Hamilton 15/10/16.

[Lindau]

Can't belive we didnt sign Balatoni until January for cover at least.

 

 

Plenty of people got flamed for suggesting that. Honestly would he have been worse than Devine and at least we would have had some level of cover. We have absolutely no cover in central defence....zilch. That is unforgiveable and the manager takes the blame for that situation. As has been clear since we came up, I have been one of the main Archie defenders on here, but I am struggling to comprehend why he has let this happen. Team is totally lopsided with a lack of central defenders and strikers and overloaded in midfield. We need to try and keep in touch till December in the hope that he can rectify the glaring deficiencies in the squad.

[watties wallies]

think we may see barton and lindsay the preferred paiing at the back against ross county net week

 

just cant go on like this archie has got to make changes

 

agree scully saved our bacon today however he must really start dominating that back line

more shouting, making players aware, being more confident in his ability

 

thought in the last quarter of the game the team looked visibly tired and as has been said the equaliser was on the cards

this has been happening all too often this season, we start to back off the opposition players,and play deeper and deeper

 

lawless has been getting stick this season and i suppose rightly so, however we know that this guy has great abilty

so whats going wrong same can be said about osman and booth

 

lastly i dont understand why doolan was subbed today i saw him on the touchline "chatting" to archie dont think he was a happy chappy

 

big big game for the team next week and for archie

[Big Col]

Playing one up front at home to Hamilton was a disgrace. Not changing it was a disgrace. 2 nd half was a disgrace. What was said at half time? Hold out for a draw and defend for 45 minutes? Barton looks like another poor signing by the manager, along with Azeez, Devine and Gordon.

 

We're stumbling blindly towards the Championship.

 

If that's the best that Archibald and Patterson can get out of the players, then they need to be replaced.

[Lindau]

Playing one up front at home to Hamilton was a disgrace. Not changing it was a disgrace. 2 nd half was a disgrace. What was said at half time? Hold out for a draw and defend for 45 minutes? Barton looks like another poor signing by the manager, along with Azeez, Devine and Gordon.

 

We're stumbling blindly towards the Championship.

 

If that's the best that Archibald and Patterson can get out of the players, then they need to be replaced.

 

Bartons second game for the club and he is already a diddy. Give us a break! Don't disagree with a lot of what you say, but give the guy a chance for Gawd sake. There is no chance whatsoever of Archie being replaced. If we go down I would say it's a certainty that he will stay on to try and get us back, but hey, we are still a long way from that scenario. I have been confident every season that we could always turn it round. Have to admit, with that defence and with the strikers not scoring, even I have my doubts this season.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Lindau

[1 John Lambie]

Disappointed to not get the win when we were in the lead but in fairness, we didn't really deserve to win. On paper the team we have this season should be an improvement but it is just not turning out that way.

 

The one major issue is Devine, I've given him a chance but in recent memory he must be the worst CB we have had for years. I presume he's not usually this bad but just everything about him at the moment is below what is required....what is even worse is that there is literally no-one to replace him with! I do not think Barton will work at CB, he seems a decent enough footballer but I think he would be almost too confident on the ball to play CB & is a little light in the tackle. I'd be tempted to play Osman at CB, a decent partner beside Lindsay & we would be pretty solid I think.

 

Given Balatoni was available on a free, we all know his faults, but we also know that in his last season with us towards the end of that season he was very good. Seems madness that we let him slip away & he's now playing for Ayr.

 

Not wanting to lay the blame for our poor results all on 1 guy but it is hard not to say that Devine has to take a large proportion of the blame.

 

Gordon was a little better today but if he was signed as an unknown, he would have been hooked well before now. The quicker Dumbuya, Bannigan & a new CB are brought in the better.

 

As I've already pointed the finger at 2 players, may as well add in a 3rd. Lawless of this season has been very much Lawless of our 1st season back in the Premier league, whatever he changed about his game to manage to hold off stronger players he needs to get it back quickly & start contributing. Amoo should be starting, without Erskine I would be very worried.

[Weebaw1]

I'm fed up with Lawless.

