bdu98196

Its a good start, be nice to see a shop in town some time too tho

It tells us that since 2015, we have steadily reduced creativity (loss of Christie, Mckay, Watkins, Williams etc) and subsequently had less shots on target while at this time allowing the opposition more opportunities which can be linked with key defensive injuries and decline starting with the loss of Shinne. In summary we don't create and score enough goals and our defence allows too many opposition chances cos its in decline and this has been the pattern over several seasons. No new revelations in those stats - its clear to see on the park each week and at the squad we have created.

I wasn't at the game so not for singling out, but its not the first time this or previous seasons Polly looks knackered during a game. Whether this is because he has to do work for others and gives more or because he's playing in roles unfamiliar so wasting energy its unclear although I do think its more the latter. This has been the case for a few seasons now on occasion, so perhaps the perceived lack of fitness isn't new or the levels haven't changed but our playing style has. Under Yogi we were much more organised defensively, at time pedestrian in going forwards and spent a lot of time on ball retention and moving it about. Recently our tactics are to run about chasing the ball and the game therefore perhaps exposing our lack of fitness and suitable coaching - under Butcher we player more attacking football which perhaps focused on a different fitness strategy which may have been a continuation of the changes Brewster brought in. Like him or not Brewster played in Europe and learned from that about lifestyle and taking care of himself, hence why he could play on at the highest level into is late 30's - and while some may argue Scottish football isn't that high a level, its probably more fast paced and physical than most leagues in Europe.

Its all very well coming out and criticising the players, maybe some think it acts as a boot up the arse, but I'm less convinced. Maybe the odd individual on rare occasion but to slate the team & players regularly does little good and not only speeds up loosing the dressing room but also turns the fans - its tiresome and smacks of desperation. Ultimately if the players, team, tactics, fitness are not good enough it stops with the manager - he picks and recruits them. In the real world if a manager starts making excuses for failure of his product or service based on the staff the questions will ultimately come back to him that he recruited, trained and entrusted these people - i.e. he is paid to be responsible. We talk about low morale in the club and lack of unity - can it be a surprise, look at guys like OFW & Raven - they are part of the 'old' crew but one day they are told to go they're not wanted, next they are back in. New guys arrive being told established players will be going, expecting to get into the team only for guys to stay. There's probably a mistrust of everything going on, guys uncertain as to their roles and various individuals being singled out by the manager, media and fans. What happens now - for example - Ridgers dropped and publicly its been stated he had 10 games and was crap, his confidence is shot based on poor displays and now being out of the team, we bring in a guy who was told to go he had no future in OFW. Are the defence breathing a sigh of relief, they have avoided the blame and a scapegoat is found? What OFW has a few bad games or gets injured - does Ridgers come back in, but the defence know he is a liability so where is their confidence and the player himself is told he isn't good enough. Its a mess and getting worse.

I think it's looking clear while most agree the new signings are mainly dross we has pinned hopes on the experienced longer serving squad members but perhapswe need to face the facts that Warren and raven are declining fast and the recent injuries are taking their toll as with Tremarco as well.

Think its almost unanimously agreed that OFW, Raven, McKay, Warren, Tremarco, Vigurs, Doran, Polly would form part of our best 11 - which in some ways is quite worrying as ones a crock and 3 are the wrong side of 30 yet for all our recruitment season on season its guys who have been here for years through various management regimes are still the core. Its also noticeable that the remaining players nbody can decide who is better than anyone else - which suggests the quality is very similar and seems to be no standouts from the mediocrity.

Players get free from set pieces – basic. Players not going with runners – basic. Players not pulling the trigger to shoot – basic. Seems to heavily overlook a keeper that has no command of the area, poor at shot stopping, doesn't seem to communicate to organise his defence and every clearance or out ball is a panicked hoof upfield. A clean sheet starts from the back and if the defence have no confidence in the man behind them and no instruction its not going to help either. As for players not shooting, when you look at the squad its hardly got a player with a history of being prolific - look at Baird, he seems to be our main striker option and he's been at this level for years and barely gets double figures every year. Its fine to point out the faults and be critical of the players but ultimately the formation, starting line up, recruitment and tactics rest at the managers door and if we have a disorganised team, without shape who chase the game then he has to take responsibility and blame as well.

