Kmcalpin

The boss's decision is final agreed but surely a senior pro has a duty to offer advice, in a respectful way. I had a good few bosses who told me that what they say went but expected me to offer constructive suggestions. For example, if a boss asked a joiner to fix a burst pipe most joiners would feel duty bound to point out that that wasn't their area of expertise.

It might do. I suspect Leitch and Reid are almost certainly away. Watt has appeared on the bench once or twice lately so who knows. Kennedy has had one bad game and paid the penalty for that. There are also others like Law and Chalmers whose days may be numbered.

As far as the young players like Cadden and Leitch are concerned, he will have his own views but you have to think he'll have consulted Stephen Craigan who knows them far better than he does. I think its unlikely in the extreme that Craigan was pushing strongly for their inclusion and he was overruled. As far as Stevie Hammell is concerned surely the player himself will have said something like "I'm really not comfortable at all in that position gaffer". If he didn't then questions have to be asked. If he did and was still overruled then again questions have to be asked. As I wrote earlier Greg, I doubt if he's seen Law play in midfield or Hammell at right back in real action . Playing those positions on the training pitch is a world away from an actual game. Almost certainly he's been given that advice by Stephen Robinson or someone else on the coaching staff. If so he will have learned a valuable lesson about whose judgement he can rely upon. As manager, he must take responsibility, even if the mistakes are made by others on the management/coaching staff. At the Society meeting back in November, only 2 months ago, McGhee stated that he still had a lot to learn about the club and players. He was carrying on the tactics/decisions/policies already in place and was only changing things if he thought the situation merited it or he felt very strongly about something. NB. Hearts supporting mate says thats the best they have played this season - I wonder why.

Good post. Watching his players week in week out he must have arrived at that conclusion for a reason.

I'm not overly bothered if our manager jumps up and down and starts roaring and bawling at players; in fact I'd rather they didn't. Mark McGhee has said himself he's not that kind of manager. I'd far rather they kept cool and calm and focused on how the team played, learnt lessons and remained cold and calculating. He is perfectly well aware that the central midfield needs strengthened and said as much last year. Its also sobering that we lost 3 goals against Accies when both Grimshaw and Lasley played. For some years now our midfield simply hasn't been right defensively and its high time that was rectified.

I'm not sure that it was. I think it was WeeYin who said we ought to play with 3 central midfielders and he was right. We should have kept the defence as was and played Laing in the middle along with Cadden or perhaps even Reid. That set up would have given the defence much more protection.

More importantly, were we also outfought? In what way did Clancy not help our cause?

Absolutely. Irrespective of the team line up we were always going to lose today. Yes, 6-0 is a hammering and very poor result in anybody's book but I take a slightly more optimistic view of the outcome. I agree with most of the other comments about the line up - it was a disaster waiting to happen. However, consider this - has McGhee ever seen Hammell at right back or Law play in midfield? I suspect not. Yes, MMcG picked the team but who advised him on these moves? The last time these 2 players played in these positions was under Ian Baraclough or Stuart McCall, I can't recall which. Mark McGhee now knows he can't rely on such advice. He also knows, in no uncertain terms, that Hammell cannot play right back and Law cannot play in midfield. In other words short term pain long term gain. He has also learnt quite brutally just how short we are in the middle of the park, and perhaps in defence. If he was in the least unsure how badly we need to bolster the engine room this month he sure as hell knows now.

I don't have a problem with what he reportedly said - most likely in answer to a question. As long as he does the business on the field and doesn't bring our club into disrepute (which he has never ever done) then I've no problem with his views. I just wish more in the entertainment industry would be as honest. He has always deported himself well in public and that can't always be said of those in the industry. Yes, he's confident of his own abilities and isn't afraid to say so but anytime I've spoken to him or heard him speak he's always come across as being down to earth and straightforward.

Nothing wrong in that. The young lads may lack experience and "streetwiseness" but Chris Cadden is well enough built to withstand hard physical challenges.

Very odd. Falkirk paying a transfer fee? Quite a few bigger clubs are watching the lad and I'd be shocked if he chose Falkirk. Either that or there's something about the player we don't know.

Given Mark McGhee's comments and team selections so far, I'd be very surprised if Jack Leitch started. I reckon he's the most unlikely of the the 4 options we seem to have.

Craig Reid?

I'm a bit disappointed myself. Apparently, he arrived under what is known as a "Development Loan", which means a player can be recalled before the end of the loan period, if he is required. I have no problem with that in principle. In Liam Grimshaw's case, the loan period was due to expire on Sunday evening. Given that he isn't required by Manchester United, as they don't have an injury crisis, I don't see what harm it would have caused, if he had stayed on until Sunday and then returned back south. I fail to believe that an extra 5 days would be a deal breaker in his move to another English club. As far as Jack Leitch is concerned, Mark McGhee mentioned at the Society evening last November that he didn't think he was ready for first team football. A bit strange given that the lad has had 15 starts and a good few appearances from the bench. Make of that what you will.

Thats news to me - I just wanted to sit with the group!

By all accounts Carswell has been pretty anonymous at St Mirren and hasn't impressed.

Pearo, Laing & Cadden in central midfield.

Or the other club will be paying more of his salary. Disappointed but in no way surprised.

Excellent suggestion which would cure the problem at source. Folks should remember that if any serious accident/incident occurred due to fans standing at the very back, the club would get hammered for it. I've always believed that if someone does you a favour, you don't abuse it.

At the end of the day standing at the game is prohibited and those who stand do so only on the basis of the club's goodwill.

A home tie and thats a good start. Hard but winnable game. Yes ICT beat us convincingly a couple of months ago but they certainly got a bit of luck that day.

I assume Accies couldn't adapt to a different kind of plastic pitch.

This.

I'm fairly sure that he's played in an under 20s game but don't know if that counts.

Despite pre match fears the pitch looked to be in relatively good condition and that's down to the efforts of our groundstaff - well done to them. Picking up on previous comments on Dom Thomas - he showed some very deft footwork and played well in flashes but on the whole made little actual impact on the game. As a few of us and MMcG have said he really needs to improve his final ball. A spell out on loan might help his development. Undoubtedly he's very talented but that skill needs to be more focused.