MrDust

One player can make a difference, not deluding QOS here but they'd be relegated without Dobbie last season, lesser value with Mark Millar with us

Yep ditto....still scratching my head A players path doesn't always indicate how good he can be

You'll be happy with 5th tho...

Shit based on two league games ? Cooper started more games for St mirren in half a season than he did for us in a season and a half and I'm sure st mirren fans were 50/50 about him. There obviously is a player in there, he'd score free kicks and provide set piece play in our development team and be nowhere near our team when free kicks were a joke and set pieces to match. We will see how he does for ICT You backed Aird in front of Harris on the basis of what he done for Canada

There really isn't a right or wrong way to be a manager, its results that matter. Houston has on paper had three good seasons, reality its one

The facts are we scraped results last season and couldn't give these young players a 10-15,20 cameo role to get them used to first team, that and Houston has a love in with Shepherd We know smith couldn't play right back for us by what deduction ? There is a player in Cooper as far as I'm concerned, we may actually see that this season, whilst Houston couldnt Let's not forget you praised Aird

Both cooper and Smith ply there trade still in the championship. A better manager would get the best out of players....I fkin hate Pressley but he got the best outta Mark Stewart

His Ok was still not what I'd expect from a wide midfielder, especially one classed as a winger. Muirhead the makeshift right back showed more ambition and wide play in the first half than Harris.... I'm not writing him off but a better coach would get better out him You maybe right about Harris but to judge a player on 2 starts v 2 seasons cooper and smith isn't exactly fair. The bigger question now is our leadership either board or Houston

Yep a management team who didn't win two games in a row versus a manager who has punched above his weight repeatedly and with Ayr but obviously the new part timers to league weren't good enough. McCall will try things, if its 3-5-2 or 2-5-3 to win a game. Houston on the other hand has to start his formation with at least a 4 and will repeat the 1970s tactic of throwing a centre half up top for 10 mins, even tho the opposition has played one up top for 90 mins He's not overweight .....match fitness is the part the key, the biggest issue is a lack of getting the ball passed on the deck and not head height, Loy isn't a target man

Its a continuation from last season, shockingly defensively last season, we fix it by signing up the same players and adding an 18yr old at left back Are you forgetting that he lost the plot last season, saving grace was finishing 2nd due to Morton collapsing and Utd being pish, we have went backwards and the strangely the same defensive players minus Leahy are still pish I'd avoid Hughes, but experience is better than the usual let a manager cut his teeth, which will happen when Houston goes

We can't compete in the 2nd tier and basing a manager on one club does not mean it will happen again. He is progressive and not stuck on a team starting formation with a 4 or a 5....the 5 is coming soon if Houston remains

Nope, Houston picks team, tactics and manages. I'd throw in Holt for the season, cheap option but also had us playing decent stuff. Not a popular choice due to the hibs disaster and seemingly being a dick....but Houston is being a dick at the moment. I couldn't care less if a dick had us actually looking like a team, but our current dick isnt How would McCall be a disaster, a manager who isn't stuck on 4 -x-x He can coach players to be better than they are, can Houston ? In the Houston era, we have went from a club who promotes youth to get in first team jobbers, wage bill gone up 42% and are we any closer ?

I'm not suggesting we have loads of players to make the step up but why are we giving new contracts to Finlayson 19yr old and Henderson 21yr old if neither aren't knocking on the first team door. How long till we think these players will be ready, neither feature on the bench. We had O'Hara scoring a hat trick in the reserves last season, first team couldn't score in a barrel of fannies, surely O'Hara makes the bench...No it's the same so called experienced duds. Houston could have disillusioned O'Hara last season with leaving him to see how high he can jump, yet inferior Shepherd is afore him. Shepherd is another one, four seasons since he has kicked a ball for us, unless you are counting one cross and hitting the post from 4yards out, yet we sign him up for 2 more years. Our development team has suffered, dunno if the link to first team is now gone unless Houston's hands are tied or the coaching is to blame

The figures we are now getting now is due to the lack of first team achievements, Botti, Blair and perhaps now Gallagher haven't played the quota of first team games or been an important cog in the team like the ones that have left previously. This part won't give our BOD much to bargain with, the well is pretty much dry as our manager fails to promote from the youth team. If Gallacher does move on, it's a miracle we managed to get fees as high for him and Blair, the cup final appearance sold Botti.

