1 John Lambie

We really couldn't be any worse bringing back the guy on loan at Airdrie (if we're allowed), or playing Lindsay instead of Muirhead. Muirhead is simply not good enough, disappointing, as I thought he would be with us for years & be a future captain.

Whether it helps much or not but Gallacher all the time to the defence, that can only help them make decisions, even if only slightly. If that doesn't help much, knowing that Gallacher might actually catch a cross or shot must be of some comfort. Plus he is much better at 1-on-1's than Fox who makes himself as small as possible when a striker runs in on him.

Last season when some fans wanted Archie sacked I was firmly against it as for the vast amount of time we were playing very well but just didn't take our chances. This season we really haven't played that well at all imo, in any match. I don't want Archie sacked, I think he's a very good manager, but it will be harder to defend him if the team doesn't at least play better on a more regular basis. If you're creating chances & playing well there's a belief it will turn, as it did on enough occasions last season. We haven't had that, so far, this season.

Considering Archie said after Fraser got injured he may have to try & sign a free agent if he could find the right one, there must be money left in the kitty. Whether it's more a case of there's not enough to offer McFadden something he would accept, or Archie doesn't want to spend it on another forward player, more likely the case. Ecclestone was signed after McFadden had been training with us for a few weeks, so the budget was there (if it now isn't) to sign him, had he wanted to.

The Aberdeen game is now also a Sunday lunchtime kick-off to accommodate Sky I'm sure, which will take a good few off the crowd from both ends I'd imagine.

Just had a quick look, to compare crowds & income from that from last season, to this. After the 1st 5 home games last season a total of 24,244 had attended our matches. This season, after 5 home games, the total stands at 15,445. That will equate to a significant amount of money lost, I'd say, purely down to the way the fixtures have been drawn out for us unfortunately. (Dundee Utd, Ayr Utd, Hearts, Cowdenbeath, Aberdeen last season. - Ross County, Hamilton, ICT, St. Mirren x2 this season).

We couldn't really have had a worst run of home fixtures at the start of the season crowd wise. When you compare it to last season when we started off against Dundee Utd with a crowd of around 7k, we've really lost a fair bit of money just down to the way the fixtures have fallen for us & I don't see that being made up when the 'better' fixtures regarding crowd numbers appear later in the season.

Lawless with a deserved MOTM award after his performances over the past few weeks, he did fade out of the game but in 90mins he was our best player. Carroll played very well, getting more like Sinky by the game, if he keeps that up he'll do nicely at LB. Thought we played quite well & controlled most of the game but didn't really create much, & what we did create, we fluffed excellently. St. Mirren really didn't do much at all in the game but I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd sneaked a goal at some point. Balatoni had a decent game, as did Seaborne & Osman. I thought Craigen did well too, he's a clever player, if he just had a little more pace he would be a regular starter. Elliot contributed to the goal very well. Fox needs dropped, he'll cost us points in the form he is in at the moment, couldn't catch a cold.

.............................Gallacher McMillan.....Lindsay.....Balatoni.....Carroll .................Osman.....Bannigan .......Lawless.....Craigen.....Higginbotham ........................Doolan Subs: Fox Muirhead O'Donnell Wilson Stevenson Elliott Ecclestone No idea what's happened to the Muirhead that played for us in the 1st Division but that player has disappeared & I don't see any signs of it returning. He's not composed on the ball at all, looks shaky, slow & just not up to scratch. He really needs a loan spell in the Championship, I feel, to try & re-discover himself. We don't have enough defender to make that possible but I don't think we can rely on him as a starting player right now. I'm not saying Lindsay is better currently, but he's obviously quite highly thought of & I'd give him a shot. We really should have kept Mair, we're now stuck with a partnership that resulted in his arrival.

O'Donnell at RB & McMillan at LB is an option, worked well against RC & the 1st half up at Dundee.

Pearson is one I thought about the other day & wondered where he had got to. Certainly another option for midfield if he was fit. I really like Craigen though & would be more than happy for him to stake a regular claim for a place in the team given the chance. Do think we're a little light though with Welsh & Fraser being out, meaning another CM could/should be on the horizon, unless Wilson is deemed good enough to fill that gap.

