Rover the Moon

Agree with this. If the budget's being reduced a fair bit then it doesn't make much sense to me to keep Thomson, Bene, Davo and Murray, especially with McKay doing so well when called upon this season. I would be keeping Davo and Murray to play a back four of Murray-McKay-Davo-Watson/new RB. I can understand why Smith's keen to keep the best performing part of the team intact but we're crying out for more creativity and goals so I'd be using a bit extra to solve that issue. Would be good to have a marauding full-back like Craig Wilson or Thomson of a few seasons ago as it offers an extra dimension and attacking outlet which we lack. Crucial recruitment spell ahead. Fingers crossed Smith gets it right.

No salty tears from me about Saturday. Big disappointment of course but predictable end to an unpredictable season. In terms of our playing 'style', I've got no real issue with playing direct/percentage/hoofball tactics as long as we've got the players to make it work. McGlynn succeeded by having one of his front players capable of winning headers and, most importantly, able to bring the ball down on their chest and bringing others into the game in the final third - allowing us to dominate from there. Whether it was Hislop, Graham, Tade, Clarke, Casa or even Kev Smith, it worked. Coupled with hard-working b*****ds like Weir or Baird made us dangerous despite being fairly direct. Smith's problem stems from buying entirely the wrong front players to fit into his tactics. The only one we have who is remotely capable of dealing with the awful chipped balls from the likes of Thomson is Jonny Court, who can barely have a combined 90 mins of league football under his belt all year. He's only thrown on in desperate times. The issue regarding Vaughan thriving coming from wide is also valid. Saturday was crying out for something, anything, to mix it up and make Alloa think or even run. Swapping the wingers for a spell was one option, another was putting Vaughan left, Barr right and Zanatta through the middle for a bit to ask different questions of the defence. None of these were even tried for 5 mins. That's perhaps the most damning thing about Smith's tactics - it's safety first and no clever plans to alter a game. Obviously it would be great to play like Man City but we can still be successful in other ways if needs be. My concern is that Smith can't even see where the most obvious shortcomings were on Saturday in such a crucial match. Anyway, onwards and hopefully upwards. Well done to Ayr. Bit frustrating we couldn't finish above a team losing almost a quarter of their league games but table doesn't lie.

Double whammy with the lack of a capital 'C' too.

Massive difference between being ready for the Premier in 1981 and getting out of the Seaside League in 2018.

Totally agree. On paper, this squad is more talented than the one that won this league in 2009. But who wouldn't prefer the often limited Ferry, Sloan, Walker, Simmons, Wilson and Weir over Barr, Zanatta, Robertson, Matthews, Thomson and Buchanan? And then there were outstanding part-timers like McGurn and Campbell. It was a fairly basic set of principles which succeeded. Frustrating we haven't replicated it this year.

Arguably the most distressing thing about our current implosion is that we're doomed to be in this dreadful forum for years to come. #woefulbantz

Forgive the pedantry, but Sinton's now saying in the FFP that "there must be at least 15 SPFL teams" with plastic pitches - up from "14 or 15" earlier this week. Who are the two (or more) clubs who have installed pitches within seven days? I know he's Sim's puppet but he needs to find a story and stick to it. I'm not a fan of plastic pitches and would question the business case for needing one in Kirkcaldy - as that seems to be a major part of the push for it. I'd be focusing more on developing corporate boxes in the Railway Stand like Dunfermline have at the front of their main stand. I also wonder what impact it might have in attracting players who have maybe had knee/ankle injuries before. Steven Naismith said this week he ruled out returning to Killie because of their pitch and his previous cruciate problems. Can you imagine Lewis having a recurrence of his injury on day one of the new season because of the pitch?

Sinton says there are "around 14 or 15" clubs with plastic pitches. Surely he knows how many if we've done proper analysis of their pros/cons. A bit lazy on the numbers for my liking. Doesn't bode well.

