Jaggernaut

Three on show at Tannadice yesterday: Penrice (scorer), Spittal (hit the bar), Holt. With the exception of the latter, we never got to see them really perform for us. Who are the others currently playing at a higher level? Nisbet, Docherty?....

Doesn't all the play-off money get distributed across all the teams in the League? So, sack people left, right and centre ("review overheads" in your parlance).... some would argue that is a sure way to reduce our ability to generate income. Over-reliance on "stats and software": agreed. I can't help thinking that some players might well believe that they're doing a good job based on some technological outputs rather than their actual performances and the team's results. Review scouting & recruitment: some of our young teams seem to do well, so what's happening to the players? Current youngsters in the first-team squad have basically been frozen out by the manager to allow several 30-and-overs with reduced pace and motivation to play every week. Or parachuted-in players who looked good but are being found out.

Dunfermline had a single point from nine away games until yesterday. The result was inevitable!

Any manager who starts almost every reply in an interview with "Listen,...." should be avoided.

What would you do?

I think you have a point there.

They are part of the problem in what is looking increasingly like a Dads' Army team.

McBeth was our best player when he came on, and you could see he was frustrated by the lack of options opening up due to the total lack of movement up front.

Not just lineups, but also tactics. Everything we do slows the game down entirely. Predictable and completely pointless short triangular passing on the edge of the pitch, no forward movement, and our true speciality, a whole string of pointless passes along on our back line, usually half way back in our our half, and occasionally embellished with a pass back to the keeper. We're especially "good" at this when we are one, two, or even three goals behind. With the exception of Fitzpatrick and sometimes Chalmers, nobody, but nobody in our current team (the injured Milne excepted) can go past a man; in fact nobody even tries to do it. Somebody in front of them, they'll immediately check back and pass back; no consideration is even given to trying anything else. Even our wingers won't make a run ahead for a through ball, instead they run all the way back to collect a horizontal pass from midfield, leaving them having to start from a standing position, with the opposition players now all ready to snuff out any move. It's all so predictable and easy to defend against (because there's actually nothing to defend against). What has happened to the Megwa who was a real attacking livewire against us last year? He's now like a frightened rabbit, and more ready to stop and pass back than take on his man. He frequntly gets caught out of his defensive position, and yesterday failed to block two low crosses from close in, to our detriment. The core of the team is too old! They'll be older and even slower next year. A major rejuvenation of the team is required. Urgently. Dunfermline had won one point in nine away league matches until our inept charlatans gave them yesterday's belated Christmas present. Unless there are significant changes in personnel, tactics, and motivation, I fully expect us to show similar generosity to Accies.

I started following the Jags in the mid 60s, and even then they would defeat us with boring regularity, but at least occasionally we would upset the odds and get a win. It was the same with other teams against them. Not now, though, and it hasn't happened for decades and in dozens of attempts. Although winning against them is now a distant memory for us, what's especially depressing is that occasionally other teams in their division manage to grab a win, but never by us (whenever we do feature in the same division). Maybe the two cheeks now have enormously more resources at their disposal than most other clubs compared to back then, but even so, some teams still get a shock result against them. But we don't.

Hijack alert, but for me the most truly depressing Jags statistic is our record vs. the two ugly sisters over the past 30 years or so. Failure to win a single game against either of them in several dozens of attempts. I'd guess that it's by far the worst record of all other teams that have been in the top flight for more than a couple of seasons since the 90s. It has actually led to a state of learned helplessness, to the point that I no longer even hope that we might win against them, I sense just nothing other than defeat coming up. No other teams make me feel like that (well, except maybe Hearts in any cup competition, or maybe Dundee United in a cup or play-off.... or Livi in any crucial match.........)........

Nice strip, that!

If by some miracle we got promoted, next season we would get regularly slaughtered if we tried to play at the pace and with the same predictable tactics we currently do.

Drunk as a skunk here, but the Morton result shows how inept we are at pushing forward andtodc phucing at irtanf ouytrgames home. This may be our downfall this season. Sure, we can play nicely, the slow build-up stuff that might twill allow us torget faidhrd challner. ETA: Hope everybody understood that!

Happy New Year to Jaggy folk wherever they are!

Exactly this; I couldn't put it any better.

I also thought Dunn.

Time to recall agent Sneddon from Falkirk..........

I might be wrong of course, but I immediately thought the No. 11 was Billy Gibson.

That is indeed a big problem. The lack of pace in any move starting from midfield is startling. It's stop, make a sideways or backwards pass, doing nothing but allowing the opposition to get into defensive positions. The tv commentators noted how a couple of passes and fast running on and off the ball got QP from their own penalty box to ours in a couple of seconds, in contrast to our insistence on slow build-ups. Fortunate indeed to get a couple of breaks when needed, and well done to the defence for holding out towards the end. It wasn't pretty, but an important three points in the end.

Poor fare. QP have good movement and fast passing. We are slow, with little movement up front.

Anybody else remember "Hello World" by The Tremeloes?

Thank you, BB. Merry Christmas to Jags people everywhere!

I kind of see what you mean. He'd probably have us well organized and at least looking good for the playoffs, but there's nothing so far in his record to suggest that he'd do any better than what we currently have. Maybe when the time comes when our current manager's tenure has come to a "natural" end....

Hmm, as far as I can make out, he's never won promotion, has ultimately been sacked by his previous clubs. What would be the attraction? Simply a "new face?"