Just In -- Relegation Material

[peagreenboy]

The last two games I've had the (mis)fortune to see -- the Hibs match and today's.

 

We weren't beaten, we simply lost by being pish. Opposing teams know exactly how to play us at Firhill, and win. even if we'd been given that stonewall penalty, would it have made a real difference in the end?

 

St Mirren are rotten, and yet we lost three nil today. We'll just have to hope two teams are even more rank than us come the end of the season. Or maybe we can play every game away from home.

 

And Gabriel -- thanks, but no thanks.

[Metz]

I can get down about a poor result as much as the next guy, but to suggest we are poor or rotten is far from the mark.

By your own account both Hibs and St Mirren are bad teams. The major difference and why we are ending up with bad results is they have guys in the team that can take a chance when it comes along. We in the main don't and probably more concerning is we really don't have any guille to fashen clear chances despite our possession. We had god knows how many corners but didn't even get a shot on target from them, they scored with their first and looked dangerous at most set pieces.

We are good to watch but that's not enough and Archie needs to find a way of creating more chances from the squad. Forbes would have created a chance from the corners but he isn't getting a chance and only Archie knows why. I think he has been loyal enough to last years squad maybe SOD's sending off is a blessing if McMillan is fit he could do a better job defending and going forward.

Let's keep the faith there's a long way to go and we are not as bad as you suggest we just need to find the way to win ugly like the teams around us can.

[Stewarty]

That was a difficult one to take, as St. Mirren looked like the decidedly average team that they are. Fair play to them though, they were clinical in front of goal, even if our defending was atrocious at times.

 

We had the lion's share of the possession in the first half but our lack of penetration remains a serious issue. I'm a real fan of our passing game, and would hate it were we to depart from this approach, but there has to be an end product and our final ball was awful today. Aside from some of Higginbotham's play there was no guile or invention; I'm not sure why Craigen is in the starting 11. Also, we're no longer a surprise package. Teams know how to nullify our marauding full-backs. Even Neil Lennon had the sense to tell Samaras and Brown to provide extra cover on the wings. And when you're getting out-thought by Neil Lennon you're in serious trouble.

 

And to return to the defending - man, that was a really bad day at the office. Muirhead lacks pace but I'd pick him every time ahead of Gabriel who, to use the cliche, is a bomb-scare. He's a misplaced pass/header/tackle waiting to happen.

 

So yes, SoD was daft to get sent off - there was no need to make that challenge; and yes, we were denied an obvious penalty. But we shouldn't be relying on a penalty to beat St Mirren. Archie will need to get his thinking cap on.

 

Positives? Not many. Higginbotham as usual, and Lawless, who looked decent on his return.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Stewarty

[stillresigned]

AARGH! You get fed up been beaten by crap teams like St Mirren. I'm going to avoid making a crass comment when I'm hacked off, suffice to say that if things don't improve we're going to end up in the relegation dogfight.

[angry gaz]

We've been sussed out. If we play out the season the way we are at the moment then we'll be bottom two . There is some real fundamental changes needed.We are getting caught out at the back constantly by having our two full backs pushing up at the same time and our corner kicks are almost pointless.How many did we have today and every one resulted in nothing.The ball was just getting whipped in to static players.Very poor .

Lots of good passing and movement inevitablly ends up resulting in nothing.Honestly didn't really feel at any point today we were going to score were as every time St Miren came up the park we looked shakey. I've eaten Mexican food that has given me the Sh!ts less than Gabby. A lot of below par performances today not just him.Seems to be a lack of conviction in all we are doing at the moment even Foxy at the second goal looked poor.We cant continue with the same tactics , system or formation much longer and the management are going to have to come up with somthing to stop us going into freefall. The ref was shite,,St Mirren were Shite and we were Shitier.

[Norgethistle]

St Mirren can shoot, we can't

St Mirren can take chances at corners, we can't

St Mirren changed the formation at HT, we can't

 

Sand dancing the ball around the half way mark may look nice but doesn't win games, only hibs have scored less than us this year

 

St Mirren 2 points behind 2 in hand'

Ross ccounty 3 points behind 2 games in hand

Killie are only 4 points behind us

 

We should be miless clear if we could score, shooting would be a start

[avie-man]

makes me think where is the progress getting tonked off a team like that. so mentally weak. first goal was so amateur. gabriel didn't have his worst game but still looks crap. bannigan has been shit for too long. still scratching my head at the muirhead for bannigan sub at that point in the game. bunnet esque. could really do with a thompson type player. a proper clinical striker. Need probably one or two players with a track record in the window or we're risking going back to the diddy leagues and 2000 crowds against livingston etc. no more kids on loan or unproven guys at this level.

 

referee was abysmal too. wee fat useless prick.

[David Stevenson]

Forbes would have created a chance from the corners but he isn't getting a chance and only Archie knows why.

 

Did you leave early? He took two corners from the JH stand, both of which went out of play. He also literally looked disinterested for the majority of his period on the pitch, though he did get a couple of decent passes off. Something wrong with his attitude if you ask me.

Edited November 9, 2013 by David Stevenson

[thebiglemon]

Don't agree that we were that bad. Shaky at crosses and can't finish but that (albeit crucial aspect aside) I thought our play was ok- they got their tactics right and the luck went their way- so many late blocks and deflections on shots and crosses as well

 

You can forget the last 2 goals as after the sending off we were done

 

Was in the North so couldn't see the handball but that will be a sickener if it is a stonewaller.

 

Still think we need more of a presence in the box as Doolan can only deal with the ball to feet- no ariel threat.which if you're playing in loads of crosses is an issue.

