Livi Game

[King Kenny]

I didn't think Diack was great on Saturday. Plenty of effort but he's still very raw and seemed to be a little off the pace. 

By that I mean he seemed to take a spilt second too long in a lot of his play which allowed the defenders to take the ball off him. I think Lyon is in the same boat to be honest, never been that impressed with him. 

The only way these boys will improve is by getting game time but I don't think in our current predicament we can afford to try and bed them in. 

Diack would have really benefited from a loan deal but with our lack of striking options that was never going to happen. Obviously the form of Graham is a concern but he'd still be my pick to start over Diack. 

Lyon has been to both Stenhousemuir and East Fife and by all accounts hasn't performed that well. If you compare him to Bannigan at a similar age, he had a great loan spell and came back ready for the first team.

I'd have Mackenzie ahead of Lyon in the pecking order now.  

[sandy]

On 10/6/2024 at 2:03 PM, laukat said:

Now that Robinson is back our injuries are really not much of an excuse. 

MacKay and Lawless are a miss but we are well covered for wingers. Ablade looks a player but I don't think Doolan signed him to start.

So I would assume the manager can now play his preferred formation which is probably still 4-2-3-1.

It will require the manager to go with Chalmers or Smith and choose which of McBeth and Crawford doesn't start. Personally I like Crawford but I think he's more suited to 4-4-2.

With that in mind I would have thought Doolan wanted the following:

                       Roberts

Megwa-Ashcroft-O'Reilly-Milne

                 McBeth-Turner

      Chalmers-Robinson-Fitzpatrick

                      Graham

That’s a decent line-up. One thing for sure though, Turner is wasted out wide. 

[laukat]

1 hour ago, sandy said:

That’s a decent line-up. One thing for sure though, Turner is wasted out wide. 

He was wasted on Saturday playing in whatever position it was meant to be as he wasn't playing as winger and wasn't really playing as a wide midfielder. At best it was the right side of a narrow midfield 3.

He's also in my mind wasted as playing in a defensive midfield position. He's good at linking midfield to attack with someone else in midfield assigned to defensive duties. 

I think he's been largely played out of position for most of this season and its started to effect things like his dead ball delivery. Just looks low on confidence from being asked to play in too many strange positions and formations.

[Jaggernaut]

2 hours ago, laukat said:

He was wasted on Saturday playing in whatever position it was meant to be as he wasn't playing as winger and wasn't really playing as a wide midfielder. At best it was the right side of a narrow midfield 3.

He's also in my mind wasted as playing in a defensive midfield position. He's good at linking midfield to attack with someone else in midfield assigned to defensive duties. 

I think he's been largely played out of position for most of this season and its started to effect things like his dead ball delivery. Just looks low on confidence from being asked to play in too many strange positions and formations.

Good points there, which might explain some things. But I wonder whether the same "excuse"  couldn't be give to other players.....

[Auld Jag]

Surprised that nobody has mentioned the penalty claim we had in the first 5 minutes. Fitzpatrick crossed the ball in and the defender clearly hit the ball with his arm well below the 't shirt' line they talk about. Thought at the time it was a clear pen and after watching highlights of other games over the weekend where fouls were given for similar, i am sure we should have had one.

 

[Norgethistle]

I don’t think we played badly in the first half, final ball was missing at times but defensively we were sound and looked more dangerous than previous games going forward. 2nd half we lost the midfield and Doolans subs probably saved us the point by stiffening up the team. 
Think creativity is stifled as mentally team are afraid of going forward too much due to us not scoring and scared of losing a goal and losing 1-0. 
We’re off the pace of winning the league currently, but I’ve also seen Thistle look like romping the league after first quarter and ending up mid table. A lot of football still to be played and I think a couple of games where we get an early goal will completely change the performance, results and mentality 

[javeajag]

8 hours ago, Norgethistle said:

I don’t think we played badly in the first half, final ball was missing at times but defensively we were sound and looked more dangerous than previous games going forward. 2nd half we lost the midfield and Doolans subs probably saved us the point by stiffening up the team. 
Think creativity is stifled as mentally team are afraid of going forward too much due to us not scoring and scared of losing a goal and losing 1-0. 
We’re off the pace of winning the league currently, but I’ve also seen Thistle look like romping the league after first quarter and ending up mid table. A lot of football still to be played and I think a couple of games where we get an early goal will completely change the performance, results and mentality 

That’s another way of saying the manager and team are underperforming 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2024 by javeajag

[Duke Gekantawa]

1 hour ago, javeajag said:

That’s another way of saying the manager and team are underperforming 

 

 

Whereever you stand on whether Doolan should be given more time, or not, - I suspect that no one actually disagrees that the manager and team are underperforming.