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.

I see that decision has been reversed and they are now streaming the Albion Rovers game on Saturday. So yesterday before the Stranraer debacle when they was still a chance of qualifying and of the Albion Rovers game being meaningful they weren't showing it as not enough fans would watch to make it profitable but now with the game completely meaningless and viewing figures being bound to be rock bottom they are???? Probably reading too much in to this but the only way I'd even consider paying for a stream on Saturday is .................................................................................... if there was a change of manager.

2 up front (both strikers) and 2 wingers. Good to see Odoffin back at RB and absolutely the right thing to do giving the new signings and Easton game time. Also width and pace both of which have been completely lacking of late. We should have enough to win although I'd be stunned if we don't concede at least once with that formation. My only other issue is that I'd prefer to see Rice picking a team and formation which he could continue with through to the Dundee Utd game - No chance he can play that team at Tannadice.

I've got some sympathy with Maitland and the Accies board as I don't doubt they are working very hard to keep the club afloat at the moment. I think that all football fans can be unrealistic and 3 or 4 experienced signings at a time when no money is coming into the club just isn't going to happen. I'd also say the board has been more than fair not selling season tickets and offering matches on a pay per game basis, it's probably backfired and at a guess I'd suggest they are losing money every home game (I reckon not much more than £1500 per game income / £15 x 100 Pay per views) by the time you pay subscriptions, commentators fees etc.... So I can understand why he is frustrated but surely he is also frustrated when he sees a manager / coach who still has no idea about his preferred formation, a manager who signed Tunde (for a fee) and Johnson after having them on trial for a month but has now clearly decided neither is good enough, a manager who moaned about Clydebank playing Kyle Munro on the left wing rather at left back only for a few weeks later to start him in right mid (I don't mind Rice trying things but do it in the cup games not in a vital league game), a manager who didn't give Ronan Hughes a minute of game time against Ayr or Annan but decided he was first change after 30 minutes in a vital league game, a manager who has overseen a dramatic decline in form of too many players (Oggy & McMann being the stand outs), a manager who keeps making the same mistake with 2 strikers and wondering why the results aren't getting better and finally a manager who simply isn't developing our young players which we are told is a big part of his job. Rice is failing on the absolute basics and surely Maitland sees that.

Yogi?? John Hughes?? The John Hughes that took Raith Rovers into the third tier of Scottish football?

I thought it probably was a red card and based on the penalties Motherwell give away on Sunday I think we probably should have had a 3rd penalty for handball, however given how poor we were against Kilmarnock's 10 men and how much we were outclassed for 80 minutes tonight it's difficult to feel too hard done by. The first 45 minutes were brutal and sum up most of Rice's Accies managerial career - no consistency in selection, no ideas, no identity, no threat, no press. The second 45 minutes were an improvement and mostly due to Ogkmboe looking like a proper player again for the first time this season (maybe Gogic was coaching him) holding the ball up well, running channels and getting us up the pitch. I see he's getting hammered on Twitter for the penalty miss but Oggy is our best striker and if he keeps that level of performance should be a starter every week. On 70 minutes Rice had another moment of inspiration and realised that if you want to score goals then pace and width are quite important - Smith and Tunde came on and suddenly we looked capable of scoring (helped by removing Scott Martin a player who is playing 2 divisions above his level). We got away without the heavy defeat that our performance deserved tonight, will Rice learn from it - probably not.

Yet another player who played his best football under the management of Martin Canning.

Ronan Hughes last game before starting at Celtic on the first game of the season was a 7-1 defeat in the bottom division so you never know. In fairness to Munro he did well when he came on and looked better than McMann who has looked hopelessly out of sorts since being made captain. A lot of the usual complaints about Rice playing the "yoof" but some of the senior players like Templeton, Moyo and Oggy have been so poor they can't have too many complaints if not started. On the positive side the centre of our defence was decent, Shaun Want continues to improve to a level above where I ever thought he would reach and although it's early days Odoffin is laying claim to the honour of being Brian Rice's first successful signing since replacing Canning. Negatives remain the same and mostly involve our midfield. In Scott Martin we have talent wise one of the most limited players I've seen play for Accies but yet he remains our first choice in the centre of the park while Trafford was beyond poor with the only plus being he won't have the inconvenience of washing his shirt tonight. A signing is badly needed as to believe that the perma injured Will Collar is the answer would be optimistic in the extreme. Rangers? Hard to judge as they were on cruise control from the moment their 1st goal went in (offside surely!!). Kent was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch and their striking options are significantly poorer when Morelos isn't playing.

Would far prefer a 4-5-1 with Templeton dropping into midfield and Moyo playing on the left. We won't have too much possession either way but will be completely over run if it's a 4-4-2.

Well done to those involved at Accies for a very respectable TV debut. Ok the commentary wasn't great but to put that level of production together from scratch in little over a month deserves some praise. Unfortunately that's about the only positive as the football was beyond poor. Last week Rice was spared scrutiny over a ludicrously open game plan at Parkhead by a media fawning over Eduard and a very low level of expectation and this week once again Rice got just about everything wrong - Poor selection, poor tactical HT sub that actually made us poorer, far too late making subs etc... The worse part however, was the sole tactic of punting the ball to Moyo in the hope he could get a few knock ons. A full pre-season, 6 days from our last game and the best we can do is long ball after long ball to Moyo and when it was clear it wasn't working there was no plan B they continued to punt the ball to Moyo. I think there is some talent in the squad with rarely for Accies a number of attacking options and a bit of pace (which makes the constant long ball to Moyo even more frustrating) but Rice has built what appears to be a badly imbalanced squad. Short of a quality keeper, no cover in either full back position, 6 centre backs where the only one without a big question mark against them is injured and will probably remain so on and off for most of the season and a central midfield which misses any ball player - Scott Martin is a Premier league athlete but is a 2nd Divsion footballer and so far Callachan hasn't shown to be much better. It's early days but big improvements are needed if this isn't to be the season!

5-3-2 with your 8 nailed on starters + Callachan, Moyo & McKenna (third CB if fit) although could be completely wrong and I wouldn't be hugely surprised to see Hughes start. Anything better than a 3 goal defeat will be acceptable before the season starts for real next week.