bdu98196

Have to agree, the standard of ref decisions are inconsistent at best during a match and even worse between different officials. Often last season on the back of poor results we saw fans criticise the refs for decisions - some may have had an effect on the game but too often we lost because as a team we just weren't good enough on the day. This season so far it looks like the same situation - blaming erratic officials for defeats of poor results when we play badly and the ref is poor for both sides is just looking for a scapegoat because as a fan you feel its unfair to criticise the club/manager/players.

TBH I think we are right to expect more from him based on having previous experience at both this and Premiership level. While he may improve over time with games, he's no longer a youngster and should be looking to establish himself and play regularly - barring any political fallout so far he's not shown enough to suggest he would keep Tremarco out of the team. Which then leaves us with a mid 20's player on a 2 year deal as an understudy?

One of the biggest concern is the lack of a goal scorer or anyone who looks like they may fill that. We let go of guys like Ebbe , Boden and Anier who struggled at Premiership level yet may have done a job in the lower leagues, scoring and gaining confidence as they improved. Instead we sign cheap options with again no track record to try integrate into a squad - alongside these a proven scorer should have been made priority, whether that was a decent offer to Fisher or looking elsewhere but if Baird was considered that option - so far he doesn't look likely.

Fail to understand why we release so many young players and don't give them a chance. Looking at the quality we have signed there are some who look like they may come good and others who are complete jobbers - surely there were youngsters every bit as good? Why do we not focus on a strong starting 11 then supplement the rest with our home grown instead of releasing them and building a squad of 15 or 16 characters who have a history of injuries and failures? We currently have an international keeper on our books yet he is frozen out and probably our highest earner - nobody can explain the logic of this?

Really seems like clutching at straws, lets be honest Morton are a good team but by no means best in the league. We did well for 20 mins early on until they sussed us out after which we were probably lucky to hang on. Not being pumped 3 or 4 nil perhaps makes this a positive in the current situation but anyone who is happy to see this as the beginning of a bright new dawn would have been one of the ones last season harking on about Foran being a great and needing more time then too.

TBH, Doumbouya although looking lumbering and immobile gets a bit of a bad press on here I think, while he may not have been great he was equally as effective as Billy Mckay at getting goals. It'd be interesting to see the points tally with each in the team, I don't think there's much differenc. Perhaps if we had played Fisher alongside Doumb we may have seen better of him and occasionally tried something other than hoof ball.

ICT playing a product of their youth system ahead of some jobber we picked up..................sadly cant see that happening in goal or any position sadly

Statistically that type for form would suggest a team heading towards relegation ..................................hang on......

Trafford looks decent addition and did well Oakley and bell aren't too bad but need to get goals. We played some nice direct positive football early on but couldnt capitalise. Return of Warren helped organise and shore up the defence, stepped up as a leader on the park. Goalkeeper looks a bomb scare, poor distribution and makes bad decisions about when to come off his line or stay on it, doesn't have a good command of his area at all. Polwarth looked poor, mainly anonymous as the game passed him by and didn't really get into it. Baird had a few chances and took plenty shots early on but non ever looked threatening - definitely think bell would create and offer more threat. Our crossing and set pieces were awful, so many high and inaccurate passes - even factoring the wind we need wide players who can get balls past the first man or not over hit them wildly like we saw. Overall better than I expected and some small signs to be positive about but plenty work to do in all areas.

Having seen the relatively poor results for the 'colt' teams, I do wonder if the lack of development league is now hurting clubs - if a player isn't first team or youth (under 18) then is there much scope for a club to keep or develop them? Without being disrespectful a team of under 20's from an Premiership side should be doing better against part time teams on the basis that these should be the next generation of quality youngsters coming through a club - but obviously this isn't the case. I do wonder if there would be a benefit of revising the competition. Firstly remove these Welsh & Irish teams which invites losses to our clubs having to visit, how long before a Scottish competition has its winners residing overseas? Secondly perhaps with the lack of development league and most lower league teams having free mid-weeks its worth making the early stages into a group format similar to the LC where teams get the chance to play 5 or 6 guaranteed games - lets all sides play fringe or younger players and gives some additional games & income over the later summer weeks before the weather drops off too.

Its positive that there is going to be a face to face opportunity and that given the negativity around at the moment the club/board haven't decided just to hide away and are pressing forward with this event. As posted above there are fans that live remote (with a ST) who realistically cant travel for 2 hours on a Monday night - are CJT having a presence? Is there a platform where fans who cannot attend can submit questions for consideration on the evening either directly or via fan groups?

Away to Dons U20's https://spfl.co.uk/challenge-cup/fixtures/ Sat 2nd @ 7.45pm in Peterhead apparently - could be a bit crowded on that pitch as they seem to be playing at home at the same time. Are these going to be Sat evening games?