If Latapy had little part in our success, then it must have been Kellacher & Rice, which is odd considering the poor form under Foran and no Robbo of which they are still part. Therefore based on all that the only one not mentioned in out of Latapy, Kellacher, Rice, Foran & Robbo is Yogi - so he must have been the mastermind behind our success afterall?

Anyone ever noticed how similar Baird & Robbo are in height & build - perhaps Robbo sees much of himself there and is trying to mould a diamond out of him, unfortunately right now it looks like just rolling in glitter.

Allegedly OFW is awaiting to sign a deal to move to America, so is happy to just wait it out. Not sure when the American season runs but that will get him the profile needed to get into the Wales WC squad. The offers he's had in the UK are not what he's looking for either in terms of club profile or package and ICT don't want him.

If thats the case why not consider them earlier during pre-season as part of the squad and sign less but better quality (more money) experienced pro's rather than a lot of repeatedly failing jobbers. Sadly I think his interview is just saying the 'right' things for the sake of it, just like RF last year there are no big changes which will improve things, the quality is not there and its his signings at fault.

TBH, I've suggested in the past that we need to look at a full overhaul of the coaching staff at the club as some have been there too long and been resent with the delivery of failure at not just first team but also youth level. Whole regime needs a refresh. If Rice was that good, why did he leave his Qatar post - probably because he allegedly fell foul of the authorities and this was the only gig he could get calling on the Yogi old palls act. Kellacher is married into one of the directors families so probably that makes his role secure. As for Malpas - was that his effect at the tail end of last year or a case of the players up-ing their game? I still think there was some of the Chelsea/Leicester mentality at the club where the players for a long period downed tools in the hope RF would get punted, when that failed to materialise and they realised they had to perform or its relegation they did so - unfortunately just too late in the day. There is no way we would have lost 3-0 away to Hamilton in Feb which was the turning point if the players showed the fight they did towards the end.

Agreed we should have just given some of our youth a chance. I'm sure that the combined wage of any 2 of the above could have been used for a more capable senior player plus a youth player. Too much average dross across the whole park.

Happy clappers are still going to root around for positives, those who live in the past with the rose tinted glasses will say robbo needs time etc etc. Today we were awful, the team is low on quality all over the park with no creativity, no cutting edge, a defence that looks like they've never met before and a keeper who's out of his depth at this level. The plan of clearing out and signing a load of jobbers at this stage looks to be a huge mistake. Let's hope the board learned from last year and will act of things don't improve soon before its a lost cause of a play off place.

players having too much Rice at our club just now for my liking

Continually referring to yourselves as the Young Team and Ultras The tone for the afternoon was set not by the stewards but by the very opening words you wrote. Learn to behave, act within the law and the rules then nobody will 'over react'. Perhaps its clear the stewards haven't been heavy handed enough - perhaps if this was the continent then the no-nonsence approach of batton wielding riot police knocking 7 shades out of you all might make you think again.

We should be in it to win it, full strength team - a trophy is always good and builds a positive & winning mentality - afterall that's the philosophy of Jose Morinhio as he values the English League Cup when others see it as Micky Mouse and his records pretty decent.

The club statement is possibly the most proactive we've seen - this has been brewing since last season with there being several incidents of similar behaviour. At both home and away games last year and into this we've seen and heard some unacceptable chants and abuse at players - a standout for me was last year at Pittodrie and the abuse singled out at the ex-ICT players especially Shinnie & Storey, These appear to be daft wee boys but need to be dealt with hard, we cannot be seen to dismiss or belittle the behaviour as the exuberance of youth because the youngsters of today seem to be just like sheep and will grow and follow if it means social media popularity. Hopefully the club ban these idiots before they tarnish the good club reputation and it stops them visiting a club where their fans take offense and end up with someone getting injured or hospitalised - whether from our side or another and most likely an innocent party.

