MelvinBragg

Put in a dangerous cross, then worry about which team mate gets on the end of it...

Can think of a couple of goals he set up recently without thinking too hard. Cross for Ainsworth's second against Accies, free kick for Sutton header. Also wins a lot of free kicks and gets us up the park quite quickly. I think he's got a bit to offer. Needs to improve his stamina though...

Not sure but, other than Pearson, none of our players were claiming for it...

McDonald? Terrible performance. Wrong boots on? Couldn't stay on his feet. Decision making not great. He and Pearson were both dreadful today. Lasley didn't do much wrong, thought Grant was decent and Johnson had a good first half. Hammell saved us from conceding a couple of times so probably give it to him...

Question is, why isn't McManus doing this? Tweed said to me at the game that Sutton, Lasley and Law were the only three that looked like they gave a shit. I'd probably add Hammell to that list, but couldn't argue with the general point. Look around the team, forget footballing ability. How many of this team would you want beside you in the trenches during a war? Character is lacking in too many...

Sometimes I hate being right. Individual errors have cost us a lot this season. Not a lot the manager can do when that happens. But the substitutions were baffling today. McDonald and Pearson were both having dreadful games yet somehow stayed on the park. I wish we had a leader and organiser at the back as good as Quinn...

Would rather have had Kerr than O'Brien, don't know if Kerr is injured as he's not even on the bench. Honestly have no idea how it's going to go today...

Whether or not I agree with your assessment of Josh Law, to say all of our signings from the English lower leagues have been failures is unquestionably a lie...

Would he drop down a division? He seems to be primarily a centre back now. Would happily take him there...

Luke Watt...

If I wanted to be sectarian, I'd refer to Rangers players as orange b*******. While they may be sectarian in origin, h*n and Tim are now more references to the two football teams rather than religions. Rightly or wrongly, that's how most people use them. Including supporters of those teams. Was there not a Celtic fanzine called 'Once a Tim'? f****n and orange? That's a different matter... EDIT I suspect that the Celtic fans were referring to us as h**s meaning Rangers supporters. Part of that Old Firm mentality that if you don't support their team then you must secretly be a supporter of the other lot. h**s without the bus fare, as it were...

Not defending sectarianism at all, but frankly 'h*n' is now used to describe Rangers players/fans rather than protestants. I'd describe Lorenzo Amoruso as a big dirty h*n. He's not a protestant. I am a protestant but don't consider myself a 'h*n'. Despite what Mitch says...

We're in our current position because like all SPL sides we need our 'big' players to play well and this season they haven't. Saying we need Pearson to play well is no different to St Mirren saying they need Thompson firing on all cylinders, or County fans saying that they need Gardyne playing well...

Amen..

In terms of getting away from St Mirren or getting closer to Kilmarnock...?

Unfortunately, aye, we could...

Johnson in for Sutton...

Don't need to worry about extending contracts now unless Falkirk make a late run into the playoffs...

No, he scored over 20 last season. This season, feeding off scraps, he's got 11...

Already signed a two year deal...

Not beyond the realms of possibility...

Having thought about the Pearson deal, it strikes me that although we are planning on going with a younger team next season that I can see the thinking behind it. Lasley has been excellent alongside Pearson recently but he can't go on forever. My feeling is that Pearson will take the Lasley role as senior man in the midfield as next season progresses, playing with and helping the development of Leitch, Carswell or potentially another young centre midfielder that we may bring in. With the expected departures of Vigurs and Lawson, we will find ourselves with only four centre midfielders on the books. I expect Ramsden, Kerr and a couple of others to be on their way so our squad should be down to a more manageable size (particularly with the four loan signings returning to their clubs). Plenty of scope to reshape the squad with young players. So having Pearson, McManus, Hammell and Lasley as an experienced core is not a bad thing. Obviously, a lot will depend on whether Sutton, Ainsworth and McDonald return but, for me, there's a decent starting point for us. I just wonder if we may see some of the loan signings returning (thinking Long and Laing) or more Johnson style signings, lower league players with potential sell on value...

If we stay up, Baraclough was a good appointment. If we go down, he wasn't. That's how it's going to be decided. To me it's pointless to say 'if McCall has been given the money that Baraclough was given in January...' because McCall wasn't sacked, he walked away. Would he have walked away had he known such funds would have become available? That's a different question. First couple of months under Baraclough weren't great. So much so that pundits were taking the mickey on the radio. At one point, the situation looked untenable. But, and here's where those who blamed Kenny Black for some of our problems can say 'I told you so', things seem to have picked up since Robinson has come in. Were we too loyal in keeping Black on as assistant? You judge managers on three areas. Signings: Mixed bag. Is Long better than Twardzik? Most fans would say they're much of a muchness. But it would appear from McManus' recent interview where he talks about now having a strong spine to the team that the defenders prefer Long. Laing after a couple of dodgy games, looks like a decent player, although similar to Hutchinson in that he's prone to the odd rash moment. Straker, given some of his performances, people are never going to feel confident with but as a third choice left back (given Angol and Hammell are unfit, that's what he is), he's not the worst. Johnson, Pearson and McDonald all successful signings. Grant looks decent in the middle, wasted on the wing. Nathan Thomas, haven't seen enough of. Tactics/team selection: It seems since McDonald's arrival that he has a shape that he likes. Bold move pairing Erwin rather than Sutton with him that's now paying off. Seems he's also reinvigorated Ainsworth, although that could be the usual case of a player suddenly finding form towards the end of a contract. He's also solved the right back issue. Criticism would be that it took him too long to address issues with the shape, although only having Sutton, Moore and Erwin as available strikers limited him. Could he have tried Erwin and Moore and benched Sutton earlier? Maybe but would Moore have been as effective as McDonald? Fitness: Improved, down to Robinson or Baraclough, either way it's improved. In all areas, things are getting better. Criticism is that they took a long time to get better and seemed to get a whole lot worse first. Has he turned it around in time? We'll know in the summer. Other thing that's gone against him is the fact that no one saw Ross County's run coming...

Incidentally, a word on Josh Law. Forty right backs at the club, but he's quietly gone and made the spot his own. Fair play to the guy, he was pointed at as being a symptom of all that wrong with the club in the first half of the season, he's just knuckled down and changed a few opinions. Could live with him as first choice right back going into next season...

To be fair (and given I posted facts you could use to slate Baraclough, only fair I contribute to the other side) -McCall had money to spend, not always wisely (Nielsen, Lawson, O'Brien, Ojaama, Vigurs, wages well spent this season?) -Adding guys better than others? Pearson and McDonald only two with pedigree. A guy we brought from Kidderminster looks a player. Suggests that he wouldn't be outwith budgets of other sides. If he's better than what they signed on similar, then kudos to the manager.. -If we're aiming to be self sufficient, surely someone who'll play Erwin, Moore, Thomas and Watt is a manager we want...