hislopsoffsideagain

Injuries haven't helped - with McNaughton, Raven and McKay missing we were pretty much down to our 4th choice RB at Dens Park.  But the rest of the back four was our first choice lineup, so I think that excuse only works so much.

Our central midfield has been rancid this season.  Playing Vigurs in a deeper role is suicidal from a defensive perspective. He can't tackle (apart from his frequent cynical fouls), and he doesn't bother to track opposing players.  Tansey hasn't offered his defence much more protection; his form has been poor and he's playing like a guy who wishes he was at Aberdeen.  And when Draper plays in front of the back four, good teams pass the ball round him so he can't use his physical presence.

What worries me just as much is that our centre backs are struggling.  Meekings hasn't been at his best this season.  Worse, Warren has been really poor.  At Dundee his failure to close down or back off Wighton properly meant that he got away a shot that OFW couldn't see.  Last week he gave away a stupid penalty with uncharacteristic clumsiness.  And in general he's struggled in the air against big forwards, an area in which he's usually been dominant.  It might be a blip in form, but it might be the start of an inexorable decline.

First things first, we didn't deserve anything from that. Foran was right to say we were second best all over the park.

Doumbouya was fantastic. He took his goal really well and his link up play was excellent. He was consistently let down by his teammates. 

OFW was also superb, making several good stops. One save from a Considine header was outrageous.

Everyone else was poor at best. Special mentions for King (who kept losing the ball and then falling over) and Vigurs (who let the opposing midfield run past him all day and whose set pieces all went straight to the keeper).

That said, the ref was a joke.  He let the Aberdeen defenders foul Doumbouya again and again, gave the Dons soft free kicks all day and disgracefully ignored Shinnie's hack on Mckay which should have been a red card. He did also bottle sending Vigurs off.

All in all, not a good day.

I have blogged about the figures here - http://nareystoepoker.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/scottish-premiership-wages-201617.html

The editor of the survey was kind enough to reply to my emailed queries and give more of an explanation of how they came up with the numbers.

It would be a stretch to say we were brilliant, but we didn't need to be.  We probably won't have an easier league game all season.  Dundee were woeful.

As a few folk have said, we did take our foot off the gas after the second goal, but I never really felt we were in danger.  Perhaps if OFW hadn't saved well from Kerr, it might have been very different, but our back four looked pretty comfortable to me.

At half-time I was moaning about the Draper-Polworth switch.  Shows what I know.

Oh, and Doumbouya was terrific.  Bullied their centre-halves magnificently.

Owain Fon Williams 

A terrific match. I felt at half-time that we were really hard done by after an outstanding performance, but in truth we had no answer to Celtic after the break.  Fon Williams was absolutely amazing, and to nick a point in that fashion was just tremendous.

Hard to fault anyone's performance today.  I don't think anyone else in this league could live with Celtic when they play like they did in the second half, so I've no complaints about our difficulties defending.  I felt sorry for Polworth; many a right sided midfielder will be torn apart by Kieran Tierney this season.  The boy's better than most wingers.

What a hit by King as well.  It's great to have had two reasons to jump around like a lunatic in celebration - one amazing goal and one last-ditch equalizer.

A great afternoon's entertainment.

It is worth remembering that Yogi always loathed talking to the press - he knew he wasn't very good at it, and often came across badly - especially when printed ad verbatim.  So I'm tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt with the Foran comments.

That being said, his claims that his departure was nothing to do with the budget are rubbish.  He clearly tried to talk his way to the sack at the end of last season - his repeated comments to the press about money were no accident and made his position untenable.

This interview is little else other than him advertising himself for a new job, claiming that anything that went wrong at the club was someone else's fault.

Obviously I'm a lot happier than I was a fortnight ago!

We were particularly excellent in the first half hour, creating several chances and playing through the opposing midfield at will.  Not sure why St Johnstone left Murray Davidson on the bench; without his running, they didn't press us at all.  Vigurs was running the show in the first half.  Frustratingly we didn't get the goal we deserved though, partly because of the outstanding Alan Mannus and partly because of some poor finishing.

When Davidson came on at half-time, the game became far more even and I wouldn't say we were especially on top when we scored.  The goal reminded me of the one Falkirk scored against us in the Cup Final - a terrific free kick delivery from the by-line and a crashing header at the back post.  It was no less than Ross Draper deserved - he was terrific and might have had a hat-trick but for Mannus.