 

He lost the ball every time, sometimes with a lazy flick or a blind pass.

 

He needs dropped and kicked very hard. He thinks he's a star but this year he's a liability that needs written off.

 

Gordon has been rank rotten. Another who loses the ball constantly. And as for Devine.........

[Third Lanark]

Disappointed to not get the win when we were in the lead but in fairness, we didn't really deserve to win. On paper the team we have this season should be an improvement but it is just not turning out that way.

 

The one major issue is Devine, I've given him a chance but in recent memory he must be the worst CB we have had for years. I presume he's not usually this bad but just everything about him at the moment is below what is required....what is even worse is that there is literally no-one to replace him with! I do not think Barton will work at CB, he seems a decent enough footballer but I think he would be almost too confident on the ball to play CB & is a little light in the tackle. I'd be tempted to play Osman at CB, a decent partner beside Lindsay & we would be pretty solid I think.

 

Given Balatoni was available on a free, we all know his faults, but we also know that in his last season with us towards the end of that season he was very good. Seems madness that we let him slip away & he's now playing for Ayr.

 

Not wanting to lay the blame for our poor results all on 1 guy but it is hard not to say that Devine has to take a large proportion of the blame.

 

Gordon was a little better today but if he was signed as an unknown, he would have been hooked well before now. The quicker Dumbuya, Bannigan & a new CB are brought in the better.

 

As I've already pointed the finger at 2 players, may as well add in a 3rd. Lawless of this season has been very much Lawless of our 1st season back in the Premier league, whatever he changed about his game to manage to hold off stronger players he needs to get it back quickly & start contributing. Amoo should be starting, without Erskine I would be very worried.

I agree that Lawless has been very poor today. However Amoo did absolutely nothing either when he came on, we all know he has the ability but David seems to pick and choose what games he will try in. Right now I'm not happy with either of them

[1 John Lambie]

I agree that Lawless has been very poor today. However Amoo did absolutely nothing either when he came on, we all know he has the ability but David seems to pick and choose what games he will try in. Right now I'm not happy with either of them

 

He was crap when he came on, yes. You'll be relatively successful in this league with quick, strong, skilful players. Just now we need to be solid & hit teams on the break, Lawless doesn't give us that & when he is out of form going forward he offers little else to the team.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

Thought we ended the game with both Edwards and Barton completely knackered and, with the midfield being completely overrun, we were lucky to hold on for a point. Amazingly we came close today to getting all three points, which would've been robbery but I suppose we've not had much luck so far this season.

I doubt there can be anyone that doesn't realise that Devine needs being dropped. Bit like the national team but re-jigging the central defence isn't going to be easy. Maybe not quite a case of the cure being worse than the illness but at the same time I'm not sure there's too much available as creditable options. I would say that on today's performance Barton would be no loss to the midfield so perhaps he could play alongside Lindsay. The other option could be three at the back. One plus point to that would be it could be easier to accommodate two upfront.

[sabbath]

We had two weeks after the h*ns game to organise the team and what we actually got was a performance that was worse. Archie's got to go not just for setting the team up as a counter punching team, playing with one striker at home, but for playing Azeez in the belief he's up to this level of football, (snip)

Lawless has not kicked a ball this season, Dougie Imrie bossed the game, pure class, lawless should take stock, if he was half as good as Imrie then the next time he chaps the door with his begging bowl, we might listen.

Thistle just couldn't get the ball nevermind hold it. we not only looked like a team who were out classed but it looked as if there were more than one league of a difference. remember this is a crappy Hamilton we are talking about.

if there is any doubt, Elliot running the ball out of play said it all.....Please go now Archie and lets get a manager who plays attacking football, who realises the importance of the development side, and never got a coaching badge at Largs...GO NOW

[Woodstock Jag]

I heard today that Lawless has been playing with an injury since the start of the season and is due to have surgery fairly soon.

 

Would explain a lot.

[JaggyMad]

Canny wait, if true that lawless needs surgery, we should be at least 3rd or 4th in the league by the time he comes back. Cos going with the reports on here it was lawless's lack of form that is costing us the games!

