Gnome on the Bing

I don't blindly follow the manager, nor do I think he's above criticism. That's a straw man argument, as no one is making it. If Devine doesn't improve and Barton isn't a suitable as back-up option in this position, then it's a serious weakness in the squad which the management team are responsible for and will need to rectify in January. I don't stump up hundreds of pounds and accept any old rubbish. But at the same time I'm realistic in my expectations. I tend not to say that I have 'faith' in Archie, as some might take the term to mean a blind following of the type you suggest. Rather I trust Archie based on the evidence of his performance as a manager thus far, contextualised by a realistic assessment of the constraints he's working within. I think that's a reasonable and fair position.

I can't agree with that. Abdul isn't a quality DM? What about Dumbuya - he's one of the best right-backs in the league? Cerny is solid as a rock; the quality of Bannigan is sorely missed when he's not on the pitch; Booth was one of our most consistent performers last season; Edwards is really beginning to show what a good player he is. I could go on. Doolan and Lawless, despite recent form, are more than decent players at this level. As ever, the question about whether Archie has taken us as far as he can needs to be considered alongside two additional questions: 1) Given our budget is it possible to achieve much more? And 2) Is there anyone available out there who could do any better given the aforementioned budget constraints? For me the answer to the first question is: not a great deal, and any significant improvement in our final league position will likely be temporary. Sorry to be so realistic - I know part of the attraction of football is escapism. My hope is that we 'do a Leicester' one year and end up near the top of the table, but were we to do this I'd fully expect us to regress to the mean at some point relatively soon after. Case in point: Leiceister are currently 13th in the EPL. Also, and this leads me to question 2), when I scan the managerial landscape I don't see anyone available who is more capable than Archie of getting us to the point where we are punching above our weight. As Ian Mac points out, he will make mistakes, but every manager makes them. Wenger bought Jeffers, Ferguson purchased a plethora of players that couldn't cut it at that level (Djemba-Djemba, Taibi, Bebe, Klebersobn etc.). Archie's hit rate is more than decent given the budget he's working with.

Proper legend. What a strike rate!

But Erskine isn't a striker who plays with his back to goal. He's best when picking up he ball in the no.10 position and running at the defence or picking out a pass. Why would we play one of our best players out of position?

Formation isn't the problem IMO. 4-4-2 doesn't work unless you've got Ngolo Kante running your midfield. We employed this formation, or something similar to it, against St Johnstone and Hearts and, well, got beaten. Having two up top doesn't make you any more offensive if the only way the team is able to get the ball to your strikers is by launching it from deep inside your own half. It's also a formation that leaves an already shaky back four even more exposed. This isn't to say there aren't issues with our patten of play. So much of our play used to come through SOD then, latterly, Muzzy. And even when they weren't in possession they would stretch the opposition by taking up extremely advanced positions on the right wing. Ziggy's an excellent player but he's a different type of player – more defensively minded – which is fine in itself, but it means we need to rethink how we play through midfield.

While I don't think we were quite as bad as some on here have stated, it's nonetheless true that the same issues continue to blight our season. As just about every other poster has noted, our back four are dysfunctional at the moment. Every crossed ball into our box had me gripping my seat in fear. We were either getting beaten in the air outright or struggling positionally. Having said that, both Callum and Ziggy had better games offensively, and Ryan made some excellent saves and looked to be growing in confidence. Regarding the midfield: the Osman/Barton partnership may develop with time but they have very similar instincts positionally. Both were attempting to screen the back four, which meant that our midfield sat quite deep at times. One of them needs to step forward and press, as Edwards can't both help Doolan/Azeez pressure the opposition back four as well as close down their midfield. He's got an engine, sure, but he can't be in several places at the same time. I thought Adam had another quiet but assured game, where he didn't do a great deal wrong. Hopefully as he settles he begins to affect the game more. He's very slick in possession and is a presence aerially. Up front, Doolan played relatively well, although that if he'd converted that chance when he was through I suspect we'd have clung on and collected all three points. He was under pressure though. Erskine had another excellent game and I can't agree with the earlier post questioning his impact since returning to the club. I think he's been absolutely superb. Stevie seemed to struggle again unfortunately. But overall, our attacking play isn't the biggest issue. We'll score goals. We'll also lose them, however.

Are any of the radio stations covering the game? Both Clyde and BBC Scotland seem to be unaware of its existence.

I'm not convinced that the replacement of Erskine with Welsh was as regressive a move as some are making out. It's not like Welsh was being told to play in the Erskine role - he dropped in next to Barton, with Edwards moving into a more advanced position. I can see why Archie went with that option, as Edwards has the energy to press their defence in a manner similar to Erskine. McDaid could have been introduced instead, with either Amoo or Lawless being moved inside, but I'm not convinced that the former would be that effective in such a role and Lawless was having a decent game on the flank. We lost our grip on the game around this time, yes, but even with the benefit of hindsight I'm not convinced that any of the other options available to Archie would have avoided this. We only have one Erskine after all.