The way we sat in after that was alarming though.  Sure, St J made some attacking switches, but suddenly we were playing with 10 men within 25 yards of our own goal.  The visitors were getting a lot of joy down our left flank before Foster scored - Billy King just wasn't tracking him when he crept forward. Cracking finish, though.

Credit to Richie for the subs he made though - I'm not sure it was a gung-ho "I want to win this" attitude, rather more a feeling that bringing on more forwards would force us to abandon the defensive mindset we'd ended up in.  The two up worked really well in the circumstances and we were unlucky not to have scored before Meekings forced in the winner from a stramash that would have made Arthur Montford proud.

Lots of positives - I thought our back four played really well, and the workrate and attitude of the team was top drawer.

The major concern has still got to be up front - who's our best option?  Fisher's linkup play was very good early doors, but he spurned one really good chance and I thought his touch was more erratic after that.  I thought Shaughnessy dominated him in the air a bit too.  But he gives us a much more direct option than Boden (who was really bright off the bench).  Doumbouya?  Too early to say.  He looks clumsy as anything, but I thought that of Ofere too, and he turned out alright.

Still bottom, but hopefully onwards and upwards from here on in.

If you weren't at the match, don't let the scoreline fool you into thinking this was a close game.  3-2 flattered us; if County had won by three or four there would have been little to complain about.  Other than the abysmal performance, of course...

We looked completely unprepared for this game.  County always press us high up the pitch right at the start..yet we didn't seem to have anticipated this at all.  We barely got out of our own half in the first quarter of the game, because we kept giving the ball away or having to punt aimless long balls.

All of the goals we conceded were dreadful in their own way.  We may as well have not had any defenders on the park at the first goal.  Gardyne was allowed lots of space and time to cross and Boyce was inexplicably unmarked about eight yards out.  McNaughton had been marking him, yet ended up about three yards away from him and miles underneath the ball.

The second goal might have been prevented had we not taken so long over substituting McNaughton (who took ages to limp off) that we had to play with 10 men.  It was a great first touch and finish by Boyce, mind, but if we'd not been playing a defender short it probably would have been preventable.  Despite the fact that McNaughton clearly couldn't continue, Foran didn't bother summoning Horner for a good minute or two afterward.  Amateurish.  For what it's worth, Raven (who Gardyne had on toast in the opening 15 mins) was a far better centre-back than McNaughton.

The third goal, the obligatory soft-goal-conceded-from-a-set-piece (three games in a row now!) was completely deflating, coming right at the start of the second half.  The long punt forward hung in the air for aeons.  Any half-decent keeper, and most lousy ones, would have come for it and claimed it.  Fon Williams stayed rooted to his line.  Worryingly, Warren was beaten remarkably easily in the air by Boyce.  Earlier, Fon Williams handled outside his box, but the ref played advantage and County inexplicably missed with the goal gaping.  Had it not been for the advantage, the keeper might have seen red instead of the subsequent yellow.

As for us, it sounds like our first goal was extremely fortunate, as County fans (and a few ICT ones) are saying the ref blew his whistle for an apparent finfringement before Boden scored, only to change his mind after the ball went in and he'd spoken to his linesman.  The County players were absolutely incensed.  The second was a great hit by Draper, but apart from a goalline clearance from Cikos shortly after, we didn't really look like scoring.

Lots and lots and lots to worry about.  The body language from the players was terrible.  It was striking that, during stoppages from injuries, the County players were receiving instruction and encouragement from their bench, whilst our management team stood with arms folded and our players wandered away from each other with hands on hips and heads down.  No-one looked like they wanted the ball except Boden, who rarely got it within about ten yards of where he was, and Tremarco, who was the only other player worth a pass mark.  We had four very decent midfielders on the pitch - Draper, Tansey, Polworth and Vigurs - all of whom were really poor in possession.

Anyone watching that fiasco could make the mistake of thinking that we had a rookie manager who was way out of his depth...

I had to remind myself at half time that "it's only Arbroath", so that I didn't get too carried away.  By that point we had scored four, hit the bar twice, and missed an open goal.  We understandably took our foot off the gas after the break, but regardless that was a stunning display of attacking football.

Lots of plaudits for Mulraney, and rightly so.  His pace is terrifying.  He's clearly not the finished product, and I think there will be a lot of games this season where he drives us round the bend, but you could say that about any young winger.  He's clearly got the tools, and there's a bit of Jonny Hayes about his style.  If we can polish him, he'll be a diamond.

