Kmcalpin

Panels could be dislodged by a sudden freak gust of wind, vibration, frost damage or even the ball canoning off the panels. To play the game in such circumstances would be reckless in the extreme. Any player standing in the vicinity of a falling panel could be decapitated. Simply not worth the risk.

Dan doesn't have a great defence in front of him granted, but his biggest problem is his midfield and in particular his central midfield who leave him and the defence far too exposed.

No Howard Sameroff didn't play many games - the odd one as a stop gap. Ally Maxwell was never very impressive either until his later days with us - we never thought he was going to make it.

I've no problem whatsoever with folk raising concerns about what has gone wrong/what is going wrong, Alan. What I don't think is particulalrly helpful is immediately looking for someone to blame. Too often these days, and not just in football, when things go wrong the first comment some people utter is "heads must roll". I'm sure most of us have been the victim of such thinking or comments at work at some point. Much more positive and sensible is to analyse what has gone wrong and how to put it right as quickly as possible.

Its the time honoured and trusted method of managing matters when things go wrong isn't it? In times of trouble or crisis the first and most important question to ask "Who is to blame?"

X2 A bit part player.

In the main thats about right. What happened to the extra revenue fans were promising if we voted against Rangers' fast tracking and for sporting integrity? Cup results have been a disaster.

Dundee United will be paying him until the end of the season I'd guess or will make up for any loss in earnings. Basically they just want him out of the door.

Saints fans are far from happy if recent reports are to be believed. A lack of information coming from their Board and concerns that the new South American investors want to acquire 75% of the shares.

He deserves respect for what he has done and his loyalty, but being ruthless his time has now passed. He was never fast but has lost a yard of pace since last season and is being bullied by bigger and more aggressive opponents. Sentiment and blind loyalty are not whats required in our current situation.

Don't agree with all of it but its seems a pretty fair assessment to me. Bear in mind it would have been written a wee while ago. Certainly no justification whatsoever to ridicule it.

You can't explain some things purely in terms of bald statistics. However our central midfield hasn't been right for some time; in effect a season or two. Its also not just down to Stuart Carswell. There are plenty of other factors. However, Carswell lacks pace and is not creative. He's also not a great tackler. In effect he' s an honest journeyman. He's not what we need. Last season when we finished second we still had a very poor defence, although not as bad as this season. The central midfield failed miserably to protect the defence. In the second half of games our central midfield would often disappear as the opposition bulldozed our engine room. Fortunately our strikeforce scored freely to compensate for this weakness. We have a good number of central midfielders but very few or none are the quality we require. The one possible exception is Paul Lawson, who is however very injury prone and we've seen little of him. If we have a total clearout of our d central midfield in the summer it will be no bad thing.

Totally agree. ZFA is left footed, is pacy and good going forward, but his defending is mercurial and erratic.

Dundee were also very lucky - they won't get that good fortune every week. We on the other hand are due a break. Bad refereeing and bad luck has dogged us for the past 3 games.

Very true. On the pitch he's a very abrasive character and not one of my favourites. Not the way I like to see football played.

I know why you posted this but we have no left hand side at all and haven't had for months and its cost us. Personally I'd play ZFA wide left midfield with Steve Hammell at left back, if he's ever fit.

Decent shout but I'd be tempted to replace Carswell with Reid. Some pace in the engine room wouldn't go amiss.

Quite right too. Adam Stokes is a very capable replacement and had he not made the step up with us we may have lost him. On the issue of injuries - any news on ZFA? He seems to have disappeared wthout trace.

Good post. In a nutshell its why we lose so many goals. Players are allowed to run at our defence and take pot shots at goal at will. They can also run to the by line, usually without challenge to whip in crosses. Why do our two full/wing backs have to play so far infield? Time and again it leaves us vulnerable. Our left hand side is simply non existent and had been for months now. It was noticeable from the TV highlights yesterday (and every week at Fir Park) that if our wingers want to get in a cross they have to beat 2/3 men to do that. Thats defending. Against Aberdeen we also conceded far too many cheap and avoidable corners. In the absence of any shout or advice from Dan our central defenders would attack the ball, as you would, and put it out of play when in truth a simple shout would stop them.

Our defence isn't playing well nor has it being playing well for some time with or without Hutchinson and Hammell. No arguments from me there. However we simply can't judge how bad it is until we get a decent keeper but more importantly a decent midfield, particularly in the middle, who can shield the defence. The central defence is getting no protection whatosever and is under constant pressure. The keeper is left exposed time and again. We need a central midfield with a bit of steel, pace and most importantly character. Without that protection, even the best defence in the world would struggle.

I've never been a Keith Lasley fan but he's always been committed and reliable. Last season should have been his last as his legs were starting to give out. That though was a very unpopular view. Very, very fans questioned Stuart McCall's decision to give him a 2 year extension. Times change though and its now clear that this season has been one too far for him. that said, he has no-one decent to partner him or run for him. His heir apparent Stuart Carswell has been found out to be nothing more than an honest journeyman; a latter day Mark Fitzpatrick.

You're 100% right - see my post under ins and outs. If you give opponents time and space in or on the edge of your box then all it takes is a bad deflection, defensive blunder, refereeing error or a freak effort on goal and the ball is in the net. Currently we have no left midfield and no central midfield to speak of. That immediately puts your central defenders and goalie under pressure. Week after week we see our wing men having to beat 2/3 defenders to get in a cross (same again today) but our opponents have all the time and space in the world to pick their spot. Its not rocket science the more shots you have on target the more goals you will score.

In short we need to strengthen in all areas and that just won't happen this month. As money is tight I'd prioritise our central midfield. If we can only bring in 2 players it should be one creative player and one defensive player. Preferably both should have some pace. Central midfield was the root cause of many of our problems today, as it is most weeks. As things stand I don't think I'd renew the contracts of any of our established central midfielders. Thats a damning indictment of Stuart McCall.

Just watched the highlights and yes we were atrocious, but Dundee also got all the breaks. That won't happen too often. First goal was a horrendous deflection, second one the scorer was lucky in that the ball rebounded off woodwork straight to his head. Third and fourth were horrendous blunders. Still if you give teams time and space on the edge of your box thats what can happen.

Thats been the case since the start of the season, and possibly before that.