Valentino Bolognese

Not sitting behind Matty Kennedy I don't think. MK does track back but it's really not his strong suit. IMO playing Tanser forces us into playing Wotherspoon on the left and, personally, I still think that leaves us just too exposed. Left is a problem for us so we need some robustness there, and Idon't think that attacking the channels to get balls into the box is any use with Kane as a striker, even with Murray on the field. I like Tanser, but we've got a back 4 that was pretty effective in shutting out Killie at home and given that's been the glaring weakness all season I'd be very reluctant to change it without very good reason, even if a big part of that performance was also Craig. 1-1 1st goal MacLean (suspect the new man will have seen enough of Uche already), McCann to equalise (he's due to get something from one of his speculative 30-yarders). Both teams to be off the bottom of the table after this weekend.

Ah, so he does. I think Booth did enough to keep Scotty on the bench for the time being, and to me it make sense to play the more defensive player in this one.

Bit hard on Murray Davidson - did Holt do enough to keep him out the team? Possibly, but I think we can get some joy in midfield with Muzz back in the team and it gives us set piece / cross threat that we definitely missed. Also through the middle Berra is probably the weak link and big Murray could run over him and beat him in the air and Kane might be able to exploit his lack of pace and mobility by just tiring him out. Kennedy on the left to run at Smith and MOH on the right would have more joy against Hickey than Wright, I reckon, but I'd not be surprised or disappointed to see Drey start. We're so short of genuine goal threat Matty as to play IMO. Naismith clearly a worry if he plays and that would be a test but I would hope Gordon can contain him. I'd be worried if Meshino plays as we're not quick at the back and our full-backs are so easily beaten I expect he'd cause us trouble. Good for us that Mulraney is injured as he's pretty quick. Hope Sean Clare plays, Liam Craig can bully him all day long. Going into a season-defining run of games with no injuries or suspensions, so no excuses. Need a point here. Hopeful but not positive. Clark Ralston Kerr Gordon Booth Craig MOH McCann Davidson Kennedy Kane Looking forward to a day out in the capital. Looks like it'll be a cold one so a few scoops to keep the chill off should do the trick. £29 quid though FFS.

I think that Hendry might have that in him but he's still pretty raw. Ideally we'd sign someone that already ha that syle of play for him to work with.

Don't want this to get into the type of discussion that makes me run a mile from WAP these days but suffice to say I don't necessarily agree we are particularly well run. Not spending money is actually really easy. The problem is as above that more ambitious, faster moving businesses go past you. I just hate that the limit of our ambition seems to be 'not going bankrupt', however sensible that may Not saying we should abandon all prudence but a bit less risk aversion may well be in order or we'll be basking in the glory of being one of the best run clubs in the Championship.

Interesting article on an aspect of Saints that's not often covered in the mainstream press, but absolutely indicative of the club as a whole. The last progressive thing we did was McDairmid Park, and look behind the scenes at McDairmid and it's like a local bowling club. It's staid, conservative, and reeks of 'done on a budget'. It's a time capsule. Look at our embarrassing marketing and social media under-investment, see how long it's taken to get electronic ticketing etc. But hey, I'm sure we're doing a roaring trade in funeral receptions and rotary club meetings. The article is right, if you stay still while others move forward, you're moving backwards. Investing in good people in the right senior positions should not be seen as a risk. Despite all that though we should still stay up this year. But IMO ownership is due a change, as we need a new approach and our owners aren't known for being progressive.

I'd agree with that. Just to help the OP and stop them getting lost, if you're looking for a bar in Perth called Christies you'll find it's called the King James. Like Mennies in Dundee, the sign above the door is different to the local name.