Our defence is a shambles, Gordon has been crap, Devine is a disaster,Azee is a headless chicken that couldn't hit a barn door, erskine has not lit the heather on fire, amoo also hasn't been any great shakes, dools isn't banging them in. Osman has been a shadow of the player he was last year.

So wonder who will be to blame when lawless goes under the knife, my favourite on that subject would be gordon or Devine or maybe even Welsh ( the usual suspects)

90% of our team are off form but it's always the usual suspects that get it verbally. Even at the games it's noticed, Gordon or lawless or Welsh misplace a pass and they get it, but if erskine, dools miss place a pass it is clapped and they are encouraged to keep going.

Our whole team were piss poor today, especially in the 2nd half, scully the only one I'd give pass marks.

[Lindau]

Well he can't be much worse than we have......can he? I assume he is still looking for a club.

 

 

http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=51365

Edited October 15, 2016 by Lindau

[Third Lanark]

I think we could have done worse than sign Scott Boyd when county let him go.

Maybe we tried too and couldn't compete financially with killie

[Metz]

We had two weeks after the h*ns game to organise the team and what we actually got was a performance that was worse. Archie's got to go not just for setting the team up as a counter punching team, playing with one striker at home, but for playing Azeez in the belief he's up to this level of football, this strongly suggests that other influences are involved, perhaps envelops full of cash!.

Lawless has not kicked a ball this season, Dougie Imrie bossed the game, pure class, lawless should take stock, if he was half as good as Imrie then the next time he chaps the door with his begging bowl, we might listen.

Thistle just couldn't get the ball nevermind hold it. we not only looked like a team who were out classed but it looked as if there were more than one league of a difference. remember this is a crappy Hamilton we are talking about.

if there is any doubt, Elliot running the ball out of play said it all.....Please go now Archie and lets get a manager who plays attacking football, who realises the importance of the development side, and never got a coaching badge at Largs...GO NOW

A hole

Edited October 15, 2016 by Metz

[lady-isobel-barnett]

I think we could have done worse than sign Scott Boyd when county let him go.

Maybe we tried too and couldn't compete financially with killie

 

We'd only have ever offered Boyd a squad player wage on the unlikely chance he was interested. Archie sticks closely to his policy of trying to replace departing players with better or at least players of equal quality/potential. I've never thought that it would've been too much a challenge to improve on Frans but at this moment in time it certainly looks like we've not.

I'd just like to believe that there's still something left in the budget to bring in a centreback come January and Archie is just sticking to his signing policy. Probably wishful thinking as the Barton deal maybe used up the budget. No doubt have to get a player or two off the books to finance signing any quality centreback. Even if Devine was playing decent enough I still feel we need another centreback for cover.

[King Kenny]

Lindsay just as culpable as the rest. He and Divine are far too hesitant at any cross ball/ball in to box. I know many on here see him as a future star but I don't agree.He's far too slow.

 

Ziggy was far too easy at letting crosses in to box. Hamilton had a field day.

 

Barrton isnt fit.

 

Osman either isnt fit or way off form.

 

Lawless needs dropped.

 

We missed chances at start of 2nd half that would have seen us safe.

 

Doolan missed the same chance as Azeez did a few weeks ago yet was clapped. Double standards.

 

Keep that defensive rear guard all season and we are fooked.

[potty trained]

Its hard to sum up that game without pissing your pants in a tantrum, it would seem. But i'll give it a go...

 

Going by the first half, we are a joy to watch, going forward. But at the back we are a bombscare.

 

Going by the second half, we have little depth of squad going forward, and we're a bombscare at the back.

 

My dads on holiday and the difference in how i described us at half time and full time, was night and day.

 

That front four is our best option. A joy to watch when in full flight and worth the admission. Strangely Lawless was poor, but still added to the sum of the four parts.

 

We drew the game on the 3 substitutions. Yes, we conceded a second, i get that, but we didnt score more because of the three changes (and partly our fitness).