Really impressed by Boden's off the ball movement. It was great to see that whenever he or Mulraney got the ball wide, three midfielders (and often Tremarco!) were haring into the box.  That never happened much last season.  Vigurs in particular looks fitter than ever.

Only two disappointments - that Tremarco didn't get a hat-trick and that we didn't see Doran on the pitch.

A great result which certainly couldn't have been predicted after 45 minutes...or even after 59!

The first half was reminiscent of much of our season - lots of possession and barely any clearcut chances.  Dundee played on the break and had five decent opportunities, all of which they spurned.

Storey's goal came from a wonderful Polworth pass in behind, the first piece of quality we'd come up with in the final third.  It was a great finish, showing composure even as the keeper forced him wide.  It sounds from the postmatch interview like we're working hard to convince him to stay, which would be terrific.

The decision immediately afterward to replace Storey with Foran was bizarre...but I suppose the outcome justified it!  Foran's lovely front post flick laid on Devine to bundle home a second, and then immediately afterward Drapes mugged Nick Ross 20 yards from goal and killed the game off with a fine finish. The pen came after some great skill by Polly, who was our best player today.  I think Draper suggested to Raven that he should take it, but Raven seemed to shake his head.  I don't think Foran was giving the ball up in a hurry anyway!

For those who weren't there, it's worth pointing out that Dundee looked so much more likely to score at 0-0.  But it's a great result and a great way to finish the season.  It may have a very positive effect on season ticket renewals too...

Still feeling really fed up about last night's performance.

It's hard to find many redeeming features.  Draper was easily our best player, if only because he looked like he gave a damn.  I also thought Tremarco was decent enough.  The rest of them were really pretty dreadful.

Our problem all season has been giving away soft goals, mostly because of losing possession in our own half.  Lo and behold, Warren gave Polworth a hospital ball, he was immediately robbed of possession, and a few seconds later we're behind.  It was a great goal by Murray, but it was still a dreadful goal to give away.

It was no surprise that we dominated possession for the rest of the half...and no surprise that we barely created any chances.  Storey screwed up a one-on-one (on a rare occasion that he wasn't offside), and had an effort from distance that was well saved.  That was about it.  Ironically, United's second goal came from the sort of flowing attacking move that we're not capable of.  Fon Williams should have done far better with the first effort than pushing it straight into the centre of the six yard box; the defending afterward reminded me of Sensible Soccer when you desperately press the 'tackle' button and all your defenders go sliding and running past the ball instead of kicking it.

The booing at half-time was the worst I'd heard from our support since Brewster's end days.

The third goal was another defensive disaster.  Meekings was caught up field, and nobody bothered to cover him.  Devine really should cut out the square ball, but gets caught ball watching as Ofere peels to the backpost.  If Devine just stays tight to Ofere, then he gets to the ball first - but it's the sort of mental error that Devine has made in every game this season.

From that kickoff, there was a distinct feel about the players of "f*** this passing crap, lets just have a go", and we went and scored a couple.  Any hope of a comeback evaporated as soon as we brought on Foran to hobble around up front for the last 15 minutes.  With Storey moved wide, United could play a high line and deny us space.  On the rare occasions we did get the ball wide, the crossing was just the pits - not surprising when most of it was coming from Josh Meekings, a central defender playing out of position.  The only chance we created against 10 men came from the free-kick after Morris was sent off.  The substitutions were ridiculous.  Danny Williams didn't look like he'd been told where he should play.  Ryan Williams, meanwhile, looks no more fit than when he arrived 3 months ago.

It's hard to know how much to blame Yogi.  He picked the same team that demolished Partick, yet most of them let him down badly.  Polworth's head dropped after his involvement in the opening goal (though as soon as he scored and got a confidence boost he got subbed!).  Tansey was dreadful, particularly in terms of covering his defenders - he's not been the same player since the Deadline Day fiasco.  Roberts was barely involved till he scored; Mutombo was barely involved at all.  Storey's inability to stay onside suggests a lack of concentration on his part.

