tdt

I'm genuinely not. I'm hurting because I see my team playing tier 3 football again next season if we don't sort ourselves out. I don't for one second believe Cardle is the answer to our problems. Maybe I am reading too much into it but it is one more thing to aim negatively at the club when we actually need to pull together.

Personally I don't like the way it looks. To me it makes the club look like it's getting the p**s taken. Over exaggerating? Maybe. Do we have bigger things to worry about? Absolutely. These two aren't just mates watching a random game together. One is openly training with us and the other is our next opponents manager. The very fact that there is an ongoing conversation about Joe Cardle potentially being signed up to play is the most concerning bit (not a slight on JC) and tells you everything about our recruitment and overall situation currently.

I'd be surprised if they didn't know each other but it's not a great look for JC. If they are sitting beside each other they are unlikely to be talking about the current value of the Yen vs the Pound. It's not like the ground was so packed that they had to sit beside each other because they were the only two spare seats.

So the guy who is openly training with us went to a critical game against a relegation rival with an opposition manager? Not at all questioning the validity of what you're saying but that picture is wild. I'm not in favour of Cardle signing but the whole thing is weird.

Can I add, the only reason I felt compelled to post on PnB was because when I left EEP at FT today, I was nearly run down by the Joe Cardle Academy-mobile heading past the South Stand with JC driving. How many full time professional outfits have a guy training full time with them during the week yet seemingly completely uninvolved on match day when they are desperately needing experience?

I think the better younger players in our squad have suffered because of the disruption due to injuries. They are being elevated to the senior guys of the team before they are ready. McCann and Edwards would be showing far better in a consistent, confident and winning line-up. It's hard to judge them on the past two months (not forgetting we were 4th in December). Edwards in particular is suffering because he's expected to create chances. His crossing is over cooked most of the time but who is he aiming for anyway? McCann / MOH / Summers / Moff or Chalmers waiting on the edge of the centre circle sitting waiting for the chance of a little shuffle and a momentum killing backwards pass.

Possibly, but Edwards is playing in his preferred position every week. Has he got better from last year? I love him as a player - I'd gladly see him in a DA shirt for years to come but his final ball is still wild. He makes the top 3 this year simply because he's not been as bad or as injured as his peers. As an aside, a back 4 of Comrie, Fisher, Otoo and Josh with a solid midfield in front of them would be wonderful.

McCann isn't a target man. Despite his frame he can't win and hold the ball up. He lacks football intelligence. His best moments in a Pars shirt (in my opinion) are from off the left wing using his pace or cutting in. As my previous post, he's also knackered from doing a one man press when no one else joins in so isn't ready to capitalise on half chances to steal the ball when he could. I'd like to see him with another manager before I write him off.

2nd post... Our Player of the Year event in May will be a table for two with Chris Hamilton and Ewan Otoo. If anything happens to either of them in the coming weeks then we are screwed. If we are League 1 next season then it would be shameful if these two were plying their trade there.

Very first post on PnB... Season Ticket holder at EEP. Last week was awful but was made worse because I never seen it coming. The week before at Tannadice it felt like we'd turned a corner - a clean sheet, no injuries on the day and it felt together. The Morton performance and result was a real shocker off the back of that. So McPake kind of got a pass from me for that game (and generally because of the hand he's been dealt with injury-wise). But today was so much worse than last week and massively exposed McPake. The only thing that changed from last week was punting the ball at every single opportunity instead of trying to play out on the bog last week. Formation and players were near identical. I've read it elsewhere but our pressing game is so amateur. Either McCann or MOH pressed first half but everyone else was behind the halfway line making it a waste of time. Either they are being told to press individually or ignoring their pre match instructions. It was so deflating reading the team at 2.15 today. Where was the response to last week? As soon as I seen the 11 it was clear it was a 3/5 at the back again. Callum Davidson must have been laughing his fat tits off. Ours subs today were pointless and this is where McPake has to take heat. Every sub was a straight swap. If he seriously thought Holmes was a better threat as a target man than McCann then he should have started him. Because the approach never changed. Someone behind me said McCann has been useless the past few games and it's hard to argue. But he's not a target man. He's clearly not a No 9. The Lewis McCann that had folk excited in Aug/Sep played off the left-wing combining with Josh and Otoo. Anyway, long story short, as much as we have to be grateful to McPake for for last season and especially that night at home to Falkirk, I think he's drowning right now and we need to do what every other club around us has done and make the change before it's too late.