Kmcalpin

Yes, I think we've been sussed - the SPL is a small league and there won't be much about our team and tactics the opposition don't know now. A plan B? I'll settle for a decent Plan A.

Ah someone else agrees with me. On Tuesday night Chris Humphrey received his first decent pass on the 31 minute mark. The first 6 passes to him were all very poor - the first 10 metres behind him; then 2 hospital passes, and also 3 when he was covered by 2/3 defenders.

It doesn't seem to hold Premiership teams back - probably the physically hardest league in the world. In our last encounters with Rangers at Fir Park Kyle Lafferty gave Stephen Craigan real batterings. The gentleman that he is, our captain asked the referee politely to clamp down on Lafferty and was given short shrift.

After Falkirk's win last night I thought I'd ask the 2 Bairns fans in the office how they did it, given our appalling record in recent times against the OF. Some surprising answers. As many of you will know Falkirk usually line up 4-4-2 but to everyone's surprise they adopted a 5-4-1 formation with a big mobile guy up front. They had a very young team with quite a few teenagers. However half a dozen of them were over 6 foot and well able to give the likes of McCulloch and Lafferty a good old fashioned battering, which they did with relish. The midfield 4 sat very high up the park to support the lone striker but were able to motor up and down. That left a huge space between them and their 5 man defence. Any time Rangers broke through, their defence rushed out to meet them head on. This negated Rangers central midfield and strikers. The only Rangers threat came down the flanks. So what was their recipe for success. 1) a fair number of big physical lads prepared to get wired in and intimidate their opponents. 2) a very aggressive "in their faces" attitude which gave Rangers little or no space or time anywhere. 3) well thought out tactics. Would this work for us? Who knows. It may have been a one off, but food for thought.

Totally agree. Higdon needs support beside him to play with him. He'll thrive on that and its what St Mirren and Falkirk fans were telling us. He also needs support from the midfield and we have that in the shape of Nicky Law, who is a central midfielder being played out of position on the left. Unlike Lasley and Jennings, Law is quite capable of bursting through at speed to support Higdon. So why don't we play him in that role? Agree too with O'Neil's 40 Yarder that substitutions should have been made a lot earlier and before Hibs scored their second. Several players were injured or knackered and Hibs were pushing us further and further back . Daley could have come on earlier, as could have McHugh or Forbes. Lasley and Jennings simply disappeared when the going got tough.

You've hit the nail on the head but why wasn't this issue addressed months ago? Its hardly rocket science.

Sorry don't agree with you. The squad McGhee had was bigger than the current squad. Last season the squad was thin but this year its even thinner and many warned that we'd gone just too far. I appreciate that its a quality V quantity decision for us but this season we have gone just too far. It should be a calcucated gamble but this year it looks like an uncalculated gamble. Only one recognised first team striker on our books? I ask you. Craigan should have been replaced last year and his wages spent on bringing a new centre back in. Yes, we made errors on the pitch but also many errors of it. Playing one isolated striker up front meant that we did not thave the firepower to finish good moves off. Thats a managerial decision. Failing to make changes midway through the second half - again an off field decision. Playing Jamie Murphy out of position to the extent that he's being wasted - again an off field decision. Who recruited Tim Clancy as an auxilliary centre back? I could go on.

Some change at the back required. Page in for Clancy with the latter replacing Hammell. I'd sacrifice a little offensive capability on the left side for more solid defending and more height. In midfield I'd partner Lasley with Law in the middle and move Murphy to wide left. On the right Humphrey if fit or if not then Daley. Up front it has to be Higdon and McHugh. That formation would see us stiffen the defence, give us more height and provide better support for Higdon both alongside and from the central midfield.

Right again Jim...this is becoming like a mutual admiration club. What is especially galling to me is that we are displaying the same weaknesses week in week out and our manager seems unwilling or unable to do anything to rectify them. Poor off the field decision making is also costing us - a just too thin squad and a decision to renew Stephen Craigan's contract during the close season being but two examples.

Thats the bottom line Jim and we can dress it it up all we like but Stuart McCall's decision to stick with the same 11 simply did not work. In some respects an improved performance compared with last Saturday. Pleased that Darren Randolph pulled off save after save but disappointed he had to do it at all. Defence was an absolute shambles with Craigan and Hammell having games they'd like to forget. Hibs weren't long in sussing out that our left side was weak defensively. Central midfield was bit better than last Saturday but Jennings looks to be off form and whilst Lasley was slightly better he was slow and caught in possession too often for my liking. In the critical second part of the second half our central midfield went missing and that cost us big time. Jamie Murphy was again played out of position and totally non-effective. Chris Humphrey played well when given decent service but I counted 5 shocking passes to him before he finally received his first decent one on the 31 minute mark. Thought Michael Higdon played well but again without any support. Another bad day at the office for Mr McCall. POD Stand punters were none too impressed when he delayed in hooking a clearly injured Humphrey and a clearly knackered Murphy.

