Casagolda

For me it’s not just no wins in 7 that’s worrying, it’s the fact it’s now just 1 point from those 7 games and the performances in the last 4. If Jack Baldwin hadn’t inexplicably skelped the ball of his own team mates arse with two mins to go last Saturday, we’d have almost certainly lost that one as well and be staring at 7 defeats on the spin. How many managers would honestly survive that sort of run?? More worryingly, the scarcely deserved equaliser hasn’t ‘stopped the rot’. We haven’t got any sort of lift from it. We were 4-0 down after 70 odd mins 3 days later and meekly lost again yesterday. I’m also not having that performance as any sort of ‘improvement’. To me it was no different to Hammell’s last league game in charge at Pittodrie. We had no intention to go there and do anything other than sit back it, hoof it forward and try to shitfest our way to a point. Hammell rightly got slaughtered for it then and Kettlewell should now. Those tactics and that performance worried me greatly. That’s not a manager who believes in himself and the team, as he so often says. That’s a manager running out of ideas, desperately trying to stave off the inevitable. Lose on Tuesday, he’s a dead man walking.

I imagine the poor lads confidence has taken a fair battering from being constantly played out of position. We were absolutely crying out for some pace and width(again). I genuinely burst out laughing when McGinn had to go off with 10 mins to go and rather than put on Gent or Ross, he chucked on SODS.

To be fair it is wild that we’re sitting debating about who to play at lwb- a teenager who’s never started a game in his life(and probably more of winger anyway) or another teenager who’s a right back and not got a left foot. Or chucking SODS back over there. Of all our recruitment this summer, only signing a 33 year old crock who’s played about 20 games in the last 3 years for a key position in Kettlewell’s set up is definitely the weirdest for me.

But you’d keep in Spencer. Who got roasted by MacKay for the opener against Livi the other week. He didn’t shut down Devlin for the first goal on Wednesday night and then switched off allowing Devlin to run off him to score the 2nd. Again, young laddie playing out of position so I’m not going to be harsh on him. However he’s been pretty suspect himself defensively these last few games. And SODS has hardly covered himself in glory either. Sometimes the best defence is a good offence. We offered nothing going forward against Aberdeen and as a result, the defence was under near constant pressure. Gent and Spencer bombing down the flanks would at least offer us an out ball. It could get us up the park, push the Killie wingbacks back and give the defence some rest bite. If it back fires, so what. At least we tried something different to shake things up. Personally I’d be more worried if Kettlewell sticks with the same two wings backs that haven’t been working and our game plan tomorrow is to simply sit in while we shell high balls to an isolated Theo Bair. Cause all we know how that usually ends.

No but it’s exactly the sort of thing I’m talking about. A simple long ball forward where Mugabi was in no man’s land and missed the initial header. Casey, who was 5 yards deeper than everyone else, then misses the ball and is put on his arse by the County forward. Who got the most flack? Gent! The teenager who tried his best to sweep up the complete mess his two senior centre backs made but was sadly outmuscled by Loturi. I get Gent needs to bulk up and be stronger but it’s absolutely wild to me that Gent received more criticism for that goal than the two senior centre backs who couldn’t deal with a simple ball pumped forward.

We lost 3 goals on Saturday and another 4 goals on Wednesday, unless Killie stick 5 past us the morrow then I genuinely don’t think Georgie could do much worse. Mind last season folk were writing Furlong off after his shaky first few appearances? Look how good he turned out to be in the end. I’m not saying this lads a world beater by any means but from what I’ve seen and been told he’s certainly got something about him. My main point was judging him based on two cameo appearances when the team was a shambles and had lost all sense of shape by the time he came on is slightly harsh and doing the lad a disservice.

See to be fair to Gent.. Against Livi we were 2-0 down and down to 10 men when he came. Likewise against County, we were 2-0 and chasing the game when he came on. In both games we’d lost all shape by the time he’d came on and were just chucking bodies forward. We’ve not actually given him a shot in that lwb role at the start of a game when there’s at least some semblance of balance and shape to the team. I’m not sure he could possibly be any worse than Spencer and O’Donnell have been these last few games. Both have been poor defensively and offered little going forward. At the very least, he might offer us some pace and an out ball. He also couldn’t possibly do worse defensively than the senior pro’s that've chucked in 7 goals in the last couple of matches.

We’ve kept the least clean sheets in the league. Liam Kelly has the lowest save percentage and is 2nd bottom of goals prevented only behind 38 year old David Marshall. An absolute hologram of a keeper. Personally, I was shocked the same defence that shipped 5 goals to Livi/Ross County was picked apart again last night. Or that SODS and Spencer in their respective roles didn’t work(again). Or that the guy who very clearly said when he signed that he wasn’t a target man, was utterly hopeless up front on his own as we shelled high balls towards him. Absolutely dreadful performance, right up there with anything witnessed under Hammell or Alexander. Genuinely can’t remember the last time we shipped 4 at home to a non OF side. Not only that but we also offered virtually nothing as an attacking threat until Aberdeen went into cruise control for the last 15 mins. A big 3 games coming up for Kettlewell, by hook or by crook he has to stop the rot and dig up a win from somewhere.