Not so sure that it's as simple as we looked better without Murray, but it was a setup (4-1-4-1 it looked like) that was absolutely focussed on stopping us losing goals through the centre-backs. Maybe that was forced because Davidson was out, or maybe it was always going to be TW's game plan. It does raise the question though as to what happens next week as based on the Killie game it's hard to justify dropping any of the middle 3 to make way for him. May well be a case of starting with the same lineup (with Kennedy in for Wright and MOH on the right) with Murray and Hendry off the bench if we want/need to push up a bit. Then again, the Hearts midfield should be easier to dominate and push through than Killie, so maybe Murray is the better option. Unhappily I'm not seeing an obvious place for May in this setup. Maybe it will take another striker signing to get the best out of him and avoid it all being an expensive and damaging mistake. I agree that the 'foot on the ball' stuff from Holt and McCann was good to see. Always good to see Muzz charging into headers but with the ball at his feet he's usually looking for a quick easy ball rather than drawing the opposition in.

Matty has stronger leverage than Wright at the moment IMO. I'd think that Drey is playing for an offer now and I'm not sure he'll start at Tynecastle. I really do hope, for his sake an ours, that he can get back the form he had pre-injury. Craig's obviously at the tail end of his career but playing in front of the back four looks like a useful role for him. I think that we've learned that even with our best back 4 we need a bit more protection and if Tommy isn't going to risk a flat 4-4-2 until our defence then it shapes up, seems a good solution. Is he necessary or a luxury? Not sure how much he costs. Suppose if he wants regular football he'll follow Ando into the lower tiers. Apologies for rambling, at a bit of a loose end with no game tomorrow, and irritated at 29 of my pounds going to Budge's bandits.

Like a left back rather than a wing-back I thought, so from that perspective an upgrade on Tanser in games like this. Defence were much stronger. Liam Gordon being back certainly helped, he won balls Duffy's been missing and was just generally a bigger presence. Thought that McCann and Holt did really quite well sitting fairly high in front of them and winning a fair bit of the midfield, Craig solid but not sure he's really still a 90 minute player. Good subs from Tommy I thought. MOH gave him something to think about. Only real disappointment for me was Wright, he's just not the player he was despite flashes. Not sure how much longer he gets in TW's brutal new regime. We didn't miss May tonight.

Edit - totally misread Paulo's post. First team has 10 men, which confused me.

Huad the bus. Just remembered that Duffy hobbled off on Saturday so could well be out. Meaning that we probably would have to draft in Booth if we wanted a back 3/5 and that would leave us no cover at all. Nick of this squad.

Sigh. Roll up, it's tombola time. Assuming Gordon won't be fit as he wasn't even on the bench at the weekend. If he is he's straight in for 'Estonia nul points' obviously. Clark Ralston Duffy Kerr Vihmann Tanser Wright McCann Wotherspoon Kennedy May We need to do something to stop the goals against and if Tanser and Ralston can't or won't play as full backs then let them get forward a wee bit. One thing Ralston can do is beat his man and I think that Hammaleinenenen is probably the weaker of the the 2. It's a small hope though. Even with 3 across the back we'll struggle as ours is probalem of quality not quantity, but at least it's another (massive, slow and probably in the wrong place) body. Kerr might not be a natural in the middle but he's quicker than the others and he looks best when he gets to burst forward. I think Wright and Kennedy have similar football brains so that might work. Without Murray we only have McCann who has a hope of competing with Power/Dicker and they also have decent threat wide, and 2 excellent CB's in Del Fabro and Bruce that we can't beat in the air but might get some joy against on the ground, hence Matty up front. Was tempted to bench May for Kane, given that Stevie will get thrown all over the place by Killie's defence. Then I remembered Chris Kane. Ultimately don't think how we arrange our deck chairs on this particualr Titanic matters much but maybe if we stack the back we might just keep it respectable and nick a point. Ralston's up against Makrini and McKenzie. No idea why but the Killie fans seem not to rate young Rory but I've been impressed, and fear a repeat of the Aaron Comrie / Jordan Jones hilarity.

Looks like they're having a good go at getting there TBF.

We might manage to take triple figures to this one, if you include players and staff. Question - does the plastic pitch at Rugby have heating? Astro seems unplayable to me when it's frosty but that's maybe because I've not been on a 'professional' surface. I know that one of the advantages is that games tend not to get cancelled but I thought that was usually because of better drainage. What's the chance of cancellation if the weather stays the same? edit : for got to say, 2-0 Killie