Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[HoBNob]

Yeah, but he was pretty anonymous in the 45 minutes before the goal

The marking on Dowie at that free kick was atrocious to be fair.

Higginbotham was anonymous (which I put at least partly down to Hamill absolutely levelling him in an early tackle) but thats not what he said. He said he went missing after we scored. He was subbed 30 seconds later!

Higginbothom was our only outlet going forward in the first half to be fair, which I put down to Hammil not being particularly good at football in general, was pretty noticeable that the few times we decided to not launch the ball into obscurity we targeted Hammil, Higginbothom had no end product though, his shooting, crossing and passing after going past Hammil was atrocious.

[Skyline Drifter]

17 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

Higginbothom was our only outlet going forward in the first half to be fair, which I put down to Hammil not being particularly good at football in general, was pretty noticeable that the few times we decided to not launch the ball into obscurity we targeted Hammil, Higginbothom had no end product though, his shooting, crossing and passing after going past Hammil was atrocious.

 

 

 

Hamill would be an automatic starter in that defence of yours. Don't kid yourself.

Just like he's an automatic starter for us and a big reason why we are sitting 2nd and in the last 8 of the Cup. Oh, and he won us the game against you with a last minute hook off the line.

[HoBNob]

Hamill would be an automatic starter in that defence of yours. Don't kid yourself. [emoji6]

Just like he's an automatic starter for us
and a big reason why we are sitting 2nd and in the last 8 of the Cup. Oh, and he won us the game against you with a last minute hook off the line.

A far bigger reflection on our shambolic defence than on Hammil.

Yes, it's Hammil that's the big reason why you're second in the league, definitely not Dobbie. Pretty sure Hammil got subbed because he played really poorly in the round of 16 did he not? Was him playing badly the reason why you got through? That hook of the line was pretty good, is it the case then that BRE lost us the game with missing the sitter a couple of minutes later?

[TheMessiah]

25 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

A far bigger reflection on our shambolic defence than on Hammil.

Yes, it's Hammil that's the big reason why you're second in the league, definitely not Dobbie. Pretty sure Hammil got subbed because he played really poorly in the round of 16 did he not? Was him playing badly the reason why you got through? That hook of the line was pretty good, is it the case then that BRE lost us the game with missing the sitter a couple of minutes later?

Genuinely think Murdoch will see our defense cut out the mistakes tbf.

Organisation and communication with the keeper is key in any defense, when the defenders don't trust the guy between the posts and vice-versa, everyone makes stupid mistakes. Murdoch doesn't tend to f**k about, none of this "mine! no, wait, yours!" or simply not shouting at all. Murdoch will shout for it and will clear you out to get the ball if need be.

[Skyline Drifter]

49 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

Yes, it's Hammil that's the big reason why you're second in the league, definitely not Dobbie. Pretty sure Hammil got subbed because he played really poorly in the round of 16 did he not? Was him playing badly the reason why you got through? That hook of the line was pretty good, is it the case then that BRE lost us the game with missing the sitter a couple of minutes later?

Well clearly Dobbie is a big reason why we've started as we have. But the addition of Robinson and Hamill to our defence has absolutely made us much more solid at the back. As has the addition of Anderson and Hilson / Dykes in the wide areas. It's all a contribution. He had a bit of a mare against Hibs, yes. It's his only bad game in 11 though (granted there were periods against Dundee United and St Mirren yesterday where he struggled against a really speedy winger but he still defended manfully and rarely gave them easy possession). Hamill has done just fine for us.

[TheMessiah]

First one was never a penalty, other two definitely were, can't understand how he's given the 3rd without sending him off though.

2 goals caused by absolutely horrendous mistakes and one when we had just about every player forward.

I make that 9 of our 11 goals conceded this season being the direct results of absolutely basic errors. Not good enough.

[Stellaboz]

I should have said the Rovers game to be fair. But he was as hopeless against you guys too.

[HoBNob]

Genuinely think Murdoch will see our defense cut out the mistakes tbf.

Organisation and communication with the keeper is key in any defense, when the defenders don't trust the guy between the posts and vice-versa, everyone makes stupid mistakes. Murdoch doesn't tend to f**k about, none of this "mine! no, wait, yours!" or simply not shouting at all. Murdoch will shout for it and will clear you out to get the ball if need be.

