Bluegrass Bairn

He's been playing pretty well since he got a regular start, he's evidently picked up a fair bit since playing for your lot. Yeah, its a loss, sadly; not only are we losing his pace, energy and decent crossing into the box, its a double whammy as his likely replacement is craig mcguffie, who is pish. Wee, invisible, lightweight, and pish. That's Alegria and Kennedy both recalled by the Govan scum, so yeah, all in all its a big blow. You can stop smiling now.

And? Yes, he's played well two games running. Said that in the post. But we've played 20 league games, only won 1 more than half of them, are trailing way off top spot, and one of the main reasons is we've previously lost out badly in midfield - where he plays - to Kelty (twice), Airdrie, Dunfermline, and.. er... Clyde away.

Yup, played very well, two games running. Good for him, he's upped his game. No denying it, and its great to see the difference it has made to our play when he can be influential and effective. He has skill and works hard, that's clear... Great vision for the first goal, absolutely... Happy to acknowledge all that. But he needs to have an influence in games against better teams than Clyde, the kind of games where in the past he has disappeared. For me that's been the biggest issue with him this season. Henderson in midfield seems to have had a positive effect on him personally as well as the team overall, so let's see if he and the team can keep this run of form going for a sustained period, which is what we need. Alloa, Kelty, 'Meadowbank' and Airdrie all away before the end of February are all clearly going to offer much more of a midfield battle than toothless Clyde, so the onus is there to keep making a difference, and prove a lot of fans (me included) wrong. Good luck to the guy, very happy to see him bag a hatful more assists, and a couple of goals for good measure.

They really do seem to have been getting worse & worse as we go, but today's panto villain will really have to work hard to do worse than last week's idiot. Hope he doesn't read that as a challenge. (When was the last time we had a bone fide 'homer' as they used to be known?)

How old is Nesbitt???? Looks about 10 in that pic. No wonder our midfield gets rag-dolled by big boys on a Saturday.

He has been an utter enigma for us. Looked influential and strong in midfield at Alloa, and came to TFS with some optimism, and almost immediately his form fell off a cliff. He's been painfully slow, constantly caught in possession, and always seemed to play the safe - and ineffective - square ba'/'pass the buck' type role in midfield anonymity. Clearly been playing in a dreadful Falkirk squad, but unable to raise his game more than a meagre handful of times. Won't be missed, which given our on-going struggles doesn't say a lot for him. No doubt will prove us wrong...

Probably a greater amount of conjecture about Morrison this time because there's a lot more to worry about! If he were to move now, we'd be left with McGuffie (invisible lightweight) or the great pretender Nesbitt (fidget) out wide. And what if the Govan bigots were to re-call Kennedy as well? There's a lot to lose this time, so hope you're right that its very unlikely.

Indeed. Agreed on all counts. Has anyone at Tier 3 level ever gone for a sum of £100k? Morrison has his faults (a frustrating inconsistency to beat his man 1 on 1, or get his cross beyond the first defender, his once-a-month good game) but no doubt he can make an impact at this level, does draw defenders out, and tbf does seem to have reined in his blinkered glory-hunting tendencies from earlier in the season to shoot wildly from any angle instead of laying the ball on a plate for a team-mate (ie at Dunfermline, at Montrose, etc). If he could maintain his display from the QotS game over the 2nd half of the season, or at the very least up his effectiveness ratio from once-a-month, then absolutely keep him.

FWIW - Morrison Rowe Donaldson Mackie McCann McGinn Morrison Yeats Henderson Kennedy Alegria

Ideal, assuming we could actually string together a WWWWWW sequence; which going by our 50% win rate to date would be something of a long shot, to put it mildly...

Here's another one. After we play Clyde on the 14th, 3 of our following 5 games are against Alloa.

So, Nesbitt. First 10 mins or so, he had a couple of good touches; his goal assist was unfortunately for QotS 2nd, then when we're struggling at 1-2 he was nowhere to be seen. 2nd half he ran about a lot, admittedly he does look for the ball but without really doing anything with it. He has no presence in a physical contest - didn't see him win a single tackle in midfield. When we really needed to dominate midfield, or make a killer pass, particularly at 2-2, it didn't come from him. QotS aren't very good, so if he cant be effective against them tonight, then who? Nah, he's not for me.

FWIW Am going to watch Nesbitt's efforts especially tonight then chip in to this debate post-match. Getting off the fence pre-match; I think he flatters to deceive. Nothing like the level of contribution we should expect from him creatively, and nowhere to be seen when going gets tough. Tonight its wet, cold, and needs guys to be aggressive and force QotS onto the back foot. Does that sound like Nesbitt to anyone?

There's a fair few more than just Oliver that owe us a good turn tonight.

Happy to blame Holt for the price of diesel too.

Spot on. Can't see a way this current collection is going to get promoted. winning the league is almost gone; we have never had the consistency (or quality) to go on any substantial win x 6 or x 10 run, which is what's needed. Via the Playoffs seems just as big a stretch - we haven't shown the physical or mental strength to get tough and out-muscle anyone in L1, never mind the Championship. To say January is make or break is a hell of an understatement.

TBH I'm glad its off. Was an odds-on Alloa win for me. Our usual selection of lily-livered midfield bottlers go into hiding whenever the going gets tough anyway; pretty sure McGuffie, Nesbit, Oliver, Hetherington, even fidget Morrison, would all find it too cold for their delicate wee selves, and they'd be even less effective today (if that's possible).

Yup, I make it 4 games at TFS, all 4 are Airdrie wins. And we've scored 0, 1, 0, and 1... If you do score first, you're def in with a shout.

Would still like to try Mackie in midfield, a bit of dig and physical presence alongside Ola, McGinn & Yeats. Lightweight no-entities oot the team please.

We said less than 10 mins in that he was a stick-on for at least a booking today. The next 'heid's-gone Higginbotham' half-wit baw-bag.

Ola, Donaldson & 'Messi' McCann the standouts. Looks like Ola could make a real difference for us, when he's up to full fitness. Most of our positive play involved him, and despite his remarkably thin legs he stood up pretty well to the midfield battle.

TBF, 'Petro the Chemical' actually made me laugh out loud. Good effort, sir, and IMO worth serious consideration.

Agreed with all of your post, and picked out this bit about us being out-fought/out-muscled if a team gets in our face - ie Airdrie Kelty Montrose 1st half last week. McGuffie Oliver & Nesbit are way too lightweight, Hetherington is too slow, Morrison isn't a tackler either. Yesterday we looked utterly feeble first half, losing 40-60's never mind the 50-50's... Yeats should be back in midfield as many have said, how about Mackie playing in there as well - a couple of guys that can put a decent bit of much needed dig.

Your result almost secondary for me today, I really do hope you gave the little weasel utter pelters. Thanks.

You're quite right, but I know I couldn't resist the chance to give that odious puffed up little greaseball an earful. Or two. Grateful if someone would oblige on my behalf.