On the other hand, we keep making the same mistakes as we did at the start of the season.  We still persist with Meekings at right-back and Devine in central defence, even though Meekings is the best centre-back we have and Devine has less positional sense than a wheelie-bin.  The refusal to play Raven now stinks of Yogi being stubborn with the supporters.  And the substitutions are always dreadful (this may be because our substitutes are dreadful).  "We dominated the game", the manager says, as if passing the ball around your own half of the field constitutes 'domination'.

When the third United goal went in, I heard a lot of folk around me shouting at the dugout - people who I've not heard shout anything negative for years.  The last time that happened, Brewster was in the dugout.  We've been crap at home most of the season, and I think everybody is pretty fed up with it.

Could Yogi not have warned us in advance that he was planning to tell the players to treat it like a preseason friendly? I wouldn't have wasted my evening if I'd realised.

Thanks Scotty - that's a lot of work (I should know, I did it for a few seasons).  Really appreciate it.

That was just the pits.  We've scored just twice from open play in our last five home league games and it's easy to see why.

A draw is a decent enough result on paper, but our lack of ambition was really depressing.  Storey had to exhaust himself chasing shadows and lost causes for 70 minutes; on the rare occasions he got the ball, he would look up and see no teammates within 30 yards of him.  This was very much a night for playing someone like Roberts close to him because Hearts pushed high up the pitch and made it difficult to pass out from the back; in his absence we used Vincent in that role in the second half and he contributed nothing.  As for Williams up front at the end...what was the point of that?  It's becoming harder and harder to understand what Yogi's plan is.

With so many deep lying midfielders in our team it was scary how often Jamie Walker found space in between the lines in the second half.  Our midfielders looked knackered despite doing relatively little running - is a lack of fitness the reason why we've conceded so many late goals this season?  Here, we escaped that fate because of a very good Fon Williams save.

Meekings is not a right-back.  He was caught out of position multiple times down that flank.

I just want this season to end and to forget about it.

7 hours ago, Dan Clark said:

I am not a big poster on forums but as a life long fan I feel the time has come to express my concerns. As a club what we have achieved over the years has been fantastic with many happy and good memories especially winning the Scottish cup last season. I am now going to reverse back to Terry Butchers reign a the club and this was when my concern started. Going back to 2010 approx that is where I see the change starting to happen. Esson Proctor Tokely Golabek Duncan Foran Munro McBain Ross Sutherland Shinnie and that is just to name a few of players you could say had Caley Thistle blood in them. I put Esson and Foran in as i feel now the same applies to them. From then to now the club has lost all its local players or players who would be committed to Inverness. The club has completely lost its identity over the years. Looking at the current squad we have hardly a local player left in it. What this does is make it harder to keep players at the club as most players now at the club have no association or ties to Inverness.  We are basically a club paying their wages to play football and in my opinion the players will give their all but ultimately will be looking to move on to other clubs. What has happened now is just about each season we are loosing players left right and centre and have to rebuild every season. John Hughes Inherited quite a good team and I thought had had taken the club even further forwards but this season I feel we are in free fall. Again going back to players we have lost a lot of good players over the last season or 2 but the players brought in have been poor well not just poor very poor. I will give exception to Miles Storey as i think he has done well but again it looks like he will not be around next season well not at this club anyway. It does really worry me for the season ahead. Firstly I do believe we will be an Spl team next season and we should make enough points to avoid the play off position. With players leaving in a few weeks I am terrified at the quality of players we might see at this club next season. We for some reason have a very unbalanced squad in regards to positions both in Butchers and Hughes reign. We always seem to have to rely on 1 striker. A team should have approx 2 gks, 8 Defenders, 8 midfielders, 4 strikers. Take  away some defenders and strikers and add midfielders and you have Caley Thistle WHY ???. We used to play wonderful attacking football that was a join to watch but again since Butchers days and now Hughes we seem to be set up so defensive. Our tried and trusted 442 was replaced with 4231 and since then i have found it hard to watch at times. Our strikers sorry our striker is running around like a headless chicken getting zero support from anyone. You could put Messi, Lewandowski, Vardy any top striker in this team and they would not get many goals. There is just no support. More often than not when we do manage to go forward the ball seems to end back at our own gk. To sum up my whole rant ditch the 4231 formation once and for all and go back to 442. 4231 might be a good formation for some away games but at home 442 should return. The big question is can Hughes bring in the quality that this club is starting to desperately need and sort the way the team is playing and get players up the park. Or do we start a fresh page some people are saying Foran but i dont think he is the answer but 100% he should be in the management set up ie assistant or coach if we did replace Hughes. One thing for sure is we need to find some local players or bring on our own youths so we have some Caley Thistle blood back on the park. I fear we may never hear hes one of our own sung at the stadium much longer if not. 