Spot on. Once again Jamie Murphy didn't know what he was meant to be doing or where he was meant to be playing. Jennings and Lasley were also incapable of supporting the big man. We created chances by the barrowload but all too often Higdon was our sole presence in the Hibs box. Stuart McCall needs to sort out our striking probelms and quickly.

Excellent stuff lads....keep it up.

A bit harsh Davie. Whilst I agree Jamie Murphy isn't playing well he is only playing to instructions in a role that doesn't match his strengths.

All of these issues were discussed weeks ago. Falkirk and St Mirren fans told us ad nauseum that IF we played him to his strengths then we'd have one very good player on our hands. I believe that 100%. MH is NOT a target man but that is how he is being played. He needs another mobile striker him in the Juke mould and he doesn't have that. Right now Jamie Murphy must be an absolute nightmare to play with (not the lads fault) - MH will not know from one minute to the next where he'll pop up (he may even appear behind Lasley & Jennings). MH has a slow and defensive central midfield behind him who are unable to support him on the attack. Give the guy a chance.....please. I've gone on about our lack of striking options before but, like others, I'm still amazed that we only have one out and out experienced striker on our books.

Spot on. Thats been the case virtually all season Steve.

Some good points being made. The team all played poorly on the pitch but I think it was the off field failings that proved critical. The first goal was always going to be crucial and off the field tactical mistakes cost us dearly. We have made a fundamental mistake in going with such a small squad that contains 3 wingers and only one striker and is very short in central defence. The squad is so limited that we have no Plan B. A lack of substitutions tells its own tale. By default the manager would appear to think that we have only 15 players (including two lads on the injured list) capable of playing in the first team. Although an extra body is always welcome the last thing we needed was an extra winger (when we have Murphy, Humphrey and Lawless on the books). Tim Clancy is no centre back as his previous manager admitted and it shows but thats not the player's fault. The central midfield lay far too deep creating a huge gap to the isolated Michael Higdon. In many games Lasley & Jennings are not the right combination. We badly need Nicky Law's pace in the centre. We are simply not playing Jamie Murphy to his strengths which are being totally wasted. He didn't seem to know where he was meant to be playing yesterday (not for the first time) and instead of supporting Higdon more often than not tracked back to take the ball out of defence. We should forget playing a lone striker, despite our limited options, and revert back to a 4-4-2 formation. Again the squad is lightweight, as the Manager has acknowledged, and against bigger stronger opponents like St Johnstone we'll struggle. Make no mistake our provincial rivals will have watched yesterday's events with interest. Contrast yesterday's performance and result with the last time we met at Hampden Park a few months ago. Saints would appear to have been a lot more astute in the transfer market than we have been. Our off the field errors came home to roost big time yesterday. On the field errors - I'll say no more.

You've hit the nail on the head. Our striking options, or rather lack of them, is a fundamental weakness in the squad which many of us foresaw well before the transfer window closed. Irrespective of the type of striker you have you do need more than one. Its not rocket science. If Michael Higdon gets injured I dread to think who'll we'll play up front.

It shouldn't be the case Iain but it is. The way the squad has been built means that we're suited to counterattacking. However if we have to lay siege to a large, well organised robust defence we haven't a clue as was borne out yetserday. We can't even resort to old fashioned route 1 tactics with any success. Many knew Saints would be hard to break down. Give them a goal of a start as we did and that allows them to defend. Score first and they have to open out come at us and thats where Murphy/Humphrey/Daley/Lawless come into their own. Worryingly other provincial teams will be studying our failings and so we can expect much more of the same at Fir Park. We're a limited one trick pony.

Neil, Bob McHugh has so far failed to impress and ordinarily I'd agree with you but we need 2 out and strikers on the pitch and apart from the far from ready Gary Smith he's the only other one we have. Serious questions need to be asked as to why that situation was allowed to arise in the first place but thats another thread.

Seconded Al. This formation just isn't working for us. Much of today's failure was due to off the field errors. We need 2 out and out strikers if we're going to score goals. Fundamental errors have been made this season in deciding the size of squad and its composition and we're now paying for them.

Basically we were outfought by a bigger, stronger, and more aggressive outfit. We simply lost too many 50/50 battles.

Lets not forget that Nicky Law is first and foremost a central midfielder who if truth be told is being played out of position.

Page in for Clancy. McHugh in for either Jennings or Lasley and move Nick Law into the central midfield.

Excellent post Al. This season he's been wasted. At one point this afternoon we had 3 wingers but only one striker on the pitch. Is it any wonder we can't score goals?

Remember folks another open meeting today at 11 am - a chance to ask some more questions.