 

At the back i barely recall us clearing a cross into the box. Regardless of which defender was attempting to clear.

 

Scully: i have no fear at all of him starting. Proved himself over the last few weeks.

 

Gordon: offered plenty going forward in the first half, pinned imrie back as a wing back, probably due to erskine. Beautiful ball over the top that led to Dools winning the corner for our second. Pinned back in the second by Imrie, due to Amoo coming on and it was interesting to see him and imrie have a personal battle late on. Very old school.

 

Devine: my patience is gone. Im always open to giving everyone a chance, giving people time to settle in, but this is a worry. I dont understand how, with the amount of scouting we do, that this is the player we thought we were signing. Surely he must be better than this?

 

Lindsay: calm, assured and classy. Played the ball with ease. Won his battles and when he had to clear long, he did so with precission. Balls into space or over the top to chase. Not just a hoof.

 

Booth: had the beating of their right, regardless of who he was up against but needs to work on his final ball. Him and Lawless together are a concern for me, defencively, down that side.

 

Osman: best 45 followed by his worst, of the season. When we were playing well, so was he, when we needed a calm head to close it down he went to pieces, clearing anywhere he could.

 

Barton: a joy to watch. Hes a yard ahead of everyone else on the park. But still not fit. Maybe the game the other week he was played due to osman being out, rather than him actually being ready. Once fit, he'll boss our games.

 

Erskine: i dread to think what we would be without him. I prey he recovers quickly. Shouldnt have been allowed to run off the injury. It was obvious he was done.

 

Edwards: gives everything he has, i cant imagine anyone likes playing against him. Deserved his goal.

 

Lawless: its frustrating sitting through the powderpuff sand dancing, waiting for the game changing turn and shot. Cant be many games away from it now.

 

Doolan: great to have him back. His goals will come. So cool when he just flicked the ball off the boy to win the corner for the goal.

 

Amoo: struggle to comment as most of what he did was up the other end. But it didnt feel like it was much. Didnt help gordon out at all really.

 

Azeez: great shot. Threw himself about but everyone else was knackered. Little support.

 

Elliott: i have nothing but admiration. Regardless of what hes told to do or where hes told to play, he does it. Support booth as a back 5? play as a left winger? He just gets on with it and gives his all. We're lucky to have someone who does what he does.

 

I sat at half time thinking, we have the making of hamilton. Cut out the shit at the back and carry on up front and we'll win by a few... its a pity we didnt cut out the shit at the back, too many players tired and the ones who came on offered little and had no support to try and offer more.

 

[Gnome on the Bing]

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.

 

 

 

 

[sabbath]

Its hard to sum up that game without pissing your pants in a tantrum, it would seem. But i'll give it a go...

 

Going by the first half, we are a joy to watch, going forward. But at the back we are a bombscare.

 

Going by the second half, we have little depth of squad going forward, and we're a bombscare at the back.

 

My dads on holiday and the difference in how i described us at half time and full time, was night and day.

 

That front four is our best option. A joy to watch when in full flight and worth the admission. Strangely Lawless was poor, but still added to the sum of the four parts.

 

We drew the game on the 3 substitutions. Yes, we conceded a second, i get that, but we didnt score more because of the three changes (and partly our fitness).

 

At the back i barely recall us clearing a cross into the box. Regardless of which defender was attempting to clear.

 

Scully: i have no fear at all of him starting. Proved himself over the last few weeks.

 

Gordon: offered plenty going forward in the first half, pinned imrie back as a wing back, probably due to erskine. Beautiful ball over the top that led to Dools winning the corner for our second. Pinned back in the second by Imrie, due to Amoo coming on and it was interesting to see him and imrie have a personal battle late on. Very old school.

 

Devine: my patience is gone. Im always open to giving everyone a chance, giving people time to settle in, but this is a worry. I dont understand how, with the amount of scouting we do, that this is the player we thought we were signing. Surely he must be better than this?

 

Lindsay: calm, assured and classy. Played the ball with ease. Won his battles and when he had to clear long, he did so with precission. Balls into space or over the top to chase. Not just a hoof.