If any of Higgy, Lawless or Elliott were to get injured/suspended it would leave us light on the wings. I know McFadden is probably now best behind the striker, where we have Stevenson, Craigen & even Fraser. So on balance, it's not a signing we'd desperately need to make, but can you ever have too many good players? I don't think so, & he would certainly get a fair amount of game time throughout the season if he stayed fit. My conclusion would be, if he's not asking for silly money it would be a good addition to the squad, for various reasons.

Finance & importance to the team. Do we even want him? If the price is right, probably, but St. Mirren are in a position currently where they will probably offer him more money & assurances over playing time as they need something to get the fans on side & kickstart their season.

Lawless was my MOTM on Saturday. I still think he's a little lightweight to be a consistent success in this league, but he's useful (a good finisher) & good to have in the squad. If he had pace, he'd easily be a starter every week.

If you don't buy a 50/50 ticket you wouldn't know they had a sponsor, the announcer should say something like "& the winning number for this weeks half-time draw, sponsored by Pizza Express, is...".

Been club accountant for a good few years now, lovely guy & does an excellent job (presuming it's the same DK!)

Looks like Fraser is out for 12 weeks with a knee injury, which is a real blow, but does in a way solve the problem with Stevenson. He can now play in what we believe will be his best position, with Doolan up top & Wilson coming on to the bench. Hope Gary is back soon though, one of our best players & certainly has the most potential to go far in the current squad.

Doolan has to start, for me. Stevenson up front just isn't working (I said even after the RC win, it didn't look like working), time to go with our best recognised striker & see where it takes us. It does leave us a problem with team shape due to the 3 in midfield & 2 wingers system Archie prefers, that may perhaps be why Doolan hasn't started as he struggles to see a place in the team for Stevenson other than up front with the other players we currently have fit/in-form. I'd go for; Gallacher O'Donnell Balatoni Seaborne Carroll Osman Bannigan Fraser Lawless Higginbotham Doolan Subs: Fox, Muirhead, Keenan, Craigen, Stevenson, Elliott, Ecclestone. If McMillan is back fit, he is likely to fill in at LB I'd say. Another option could be McMillan to RB & O'Donnell playing higher up on the right side, a position he plays well from RB, however, has never looked truly comfortable with when being moved there on the odd occasion.

BRE probably could have been loaned to a full-time team, I'm sure one of the 1st division clubs would have taken a punt on his due to his relative experience in the Conference. Him playing for a full-time team, however, means he can't train with us every day & get use to the squad etc. Loaning him to Airdrie allows him matches, in a competitive league whilst remaining at Firhill on a daily basis. Best of both worlds I would say, considering he would be unlikely to appear for the 1st team between now & January.

Presumably Seaborne is back, hopefully anyway, I doubt McMillan will be. Gallacher O'Donnell Balatoni Seaborne Keenan Osman Fraser Bannigan Stevenson Higginbotham Doolan Subs: Fox Muirhead Wilson Craigen Lawless Elliott Duggan Lawless unlucky to drop out but I think we could need the strength of Stevenson at the tip of our midfield for this match, he'll have to cover on the right wing as well, we lack balance with Stevenson covering the right though but it's difficult to drop one of the current 3 in central midfield.

I don't see why the club has to inform the fans straight away about a players injury, we haven't heard about Welsh in months which I would say is more concerning than not releasing a statement or whatever to say "BTW our new CB is injured, Hamilton please make plans that do not involve him". The person updating the website will most probably not know why Seaborne wasn't playing, hence the language used. I'd imagine Archie is a little busy to call someone regarding the team that's put online & the reasons given for a players absence.

Ridiculous post.

I'd put this match down as a must win, a cup run could add vital funds in the hunt for a new player or 2 & there's definitely some money to be made in it if the draw goes our way. In saying that, I'd expect a good few changes to be made, but there should still be enough to win the match if we play well. I'd go for; Gallacher O'Donnell Balatoni Lindsay Keenan Osman Craigen Stevenson Lawless Elliot Doolan

Given that he was released on the 21st of August & there have been rumours about him being surplus to requirements since pre-season started some 7 weeks ago, he has had pretty much the full summer to find a new club, without much success it would appear.

I don't see how the management deciding a player isn't good enough, or doesn't fit into our squad for whatever reason, is evidence of a lack of progress in any area whatsoever.