Livingston just can’t get to grips with Theo Bair’s running and movement. He’s come in for criticism, wrongly in my view, but when picked he always gives 100%.

He’s had the tombola out and with no midfield it looks like he’s opted for hoofball to the front three. I really hope it works but I doubt it and If we lose surely the only question is will he be fired or will he resign.

Hull City are reportedly ready to let their 21-year old former Brighton left-back James Furlong go out on loan in January with us and several League 1 and League 2 clubs interested.

I posed the question but I'm firmly of the same view.

Our home league record v Livingston as follows: P19 W12 D4 L3

I’ve not been a fan of the manager from the get go and if we were to lose this one, you might conclude it was time for him to go. However, playing devils advocate - unless the board has someone primed, ready and waiting in the wings would that do more damage than good, given the backing the players have been giving him publicly? We are all hoping for a much needed win but you have to admit that anything less will put the board between a rock and a hard place.

Kettlewell management pish talk: “The greatest frustration doesn’t come down to the second 45 as we showed a good reaction. We tried to deal with the conditions and the game on its merits. In the opening few minutes we were okay but our decision making process on the ball was so poor and we fell into the trap Rangers set. For us to play into that trap is the most naive thing we can do.” The opening few minutes were okay! Really? What f*cking game was he watching!? We were 1-0 down after 4 minutes and 2 down after 15! He must’ve been talking about the pre-match warm-up. The rest is just utter inane drivel. What are he and his coaching staff working on with this lot in training? Not one shot on target and we could’ve lost by 5 or 6. What was the game plan for today, if there was one? Why did it take 62 minutes to sub Paton and 85 for Slattery - both should’ve been hooked at half-time and not for the first time this season. It’s now become plain that this is a season too far for O’Donnell so why continue to play him? As I said in a previous post there is no discernible improvement in performances and for that the buck stops with Kettlewell. It’s time to pull the trigger.

Well we don’t have to wait long to find out if that’s true or not!

I wasn’t expecting us to win today but I’d hoped we’d put in a performance and make Rangers work for anything in the game. I have been expecting to see some sign of improvement in our performances and results in recent weeks as we played teams in our peer group but I can’t discern any - Livingston, Ross County x 2, Kilmarnock, St. Johnstone x 2, St. Mirren and Dundee. That’s 8 games where we’ve only managed 5 points from a possible 24. If that’s not enough to question the manager and direction of travel then I don’t know what is.

As I posted previously the chickens have well and truly come home to roost!

That’ll be that then!

At least results elsewhere today have gone in our favour with both Livingston and St. Johnstone losing.

So 🎣 🎣. Well here goes. Amateur: A person who performs a job or task but lacks sufficient experience and/or competence.

Totally agree. And that is the biggest problem at the club. It’s being run by amateurs, albeit well-meaning ones. Like you I’m still unclear as to what this all means going forward.

As the bard of Avon wrote, “there’s the rub!” Like it or lump it, Derek Adams was correct. The standard of Scottish football is dreadful and every season it just gets worse. I’ve not heard any of his fellow managers say he was wrong. Consider what Livingston manager David Martindale said when asked about it “I had a conversation with someone else who has managed at that level in England and up here and that was the same comment I got from them.” He bemoaned the fact that for financial reasons he was forced to recruit players from the English National Leagues. He made a valid point that the size of the league puts too much pressure on clubs on the relegation front with dread of the consequential financial damages and that if enlarged, clubs might be inclined to take a different approach. A culture of hiring and firing managers has led to short-term thinking and decision making as clubs become more risk-averse and this is another factor contributing to the drop in the quality of our football. On top of that factor in clubs having to play each other up to 4 times in a season and an inane splitting of the league. I think if you’re being honest, you will agree with much of this. These points have been made before and continue to be made by fans of all clubs around the country. Yet those responsible for running the game seem oblivious. The only games that interest TV are those involving the OF who get the lion’s share of TV money and argue they are so entitled, as they are the only reason there IS a TV deal. The OF don’t give a jot about Scottish football. To them, it’s only a medium, their control and domination of which, allows them access to the vast sums of money offered by European football. They are, and always have been, solely interested in preserving their hegemony over Scottish football.

I think you need to smell the coffee.

Well, who’d have thought it? Administration led us to fan ownership model. Could fan ownership model now take us back there? Possibly not, and I don’t want to be a doom merchant but these are alarming times for our football club. Consider: Public admission by CE and chairman, who are both preparing to bale out, that the club has serious funding issues. Relegation is a distinct possibility with all that entails in terms of severely reduced revenues. A gradual shrinking fanbase. A stadium that has and will continue to leach money. No chairman or CE for the foreseeable future. All this unrest and uncertainty must inevitably affect all of the employees at the club, most importantly of all, the players and management. The big question now, is how can this be fixed?

Chickens coming home to roost I’m afraid. ☹️