Scottish Premiership Game 18: Kilmarnock (A) 16/12/17 15:00

[grizzlyg]

Plummer must be rotten in training if Dunne manages to keep his place. On plus side we set SPL record today as subs bench scored highest ever Scrabble score....3678

[Clackscat]

So we are without our 4 top players and lose our best player from our last game (Frear). We have lost 3 away games in a row each by a goal and SOME folks are on here pant wetting and criticising all and sundry and worried about relegation.

 

If we had been outclassed in these games and been turning in McGhee like performances there would be total justification for that, but we haven't been.

 

That said losing (even narrowly and unluckily) can become a habit so it is vital we get some points on board before the break.

 

That was the first goal we have lost from a corner this season and our goallie needed to be stronger. If our new keeper looks the part in training i think he will be playing next week. Thought Kipre and Dunne did fine as centre backs in a back 4 and Killie did not threaten much from open play until late on when we were chasing it. Defensively McHugh did ok in front of back 4 but again distribution was poor.

 

Newell looked very good when he came on and although Biggi was decent he ran out of legs near the end demonstrating why he has mainly been used as a second half sub.

 

Fisher needs to show more. Some nice touches but peripheral. Tanner always looking to make things happen.

 

Good fight and commitment (which is a minimum requirement) but by god we need a break. (And the crowd to stay with them)

 

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk

[joewarkfanclub]

That was a sore one today.

 

I thought it was a fairly even first half. Not much between the teams in terms of possession/territory. I thought we had the better of the chances. We played some good football and one move midway through the half took about 20 passes and brought a very good save from their goalkeeper. Had it been converted they would have been raving about it on Sportscene. Of course we concede to the now obligatory avoidable scrappy self inflicted goal to go in one down.

 

2nd half we dominated possession, played some nice stuff and created a raft of chances. However, bad finishing has cost us and we end up going home with nothing instead of the point, maybe 3 that we deserved. There was certainly no lack of effort and the players fought for each other to the end.

 

Given the players that were missing we have a lot to be positive about but we need to find a way to reverse this run of defeats before it does actually turn into a slump in form.

[sinjy]

I challenge anyone who has ever posted on here to name our four best players this season and not say Carson, Moult, Hartley and Cadden. Frear who was missing today might well be number five on the list. A club like ours with the wages we pay cannot lose the best players and hope to perform at the top level. It is unfortunate that the games are coming thick and fast we have had to play three games in a week without them.

Not time for a mega panic unless the injuries are long term.

However it is clear that we need a goal scoring replacement for Moult. Fisher does not seem able to buy a goal and Sid has been a disappointment. Newell seems to have impressed today but he is a young player and we cannot rely on him. We all know that whoever we bring in will be a gamble. Hopefully he will hit the ground running.

[grizzlyg]

Not all bad......faddy won strictly..... magic

[Kmcalpin]

Im not really been interested in hard luck stories at the moment though

Absolutely. Points count hard luck stories don't.

 

Yes, there are mitigating circumstances in that our best performers are out injured right now, but the fact is that much of the rest of the squad is bang average or poor and thats why we're losing games. To quote but two examples, we don't have a reliable, not great, back up keeper, and we have little or no alternatives up front (the largely untried Newell excepted).

[Andy_P]

Strangely philosophical about the recent run.

 

I think it's plainly obvious that if you take away Moult then we immediately lose the edge I believe we have over around half the division. Take away others like Cadden, Hartley and Frear then you become virtually indestiguishable from an Accies, a Thistle or a Dundee where where you are susceptable to exactly the kind of run of form we've been on in the last week or so.

 

But yet consider unnoticed foul(s) in the lead up to Hearts goal, an official disallowing a goal (rightly or wrongly) after seemingly being swayed by an opposition player on Wednesday, a couple of goalkeeping howlers and some poor finishing in front of goal and when you're sitting with the square root of fuck all for your efforts over the last week we could easily be sitting undefeated in our last three, or with even as many as seven points from nine. The margins aren't that great.

 

I guess it all depends upon how you want to look at it.

 

Take the points tally and results from the last week and concern (not panic!!!) is justifiable. Look at it in the context of the season thus far and oh, seventh and a Cup Final after a mammoth overhaul that isn't actually that bad is it? Look at it longer term in that we are only half way through the manager's first full season and that a platform is only just being established and that gives some cause for encouragement.

 

I personally think we're a wee bit ahead of schedule. It may actually prove to be rod for Robinson's back because expectation levels have been raised with the good start and the run to the Final and when you get spells like this people get edgy but I would like to think the pragmatism of a more basic percentage based game that seems to be the starting block of Robinson's set up (and really seems to irk one or two) will gradually evolve into a more attractive style over a longer period. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that.

 

Focusing a little more on today. We were easily good enough for a point but were very weak in front of goal. I'm not convinced as yet that Demi or George Newell as perhaps fully ready for regular game time but the balance and understanding clearly isn't there yet when Bowman and Fisher are paired together so I can understand why they've had a chance. I do however wonder how they might have fared if Frear was there and we were actually getting some crosses in to attack. The least said about Griffiths contribution to their winner the better.

 

The character and the effort remains. They aren't a million miles away. I do worry however that confidence will become fragile if we don't get a result soon. Let's hope we get one or two back for next and see where we go from there.

[Shaka]

Were all either pant wetters or happy clappers, talk about feast or famine?!

 

Lets look at the facts, we are on a run of 1 win in 9, 4 Points from a possible 27, no Idea of our best team and formation and its almost January, out best player and only capable goalscorer wont play for the club again, our best defender may not be at the club past January. Our perceived "squad depth" has been proven to be horseshit! Theres a lot to be worried about at the moment Id say.