Murdoch will make a difference, over the next few weeks we've got an easier run of games with the added bonus that Murdoch is coming back and El Alagui, Clarke and Herron will be getting upto speed should hopefully see an upturn in fortunes.

Lose against Morton though and it's fair to say AJs good will from last season will be running incredibly low.

[TheMessiah]

8 hours ago, Grant228 said:

 

Murdoch will make a difference, over the next few weeks we've got an easier run of games with the added bonus that Murdoch is coming back and El Alagui, Clarke and Herron will be getting upto speed should hopefully see an upturn in fortunes.

Lose against Morton though and it's fair to say AJs good will from last season will be running incredibly low.

 

We should still be targeting top 4 imo, if you look at our performances and cut out the ridiculous mistakes we'd be sitting on about 10 points instead of 3.

Hutton and McCabe should not be starting, granted Hutton is only their due to Murdoch's injury, we also need to find out what our most solid back 4 is. Once thos issues are resolved I can see us being a much less likely to beat ourselves.

[We Are Pars Fans!]

Mistakes as in routinely conceding goals from a failure to do the defensive basics.

Defensively, there are just too many holes. Geggan is struggling because we are relying on him to be the entire midfield. MCCabe is a complete passenger and Paton, Cardle, Higginbotham and Mcmullen don't really have a defensive side to their game.

On top of that, we have Williamson who is exciting going forward but largely lost at the back. You can see he is working hard on his defensive positioning but that tends to result in him forgetting to ever challenge for the ball.

Then Riley, he has come with a good reputation but has shown absolutely nothing. Could be that the service is wrong, could be that he has no confidence, could be both. Regardless, he has yet to deliver.

All 100% accurate

[Black and White Tragic]

We should still be targeting top 4 imo, if you look at our performances and cut out the ridiculous mistakes we'd be sitting on about 10 points instead of 3.

Hutton and McCabe should not be starting, granted Hutton is only their due to Murdoch's injury, we also need to find out what our most solid back 4 is. Once thos issues are resolved I can see us being a much less likely to beat ourselves.

I'll settle for targeting the winning of each game as it comes along. If we end up in play offs, bonus.

[TheMessiah]

7 hours ago, Black and White Tragic said:

I'll settle for targeting the winning of each game as it comes along. If we end up in play offs, bonus.

That's obviously always going to be the target, every single season. I'm talking more long-term than that.

[Stellaboz]

Avoiding a relegation battle should be the aim. We've no right to think we're better than most sides because frankly we're not.

[101]

Even finishing 8th which would be decent enough for our first crack at the championship in a few years would secure around £65000 more in prize money which is what a decent championship level player and some change not much but could be the difference in pushing to the playoffs at the top of the table.

[TheMessiah]

6 hours ago, Stellaboz said:

Avoiding a relegation battle should be the aim. We've no right to think we're better than most sides because frankly we're not.

We don't know yet to be honest. Once Murdoch is back and steadies the defense, and when Clark and El Alagui settle in we will know.

[D.A.F.C]

Nat played 75 mins tonight against Ross County. We won 2-4 with spence getting 2.

[Shandon Par]

There's a  really good 11 in there somewhere in the squad. If we're utterly hopeless (eg the season we finised 4th in league one) defeats don't bother me but I've found it frustrating lately when it has been errors and failing to take chances costing us. 

[smpar]

Shandon, mate, we finished 7th in League One

[Shandon Par]

38 minutes ago, smpar said:

Shandon, mate, we finished 7th in League One

Sorry - I was thinking 7th and wrote 4th! My fingers were refusing to accept the brain signals telling them that, yes, a full time outfits somehow finished near the bottom of a part time league. 

[DBA]

The next three games are starting to look really important. Morton, St. Mirren and Ayr before the break for international weekend/diddy cup. None of us have had great starts, so it's now time to start picking up points.

This weekend, we need to stop the rot and get some points on the board - and if we can't do that against Morton, then it's going to be a long season.

Hopefully Cardle & Higginbotham are recalled, and McCabe drops out for someone (Herron?). Defensively, it's a fight between Fordyce and BRE to play alongside Ashcroft - personally I prefer Fordyce, but two league starts and two howlers can't be ignored.

Hopefully Farid gets match fit quickly as he could be the difference in our largely ineffective front-line.