MrDust

We can't compete in the 2nd tier and basing a manager on one club does not mean it will happen again. He is progressive and not stuck on a team starting formation with a 4 or a 5....the 5 is coming soon if Houston remains

Nope, Houston picks team, tactics and manages. I'd throw in Holt for the season, cheap option but also had us playing decent stuff. Not a popular choice due to the hibs disaster and seemingly being a dick....but Houston is being a dick at the moment. I couldn't care less if a dick had us actually looking like a team, but our current dick isnt How would McCall be a disaster, a manager who isn't stuck on 4 -x-x He can coach players to be better than they are, can Houston ? In the Houston era, we have went from a club who promotes youth to get in first team jobbers, wage bill gone up 42% and are we any closer ?

I'm not suggesting we have loads of players to make the step up but why are we giving new contracts to Finlayson 19yr old and Henderson 21yr old if neither aren't knocking on the first team door. How long till we think these players will be ready, neither feature on the bench. We had O'Hara scoring a hat trick in the reserves last season, first team couldn't score in a barrel of fannies, surely O'Hara makes the bench...No it's the same so called experienced duds. Houston could have disillusioned O'Hara last season with leaving him to see how high he can jump, yet inferior Shepherd is afore him. Shepherd is another one, four seasons since he has kicked a ball for us, unless you are counting one cross and hitting the post from 4yards out, yet we sign him up for 2 more years. Our development team has suffered, dunno if the link to first team is now gone unless Houston's hands are tied or the coaching is to blame

The figures we are now getting now is due to the lack of first team achievements, Botti, Blair and perhaps now Gallagher haven't played the quota of first team games or been an important cog in the team like the ones that have left previously. This part won't give our BOD much to bargain with, the well is pretty much dry as our manager fails to promote from the youth team. If Gallacher does move on, it's a miracle we managed to get fees as high for him and Blair, the cup final appearance sold Botti.

Had another look at the 2nd goal (painfully)and hard to disagree with that, the defensive line is a pure mess and if we are keeping a line, it should be the centre of defence keeping it high or deep. Our defence in one word, shambles

We needed experience in there, especially going down the 18yr old ful back route. Watson and Grant have had a few decent displays but Watson and another has always looked a mistake waiting to happen. The horror show against united in play offs surely should've sealed his way out of the club.....but no

He isn't ready for first team week in week out, we lost 2 goals on Saturday, easily from the left hand side, thankfully one was offside, to suggest he was good going forward defeats the purpose if we are losing games due to a defender being unable to defend. If this pattern continues, it won't be Barcelona interested, it will be Buckie thistle Shepherd hasn't kicked a ball for us for 4 seasons, I am in no doubt we will add another two seasons to that now When the manager states in post match interview we have never played an offside line and we should defend first, then didn't Muirhead comply with the managers words

We sharing the driving ?

It wasn't a dig at players getting sold before making the first team, its not just coincidence that the players coming through under Houston tenure, that all of them have made not much a note in the first team, the likes of Blair and Botti are really the only players that have come through, the latter only because his failing in the transfer market. Our business model has been drawn on basically selling a player we bring through, yet under Houston we aren't bringing anyone through, our team is made up of league jobbers

Every team in the league this season has cut its cloth accordingly to the money that will come in, losing Hibs, Raith and Ayr to get Inverness, Brechin and Livvy is massive downfall. The quality argument falls on Houston's head as he has failed to replace what he inherited with like for like quality or even better. Kerr, Hippo, Taiwo and Baird really have been his only successes and two of them were players we players we didn't fully need, yes they improved us but taiwo and Vaulks were doing superb, he brings Kerr in and Vaulks loses his way for a bit, Sibbs was doing well on the left, he brings Hippo in. I'd mention Austin as a success to some extent, but I said this season is his season to prove it. We have had numerous right wingers, not replaced Duffie and now the case with Leahy, none of the centre backs are as good to what he inherited and he has had to go back to what he inherited to improve his strikers. Has Houston improved our squad ? He has for sure stopped the youth policy of players coming through to first team, as we now sell players who barely kick a ball for us

Why stop at 5th August..... I think we can date it back a season. It will be doom and gloom in how much the missing 500 or so season tickets are hurting them financially, wouldn't be surprised if it was said that the board are filling the gap and the only way we can invest in squad is the recent fund raising event thing. Houston will say Loy will be a final piece of the jigsaw in our team once fit, we needed a right sided mid in Harris and a goalkeeper in Mitchell. His hands are tied due to the missing 500. I tend to find that these meetings pre going can look like they will be messy are usually defused and most fans are disappointed on the way out.

