yummy fur

I hope you copy and paste this. It will save you lots of time typing it out fresh every match thread.

This is a squad of players with experience playing championship football - MacDonald, Spence, Virtanen, Ryan, Mullin added to players like Templeton, McMann with lots of Premier league appearance. Whether it's #whateverittakes is arguable but it's a stronger squad than I expected to see this season and one which a good manager should have playing as a decent unit a lot quicker than 10 to 15 games. The big problem is that I've seen nothing of Rice which indicates he can make the best use of the squad at his disposal. The start of the season has been abysmal and today all the familiar failings were there - no discernible style of play, no ideas and no clue how to change it.

As much as Canning had his faults to say he was one of the worst managers in Premier league history is just plain silly.

This ^ Also my memory might be playing tricks but I reckon that we've just went through an entire season without a single noticeable "training ground" set piece. He gets a reputation for developing and playing young players but this is a manager who preferred Ben Stirling to Jamie Hamilton for a large chunk of the season, refused to play Minmaugh until forced into it for the final games of the season and the youngsters that he did play (Munro & Winter) were constantly played out of position.

That's an astonishing take that you can watch last night's game and then single out Scott McMann exclusively for criticism - the player that won the free kick, scored the free kick and generally for 75 minutes was the only player willing or brave enough to take a man on or try something different. Even for the short corner you refer to it wasn't even McMann who gave the ball away. McMann for the last dozen games has been Accies heart beat and just about everything positive has come from him. I hope I'm wrong but I expect he'll be playing a higher level than we are next season. Anyway what a disappointment, not so much the relegation but the way we finally down with a whimper. Last night was our season in a microcosm - a manager who has been negative from game 2 and let large swathes of the season drift by playing for goalless draws playing the worst anti-football the top flight of Scottish football has seen. Last night was a must win game but you wouldn't have known it. 2 game changers left on the bench for far too long even when it had been clear from 50 minutes that we had lost all initiative. Even after losing the 2nd goal Rice let the game drift for another 5 minutes then emptying his bench in stages. I don't share all the negativity about next season as I remember the same comments about falling down the leagues last time we were relegated, however another season of Rice does give me the fear.

Back 3 of Easton, Martin and Odoffin for 85 minutes. 5 minutes left Rice brought on Ben Stirling for Charlie Trafford put Stirling at Centre back and shifted Odoffin into midfield. In fairness St Johnstone were on top at the point and may have equalized regardless but it was a big call at a big moment in the season made worse by Stirling looking badly at fault for the goal.

It would be interesting to hear what Rice's rational was in changing a reasonably untroubled back 3 with only 5 minutes to go. I could understand the decision to take Trafford off who yet again drifted through a game doing as little as possible but surely if you are bringing Stirling on then you play him in midfield where he has played a big chunk of his football this season rather than change a solid defence. We might possibly look back it as a decent point in a performance which wasn't as good as late but wasn't the turgid anti football of Nov, Dec & Jan. We missed Jamie Hamilton for his ability in bringing the ball out of defence and although Moyo was improved in the 2nd half he doesn't hold the ball up anywhere near as well as Ogkmboe. Some decent performances - back 3 all played well, Callaghan took his goal brilliantly, Anderson continues to impress and McMann excellent as usual.

I don't have a huge issue with Rice's team selection away to Celtic, it's persevering with it for 180 mind numbing minutes in our previous games against Kilmarnock and Dundee United in that I've got an issue with. The type of game tonight where a point shouldn't be out the question but as we'll happily give up 75% possession it probably will be.

Another depressing team selection from Rice that will gift an average Dundee United side 65% possession and constantly punt the ball to a striker incapable of holding the ball up. A manager with so little faith or confidence in players that he mostly signed. Another defeat pending.

Stirling in defence and Odoffin in midfield possibly? Either way any positive result today with that squad will be border line miraculous.

Given that we lined up in a home game against Livingston like we were playing Barcelona in their prime at a full Nou Camp then who knows how Rice will set us up today - doubt it will be pretty.

Provocation, genuine ignorance of the response it would get or a distraction from the woeful performance whatever it was the timing wasn't great, however whenever it was posted - and it clearly had to be posted given the publicity it had received - the reaction would have been similar. I clearly am in the minority but I can't get my head round the seethe and hate that a charity pantomime raising money for good causes (including the Accies academy) has caused.

Nonsense. There is little doubt that McMann is having a poor season, another player going backwards under Rice (see also Ogkmboe, Hamilton, Minmaugh etc.....) but he is still the one player in our current team capable of creating something and willing to at least try taking a man on. When McMann's contract expires there will be teams at a higher level making him offers. As for today - appalling. We badly missed Odoffin's physicality in protecting the defense, which in itself highlights how bad our recruitment has been when your right back is your best midfielder. Not one player in that team who would get you off your seat and a manager who I'm often assured is a great coach but has zero ideas going forward and has swung from one extreme of changing formation and selection every week to the other extreme of sticking rigidly with a formation and a team selection that's clearly not working. Lastly, how does a board that quite correctly takes pride in their academy feel when they see a team put together that can't string 3 passes together? Or when they see Stirling playing in front of Hamilton? The ghostly Trafford playing instead of Minmaugh or Winter being hung out to dry again by being brought on out of position at 4 nil down?

Losing £300k income a year is a catastrophic blow to Accies and McGowan is doing what any other CEO would and should do by fighting the decision. There is an argument for both sides - The council are within their rights to look at saving money while it is a valid question about the community value of a football club and pulling such a large figure when the club is already reeling from the financial effect of Covid. What seems to be madness is making the letter public as a press release. What good can that do? Surely it will wind up SLC and if he expected support from the Accies fans then he's lacking a huge amount of self awareness (although the sight of a section of support who demand investment but who are reveling in the club losing money is a strange juxtaposition). The club is in a bad way at the moment - finances already devastated by the bank scam, the effect of Covid (100 PPVs a fortnight will not pay Templeton's wages alone), this £300k and no real sellable assets. Big decisions ahead, staying in the Premier league is more important financially than ever but can they afford the gamble of bringing in the calibre of player to do just that?

Canning did a decent job with Mikel Miller. Took him from the 8th tier of English football, showed some patience to get him to the required standard and now he's a semi regular starter in the Championship. Compare and contrast with how Rice is developing Tunde a player from a slightly higher level with a similar scoring record to Miller and who probably won't kick another ball for Accies. D'Acol is another decent example of a player who Canning took from playing Greek 3rd division football and slowly getting him to a standard where he did a decent job as a premiership striker.