Coventry Saint

As I said, that formation was suicidal. 4-4-1-1 with Connolly on now, I assume.

Direct, if not 'long'. We'll be very counter-attacking. I think we'll get to see Dennis and Connolly for at least 20mins each today. Possibly sooner if Kyle can't run again. Edit: I say 'we'... Am I f**k as giving St Johnstone the fat end of twenty notes. I'll have to catch it on Alba later.

Fucking hell, I really wasn't a million miles away here: three wrong, but they are all like-for-like in terms of attacking intent/setup. That is one hell of a forward-thinking lineup. I hope we don't regret it.

Randomguy doesn't do accuracy.

That's why the ref missed the Shaughnessy challenge.

They do. Sadly, teams aren't relegated on aesthetics alone.

That's ridiculous. They can't possibly be that sure we're finishing above you.

So... it's 100% happening?

Ooft.

All that's true, but I just think, based on what I've seen of them, that they're going to really push Celtic this year. Lennon's position being shaky reinforces the importance of a bit of stability for Rangers. I think Rangers will stick, and Celtic will twist.

Yup. As we've just seen with Thor, players aren't going on loan to warm the bench. So for a backup centre-half, we're either going to be looking at experienced journeyman, or promising young guy. We've just let one of the former go (Gary Mack), and we've got a promising youth team guy in the senior squad. Plus Jack Baird. Goodwin must really not fancy Baird if he's more likely to bring in an unknown quantity, who is happy to be backup, who is also better than Baird. TBH, I'd prefer to bring in a versatile Hodson-type who can cover both fullback positions, as that's where we have the least genuine cover, at least until Flynn is back.

Gerrard, Goodwin, Ross, Kettlewell and Mellon are safe as houses. Davidson could well be gash but St Johnstone will give him at least the January window. Dyer, Holt, McInnes, Robinson and Rice are all under pressure and underperforming right now, but I think most of them will turn it round. I voted Lennon, not just because of the European result, but because Rangers look genuinely strong this year and if Celtic don't twist now, the 10IAR dream could be under serious threat.

And McGrath, arguably.

Yeah, he couldn't adjust to the lifestyle in Paisley. He's signing for Motherwell next week.

That'd be a shame about Thor, I liked the look of him. We're very well stocked in that area, though, so it's not too damaging. Might make room for another loan.

That's a recurring theme in this thread, tbf.

Fair play.

If we're picking and choosing which games we include here, then we too haven't been played off the park yet. In fact, we're undefeated so far.

I think we're going to go one up front here. If Durmus is fit, he comes in for Morias. If not, Morias retains his place. It'll be too soon for Connolly. Back five picks itself, but with Foley moving back for Shaughnessy. ----------- Sheron - MacPherson -------------- McAllister ------- McGrath -------- Durmus/Morias -------------------- Obika --------------------------- Wildcard 'we're fucking going for it' front six that we'd all love to see but 100% won't be happening because it'd be suicidal': Connolly - MacPherson - McGrath - Durmus ------------- Dennis - Obika --------------------

I wonder about the future of Durmus on the back of this. Must admit, I was wondering if he might be away. We could possibly get a fee for him as he's in contract still. It's a shame: I thought he was going to be a big player for us but he looked well off the boil in the first two games. I was happy to put it down to sharpness, but his disappearance from the squad is an odd one.

I was doing a bit of digging on him yesterday. The pace aspect comes across loud and clear. Seems he showed up well for Bradford in League 2 last season. He's only out of favour at Wimbledon because they don't play with wingers, according to the article I read. I think it's clear that McAllister is still lacking fitness/sharpness, and McGrath is decent but not really a winger, so we still need cover. When you look at the patterns of some of our games - and the fact we are clearly going to be setting up to counter attack, then this seems a sensible move. There was a lot of chat about him being an exciting player to watch, and I found videos of him scoring a couple of pearlers from distance.

Yup, confirmed:

I do agree that he seems a bit hesitant with the subs - I'd certainly like to see Erhahon getting more time - but Saturday was on such a knife edge, I can see why he didn't. Bringing someone on in a high-pressure situation like that could be fatal, for them and us. Yeah, I was impressed with his distribution. Like I said, it's more a comment on my own (wrong) preconceptions than anything else. You never know, he maybe could end up through the middle if he bulks up a bit. I've just checked and he's actually 6'2". Patrick Vieira is 6'4", so it's not impossible to play there if you're a taller chap.

And, with any luck, we'll be seeing a new Democrat being sworn in in the next few months. If that's not scientific proof that you'll be finishing below us, then I don't know what is.