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We're just past the halfway stage of the season, so what are our thoughts on the shape of it so far? Here are some statistics to be bored by or to chew over to help the discussion along: The league stats show a certain amount of symmetry: P21 W7 D7 L7: 28 points. Goals For: 30; Goals Against 31 Given our terrible start, I'm delighted with the current league position and am fairly optimistic for the remainder of the season, if we can keep everybody fit. We could, however, do with Meekings and Doran back! Some other notable statistics - not many surprises! We have the lowest number of shots/game (8.56), the 3rd lowest shots on target (3.48), but the 3rd best conversion rate (goals/shots on target; 39.73%). This might reflect our reluctance to shoot unless it is a clear-cut opportunity! We also have the lowest corner count (won) which might be linked to the lack of shots on goal. Our average home crowd is 3,959 (260 better than the average for whole of last season) - 10th in league above Hamilton and St J and within 100 of PT and Killie. This suggests that our attendance is holding steady, but sadly there isn't much evidence of a bounce from last year's heroics. Our average possession is just less than 50% (49.9%) and there is a very clear inverse relationship between goals scored and possession in each game: for every 10% more possession we have, we score ~1 less goal. In 5/7 of the games we have won, we have had less possession than the opposition and in 5/7 of those that we have lost, we have had more possession. This might sound crazy and could just be a trick of the numbers, but I don’t think so on this occasion. Perhaps it indicates that we really struggle to break down organised teams that allow us to play in front of them (St Johnstone at home and Stirling Albion in the cup are good examples). Possession, particularly in the middle or defensive third does not win games and can often contribute to losing them. Cups: Going out of any cup is disappointing, no more so than when it is at the hands of County. Likewise, our performance in the Scottish Cup was not great against Stirling Albion, but at least we have a chance to put that record straight next week. It would be great to have another cup run and I see no reason why we can't this season. Good buys, goodbyes and star performers: Clearly, the best signing of the season was Miles Storey and it is fantastic that he's with us until the end of the season. Some of the other signings have not been so great - Lopez in particular. The most improved player has been Liam Polworth by a distance. It is also great to have Gary Warren back, but it is a real shame that we haven't yet managed to reunite Warren and Meekings. Draper, Tansey and Vincent are starting to show the consistency that we're used to from them. It was sad to say goodbye to Ryan Christie who was a star for much of the early season - I wish him well for the future. Thoughts?