Grant

Signing about to be announced.

Take a draw in the end. The first half showed the failings of the team, and formation against Hamilton. The centre midfield (weakest point in the team) is so weak that if you're wide men aren't on form we're inspid, and we were in the first half. Second half and a change of shape, I thought that Cole and Pybus then had a good game, fair play to Yogi for the change! Pybus suits a midfield two far more, Cole came on and while not everything worked his ability to turn the defence was key, Dorrans didn't really suit that wide attacking left role at all though. Dow (or when he's fit) Thomas would be better, with the shape we seemed to insist that Edwards was positioned really high and left which didn't work, no fault on Edwards who has a good game I thought, just too much was asked of him. However would we then be too open? Who knows. In the end a draws a good result, interesting having Cole in the mix, he done well.

This is really bad.

Meeting someone coming from Edinburgh so it'll be the Lizzie, in the town post match.

Fair dinkum. Always time for opinions to change, football fans are notoriously fickle. I think if he was in a good possession based team ala Raith with Ross Mathew's next to him and Ross and Zanatta out wide he'd look good. We simply don't have the right players to make our Central midfield tick. I thought it was quite a bold shout for Dorrans to start on the bench, if he's available he's tended to start.

And from reading those who watched him in Australia, he didn't set the heather alight out there either. You'd have to go back years, and years to try and find performances that justify him being our best paid player, while ignoring years worth of average performances. I'm also guessing that we would've offered him on the contract based on his history, rather than us having a scouting network in the Australian league tipping us of? He's alright, we don't particularly miss him when he's not playing, and when he does he's more likely to slow the tempo down than he is to progress us up the park, as with most things they need blanaced up, for what we'll be giving Dorrans he quite frankly isn't giving enough back, that doesn't necessarily make him a bad player, but it does mean he's not been a good signing. You say you don't talk down to people, however you then say in the last paragraph that you know what you said is condescending? I didn't imply that at all, my post was clearly about how midfield was our biggest problem, asking you to ask Yogi about that while showing evidence about the whole team structure is done with the centre midfield deficiencys in mind is inferring exactly that, centre midfield is our biggest problem, don't get angsty because you're looking so deeply into posts to try help your own narrative. There's a good amount of justification for criticising Dorrans performances, unsurprisingly when we've been stinking the league out for most of the season. Likewise it's pretty hard to say whether Yogi has been a good, or bad choice. There's sadly some worrying signs in his tenure though that people were worried about when he was appointed. However he might turn out good. Or maybe, just a thought, that merely playing as a centre back doesn't make you an oracle of knowledge for everything there is to know about the game? I played as a defender but its not like me yeeting balls into the channel for a striker to chase gives me special insight into the game. It also doesn't make me more likely to criticise a midfielder, than it does for me to criticise a goalkeeper, a striker or, a defender. I won't take your advice because I already am calm, now if I capitalising random words? That would come across as angsty. there'll be opinions I have on our state of play that absolutely won't align with what other posters think, and that's alright, it doesn't mean that they don't know what they're talking about, that's football. I don't hold my opinion of it in such a regard that I think what I say, is.

Nah I'm alright, cheers for the concern though. Maybe don't talk down to people as much? I have no idea who you are, and quite frankly couldn't care less what level you played it. I'd imagine Yogi top trumps you on that and it's certainly the position we feels we're weakest in, again though, relevancy? I know you didn't say that midfield wasn't a problem, likewise I never said that you didn't say that. Trying to pass of your opinions as facts isn't a good look. Your assertion that "anyone who says that he has been poor really hasn't got a clue what they're watching to be honest." is far more offensive than any swearing I done. Now, once you KNOCK that off and the RANDOM full capital words there might be a discussion to be had.