Our goal on Saturday with 9 men was the pass and move we showed 5 week ago onwards till St Mirren , so we have the game in us. The ability to defend when it was needed has shown us up badly and basically continued from last seasons poor defensive showings. Hopefully it will click sooner rather later to at least spirited yaas, questions do need to be asked about a huge imbalanced squad tho.

I suppose the level of fall out of Muirhead and fitness of Loy and Hippo. It would be madness and point out fully the imbalance of our squad if we have no defensive cover on the bench if we continue to use Grant, Watson and Luca in the 11

I spelt it out before a ball was kicked on Saturday that I feared a Luca and Watson partnership, surely no one has forgot the comedy capers at the last Dufc game. I'd probably look at a back three for Saturday but Houston won't, wouldn't be surprised if he went for 5 at the back tho. One thing about Saturday is our bench will be pretty sparse, if Finlayson isn't considered for the 11, surely will be on the bench

Gallacher is a baller and that's probably got recognised in a league where Shepherd is lethal. We need left back pronto or a formation that takes the defending to a lesser importance, anyone watching us will pin point the left hand side

When our goals lost come mainly from the left hand side or central, I think he is looking at the wrong side. Houston has failed, there's where the problem lies, he has obviously lost the dressing room, fails to promote youth and has left us with a hugely imbalanced squad

I don't think Kerr has been overly poor pre today, last week he obviously was instructed to go between our centre halves, get the ball from our keeper and play it out, the equivalent of asking our striker to drop to centre midfield and be a striker. On today, can anyone fill me in why muirhead was subbed....the weak link is our left side and muirhead wasn't overly poor, the central defence of Luca and Watson = fuk up central, none of them would say boo to a ghost and Watson to me is a waste of a Jersey, ok for a full in not a starter. The fact Houston put Grant = I fuked up Sorry Houstie, u ride ur luck first season, following season had a touch of it, season after fluked it and this season you have been found out. Time to retire semi gracefully

Alston expendable after starting 2 outta 3 domestic games so far and I know he started one of the two euro games, maybe two, can't be arsed to look More chance of us getting O'Halloran on loan from them. At least the Perth soccer fans up there are consistent with their rumours

It's not a cash cow with prize money and crowds are pitiful and with cheaper prices. The competition only gets interesting at the semi final stages and final, adding colt teams is a serious joke but I wouldn't be against adding English non league teams if possible, making it a pisher version of the Texaco cup. I suppose being organised by our leaders and the state of our game meant we were scraping the barrel with what we could get. The one thing I will say about it is I think it helped develop our younger players the last time we won it, it gave them a winning mentality and eased them in bit by bit playing lower league teams, but it's a joke competition now and no a funny one

We have over achieved position wise 2 seasons out of 3, I'm kinda in a thot trance that Houston perhaps likes being the bigger underdog and his play suits that. I still think it's a miracle that we finished 2nd last season, the league table doesn't lie but by fluke/everyone being shiter than shite is the reason we got 2nd. My full opinion tho is that Houston has failed in getting team selection and subs right last season and there is little to point that it's changed, never mind the unbalanced squad with fewer players I didn't think Harris was that good, he just got the ball and passed it back to Luca, sorry but I expect him to try an take a man on

I'd have both the UTD and Dunfermline home wins as good performances as down to the opposition were that poor. I doubt I'll ever see a utd performance at the TFS as bad as that day, same could be said for Dunfermline, where both them couldn't pass a ball 3 yards We could've played our development team and won on those games

Sibbs is far too left sided to go right, didn't work when Houstie moved him there to bring on Hippo (can't recall game)where he also put Alston at right back, which to date is still Housties worst sub alterations as he didn't want to upset Alston or Sibbs. Tho he is pushing the barriers with worst sub's I was very much in the Watson and Grant, I'm more inclined to go with Luca and Grant now, Watson has appeared to go missing so far.

I can only see Sibbald starting if we play a 4-4-1-1, Houston won't swap Hippo to the right which seems the best option for me

Stranger things have happened on deadline day. There surely is a slim chance he may get a move, our board will more than likely be easier to deal with re a compo fee either on the 31st August or leading to it. A reduced fee and add ons usually do the trick, a club that haven't perhaps started well, an English club who may have got through their league cup and got a decent draw. Sibbs agent if worth owt will be sniffing around till the end of this month, knowing full well the Falkirk safety net will be there, which is why I can't see this being resolved till September

I don't think anyone is blaming Sibbald, but if his contract ended this season and he left for hee haw then there would be plenty blaming the board. We owe Sibbald nothing and the club don't owe him anything. I hope he does sign on again but it's all become a charade on both parts