Kmcalpin

I see both sides of the coin here. However, there was also the issue of under 14s being refused entry to games, if not accompanied by an adult. This limit was imposed without any consultation whatsoever and upset a fair few families. I agree with the thinking behind it, but consider the 14 threshold a bit high. Other clubs obviously thought the same. That too could have been handled better. Over the past week or two a few posters, and respected ones at that, have articulated discontent with a slight but slowly widening gap between club and fans (and with the Society to a lesser extent|). One or two other fans have also mentioned this to me. Not at the serious stage yet but this slight rift needs to be healed now; morseso that we're a fan owned club. As it happens, I emailed the Society recently to express this very concern. The Society needs the members to particpate fully and notify it of any concerns rather than let them grow out of hand. Lets turn this into a positive.

The playing side has been boring to watch for spectators, and also ineffective of late. A fresh pair of eyes and a new broom are required to sweep away the staleness. They are vital. Hopefully the club is attuned to fan discontent and unrest.

Yes, good point. Maybe that and allegedly signing a PCA with Hertz. Time to bring him back on board. Stephen Frail does seem closely aligned with the dearly departed Stuart Kettlewell, but is maybe a different character. You can't turn a supertanker around quickly, but hopefully SF will manage to alter tactics a bit for the County game. Edit: we've yet to beat them this season - a good time to start.

Have a look at P & B. To be fair, some decent posts but dearie me.

I missed that. Who was on the programme?

A huge game for us. Win and we're still competing for top 6 with the play off place disappearing behind us. Lose and we're being dragged into a dogfight. Not sure if we'll have a new manager in place beforehand.

Autocratic too. Presumably Naismith leads the betting odds? Don't know about being the fans' favourite though.

Yes that's 100% on the money. Kettlewell never managed to address this. A good team is built from a solid defence.

Kaletta is only on loan. Add to your list the likes of Koutroumbis, Callachan and Ebiye and we're cooking on gas. We only have about 13 or so players signed for next season with a few on option. I think we have the makings of a decent squad and any new manager coming in will have scope to make his own signings in the summer. The squad as it stands, lacks pace, energy and leadership plus a bit of physicality.

Not quite convinced of Ian Murray. Looking back at his managerial record, it smacks of being the perpetual bridesmaid. Raith fans were not unduly upset when he was binned. One I spoke to on Monday opined he wasn't bad but not quite good enough. There are weaker potential appointments about i.e. John McGlynn, but nothing about him screams look at me. No obvious out of, or in, work, Scots based candidate.

Just an unsubstantiated hunch. Speculation if you will. Nothing more. He must have had some reason for coming out and saying that. Otherwise why not just keep quiet? There was no pressure on him to say anything. Did something similar over the St Johnstone vacancy when he was given a rise by Ayr.

I can only assume that Broonie has been awarded a pay rise in the past few days.

Good post. Our off the ball work when not in possession is very poor. Frequently our midfield defends only 30 yards in front of our keeper and looks disorganised. One mistake and we're in trouble. Now, I know there are reasons for this, at least in part. Some players like Halliday just don't have the legs or others like Paton are returning from injury. That's maybe a signing issue in itself. However going back to the game on Sunday, I was impressed by Celtic's work rate and organisation, during the short time we were in possession. They closed us down quickly, got in our faces, and looked organised. At one point, Manwhanise was suffocated by 3 defenders near the corner flag. We just don't do that.

I doubt if the bloated squad will cost us that more. Say we're 7 players up on our normal squad. Average pay £1,250 pw for say 5 months. That might cost us an extra £180,000 - £200,000. Not a fortune in the great scheme of things. That's a very rough estimate of course.

I'm surprised that Matty Connelly was given a new 12 month deal last summer,but isn't considered good enough to be our No 2, only 6 months later.

100% agree. If they still wanted him they'd offer £4 million and a penny. If our asking price is say £4 then tell them not to bother contacting us again unless they can meet that price, or more if another bid comes in.

Sadly, I see no end in sight to this disease. If anything its only gotten worse in recent years. There's no political will to address it.

I don't mind where he goes as long as the price is right and the lad himself is happy with the move. I assume that we will have a figure a mind and if a club meets that then its over to the lad. My only concern is the timing. I'd be tempted to bump up our asking price a wee bit, if the lad agrees, to compensate. IF true, its a good move by Celtic, as they'll view us as being currently managerless and vulnerable, like a crab temporarily without a shell. If the club knows of other interest and expects another better bid then I'd hold off, again only if the lad agrees. Celtic could easily have made a bid some weeks ago.

Well, we fulfilled the fixture, didn't pick up any cards and avoided a bleaching. Thats about it really. I wasn't expecting wholesale change in tactics but the ghost of Stuart Kettlewell haunted Fir Park. Stephen Frail proved that he was part of the old regime. Our line up looked like a 5-2-2-1 to me, with the hard working Ragnar Lothbrok ploughing a lone furrow up front. Our midfield was largely non existent setting up camp about 30 yards from our goal and giving the defence no protection. I'm not usually one to worry about possession stats but 19% really is low. A single shot on target on too. SOD looks lost in central defence and Kaletta didn't impress. Maybe because of injury, he didn't give 100%. Apart from being more talented, which goes without saying, Celtic were harder working and more physical than us. Ragnar impressed up front and I was happy for him to notch his first goal. However he had little service. Of the others Tom Sparrow looked the part in midfield before he was moved back; Dom Thompson looked lively at LWB; and Manwhanise looked lively. Neither of the 2 new lads had much of chance to impress. We move on and the sooner a new broom arrives the better. A pair of fresh eyes is badly needed.

Yes, SOD is never a central defender and Balmer, who was signed on a 2 year deal, must be poor if he can't get a game.

What did he say?

Racism and sectarianism are both alive and thriving both in cyberspace and in the flesh.

Archie Mair loan cut short due to injury. We're looking at Cove's keeper and have made a bid which was rejected. Matty Connelly obviously not fancied ( so why was he re-signed). I'm expecting some moves both in and out tomorrow.

Yes a good interview by Stevie Frail. Its unreasonable to expect huge changes on Sunday but a few tweaks won't go amiss.

Just watched the pre match media video with SOD. In a difficult session he came across very well and down to earth. Fieded some awkward questions well. A small positive this week.