Firstly, paragraphs are underrated.

Secondly, the SPL no longer exists.

Thirdly, we had a very attacking side under Butcher, scoring more goals in 2012-13 than any other top flight season in our history.  Our average of two league goals per game when he got us promoted was pretty impressive too.

Fourthly, "local players" - only Ross, Munro and Shinnie from that list weren't signed from other clubs.  The others simply stayed here for a long time, which makes them no different from Draper, Warren and others currently at the club.  We've never had a squad mainly built of local players - in fact we've barely had any local players.  It's never harmed us before.  I'd rather have a guy from down south who can play a bit than a local boy who can't.

Fifthly. "442" - the only thing that bothers me more than Mike Bassett "Four-four-f******-two" types are those who insists we need a big man up front.  Anyone who watches football with even half a brain knows that formations and systems are largely overrated these days - one team's 4-2-3-1 involves four forwards and is very attacking, and another team's 4-2-3-1 involves five midfielders and is very defensive.  If the poster can name one elite team who play an orthodox 4-4-2, I'd be surprised.  As for our "tried and tested 4-4-2", I'm not sure we've played such a system regularly since Wyness and Dargo were up front.  Even then, Wyness used to drop deeper so it was more of a 4-4-1-1.  I suppose we went with Rooney and Foran up top in the last few weeks of the promotion campaign.

Sixthly (is that a word?), why people think Foran would be a good coach is not clear - there is more to coaching than loyalty to a club and a willingness to shout a lot.

Dunno about £3k/week, but I have heard from good sources that Dundee are paying way more than we can offer, thanks to their American backers.  I'd reckon they now have the fifth biggest budget in the division, behind Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee United.

If they're offering James 'made of glass' Vincent a three year deal, they clearly have more money than sense.

I can't remember the last time I left a game so demoralized.

Both teams were utterly hopeless - the difference between the two was that it was us who made the blunder that gifted them a goal. We only ever seem to concede goals either from set pieces or from giving the ball away within 30 yards of our own goal.  It would be nice if opponents actually had to work a bit to score against us.

Once they got in front, Accies were properly cynical - lots of niggly fouls, lots of injury feigning, unbelievable time wasting.  Good for them.  They're fighting for every point because they're worried about going down.  Our lot need to realize that they're in a scrap to avoid eleventh as well - they don't seem to have twigged yet.

Yes, we were short of players today, but it's not as if we were playing kids.  These guys are all seasoned professionals, and too many of them were **** poor today.  I'd give Williams and Horner pass marks for effort, and Fon Williams didn't do anything wrong.  The others were rotten.

My faith in Yogi was badly shaken today.  The tactical plan was poor from the off - Wedderburn was constantly outmanoeuvered and outmuscled by Carlton Morris, a rubbish striker who has scored three goals against us this season and just one in his other twenty-four games.  Draper in defence would have been far more sensible.  Playing Hughes up front was laughable in the first half, as we kept punting the ball over his head; when he made it stick, he never got any support unless Roberts was racing up to support him.

In the second half, when the game was open (and far more conducive to our passing play) we instead subbed off Roberts and brought on Foran to play up front...and spent the last half hour punting straight long balls.  We had been on top when they scored, for god's sake.  Of all the times to ditch your principles, this was the worst by a mile.

When we eventually got Storey on, we stuck him out wide where he couldn't get into the game.

It was also embarrassing to see Yogi berating the stand-side linesman when they scored - because of a throw-in he gave against us in their half a full 90 seconds earlier.  Firstly, it was the right decision (not that it stopped the folk around me giving said linesman dog's abuse for the rest of the game) and secondly, it had nothing to do with the goal we conceded.  Pretty pathetic.  As for the laugh and joke he was having with the Accies dugout with a few minutes still to play, well I'd prefer he was concentrating on us!

Not good.  Not good at all.  There's a lot for us to worry about.

I have heard tales that Dundee have far greater resources at their disposal, courtesy of their American backers (a good source tells me that Rory Loy is on £3k/week, for example!) and so I'm not surprised that they could offer higher wages to both.