Not sure Gent deserves that much criticism to be honest. He needs to be stronger definitely. However to be fair to him, he’s a young laddie trying to cover for his 2 experienced centre backs who make an absolute c**t of it. One long ball forward where both Mugabi and Casey are posted missing. I’m more annoyed about the defending of that pair to be honest with you instead of the teenager who was left to try and deal with their mess- as was Kelly by the looks of things. It’s not Gent’s fault our only two natural LWB options are a 33 year old crock and teenager without a senior start to his name. He also wasn’t on the park for the first two goals we conceded which were also both utterly honking. Kelly doesn’t cover himself in glory again either with both goals seemingly going straight through him. Fact is, we’ve now kept 1 clean sheet in 10 games since the League Cup group stages. For an experienced back line that are mostly full internationals with well over 400 top flight games in Scotland between them it simply isn’t good enough. Gent and Spencer are kids with little experience, I expect them to make mistakes. They need the senior players around to help them and that sure as shit didn’t happen yesterday. Hopefully Butcher is back in the team on Wednesday and then we might actually see a senior defender take a bit of responsibility back there.

It’s clear that Biereth and Wilkinson was the plan at the start of the season. They’ve only been on the pitch together in the league twice for a grand total of about 40 mins and in that time we’ve scored 5 goals(with them getting 2 each). That’s half our total for the season so far!! We’ve essentially been playing with our 4th and 5th choice strikers for most of the season. Any team would struggle for goals doing that. Keep those two fit, get Butcher back in the middle of the defence and I still think we’ll be fine. I’m more worried about the wingbback situation to be honest. Spencer has no left foot but Gent seemingly can’t defend. Meanwhile SODS struggled again down the right today as well. How we fix that with Souare seemingly out till January who knows. Also a shout out to young Luca Ross today. No idea what shape we were playing at that stage or where he was meant to playing but it was a lively cameo and he was in the right place when it mattered to get us a point.

Feels like a big game. We could really do with a win to get things back on track. Kettlewell’s been pretty consistent with his lineup so far this season but didn’t seem happy with the Livi performance and after 4 defeats on the spin I imagine he’ll look to shake things up a wee bit here. Does Butcher get chucked straight in? How long does Biereth have in him? Do we go 352 or just bring Davor in for Miller? Do we persist with Spencer at left back? The next 5 games look fairly decent on paper but you sense it’ll be important to kick it off with a good performance/result here to help build a bit of confidence and momentum.

Miller clearly learning from the best in the business.

See I honestly don’t think we can persevere with this. A formation with 2 wing backs that offer neither pace or width is incredibly predictable. Livi clearly knew everything was going to go through Slattery and Spittal in the middle of the park and set out to suffocate the pair of them out the game. Which forced us wide and then inevitably backwards. Which led to lots of aimless balls being clipped forward towards Bair who often had 3 defenders on his back. Was remarkable the amount of people around me that seemed to think a lot of this was Bair’s fault by the way. Whether he goes with 2 up top or just brings in Davor for Miller, I think we have to sort out the wing back situation. Personally I’d be tempted give Gent a shot here. It’s a game we’d expect to be on top and have a fair amount of the ball and the very least he’d at least offer us some pace and natural width.

Only saw the highlights but didn’t look like he could do much at any of the goals. Two free headers in the six yard box and an Mbappe penalty. Clark had no chance at the fourth either to be fair. Would have been a good experience for the pair of them but I can imagine Gunn has much to worry about. I really rated Kelly after his initial loan spell where he was genuinely outstanding and almost single handily kept us up, I was absolutely delighted when he returned on a 3 year deal. However given the reported fee and wages involved, it feels like he’s not really justified the effort or financial outlay to bring him back. He’s a decent mid-table Scottish Premiership goalkeeper but he’s never really kicked on and I’d say if anything, he’s actually regressed a bit over the last couple of seasons. I can’t see us being able to sell him now and I doubt we’ll be offering him improved terms. I imagine we’ll shake hands and he’ll move on in the summer.

Aye I watched most of the game and it was a ridiculously daft red card to pick up be fair. However it said Steven Clarke was there and I’m sure he would’ve liked what he seen. He was a constant threat during our impressive first half, bombing forward and putting in a series of good crosses- one of which Bowie scored from. I doubt he’ll see many minutes but it’ll still be a great experience for the boy. Mental that this time last year our manager, the former academy director of all people, decided the best thing to do with him was to ship him off to Cove Rangers on loan.

Now been called up to the full squad for the France game. From being our third choice right back and being sent out on loan to Cove this time last year to playing in the Europa League and a getting a full Scotland call up in less than 12 months.