 

Booth: had the beating of their right, regardless of who he was up against but needs to work on his final ball. Him and Lawless together are a concern for me, defencively, down that side.

 

Osman: best 45 followed by his worst, of the season. When we were playing well, so was he, when we needed a calm head to close it down he went to pieces, clearing anywhere he could.

 

Barton: a joy to watch. Hes a yard ahead of everyone else on the park. But still not fit. Maybe the game the other week he was played due to osman being out, rather than him actually being ready. Once fit, he'll boss our games.

 

Erskine: i dread to think what we would be without him. I prey he recovers quickly. Shouldnt have been allowed to run off the injury. It was obvious he was done.

 

Edwards: gives everything he has, i cant imagine anyone likes playing against him. Deserved his goal.

 

Lawless: its frustrating sitting through the powderpuff sand dancing, waiting for the game changing turn and shot. Cant be many games away from it now.

 

Doolan: great to have him back. His goals will come. So cool when he just flicked the ball off the boy to win the corner for the goal.

 

Amoo: struggle to comment as most of what he did was up the other end. But it didnt feel like it was much. Didnt help gordon out at all really.

 

Azeez: great shot. Threw himself about but everyone else was knackered. Little support.

 

Elliott: i have nothing but admiration. Regardless of what hes told to do or where hes told to play, he does it. Support booth as a back 5? play as a left winger? He just gets on with it and gives his all. We're lucky to have someone who does what he does.

 

I sat at half time thinking, we have the making of hamilton. Cut out the shit at the back and carry on up front and we'll win by a few... its a pity we didnt cut out the shit at the back, too many players tired and the ones who came on offered little and had no support to try and offer more.

Delusional

[sabbath]

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.

Open your and smell the coffee.

[Lindau]

Delusional

 

Indeed you are Sabbath!

 

Open your and smell the coffee.

 

???

[Lindau]

 

 

We'd only have ever offered Boyd a squad player wage on the unlikely chance he was interested. Archie sticks closely to his policy of trying to replace departing players with better or at least players of equal quality/potential. I've never thought that it would've been too much a challenge to improve on Frans but at this moment in time it certainly looks like we've not.

I'd just like to believe that there's still something left in the budget to bring in a centreback come January and Archie is just sticking to his signing policy. Probably wishful thinking as the Barton deal maybe used up the budget. No doubt have to get a player or two off the books to finance signing any quality centreback. Even if Devine was playing decent enough I still feel we need another centreback for cover.

 

 

The simple facts are that if we can't get at least another central defender in and I have been harping on about this since the start of the season, we are going to be either relegated or be in the play offs. The club has to find money from somewhere, even if it's a loan from the Weirs. I am still bamboozled by the managers thought process during the close season where he had one of the best defences we have had in years but no real effort was made to keep that unit. You could see how much it meant to them when they kept a clean sheet at full time, especially up the North Stand end. We have gone from that, to having Devine and Lindsay as our ONLY central defenders. What was in the managers head if either or both of them got injured/ suspended or hit a run of shocking form (Devine) We are also light up front. Dools and Azeez have not scored a league goal this season. God knows where we would have been without Erskine and Lindsay's goals this season. When everyone is fit at the club, the squad is ridiculously over blessed in midfield and seriously under manned in central defence and up front. Methinks this is going to be a long season!

[MonehJags]

Why do we play so many holding midfielders all the time? I believe our setup is fundamentally wrong. Its little wonder we were the lowest scorers last season

[flewjag]

Despite the result, my twelve year old's first time at Firhill on our trip from Australia was enjoyable. He loved meeting Kingsley before the game and loved the atmosphere in the North Stand, which is much more lively than what he has experienced at Perth Glory home games in Oz. Wants to go back next week for the home game against County before we fly back to Australia the next day. So that'll give Archie another £22 towards buying a defence! Good to see a West Aussie score our first goal!! The slapstick defending reminded me of my regular visits between 1979-1990 but it is still a good, yet frustrating, feeling to be a Jags fan......