Had another look at the 2nd goal (painfully)and hard to disagree with that, the defensive line is a pure mess and if we are keeping a line, it should be the centre of defence keeping it high or deep. Our defence in one word, shambles

We needed experience in there, especially going down the 18yr old ful back route. Watson and Grant have had a few decent displays but Watson and another has always looked a mistake waiting to happen. The horror show against united in play offs surely should've sealed his way out of the club.....but no

He isn't ready for first team week in week out, we lost 2 goals on Saturday, easily from the left hand side, thankfully one was offside, to suggest he was good going forward defeats the purpose if we are losing games due to a defender being unable to defend. If this pattern continues, it won't be Barcelona interested, it will be Buckie thistle Shepherd hasn't kicked a ball for us for 4 seasons, I am in no doubt we will add another two seasons to that now When the manager states in post match interview we have never played an offside line and we should defend first, then didn't Muirhead comply with the managers words

We sharing the driving ?

It wasn't a dig at players getting sold before making the first team, its not just coincidence that the players coming through under Houston tenure, that all of them have made not much a note in the first team, the likes of Blair and Botti are really the only players that have come through, the latter only because his failing in the transfer market. Our business model has been drawn on basically selling a player we bring through, yet under Houston we aren't bringing anyone through, our team is made up of league jobbers

Every team in the league this season has cut its cloth accordingly to the money that will come in, losing Hibs, Raith and Ayr to get Inverness, Brechin and Livvy is massive downfall. The quality argument falls on Houston's head as he has failed to replace what he inherited with like for like quality or even better. Kerr, Hippo, Taiwo and Baird really have been his only successes and two of them were players we players we didn't fully need, yes they improved us but taiwo and Vaulks were doing superb, he brings Kerr in and Vaulks loses his way for a bit, Sibbs was doing well on the left, he brings Hippo in. I'd mention Austin as a success to some extent, but I said this season is his season to prove it. We have had numerous right wingers, not replaced Duffie and now the case with Leahy, none of the centre backs are as good to what he inherited and he has had to go back to what he inherited to improve his strikers. Has Houston improved our squad ? He has for sure stopped the youth policy of players coming through to first team, as we now sell players who barely kick a ball for us

Why stop at 5th August..... I think we can date it back a season. It will be doom and gloom in how much the missing 500 or so season tickets are hurting them financially, wouldn't be surprised if it was said that the board are filling the gap and the only way we can invest in squad is the recent fund raising event thing. Houston will say Loy will be a final piece of the jigsaw in our team once fit, we needed a right sided mid in Harris and a goalkeeper in Mitchell. His hands are tied due to the missing 500. I tend to find that these meetings pre going can look like they will be messy are usually defused and most fans are disappointed on the way out.

Our goal on Saturday with 9 men was the pass and move we showed 5 week ago onwards till St Mirren , so we have the game in us. The ability to defend when it was needed has shown us up badly and basically continued from last seasons poor defensive showings. Hopefully it will click sooner rather later to at least spirited yaas, questions do need to be asked about a huge imbalanced squad tho.

I suppose the level of fall out of Muirhead and fitness of Loy and Hippo. It would be madness and point out fully the imbalance of our squad if we have no defensive cover on the bench if we continue to use Grant, Watson and Luca in the 11

I spelt it out before a ball was kicked on Saturday that I feared a Luca and Watson partnership, surely no one has forgot the comedy capers at the last Dufc game. I'd probably look at a back three for Saturday but Houston won't, wouldn't be surprised if he went for 5 at the back tho. One thing about Saturday is our bench will be pretty sparse, if Finlayson isn't considered for the 11, surely will be on the bench

Gallacher is a baller and that's probably got recognised in a league where Shepherd is lethal. We need left back pronto or a formation that takes the defending to a lesser importance, anyone watching us will pin point the left hand side