 

Hope the scouting system is beavering away for a couple of January moves

[BowenBoys]

Our corners are woeful. Our defending at corners is, er, woeful.

[David Stevenson]

I will be interested to hear Archie's rationale for the starting line-up and the subs. If Aero is fit he should be ahead of Gabriel. With Conrad and Aero in central defence we look decent. The alternatives have been proven to be awful. The substitutions were really strange even allowing for the sending off. The handball could not have been more blatant. O'Donnell's sending off? Looked innocuous for a yellow.

[Albert's Ghost]

We had 14 corners. They had 2. Their 2 were better than all our 14.

[The Cup]

Hearts beat Aberdeen 3-1.

Losing 4-0 to them was another disgrace.

[Noel Edmonds]

Well did anyone, considering we have probably the lowest resources I the league, expect us to be anything other than relegation material? Up to and including today, our start to the season has been ok, nothing worth letting the bottles crash over. I would say in terms of where we can improve, the corner issue is one area. The one constant in our games, even the ones we've been getting pumped in, is that we have a high corner count. Yet we keep our only set-piece specialist on the bench and give the duties to Higginbotham, who almost always drills his corners into the first man. These are wasted opportunities, and Forbes needs to be starting games now. Although that's just one of many areas where we can improve.

[Rid Skwerr]

If only we experienced defenders on the management side.....

Oh, wait a minute!

 

:-(

[The Cup]

I now have serious doubt whether Archibald has got it in him to compete with the other Premier managers.

Passing it sideways is decent enough to watch but not when there first shot goes in the back on the net after a big hoof up the park.

 

Totally sickened.

[BowenBoys]

Well did anyone, considering we have probably the lowest resources I the league, expect us to be anything other than relegation material? Up to and including today, our start to the season has been ok, nothing worth letting the bottles crash over. I would say in terms of where we can improve, the corner issue is one area. The one constant in our games, even the ones we've been getting pumped in, is that we have a high corner count. Yet we keep our only set-piece specialist on the bench and give the duties to Higginbotham, who almost always drills his corners into the first man. These are wasted opportunities, and Forbes needs to be starting games now. Although that's just one of many areas where we can improve.

 

I don't agree that losing 3 - 0 at home to one of our close rivals is 'doing ok'.

 

Forbes failed to grasp his opportunity to impress when he came on. Our only set-piece specialist failed to get one of his corners into play. I agree, however, that Higginbotham shouldn't be taking corners, they are shocking.

Edited November 9, 2013 by BowenBoys

[Norgethistle]

On the subs side.

 

Chasing the game we take a defender off and stick an attacker on, so far so good

We then move our best midfielder to defence........... WTF

Why not leave Piccolo on who was doing ok and take a midfielder off for the forward instead of playing Ozzie out of position.

 

Then we take Banzo off and stick Aero on ??????????

 

If Aero was fit he should have started with Conrad in the centre

Don't move our best central midfielder out of position

 

And get this team practicing taking shots without having to take 2 or 3 touches

[thistlenowthistleforever]

It looks like old pals act between archie and the players who need dropped. Mark Kerr should have been in today! The starting eleven have been border line gash for weeks

[David Stevenson]

It looks like old pals act between archie and the players who need dropped. Mark Kerr should have been in today! The starting eleven have been border line gash for weeks

 

Don't think so. Mark Kerr IS one of Archie's old pals, after all.

[thistlenowthistleforever]

 

 

Don't think so. Mark Kerr IS one of Archie's old pals, after all.

 

If that is the case then Archie is letting this forum pick the team

[Third Lanark]

On the subs side.

 

Chasing the game we take a defender off and stick an attacker on, so far so good

We then move our best midfielder to defence........... WTF

Why not leave Piccolo on who was doing ok and take a midfielder off for the forward instead of playing Ozzie out of position.

 

Then we take Banzo off and stick Aero on ??????????

 

If Aero was fit he should have started with Conrad in the centre

Don't move our best central midfielder out of position

 

And get this team practicing taking shots without having to take 2 or 3 touches

Was he really though? As another poster said 14 goals conceded when has played suggests he is not blameless

I would have put Baird on, for all he gets pelters, I do believe he makes an effort whereas several others clearly today did not

Edited November 9, 2013 by Third Lanark

[One t in Scotland]

When 5 or 6 guys are off form we'll get gubbed every time in this league. Fox and Doolan in particular were absolutely honking.

[Lenziejag]

We are losing games because we keep giving away soft goals. The confidence just drained after their first. This is where the priority has to be in Jan.

 

On the attacking side, we need to be faster going forward and more direct.

 

I still think we will be ok. St Mirrens games in hand are vs Celtic and County and County's other game is vs Inverness. Killie seem to be just as bad defensively as us and I think Hearts have too much to make up

[flashman]

We are desperately short of dig, Osbourne & Higginbotham apart. As for the tactics, I'm sick of hearing that we can only play this one way with the players we have. Surely as a manager you have a responsibility to make sure there are at least 3-4 formations we can play depending on how the game is going?

 

The passing is nice, but ineffectual in the final third. We are missing a few chances, but we are not making enough clear cut chances. Also noticed a few players taking at least one extra touch when they should have had a shot.

 

The guys in the squad not getting a game must be destroyed, they can't even get into a team who haven't won at home yet. Someone mentioned the lack of threat at corners, Forbes and Mukendi would be worth giving a go if only for the amount of corners we get.

 

For me Bannigan needs taken out of the firing line in the same way as Joe Hart. His head is not in it at the moment, though he has undoubted potential.

 

Gabriel looks mostly pish, which is a shame. I thought as two central defenders our management team would have brought more out of him. His confidence is shot.