scottwhat

It still staggers me that Foran was kept on after that shambolic defensive show at Ross County on December 31st. He had 3 weeks to get an organised defence and blew all the beans on bringing back McKay. As much es he is better than Doumbuoya or Fisher, what we needed was a defence. That's been the case all season, and he hasn't bothered getting one. And the one player with a decent defensive mind, Draper, was sent up front, presumably to hold up the ball. Who would win the ball in the first place never came into the equation. A sorry state of affairs, and I would sack Foran at the split no matter what the result on Saturday. There'll be 5 games to save our skin mostly against other teams who have struggled, and an impact on the mindset is needed.

Been going to the odd Caley game for a while now since moving up here. Never posted on here before, but after tonight's game I feel very mixed - positive that we could have won the match against a very good Rangers side, but frustrated that the reasons I think we didn't may not be addressed. in summary, we looked good early on because we passed out from the back, kept the ball and forced gaps to appear. Rangers had quality players and they reacted by seriously upping their game; we did well to go in at half time only 0-1 down, and that is no discredit to Caley, more a credit to Rangers. I understand why we started hoofing it at that stage - to clear imminent danger. Butt he second half was much more equal. Yet we continued to hoof it - not from imminent danger, but just in general. WHY? We could easily have drawn or even won this match if we had not seemingly changed our approach simply because Rangers went through the gears for a while. A quick summary of the squad we have for me highlights some small changes I think could really make the difference. Goalkeeper; Fon Williams has really come on leaps and bounds, and at his confident best his reactions are top notch. Needs to work a bit on distribution, but he is not alone in that. Defence: In Tremarco, Warren and McKay we have 3 defenders who are easily capable of doing what we need them to do, but please, stop the hopeless hoofing when there is not an imminent threat. They're all capable enough on the ball. Raven looks as though his best days are behind him unfortunately. Midfield: Tansey leads the troops well, if I have any criticism it is that he tries for glory a little too much - no denying though that when he does it gets the crowd going, and that can't be so bad. Draper alongside him is a perfect complement, when we play them together. Forwards / Wingers: Mulraney can be frightening with his pace, but the end product is almost invariably lacking. Again, it may help if the ball was not hoofed at his head so often. Great to see Doran getting back to his best. Like Doran, Vigurs and King both have their moments - we have to accept that comes with the territory. My main frustration is with arguably the most talented player; Liam Polworth is capable of magic, sees things others do not and finds space where there is none. BUT, the work rate is seriously lacking. Loses the ball and doesn't help get it back, doesn't press, makes only aesthetic attempts to stop crosses. If he scored 40 goals a season, fine. But as it is, we play with 10 men without the ball in return for a few bits of magic once in a while. It WILL cost us if it hasn't already. Not good enough and such a waste of talent. Strikers: I like Doumbouya. Reminds me of Ofere in that he can frustrate the life out of you as a supporter, but would you want to be marking him? Of course you wouldn't. I'd stick with him. Unlike Ofere, seems to have a reasonable work ethic too. I love Ross Draper, but not as a striker, and certainly not as a partner to Doumbuoya. He has fantastic qualities that we need, but I've seen ships turn faster than Draper in the final third. If we are going to play somebody off Doumbuoya, you need pace there. Either the wingers need to run past him or you need to play him with a pacey partner. I think Alex Fisher still needs time to be ready for that, but I would imagine the likes of Vigurs could cause some real damage some days with a bit more freedom to push on. Draper back in midfield alongside Tansey would be one step towards making me feel a lot easier about giving it to them.