Think folk expecting a rush of signings in January to cure our ills are being deluded. Sim won't chuck money at this (see the will-we-won't-we saga of signing a CB before being scuppered by medical bills) so I reckon we'll be pretty much going with what we've got until May. Maybe one young loanee but that's unlikely to have the effect of Connolly, Longridge, Hardie etc from McKinnon's January window. Strap yourselves in folks.

Wouldn't be surprised to see many more departures. It's Sim's baby now and if he wants to do something, he'll just do it.

Andy Webster (CB) and Bob Harris (LB) are free agents.

Mackie from Hibs on loan at LB?

We certainly can't continue with Robertson at CB. He did well considering the circumstances but was badly caught under the ball a couple of times and lacks the defensive know-how needed in that position. Get McKay/Valentine/whoever is the most appropriate and competent defender out of the kids and throw them in. This is how they learn and progress - and it can also act as a spur for others that they can get their chance in the 1st team. He'll have experience around him to help and we're also going to have most of the possession/pressure so it's not a bad game to do it.

...and pick up a booking. Pretty poor game. Disappointed we didn't use the ball better and knock it about, making Brora run and tire. Rarely got it wide and took on the full-backs either. Berry looked neat and tidy, will get more confident with every game he plays. Osei took his goal well and is a real asset to have against tiring defences and away games playing on the break. Callachan very good, impressed by his presence and confidence as captain.

I agree with this. Barr is a decent defender when fit but as budgets get squeezed further then you can't afford risks like him. The only other solution is to knock him out and when he comes round give him a Burns supper and tell him it's almost February. Job done.

Couldn't handle another Dick getting the manager's job. That'd be three in a row.

I agree he wasn't playing well during the games he got with us this year. I also remember him getting pelters for trying to score with every free-kick he took, no matter where it was. But when we were in the midst of a winless run where we couldn't buy a goal, Locke still didn't give him a chance. Madness. As for "1 or 2" goals for Dumbarton contributing to our relegation, he scored in a 1-0 win over Morton, 1-1 draw at St Mirren, and both 2-2s at Falkirk and Dundee Utd. So every goal for them was crucial which makes the deal even more barmy. And his last goal for Rovers wasn't two years ago, he got a couple in the cup in July.

Interesting side note to the statement about controlling Locke's recruitment will be what that means to the new boss and bringing in his own players. Interfering in the manager's job is probably not the best route to go down - especially when you've yet to appoint one. Awkward interview.

That's a good thing?

Car crash of a season with a typically fitting ending. Worrying to hear rumours of savage cuts already but presume the BoD budgeted for mid table finish or better so 9th and relegated is a massive blow. Questions need to be asked of their decisions this season - and answers given. We do need to take some time and not make knee-jerk reactions (like telling all the players they can GTF). Vital to keep Matthews, Vaughan and Callaghan plus Bene and Cuthbert and prob Court. The rest? Meh. Get the right boss in and we'll be fine.

Jack Ross wasn't quite working wonders at Alloa when we appointed Locke. It was his amazing start to the season that landed him the Saints job. He would certainly have been a better bet than the bold Gary though. As for the play-offs, I don't have great expectations either. But when you look at Airdrie and Brechin, both teams have lost something like 16 league games (one fewer than us) in a much poorer league. It's only Alloa who have anything like a decent top of the table record. Remarkable it's come to this.

What's the point of having someone who for THREE YEARS has only played in the 2nd half of the season - mainly from the end of Feb? We can't afford such passengers/luxuries on our budget. But yet again we have fans saying we should take a punt on next year being the one where he's finally fit. Give me a break.

Website says deal 'could' see him stay until summer 2018. Hopefully it's appearance based and we can get rid.

Let's ditch the talk about even considering keeping Craig Barr. Complete waste of a wage every single season.

Not had random foreign goalie excitement for more than a decade. We must've gone nearly 10 years with only foreign keepers - Guido, Monin, Miotto, Ojeda, Gonzalez, Berthelot, Pounnosamy (sp?). Welcome Pavol.