I think for around 2000 of us winning the SC was an anti-climax the real stand out was the results and drama of being at the semi. In many ways we were expected to win the final and made hard work of it in a relatively forgettable game

Stabilisation of the club = good Changes at board level and potential new investment = good However none of this changes right now where we are with the manager and team / recruitment? Based on the above (slightly cryptic) is there not still the same situation where we have a manager 'in bed' with the board, therefore does that mean he is immune from dismissal in the event of failure? We seem to have wanted to get rid of Foran & Shearer, and previously Hughes yet still seem to have the same backroom team and in some ways have some (like Kellagher) who perhaps have been there too long and needs a refresh too - why not let JR bring in his whole team or is that in the pipeline? As for recruitment, while we have slashed costs for playing staff, surely there are few who consider that we are seeing value or quality on what is being brought in - its no better than the last regime with the issue that more than one season out of the Premiership could have significant longer term impact on our club.

Can see the 2 year deals already being drafted up................ :(

Really, is this where we are at? People being 'enthusiastic' because we beat Nairn who are hardly HL high flyers and a striker scored 1 goal against this opposition? No disrespect but we should be comfortably winning the game with interchanging of players for match fitness - not scraping by with our first team selection. As for Donaldson, was he not part of the DUtd team that got relegated..................this unfortunately isn't the recruitment that will get us back up. When teams like DUtd are looking at Paul Quinn, perhaps instead of 3 jobbers we'd have been better to try sign him and use our youths as back up rather than having them pushed further down the pecking order for higher paid dross.

I'm sure we will see the typical posts that it's the boards fault, robbo is a god like genius, the players need to gel or will get better with experience. Sadly right now we are awful, no idea how much cost cutting and savings have been made since last year but I hope it's worth it because we don't look like an immediate return therefore further cuts are inevitable next season and even if we do survive part time football can't be far away.

While I agree as I've been saying much of this already its probably not a surprise, these guys are directors and usually in any industry people that get to that level very rarely tell the truth or have much integrity, its about self preservation (lying to shareholders and media to make an organisation look to be performing better than it may be) or self promotion (look what I've done, the work I've won or what I've put in place mainly through lies and the analogy of once we have the money we will figure out how to deliver - usually as cheap as possible). Sadly it looks like our club directors are out of this mould but unfortunately I believe and most others on here will too that when its using public money like ours there should be more honesty and transparency through better communications. I'm sure our resident phycologist (IHE) will provide a better synopsis of the type of psyche directors usually have though.

TBF, I'm not sure how that would affect us considering he's now a Motherwell player?

where do you suggest given we have so many keepers - perhaps he could try a stint as a midfield enforcer ;-)

It will - our ability to get promoted........................

Regardless of a lottery win or otherwise, first and priority should be investment in youth development. Better facilities either refurbishing an existing empty unit somewhere or building a big shed with an indoor pitch and gym facilities. Get free buses from the schools to the training center after school then drop them back home at night so its not down to parents. Get some decent outdoor pitch areas. Finally pay for some enthusiastic locals, ex-players or current players to do coaching badges both here and abroad and get them working with the youngsters. Even opening it up to HL teams for training on the premise they take our youngsters on loans & trials. Its shocking how poor we are at bringing through our own players so anything that can be done to improve that is a must. Invest in something that provides a return and is sustainable.

There will no doubt be an announcement in the local press or club website in time (Friday is it for the Courier?) however as you say probably a failure by those at the club to grasp that news breaks instantly in the new multi-media world - a sign new younger blood is needed in key roles with fresh ideas & outlook. Jut another example of being out of touch with the modern fan and their expected experience - both in and out of the stadium - its almost like the club has lost interest in us all. Maybe the lack of crowd bounce after the cup final made the club question 'why bother', afterall if you continue to try something and still see no results then it becomes disheartening and eventually give up?

At the end of last season, end of the final game we (the fans) were publicly told by the then manager we would have 11 of those players that day still at the club and be making an effort to push for promotion. While he was dismissed (rightly so) nobody has ever come out and said this was a false statement and significant costs needed cut - even original ST renewal was SPFL prices. Some will defend the club and state they cant control players staying/leaving which I partly agree with as some may be out of contract or others may be sold - this I dot have an issue with but those being released to free up wages? Over the past few seasons the club has wasted significant money on jobbers - guys like Anier, Horner, Wedderburn, Boden, McCart to name a few and then there's the crocks who have history of injuries everywhere they have been - McNaughton, Doran - how much have these guys cost us? This season seems no different except we now lack the quality from previous years - the guys brought in are poor at best - some will argue to give them time but reality is many are just not going to be good enough to get us promotion. We have no youth players coming through, signing journeymen and still have 5 keepers on our books - the club looks to be directionless. Last season the board picked the 'cheap' manager option, since then he's departed, players left or paid off and relegation - how much has that cheap option really cost us in terms of finance, reputation and also fan support? Are we watching the demise and implosion of our club, its clear its not just relegation but more behind the scenes that's falling apart. Its right what was said above - although a small club with a small fan base we are established Premiership our history shows that however right now both on and off the field we look further away from that than I can ever remember.