I like both Vincent and Williams, and I'd be disappointed if either left.  However, part of my anxiety is that, whilst it's possible we could replace them with superior players (maybe, in Ryan Williams/Liam Hughes, we already have) they are proven commodities - we know what we are getting from both.

Vincent, it must be remembered, was signed by Butcher for a particular role - to play in an advanced midfield position and bust a gut, doing the running so that the likes of Doran didn't have to.  And he did that very well until that injury.  When he came back, Hughes had come in and Vincent certainly took some time to adapt to the new style - but he has managed it and was playing well this season until he got injured again.  He has a great engine and has a wonderful knack for being in the right place to pick up the second ball.  The downside is very much the injuries - he's only played 67 games in 2 and a half years, which isn't great, and he has had too many periods where he has been unavailable for 2-3 months at a time.

Williams is actually quite a limited player, but one who works so hard that he is a far greater asset than many naturally gifted contemporaries.  And players with his sort of pace don't grow on trees.  He does feel to me like a jack of all trades and master of none though - not quite good enough at beating a full-back or crossing to be an out and out winger, not quite robust enough for central midfield, not defensively savvy enough for left-back (though I thought he might grow into that role given time).  But you can trust him to put in a shift and do the job he has been given.

To lose either would be a shame.  But neither are anywhere near irreplaceable.

Excellent performance, I thought - though had Ash Taylor not handed us an equalizer on a plate the game might have been very different.

Yogi's tactics last night seemed a bit crazy - effectively using Roberts and Storey as wide forwards rather than playing a central striker - but they generally worked well and seemed to prevent Aberdeen's full-backs from bombing on as much as they normally would.  I couldn't really fault any individual performance.  Gary Warren was outstanding, I thought.  That's the best game I've seen Vigurs have since he came back - scoring that goal seemed to really lift him and he put in a great shift.

Yes, our name came up in the Collum lottery, which certainly helped.  Aberdeen were honking after they went behind though.  At 3-1, I thought we looked more likely to score than they did.

Wouldn't be surprised if Draper got a letter from the compliance officer this week...though Aberdeen fans probably shouldn't throw stones whilst they still have Peter Pawlett on their books!

I'm a bit relieved that we came away with a point. The game got crazily open in the last 20 minutes and they were at least as likely to score as we were.

Not often that one can criticize the centre-backs after a clean sheet, but both Devine and Draper struggled in possession and made several errors.  Fon Williams made a couple of absolutely stunning saves to keep Partick to nil.

In attack, I think Lopez has had enough opportunity.  He was dreadful again.  He makes too little effort to offer himself for passes into feet - compare that with Mutombo who is always looking for it.  More damningly, his lack of pace completely wrecks out attacking plans - defences can play high up the pitch because there's no threat of Lopez getting in behind.  That means we're far more cramped when in possession and find it harder to work our way into the final third.

A quick forward (eg Mckay, Watkins, even Ofere who was far more mobile than Lopez) stretches play, forcing defences to start in a deeper position and therefore leaving more space in the midfield area for us to work in.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Mutombo as a lone striker in the near future, perhaps once Doran is fit and available again.

Confirmed by the official twitter feed this am.

My reaction:

Goodness, gracious me.  What the hell was that?

First, the caveats: any team in this league bar Celtic and Aberdeen struggles with a few players out - today we missed Brill, Tremarco, Vincent, Foran, Doran and Roberts (some of whom may have started, and some of whom may not have). Then we lose Warren and Meekings to injury.

But still, we could have easily lost that four- or five-nil.  Owain Fon Williams was outstanding (he even made a wonderful save for their goal, but Fletcher got to the rebound first), and it was just as well.  Motherwell missed several other chances.  We on the other hand, managed three shots on goal and none on target (according to the BBC).  The three shots were a Tansey free kick deflected well wide, a Tansey shot from distance that went miles high and wide, and a Lopez shot from distance that was closer to the corner flag than the goal.  And it's not as though we were fizzing crosses across the face of goal or anything.  Their keeper could have spent the match leaning on his post and reading the newspaper.

I know we were short of players, but the tactics were terrible.  Raven (when played out of position) and Meekings offer no attacking width.  There is no point to playing both Wedderburn and Draper, they are so similar in style that they are practically two cheeks of the same fat backside.  Williams needed to be at left-back from the off, just to give us a bit of width.  Raven was also dreadfully exposed by Marvin Johnson's pace.  Johnson and Chalmers kept getting into the space left by our full-backs when they bombed forward...with our twin defensive midfielders nowhere to be seen when they should have been covering.

