Mr November

Great to keep a clean sheet and get a much needed win ahead of some tricky games this month. Some interesting questions with the team next week now too. Does Johnson come straight back in or does Wright get another go in goals? A clean sheet is good but sounds like he wasn’t tested too much today. The back four probably pick themselves. It’s fair to say we’ve only really played well this season when McGregor has started or in yesterday’s case when Reid has started alongside Wilson. Do you try and fit both in next week or just go with one? I’d lean towards starting McGregor, I certainly don’t think you can play both and Mochrie without leaving the centre quite exposed. Gallagher and Frizzell are probably nailed on so it’s whether Agyemang stays in or if Armstrong comes back in to join them.

I said exactly the same thing at the game. I missed Accies away and won’t be there on Saturday either, so good to still get my Airdrie fix watching a team with five central midfielders conceding a goal like that!

Dunfermline 0-2 Ayr Morton 1-1 Falkirk Hamilton 1-1 Airdrieonians Partick Thistle 2-2 Queen’s Park Raith Rovers 0-0 Livingston

I think McGill wasn’t offered a deal rather than choosing to leave himself, though he may well have done so anyway. I also think it’s less those players in particular, they both had their faults, more that we’ve let both go without adequately replacing them and as a result have a pretty glaring problem.

Yeah, this is the clear issue for me too. We looked good in the League Cup but that was largely against lesser opposition, for this team to win games against teams of similar quality we probably need a lot to go our way in terms of the opposition having an off day, us taking our chances and not giving away a daft goal. When it’s two fairly evenly matched teams there’s going to be times where you need an outball, just to keep the ball in their half, and we just don’t have that at all. I think I feel similarly to how I did when we had that bad run around autumn/winter last season. We’re not a bad team, we can play some decent stuff and aren’t a million miles away. There’s a couple of things we really lack though, mostly physicality up front and also a lack of pace when McGregor is out. I think the lack of experience throughout the team is an issue too. I think McCabe will eventually figure it out, he always does, but I do worry we’ve been a bit too idealistic this summer. A lot of guys who are decent footballers but as a collective they maybe lack some fundamentals to make a solid Championship team. Ultimately I think we’ll return to a back five. We don’t have any wide players other than McGregor (this was the case last season too to be fair) so it seems the obvious option, especially with us now actually having quite a lot of potential centre backs. A big striker to play alongside Wilson would make a huge difference to this team in that kind of system. They don’t have to be spectacular, just someone to relieve pressure and bring Wilson and the midfield into the game. I’d be focusing any remaining budget on that, as we desperately need it.

I think so. 4-2-3-1 with Armstrong and Gallagher sitting a bit deeper, Frizzell in between McGrattan and Agyemang. I’d have been tempted to start Mochrie today but hard to argue with that team too much given the options at the moment.

I thought Gavin Gallagher did fairly well given the circumstances last week, would probably go with him and Armstrong as a two.

That’s far from ideal. Obviously these things can’t helped, and Fordyce is also injured at Raith, but you do miss his experience and reliability. Similarly, I heard McMaster could be out for a few months.

Real commitment to signing left-sided centre backs playing for Carribbean countries.

Jamieson’s best game for us was that time after a dreadful run when McCabe weirdly ditched his initial slow, ponderous possession style for one game against Montrose, when Jamieson played right on the shoulder of their defence and made Sean Dillon look every bit his age. He had Gallagher dropping deep that day to hold the ball up and link things with Jamieson purely focused on getting in behind. As others have said, he looked very good in that kind of role but never fully convinced as a wide player despite clearly being a talented player.

I don’t think he’ll hit those numbers individually but equally it wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to suggest the team could be close to 20 goals worse off without him in the team, just for what he brings defensively and also going forward from cross balls and driving the team forward.

It's a really tough balance with Hancock. He's so important to how we play, with a midfield who all want to come inside you saw on Saturday what we miss when he's not driving forward from left-back. It's a gamble to reject good offers this summer and then undoubtedly lose him for nothing next summer. We're doing the right thing by signing players like Hancock, Devenny, McMaster etc. and trying to develop them and sell them on but in such a tight league, without a strong replacement I think losing Hancock could genuinely be the difference between a comfortable season and a relegation battle.

Airdrie 1-1 Queen’s Park Ayr 2-1 Raith Falkirk 2-1 Partick Thistle Hamilton 1-0 Dunfermline Livingston 1-0 Morton

I feel like a lot of these issues come from not having a focal point up front or width. The midfield we played at Ayr and Dundee doesn’t offer any width, it’s all guys who want to come inside with the ball. Combine that with Wilson being isolated and you really need your full-backs to get forward to provide something out wide. McGregor made a big difference when he came on against Raith, purely by being direct and willing to run with the ball out wide. For whatever reason we end up looking quite congested in the middle of the park and exposed at either end. We had a lot of success last season playing without wingers but that generally involved having some physicality up front or playing with an extra man at the back. We haven’t looked great when playing a back three this season but again, I think a lot of that comes down to not having any physical option further forward.

I think Watson would be the other, he was mentioned in the preview and to be honest hasn’t looked quite right since he picked up an injury right at the end of the Dumbarton game. I assume if he was in any way fit he’d have played today but even with the sending off, no point risking him when the game was already gone. The bigger issue is still not having depth in some key areas rather than injuries.