Kmcalpin

Lets hope he treats it like a Scottish Cup tie.

Absolutely. Some of them need to put on some muscle and weight if they are to make an impact. Weight training during the summer!! When faddy went to Everton he must have put on about 2 stones in weight in a year.

He's played behind a lone striker a few times now and failed to make an impact each time. That just isn't his game and I was surprised he played there yesterday. In fairness to the lad he needs to play up front.

Hibs are in a different position to us as they will fill most of the home stands anyway. Depending on results, most of our stands will be filled but not necessarily by our own fans.

No surprise at the squad rotation today - the main objective today was to prepare for the Play Off and that was the right thing to do. With as many as 7/8 of our starting line about to leave the club it was predictable they wouldn't put themselves about. I'd have liked to see one or two more young lads given some game time rather than journeymen on their way out. Twardzik had a reasonable game but proved he can't organise a defence. Straker played well as did Luke Watt. Dom Thomas underlined why he hasn't started more games this year and needs to put on a bit of solid beef over the summer - still an impact player. John Sutton looked like a fish out of water playing on his own up front although he missed one or two decent chances. Craig Moore - the lad was played out of position but did nothing. Today was a huge opportunity for him to stake a first team place but sadly did not look up to it - the next Bob McHugh?

Straker for me closely followed by Luke Watt.

Yes, leave out Pearson and McManus. Dom Thomas, Luke watt and Craig Moore will also be chapping at the door. As for discipline we've picked up some absolutely appalling red and yellow cards this season. Two red cards (Mcmanus and MacDonald quashed on appeal) and umpteen horrific yellows - just down to very very poor refereeing.

Granted it would be very difficult to come straight back up but I wouldn't say its totally impossible and simply not achievable.

If we go 4-5-1 then we have to pressurise a poor Rangers defence. Sutton cannot play as a lone striker - we need someone more mobile to harry,chase and close down defenders.

O'Neils Forty Yarder has summed it up perfectly earlier in this thread. "Was speaking to a guy yesterday who is involved full-time in Scottish Football at a fairly high level... His opinion on Sutton...he'll score goals in a team doing well, creating plenty of chances in and around the penalty box...if that team is toiling then Sutton would be as well sitting in the stand let alone being on the bench, as he can't create anything himself." Thats it in a nutshell for me It very much depends on how we set ourselves up. Don't forget either he's 31 just now and won't get any younger, quicker or sharper.

Not necessarily. Its a cut throat business and not all players will see it that way.

Good post. Its relative of course to your income and assets. How many pints of beer of packets of fags can you buy for a season ticket - genuinely don't know? Cost of tickets for concerts?

A fair point but I dislike these "questions" with a passion. I think those in attendance would have fallen off their chairs if Les Hutchison had said "Yes I think its unfair". What answer was the questioner expecting? Its akin to the radio pundit asking a manager after a defeat if he was disappointed with the result.

Today's result was everything all we could hope for. Lets take one game at a time and train our full firepower on St Mirren now. There was always going to be twists and turns in the run in.

Absolutely. Irrespective of where we finish we have to rebuild. These players have been part of the problem, so why retain them. By my reckoning and unless there are relegation get out clauses these players will be with us next season: Twardzik, Watt, Hammell, McManus, Pearson, Lasley, Dom Thomas, and Johnson. Our league status would determine what level of replacement we could bring in. Hammell, Lasley and McManus should be short term stop gaps to aid continuity.

A good summing up of Erwin and Sutton. Different kinds of player both with strengths but weaknesses. As things stand, they're suited to different kinds of games. As for tying Erwin up on a longer deal - if it had been that straightforward the club would have done it long ago. He could talk to other clubs as far back as January and its clear he's been hedging his bets for a month or two now. Up until the turn of the year, the jury was still very much out on him. It could have been another Bob McHugh type situation.

Carswell needs to move on irrespective of where we finish, to benefit him and us. Moore might be worth retaining - the jury is till out on him.

Just watched the BBC highlights - just as I thought, Skippy's penalty claim was a stonewaller although he went down a bit easily. Definite contact. Still thats one reason why Ross County are 10th and we're 11th.

I'm not suggesting for a minute that QOS would be easy because they won't. However if they are that good why didn't they finish in the top 3?

A mixed game for him. He wasn't at fault at County's goal. That said he almost cost us one when Boyce(?) charged down his over casual attempted clearance. Not the worst player in the side but he tended to go AWOL at times. Made our goal.

The referee really was awful and was totally inconsistent with decisions and yellow cards. Ross County could easily have picked up 2 yellow cards in the first 10 - 15 minutes. They quickly latched on to his lenience and took full advantage. No sympathy for Paul Quinn as he committed a professional foul on a player who had skinned him although he did take one for the team. I've rarely seen a Scots team guilty of so many dives but it worked and thats all that matters to them.

Dom Thomas for me.

Exactly this. Ross County played exactly as we should have expected them to. Not great to watch but very competitive and streetwise and ruthless. They played the referee almost to perfection. This is exactly why they've been on such a good run. They also enjoy a lot of luck and because of that are difficult to beat. For our part we created a lot but the final ball often let us down and we lacked that killer touch. The lads put a lot of effort in but just weren't good enough. Defensive wise we left a bit to be desired. Stevie Hammell had a reasonable comeback but looked a wee bit uncomfortable in the second half as he was caught out of position once or twice. Conor Grant steadied the central midfield a bit but we sacrificed presence on the right to balance that and looked a bit narrow. Referee was a model of inconsistency but thats another matter. Its all very well trying to play nice football but it doesn't win points.

You could play Pearo wide left with Lasley and Grant in the middle.

Will Laing be fit? He could drop a winger and bring in Grant to shore up central midfield.