We were a shambles from the off - Warren's panicky hack on McDonald in the first minute set the tone.  I know folk will bemoan our passing around at the back but Tansey's blunder was not because he was under pressure - he simply played a lazy, blind sideways pass.  What he was doing that deep at that point (and many others in the first half), when we already had two defensive midfielders, was beyond me.

Subbing Wedderburn and bringing on Mutombo was a desperate move, but the right one.  Mutombo had several good touches, though whether he has some substance, or is just a Fancy Dan, remains to be seen.  He at least went looking for the ball, which is more than can be said for Lopez.  The Spaniard must have touched the ball about ten times...and nearly every time it just bounced off him.  He didn't get much service, but nor did he compete with the Motherwell defenders or make an active effort to offer himself for a pass.  He's had three starts now and if this is as fit as he's going to get, then god help us.  I felt sorry for Ryan Christie, who kept getting caught in possession because no-one in front of him was ever looking for a pass.  He got more and more frustrated as the game went on, and made more and more mistakes.

It was a sign of the way our day was going that we lost both Warren and Meekings, which left us with a threadbare back four.  Devine was alright to be fair; it must be said that Polworth was decent enough in the second half but just offered more of the sideways passing.  Horner wasn't much cop, but then we had no other options, really.

So, in conclusion, that was terrible - maybe even worse than any performance in the whole of last season.  But surely once our injuries are cleared we'll be fine...right?

Probably echoing a lot of what's been said before, but here goes...

We were unlucky to lose that.  Our performance was excellent, especially considering our lack of competitive games.  The passing in the first 15 minutes was particularly impressive, and their goal was a huge blow because it came well against the run of play.

I wish fans would show more patience with the passing game.  They pass sideways to keep possession and to create space - it's a far better idea than punting hopeful long balls.

The individual performances:

Fon Williams - I imagine he'll be fine with a game or two under his belt, but he looked rusty and my first instinct was that he should have kept that free kick out

Meekings - looked like a centre-back playing out of position.  Defended well.  Was willing to get forward but offered nothing in attack

Warren - Excellent, hard to remember him putting a foot wrong.  My MOTM

Devine - Does look dodgy in possession on occasion but played well

Williams - Needs to work on his positioning when we're defending, but he was a great outlet.  Give him a few more months to learn the position and he'll do very well

Wedderburn - Looks like he ate one of the subs for his pre-match meal.  Slow and ponderous, but actually decent in possession and broke up play quite well. He could be very useful once he gets up to fitness

Draper - Not a great performance. Unnecessarily gave away the free kick they scored from.  Gave the ball away too cheaply and too often.  We probably only need one of him or Wedderburn for league games - who would you choose?

Tansey - After a bright start, he struggled to have much influence until he dropped deeper later in the game. His set-piece delivery was good

Doran - Looks like he's been eating salad all summer.  Always looking for the ball and generally used it well

Christie - It never quite came off for him in the final third, but his touch was good and he covered the whole pitch looking for the ball

Lopez - Good with his back to goal, but will he score many? Can't really be judged until he is fully fit.

Keeper and back four pick themselves (Esson, Raven, Meekings, Devine, Shinnie), as do Draper and Tansey in front of them and Ofere up front.  Watkins will surely start too, but the question is if he will play up front in a 4-4-2 or wide in a 4-2-3-1.

Seems to me that Christie, Williams, Ross, Doran and Vincent are fighting over the other two spots.

Hard to leave Christie out, I think; I wouldn't be surprised if Falkirk sit back and try to soak up pressure, so we'll need him to unlock their defence.  You could use that as a reason to pick Ross and Doran as well, but I reckon Williams will get the nod, as he will tuck in from the left to allow Shinnie to rampage, and cover him if necessary.

So, for me, it's Esson - Raven, Meekings, Devine, Shinnie - Draper, Tansey - Watkins, Christie, Williams - Ofere.  Subs: Mackay, Tremarco, Doran, Kink, Polworth, Ross, Vincent 

http://www.tellhimhespele.com/episode-ten-bobby-mann/

Tell you what, chaps, this podcast is an absolute joy.

Bobby talking through his career, and mostly about ICT - Paterson, Robbo, the win over Celtic, the first division title.  The memories!