I did read it, you're welcome to assume what you may. In short, because it's ****ing ****e. What you're saying about about the team being set up being key to how the midfield performs is nothing new, I posted on it a while back with regards to the abuse that Todd and Allan receive, they were getting hung out to dry with the system we were playing. Likewise you need to accept and appreciate why Hughes was trying to flood the middle of the park, because the bodies we have in there are quite frankly not good enough. We have a few of them, absolutely none of them posses the defensive nouse required to protect the defence, how many goals have we conceded with balls at the edge of the box being rifled in with our centre midfield being posted missing? Dorrans as the deepest midfielder should be doing this job, however unsurprisingly for a player who's played the majority of his career as a winger and an attacking midfielder he's a empty shirt with regards to defending. By the nature of the beast wingers at this level are inconsistent, Lawless and Dow both had good games at the weekend which led to a glut of chances, over a season that'll be a rarity. It then falls on your centre midfield to break lines, and progress the ball, and from that centre midfield who do you have that can do that? Christ add Dorrans into it if you want but that's no longer his game. The only player we have that is close to that is Wilson, and he's crocked. Pybus runs around allot, but if you're wanting quick, incisive passes? ****. He's not even adapt at breaking up play or making tackles. I like Allan, he actually does the Dorrans job probably as good as Dorrans, Todd? Well I'm not sure what role he's trying to play. If you don't think centre midfield is a problem go ask the manager, ask him why it is he's packing the midfield, why it is that we're playing McCann upfront rather than two up front, or even our best strikers up front. And it's because of our centre midfield. It isn't good at supplying our forwards with chances, and it's even worse at protecting the centre backs, it's horrid.

Aye it is.

At best he done OK, realistically Dundee were pretty happy for him to go so they could reinvest those wages. To give him a two year deal of the back of that, is baffling tbh. He's been a poor signing relative to how much he'll be getting paid.

"How did he do at this level with Dundee" We're literally bottom of the league, with centre midfield being our biggest problem. Dorrans will likely be one of our highest earners, I struggle to see how he can be classed as a good signing tbh.

We're bottom of the league Raymie, and are pretty desperate. Arbroath a little less so! It's a shame how it's worked out for Wighton, he could've, and should've been great for us.

Who replaces Connolly is the big question, currently it's between Martin and Breen I'd imagine.

Agreed, its not a shock that Edwards and Comrie had there best games in a while in a shape that gave them some protection going back, but just as importantly gave them someone to play and interact with going forward? So often over the past few weeks you'd have Edwards receiving the ball at about the half way line with no one in front of him to play one twos with, potentially overlap etc. I've been critical of Edwards weight of pass in the past, but he has a fantastic cross in his locker (Raith away earlier in the season), it's a crying shame that there's been a few players hung out to dry with the shape, and the jobs we've asked them to do this season.

We haven't a big, or good enough squad to ring 5 or 6 changes. If Breen, Dorrans, Connolly and Todorov/O'Hara (and providing they were are fit) had started instead of Donaldson, Martin, Todd and McCann I think we would have had just as good a chance. I don't beleive it was some masterstroke of man management that got the win, I think playing the players in a shape far more suited to there abilities was far, far, far more important. And it's something people have been saying for weeks. You talk about disharmony, what are the subs and reserves thinking? They're so far out of the reckoning Yogi won't pick them even after we've been scudded by five.

While he played pretty much the same team, he set them up very differently which was far more important. Who would've thought that playing wide midfielders Lawless and Dow out wide would work?

Aye, this.

John Hughes.

Spencer aswell.

We currently have a weaker squad than we did at the start of the window. Which is a bit sad.

Todd looked like he had loads of potential when he broke through, there was a fearlessness in his play and I liked him. He didn't play for a couple of years though and he seemed to have really regressed. Allan looks neat and tidy on the ball, it's not helping him that our midfield is so horrific that there's no balance to it whoever we play, once you factor in that we're structured so defensively then it becomes a nightmare situation for any centre midfielder. Our best performance of the season against Ayr we had Thomas, and to a degree Dow providing width, when you've got that the opposition need to react and can't just bottle up the middle which is what we're repeatedly seing at the moment. A bit more space about the park, some players for the opposition to worry about and everything looked a whole lot more rosey. The central midfield is a problem, but it's really not being helped by the same Yogi is setting up the team.

Wighton is our best striker. If we were in our current position and we were linked with a striker with Wightons record we would be quite chuffed, the fact he can't get into the team is baffling.

Aye, he had a really good scoring record. Had being the optimal word, he looked done at this level when he left Partick, and in the three years (and three different teams since) he's not made any impact and has shown nothing to suggest he's any good at this level anymore.

Doolan is miles away from the quality needed, in a position we've got plenty cover in.

I'd seem the identity of his replacement mooted on twitter, it must've been about a month the meeting.