Aye I said this last week and it was my biggest takeaway from yesterday. Not a single left footer in the entire 11 again. Watching Spencer(and Casey) having to constantly turn inside into traffic was chronic. Chuck in the fact SODS runs like an oap needing a new hip and there was just no pace or width down either flank. Which makes us entirely predictable. We try and force everything through Spittal and Slattery in the middle who were crowded out. We had nothing out wide so the ball invariably went backwards till a hopeless ball was shelled forward in Bair’s direction. Who I must admit I felt a bit sorry for. Up against 3 centre backs with little to no support or service, I thought he battled away manfully and was far from the worst yesterday. Yet(around me anyway) he was the one that seemed to be taking the majority of the abuse off the fans despite pretty much the entire team being chronic. Nothing stays hidden for long in this league and I imagine most teams will now set up to suffocate Slattery and Spittal. So we need to add some pace and natural width to the side or I think we’ll be in danger of seeing what Livi did to us yesterday become a regular occurrence.

It certainly feels like Kettlewell’s recruited for playing a 352 and then(due to injuries) stumbled onto the fact that the 3421 system works better. As such, we’ve only got 5 midfielders for 4 midfield positions where as shortly we’ll have 5 senior strikers potentially vying for 1 slot in the team. I would say you can’t possibly drop Paton on current form. He was outstanding again yesterday and motm for me. Where as Miller is the clubs golden goose, I’m sure he’ll need rested at points this season but when fit he’s generally going to be in that shop window. You obviously can’t drop Spittal or Slattery either mind. So it’s a tough one for Kettlewell. This midfield 4 is genuinely excellent and a joy to watch, do you break that up just to get Oli Shaw or Conor Wilkinson on the park?? I’m not so sure. I’m not convinced either of those two could perform the role big Theo has for the team recently either. Personally, I would like to see us try Spencer on the right and Gent on the left in this current system before we change anything else. I feel their pace and energy down the flanks could alleviate some of the pressure on the midfield at times and potentially offer us more of a threat in the final third.

I liked him but he does seem to have a reputation that exceeds his (current)level. Obviously between us being utter shite under Hammell and Kettlewell’s change of shape, it just didn’t really work out for him here last season. Which was a shame like as he clearly has ability but to be honest, at no point did I feel I was watching someone a bit special- like you get with Miller or Turnbull. Him and Penney were probably our two best players during the first half of last season and it does seem wild we’re heading into October and neither even has a club. However I don’t think based on what I saw last season that you could say he was ‘too good’ for the Championship. At 21 he’s still basically just a promising youngster living off his reputation at youth level that’s not really done a great deal in senior football. Ironically, I think he might actually suit playing as one of the 10’s in Kettlewell’s current system. I always thought it would be worth giving him a shot more centrally as technique/guile seemed to be his strong points over pace/dribbling. However for whatever reason, Kettlewell clearly just didn’t fancy him. As others have said good luck to him, hopefully he goes somewhere and gets himself some regular game time.

Wasn’t there but having seen it back, I don’t think Shaw’s miss is as bad as being made out. A confident striker I’m sure takes that with his laces. However, it was the tentative finish of a man who hasn’t scored since July last year. Once again though, it looked like he made a positive impact in his short time on the park. Still, it does feel like some fans have made their mind up on Shaw(like Bair)before he’d even kicked a ball for us. He’s played about 40 mins so far and from what I’ve seen, he’s caused problems and we’ve carried more of a threat when he’s been on the pitch. Also funny how it’s now, if only we had Van Veen… When the big man was getting slaughtered by presumably the same sections of our support for large chunks of last season for being lazy and missing too many chances.

Same as last week, lots of nice play but lack quality/composure in and around the box unfortunately.

He missed the entirety of pre-season and signed for them less than a week before their first league game. Give the boy a chance, he’s only been there 5 mins.

Aye if I had a minor complaint from Saturday it would Kettlewell waiting till the 78th minute to make a sub despite us being a goal down and not really threatening the St Mirren goal all that much 2nd half. Bair does a decent enough job as a focal point but never looks much of a goal threat. Likewise Spencer done a commendable job again on the wrong side but so obviously has no left foot. Within minutes of coming on Gent got down the left, whipped in a good cross and Shaw got across his man to get a header on goal… I know there’s probably fitness issues etc but both made a positive impact and I would’ve liked to have seen them on a bit earlier. Felt like we carried more of a threat in their limited time on the park and on another day both could’ve scored(although I thought Shaw looked well offside for his sitter). It seemed inevitable the injuries to all our strikers would catch up to us eventually and it felt like Saturday was that day. Not expecting much from the next couple of games but hopefully after the Livi game the next International break will at least allow us get Wilkinson back and Shaw a bit more up to speed.

Spittal and Blaney were both training yesterday, so hopefully both will be involved tomorrow.

Link Frightening to hear that Efford was apparently a ‘top earner’ according to Kettlewell. Also says we won’t we dipping into the free agent market.