If he's fit and Robbo concedes that he is staying at the club he will have no choice - Ridgers is honking but while OFW was just as bad last year he has at least over his career proved he has quality and can perform at the highest level - Ridgers has not. Both parties may have to eat humble pie but in the end if OFW does want to leave he needs to play and prove himself for offers either in Jan or next summer and Robbo if he wants out of the Championship needs his best players and if one is taking up a large part of that budget he has to play him to at least get him in the 'shop window' to offlead.

While he's made a fox-paus its hardly something for us to mock and take much joy from afterall they are still playing top flight football with some of our former players and we aren't even dominating the lower leagues (yet.......)

Its been said n here before, every season we see Polly get more and more chastised for his lack of progress or performances then he will have a great game (maybe 1 in 5 or 10) and he will be hailed as a bright hope again. Wont be getting too carried away and will wait and see - bearing in mind we were playing probably the Championship relegation favourites its not necessarily the performance benchmark that will define turning the corner and fulfilling potential.

Well said Dave, keep the faith and working hard, if nobody offers you something decent then hopefully with the 'dross' you're surrounded by a proper chance will come

Results of a fan survey into Scottish football http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41011511 55% of fans do not believe Scottish football is committed to a high-quality fan experience 56% believe Scottish football doesn't reflect good value for money 63% are in favour of a pilot scheme to consider reintroduction of alcohol at grounds 71% were opposed to the Offensive Behaviour Act 52% do not want strict liability or were unsure about it 81% think Scottish football has an issue with sectarianism 50% have been subjected to sectarianism in and around football stadia 18% feel they've been subjected to physical abuse in and around football stadia 63% feel they should have partial ownership (including board representation) in their clubs Oddly the results show that half of fans have experienced sectarianism with almost everyone thinking there is an issue, and 1 in 5 been physically targeted or attacked it would seem - yet 3/4 are opposed to the offensive behaviour act aimed at targeting sectarian behaviour and almost as many want alcohol to be sold at games (obviously we know that will improve things). Only in Scotland could you expect to see such contradictory results - no wonder things never change. Obviously there are no details of 'who' the surveyed fans are or what demographic but perhaps we can draw our own conclusions. I would assume a lot of those who consider themselves subjected to sectarian abuse would account for away fans visiting their grounds and bringing the bile with them?

Thanks for posting, although I'm surprised by some of the content and it being expressed so openly? Positive in terms of facility plane and improved engagement and fan interaction. The reduction in revenue is no surprise either. Raven - Publicly saying this if he cant find another club puts us in the embarrassing situation of having to keep paying him - then what do we play him and I'm sure DR is highly professional but what's his motivation being at a club where its clear he is not wanted? OFW - If he has triggered a clause in his contract to leave on a free does this mean he has terminated his contract or is he like DR still at the club and we will keep paying him if nobody else comes in? The handling of the 2 above players has been poor and its clear we cant afford to remove them from the club but can we afford their quality and salary to sit on the bench or at home? Looks like the next few weeks, there may have to be apologies and U-turns made whether the club like it or not? The Foran situation was never clear regarding his departure - if it is gardening leave then for how long? Was it a 4 year contract with each year rolling - which was originally thought, in which case is this expiring soon or was it a full 4 year deal in which case are we really going to keep paying him for the next 3 years to stay away? Surely there are other roles in the club he could be offered even if the salary is deemed higher than desired for that task - community development or even back into coaching?

TBH, its also a sign of the sad state of Scottish football that for several seasons Sportscene showed highlights from Championship games as well as Premiership but strangely that all stopped when 'The Rangers' got promoted - almost as though the lower leagues and smaller clubs no longer matter any more to the BBC or to the SFA beaks. Sadly the limited viewing audience and funding/advertising revenue probably limits the opportunity for an independent lower league highlights show these days a-la Scotsport (who?) - which is sad but we should be grateful to any highlights posted online or anywhere due to the lack of mainstream media looking at this league now.