Kmcalpin

"There was poor athleticism, poor quality on the ball, poor penetration and not enough stature in the team to have any effect on the young bucks. I look across that pitch and see players we need to replace.Everyone is talking about who we are going to bring in but there are players out there who need to be replaced. We have an experienced centre-half who doesn't compete for the ball and they get a free header at the goal. Players have a responsibility on the pitch and they must live up to it to the best of their ability. I'll judge them on that. We are fortunate this is a two-legged tie." Spot on Jim. He simply echoed our thoughts from last night and not a word of that I'd argue with. Poor penetration? Our problem in a nutshell.

Thats my great fear Finlay. If they do play like that the best we can hope for is a 0-0 draw. That said, if they had played the same way against our side of last season the outcome would be exactly the same. Our one hope is that being at home they'll try to open the game up and allow us to outplay them. Over the past few years big physical sides like this have caused us no end of problems. I sincerely hope JG brings in some height and muscle to squad.

A bit harsh Dodge. Now Keith Lasley isn't my favourite player (no disrespect intended BTW) as many will know and yes he had a poor game tonight, but I'd like to defend him on this occasion. He was simply up against far bigger and more robust opponents and couldn't compete. That said its typical of his normal game. He's as brave as a lion but struggles when opponents put themselves about.

Good post and my feelings exactly. Lets look at the bigger picture here. This was Jim Gannon's first game in charge with a depleted squad and he asked the players to show him what they could do. They did precisely that. Too many of the players, with the exception of the younger ones, may well have played themselves out of his thinking. That can only be a good thing. I suspect that many of them will be replaced and rightly so. This was a great test for the players and in that sense it was a success. Once again a big physical side who put themselves about prove to be a match for us.

Spot on Greg. Jamie Murphy is perhaps the most experienced of the emerging crop of youngsters but was a big disappointment tonight - he too often made the wrong decision. That said he prefers playing more open football.

Not sure about that Al. It simply wasn't Clarky's type of game. He thrives playing open football and tonight was all about unpicking a massed defence. Porter however may well have made a difference. I doubt very much if any of the palyers leaving us over the summer would have made the slightest difference this evening.

Correct. Jim Gannon asked the players to prove what they could do and in fairness they did just that. He will have learnt from what he saw. The older players let us down whilst younger lads like Forbes and Slane will have impressed him. I doubt very much if the team that takes the field aginst St Johnstone will bear much resemblance to tonight's line up.

Welcome aboard Chris. Stockport fans have represented themselves very well on our Boards and not a few of us are taking an interest in Stockport too.

Not because of the fact that he's not actually re-signed more to do with the the fact that he didn't appear to show any loyalty by appearing not willing to negotiate. Had he said publicly that he would have liked to remain with us but wanted a longer deal/the club didn't offer him a deal or something along those lines, he would have come across in a better light. As an aside, I can't say I disliked him as a player just that he did flatter to deceive as others have said. Useful as a squad player but I wouldn't die in a ditch to secure his services for a longer term.

Very pleased indeed with the appointment of our new management team. When the vacancy was first confirmed I was a bit disheartened with the list of usual suspects who were mentioned. I always thought that JB should and would go for a dark horse with some English experience. Jim Gannon ticks all the boxes. Give the paucity of our current squad JG has a major rebuilding job on his hands but John Boyle has obviously briefed him well. He'll need time to refashion our squad and he should get it. I have to say that John Boyle and his fellow Directors have acquitted themselves well both in negotiating with Aberdeen and in finding a new management team. Thought too that John Boyle came across well in his interview. Things are picking up!

A fair summing up. Injury certainly disrupted his career with us and although he promised much never quite warranted a regular starting slot. As you say always prone to making an error or two which on some occasions proved costly. A wee bit disappointed he hasn't shown more loyalty although we don't know the details of the deal offered to him, if any. Anyway good luck to him wherever he ends up.

We need a manager who has a track record of working on a shoestring. An ex Premeirship manager may view a shoestring as being only ably to spend a maximum of £5m on a player - not our definition. Look at Walter Smith - give him a bigger budget than his rivals and he'll win you trophies. Make it a level financial playing field and he struggles. I'd love to see top managers like Ferguson, Mourinho and Wenger take charge of smaller clubs with real shoestring budgets and see if they'd swim or sink. Premiership management is a world away from managing in the SPL or indeed almost anywhere else on the planet. Its not a good yardstick to use.

They may open one, if the West Stand is full. Given the importance of the game I'd like to see at least 4,000 Well fans there.

A good appointment in my book, if its confirmed. Jim Gannon ticks all the right boxes. He has a track record, likes playing attractive football & bringing youngsters through and knows English football well. He'll have plenty of contacts down there.

Afraid not. When I bought tickets on Thursday evening they were all for the Main (West) Stand and tickets were assigned to numbered seats.

According to the Daily Express, Hearts submitted abid of £100,000 for him. At that price we'd be as well hanging onto him and let him leave for free next summer. The fact that cardiff are offering £350k for him, with one year left on his contract tells you that he more highly thought of than many of our fans would believe. All his previous managers at FP have rated him highly.

I really don't know what you're getting at Jim - I'd assumed that Flow was visiting relations in Bradford and fancied a spot of shopping at the Trafford centre.

Thanks for the info Charlie. Your quote below is a classic. "He is a controversial fellow, though. For the last 18 months or so he'd refused to speak to Sky Sports (there's a story that it was because he had a broken Sky box that they wouldn't fix)". Thats my kind of manager!

Of all the players leaving the club, Brian MacLean is the one I'm most disappointed with. We've stood by him and supported him through two bad injuries. He then comes back and pleads to be given a chance to prove himself. Mark McGhee gives him that oportunity by moving other better players out of position to accommodate him. He is then offered a new one year deal, which in the circumstances is very fair. How does he thank us? I don't think he'll be that great a loss in playing terms but he's certainly very mercenary.

How very true Weeyin. The club can try to speak to agents but some simply make themselves unavailable or just don't want to know. The club always seems to come out of this badly in some fans' eyes' but it can be very difficult to get a player to sign an extension.

Its ok Flow I picked this up on the site before I left tonight. Got there in time and collected all 16. Cheers Dave

Well there's this myth that all Hibs youngsters are great players. On a slightly, and I stress slightly, more serious note, Fletcher will be on a larger salary and a longer term deal. If Davie Clarkson is valued at say £600,000 by Bristol City then they'd double or treble that valuation if he played for an English lower league club. English clubs must read Scots messageboards and take the posts to heart - "Our game is rubbish.....".

I'm a bit surprised that nobody seems to be put out by the fact that LLanelli are charging us £5 more than their own fans. Still, maybe its no big deal.

For anyone interested, I rang the club today and was told that the ticket office will be open tomorrow evening until 7.30.

Spot on. You won't catch me laughing. It makes a lot of sense as every club knows.