 

Yes we will get Carson and Cadden back but unless we buy a proven goalscorer we will play the second half of the season with Bowman,Fisher and Petravicius. There are Highland League teams with more convincing strikeforces!! This Xmas period and transfer window is absolutely huge now. We need to get out of this rut, and we need to recruit very wisely.

 

Its not the end of the world, but its fine margins in this league and we have just lost our only true game changer!

[middleeastdave]

Went along today and just don't know how we lost that game as we definitely had the bulk of the play and Dunne was found to be better centre half than wing back, although his distribution of the ball wasn't that much better.

I am disappointed in the result but not down and with hopefully some of our injured players coming back next week, I would be positive of getting a result against Dundee.

[Yorkyred]

In my view we over achieved the first part of the season with the advantages of few injuries to key players. The whole quality in depth was never really true or tested because it never needed to be. Its been mentioned a few times that the summer signings were on the whole good ones but clearly when actually needed to step up to the plate they have been found wanting. Its a lower mid table squad which given the probable budget is about right. If we finish around that mid table or slightly lower position along with the cup final thats a good season.

[Kmcalpin]

Its a lower mid table squad which given the probable budget is about right. If we finish around that mid table or slightly lower position along with the cup final thats a good season.

We have a largish squad by recent standards with maybe 6/7 good players perhaps bulked out by a number of mediocre players of Championship / 11/12 place Premiership standard. There are a few first choice picks but most of us don't know our strongest 11 and I doubt if Robbo does either. Take away our good players and the rest is relegation fodder. I don't think we will be in a relagtaion scrap as our better players will return at some point, maybe next month.

 

Watching the TV highlights, our attack yesterday really was powderpuff and its no sursrise we couldn't score. Apart from the goal I'd say the second best effort that I saw was Jordan Jones' shot which Griffith's scrambled away with his outstretched leg - to be fair he received no protection from midfield.

[Ya Bezzer!]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Even when we were winning our actual performances were mediocre/poor with a couple of notable exceptions. But then there were a couple of notable exceptions last season too.

 

We've lost 9 out of 18 league matches this season, the same number as this time last season. I think Robinson, like any Motherwell manager, has a hard job to do and I wouldn't even blame him because I think a lot of players, players who have played most weeks, have not been good enough most weeks.

 

However a lot of our support has got a little bit over enthusiastic about the start of the season. Maybe that was understandable since we've endured some poor times recently but the signs were there almost from the beginning. For instance, while you can perhaps get a couple of slightly lucky wins over Ross County and Kilmarnock but you can't perform over a season with a non functioning midfield.

 

Take Hartley out the back line, and he might not be there much longer, and we look as dodgy at the back as we were last season. The midfield is a complete wash out. And up front it looks bleak without Moult there.

 

Have we improved? I think we have, just a little, but it remains to see if those gains hold or fall by the wayside. When you go into a rut, as we undoubtedly are now, it can sometimes be very hard to get out of it.

 

The Dundee match is huge. If we lose this one the whole arse could fall out of the season yet I still believe we have three winnable games taking us up to the break. Those games will probably define the rest of the season.

 

We need players to stand up and be counted now in this run up to the break. If we lose those perhaps you can start looking at the manager but right now a lot of guys are drawing a wage for not much return.

[stv]

Oh what a diffrence three weeks makes. Some folk have short changeable memory. Some cant wait for the big slump. Have a bit of faith ffs.

[Kmcalpin]

Oh what a diffrence three weeks makes. Some folk have short changeable memory. Some cant wait for the big slump. Have a bit of faith ffs.

There's a middle course to be steered. This is no time for meltdowns or pressing the panic button but action must be taken in January. The more mercurial amongst our support should remember that we've been missing our most influential players and that would affect all teams outwith Celtic. So, cut the club some slack. However the more laid back amongst us should appreciate that the absence of several key players has exposed funadamental weaknesses in the squad which need to be rectified. All part and parcel of building a team. Plan-Execute-Monitor-Review-Plan-Execute-Monitor-Review.

 

By his own admission Robbo has been impressed by some fringe players and unimpressed by others. As John Lambie once said its like carpeting (nowadays flooring) a house. Do you pick top quality flooring for one or two rooms and cheap stuff for the others or do you select medium quality all round?

[stv]

How much for a 12 x 12 livingroom in claret shagpile bud ? U seem to know ur carpets.

[Kmcalpin]

How much for a 12 x 12 livingroom in claret shagpile bud ? U seem to know ur carpets.

My wife doesn't agree.

[weeyin]

Ally MacLeod was the carpet expert I seem to recall. His adverts were worse than our performance against Iran.

[Busta Nut]

In today's starting lineup for me, Grimshaw isn't the player he was first time around ,

Bigirimana and Fisher are hopeless if we're being brutally honest .

 

Interesting opinion on Bigi. I think I'd disagree, he was best player on the park for us I thought.

[ropy]

I'm not sure he was the best player but I would like to see him get a run of five games to properly settle in to the team

[joewarkfanclub]

Bigi clearly has talent. I dont think the style of play we have been employing really allows him to showcase that. Its just one part of the conundrum Robbo will have to work out as we move forward to a life without Louis. I thought Bigi was decent on Saturday. We need more players in the team that can pass and keep a hold of the ball.

[daver]

I wasn't at Kilmarnock but he made a difference when he came on at Thistle. I'd be surprised if he is someone we're looking to move on as I think he offers something different.