Kmcalpin

StJohnstone fans receiving plaudits from the BBC for creating a great atmosphere (letting off flares and smoke bombs). Blue smoke is great but claret and Amber smoke should be stopped.

From the little I've seen of him, Stuparevic seems more like an out and out striker rather than being a skilful and creative baller in the Spittal mould.

No.

Probably stating the obvious but maybe the voting instructions should have said that the vote is confidential.

Excellent candidates and I'm having dififculty whittling them down to 4. I'm trying to select a wide range of candidate views and backgrounds as thats what the Society needs. We don't want an echo chamber. I hope unsuccessful candidates will be contacted to enlist their help too.

I've done a quick population comparison. The wider Paisley area, including Erskine, has a total population of about 192,000 whereas the Motherwell area has a population of about 190,000 (excluding Hamilton & East Kilbride etc). Precise comparisons are subjective and difficult. In essence both conurbations have pretty much the same population.

I think Nicholson is out for "months", whatever that means. That being the case, I suspect we'll need to bring in 1 attacking midfielder on loan for say 6 months and 1 on a permanent deal. How easy that will be I don't know, but presumably planning for that began some time ago.

I get that its a matter of definition but we could also include Bellshill, Carluke, Law, Shotts, Overtown, Holytown, Lanark, Allanton, Cleland. and the likes. I must do a comparison.

Two very different areas and in its strictest sense we're comparing apples and oranges. In the main, Paisley is a single large town, whereas Motherwell isn't. Its a large combined urban area comprising several towns and villages a bit like Levenmouth or Stoke. Add in the likes of Wishaw, Netherton, Craigneuk, Newmains, Cambusnethan, Carfin, Newarthill, and New Stevenston and the picture changes somewhat.

You'd think so. Looking at the squad as a whole there's a dearth of pace and creatiivty in it. Surely 2 fundamental requirements when you are able to build a complete squad?

Please delete erroneous post.

Do you know that to be the case? If so, its not exactly the best idea the club has had and may even be counterproductive. A better idea might be to employ another seller to cover the POD Stand.

What I don't get this season is the apparent mismatch between SK's preferred set up of 3-5-1-1 / 5-3-1-1 / 3-5-2 / 5-3-2 and the players he's signed. Now, I quite get that we've suffered a number of injuries and haven't seen much of quite a few of our signings, albeit that many were signed early doors. Thats especially true of our our wing backs, midfield and strikers. He's had plenty of time now to work out his requirements, plan and bring them in. Yes, I know you can't just go out and sign your No 1 target in a few days. We need 2 speedy wing backs and so far have little of Kaleta and nothing of Koutroumbis (although he's injured doesn't seem to fit this type). Stephen O'Donnell's legs have gone and although Wilson has made an impressive start he's not the quickest. Midfield is a right old mish mash. Despite knowing for months that Spittal was leaving we haven't signed anyone to fill that role. Nicholson seems to eb very injury prone but has been given a 2 year deal. We don't have a decent out and out defensive midfielder, but rather a collection of jacks of all trades. Our set up sits awkwardly with Lennon Miller's style of play. Up front, we've still to see Stuparevic emerge but neither Ebiye nor Robinson seem to be goalscorers or cut out to play as lone striker. They're also lightweight we saw yesterday. Maybe, just maybe some of our strikers are too similar in style? Despite a mere cameo appearance, Ap Stam is clearly not a lone striker either. Surely we're not going to sign a 5th striker?

When I heard word of the Everton closed doors friendly I thought it was an odd fixture and something more to it than a bounce game to get some players match fit. Handsome Devil on P & B has beaten me to it by suggestig that we might be looking at 1 or 2 of their players for a loan or permanent deal. That would make sense.

A more flexible approach by the club is required to address this issue. Apart from contacting Brian Caldwell could I suggest that you also contact the Society? This query sounds right up their street.

Today's attendance was about 240 down on the same fixture last year.

Given our line up, which was almost identical to last week's against Partick and our lack of "progress" so far in the league cup, I would happliy have taken a draw at 3pm. In other words, I had very limited expectations. Just relieved that Ross County didn't snatch a late winner. In normal times, if there is such a thing, I would have looked to win this game. Over the piece we deserved to win the game by a clear margin. Ross County spurned 2 very good chances but we wasted far more. They came for a point and achieved that. As expected they were very physical and our strikers simply couldn't cope with that. Midfield too took a bit of a battering with Davor and Miller suffering more than most. In the former's case the old boxing adage that a good big un will always beat a good little un was especially true. I had to admire his courage and determination though. He was flattened several times but always got back up again without complaint and with a smile on his face. Defensively, I think we've got a bit to go. Ostensisbly, the Ox has improved us between the sticks and thats a start. Wing back is still a concern with a chronic lack of pace hampering SK's preferred set up. I thought Blaney had a poor game although Gordon was more impressive. I'm still curious about Balmer's absence. Still we did achieve a rare clean sheet. Midfield is a continuing worry, not least because of injuries. Mostly through necessity, the balance is all wrong and we struggled badly today not just in an obvious attacking sense but also defensively. Neither Halliday nor Davor could compete against bigger and faster opponents who put themselves about, much to Lennon Miller's detriment. Up front, Robinson and Moses looked very lightweight and toothless against a huge Ross County defence. Either one might be ok playing with a big physical sort but we don't seem to have one. I don't know much about Stuparevic, who was inexplicably absent or the newly arrived Ap Stam, but hopefully they they offer something a bit different to our 2 starters today. Ewan Wilson was my MOTM. He had a decent game and it was encouraging to see his annoyance with himself when Laidlaw saved his decent shot; he knows he could have done better, had he connected properly. Whee do we go from here? Answers on a postcard.

At 6' he's not so big. He looked absolutely tiny when standing next to Akil Wright.

It's in Liverpool. An odd friendly but if it gives some players much needed gametime then fine.

I felt very sorry for Lennon Miller today. Despite me being 15 minutes late, I saw him suffer 3 very bad tackles before half time. He simply looked intimidated and should have been hooked at half time for his own good.

Very much so. With SK's preferred system you need one big physical striker up front (plus others of course) and we haven't signed one. We knew months ago that Bair might move on. Despite knowing months ago that Spittal was leaving we haven't replaced him.

If we go with 2 up top then it has to be 2 up top and not one playing deeper. We don't have a player, yet, who can play on his own, Bair style. They also have to play close together to work as a cohesive unit.

We should thank Jim for his years of service and he did some positive things. Its a pity that he made a wrong choice latterly, albeit it was a serious one. There have been some big personalities on the club board in recent years but, they have now moved on. Let's hope the new Board when its appointed, can work on a more democratic and collective basis.

I've read the official statement. Going by the wording, I assume he'll stay on as a club Director? Maybe semantics but it doesn't say he's resigning from the Executive Board.

Yes, I think I saw a comment recently that Stirling Albion was not the right club for Ewan Wilson. Mark Ferrie got no game time at Stenhousemuir. On that basis, some adjustment is necessary.