That was a really tough one to take. We should have been out of sight by the time of 'Well's goal. On the plus side, we played really well at times. Some folk seem to be disappointed with Barton's performance. I thought he played quite well: composed in possession, shielded the back four well and dropped into defence when they were attacking down the flanks, which gave us more presence in the box. Edwards was excellent, as was Erskine - I really liked the make-up of the midfield today. We dominated possession and were creating chances. Azeez, unfortunately, had one of those days...

Looking forward to seeing Barton play this afternoon. Hopefully he's match-fit now and in contention for a place in the starting 11. One up front with Erskine playing centrally behind Azeez or Doolan.

Quite possible. It's absolutely horrid out there.

Plan: ditch the 4-4-2 / 4-4-1-1. It ain't working.

Interesting stuff, folks. Thanks for reporting back. Good to hear that Wilson had a decent game. I've only seen him play for the first team, where his opportunities have been limited. I have to agree with LIB: he's not quite at Welsh's level yet and would benefit from a spell on loan, but he has obvious qualities, including a decent passing range and a willingness to put in a challenge. In the games I've seen him play he's performed best when in a more defensive role. Hopefully he continues to develop and improve.

I reckon Barton will be deployed in defence initially. I suspect the line-up will be close to this: Cerny Gordon Devine Barton Booth Osman Welsh Amoo Erskine Lawless Azeez Erskine is much more effective playing through the middle, so I suspect Archie will place him there rather than on the wing, where he was for the first half of the Hearts match. I also think Azeez has done enough to retain his place.

I'm available for an unreasonably large fee.

I'll check it out full in the knowledge that it'll annoy the hell out of me.

What I found odd about the Pogba substitution yesterday was that he introduced at a stage when our strategy appeared to be to hit them on the counter-attack. And we looked dangerous in this respect. Now, irrespective of your views on Pogba's overall ability, it's difficult to make an argument that he's got the pace to contribute to such an approach. I suppose if Doolan and Azeez were knackered, Archie's got to bring someone on, but it did strike me as an odd choice at the time. I'd have been tempted to put Elliot up top, even if he hasn't played there in a few seasons.

Absolutely gutted. We deserved a point. It was an exciting match but what a deflating conclusion... Erskine was much better when playing through the middle in the second half, and Edwards had an excellent game in a more withdrawn role. Also, Azeez never let their centre-halves settle. We've got a decent team and squad and should start putting points on the board soon.

Cerny Gordon Devine Lindsay Booth Osman Wilson Erskine Edwards Lawless Azeez I'd be happy to see something like the above lineup. I suspect Archie will pick Amoo ahead of Edwards, allowing Erskine to play through the middle, which, admittedly, is his best position.

Looks excellent.

I'm not surprised in the least that other clubs are taking a look: Liam's 20, is already playing to a good standard and is only going to get better. He makes the occasional mistake, as 20 year-olds tend to do, but will learn from them, as Archie's comments suggest. I just hope we get another couple of season's out of him before he moves to a bigger club.

True LIB, I may be being overly optimistic regarding the willingness of people to reflect on their views and the merits of criticising the players for adhering to this style of play, but hope springs eternal. It's just really frustrating to hear fellow fans berating a player for retaining possession when it's evident to everyone that there is absolutely no other option available to him other than hurling an aimless high-ball towards one of the strikers. Gah!

I'd somehow managed to erase that from my memory! An absolute sitter so it was. Thankfully this was a good game to put one on the wrong side of the post.

I appreciate your perspective but disagree nonetheless. The jeers can only be counterproductive and put the players under unnecessary pressure, so calling for patience is, in my humble option, justified. Yes, we've done well since 2012, but in spite of such heckling, not because of it. I'm not denying that fans who pay for a ticket are entitled to voice their concerns – they can, and undoubtedly will, ignore my pleas – I'm merely pointing out that in this instance it's counterproductive and based on a flawed notion of how the team should build its attacks. A fair comment I believe.

A solid display from the lads this afternoon. We dominated possession but The Spiders defended in numbers, which meant space was at a premium in and around the opposition box. In the first 20 minutes in particular it looked like we would take six off of them, as Welsh had all the time in the world to spray passes around and he did so to great effect for the first goal. Gradually, however, they sorted themselves out and got closer to our midfielders. I thought Wilson had one of his better games and looked more willing to receive the ball when under pressure. Erskine also had a decent game, as did the aforementioned skipper, Welsh. Archie sensibly took Edwards off, him being a yellow away from a suspension, but I thought he looked spritely during the 55-odd minutes he was on the park. I thought that Booth, while he didn't have a particularly bad game, looked cream-crackered by the 70-minute mark. And I really wish fans who were whistling and jeering at the team when they played the ball backwards to retain possession would give it a break. On least two occasions excellent chances were forged as a consequence of patient build-up play, where we moved the ball back into defence before selecting the correct pass. All-in, a decent afternoon's work.