Remember the end of September? We were top of the league, with 19 points out of 21. Admittedly, some of our performances did not reflect a top of the table team.

Just over four months later, we are somehow still in a play off place. But we’ve only taken 19 points out of 51 in that time. Worse still, we’ve taken 4 out of our last 21. That is relegation form.

On paper, we have a decent squad with a good mix of youth and experience.

So what has gone wrong?

Is our management team not capable of motivating and coaching the players right?

Do they know what our best team actually is?

Don’t they trust some of our players? In particular, Harper and MacGregor have had less game time, when fit, than we might have expected, whilst Jamieson was not given a chance.

Is there discontent amongst the playing squad about the management team?

Was Gardyne the reason for our early form?

Are there lasting wounds off the pitch from the Gardyne debacle?

Have Carson’s off field issues affected his performances and form?

How badly have we missed players like Allardice and MacGregor, recognising MacGregor has not seemed to be a first pick this season when he has been fit?

Are we playing players out of position needlessly?

Do the players lack ambition?

Is it bigger than that? The Board seem to have done a good job with stabilising our finances, but do they not want us to get promoted, as they know we can’t afford to strengthen the squad to be competitive in the top league?

I am sure others will have other theories, but all the early promise of this season has gone, we are a struggling side, promotion looks a lost cause and we have a rebuilding job to do for next season.

Edited February 5, 20224 yr by Robert

Losing Michael Gardyne from our starting eleven was a major factor in my view.

Yes that episode does seem to have been a bit of a turning point.

The gardyne incident is certainly a factor in our dip in form, he could unlock defences, and we do not have am abundance of ball players in the squad. Doran missing is another factor, bur for me, the overwhelming reason for our predicament is Dodds cannot change tactics when things are not working. Today for instance, we persisted with the long ball through the middle, and their number 5 just headed everything away, Dodds should have the tactical awareness to change it, but we were still doing it in the final minutes.

Signing Voldemort and the subsequent fallout appears to define our season. 

Hope Dodds chokes on his birthday cake the night

What's gone right? 

That question would be simpler to answer - very little. 

League position after some seriously flaky performances flattered us.

We are ,or are going to end up where we deserve to be.

1 hour ago, Jack Waddington said:

Hope Dodds chokes on his birthday cake the night

Whether it's tongue in cheek, a joke or you genuinely mean it, I think you need to remember it's a game.

While I believe BD has some serious questions to answer and a lot of doubters to prove wrong, I'm not sure even if a joke it's a comment that's needed.

If he's half the professional now as he was a player, I'm sure he's more than angry enough tonight to know things have to change not to mention his birthday being spoiled.

It's been going wrong for years! Ever since the last relegation. 

The football we play is no longer entertaining......it's boring and predictable! I literally have to drag my kids to the game these days, they must think it's a form of punishment!! 🙈

Looking at the formation of the team when we had our best run it was Allardice and MacGregor in the centre of midfield - two technical ball players with loads of energy who helped our defence. Once that pairing was split up and adding the Gardyne fiasco into the mix - thats where things started to go wrong. How they recover from this is a more difficult question to answer. 

35 minutes ago, FrontRow said:

Looking at the formation of the team when we had our best run it was Allardice and MacGregor in the centre of midfield - two technical ball players with loads of energy who helped our defence. Once that pairing was split up and adding the Gardyne fiasco into the mix - thats where things started to go wrong. How they recover from this is a more difficult question to answer. 

...and with only a very few short weeks to answer it.

1 hour ago, FrontRow said:

Looking at the formation of the team when we had our best run it was Allardice and MacGregor in the centre of midfield - two technical ball players with loads of energy who helped our defence. Once that pairing was split up and adding the Gardyne fiasco into the mix - thats where things started to go wrong. How they recover from this is a more difficult question to answer. 

If we had brought in some actual defenders in January, we could put Carson into the Allardice role in midfield. As it is, we can look forward to weeks of 3-1-6 and being “unlucky”