beyond our ken

The annoying thing is that it doesn't need to be this bad. Thre majority of managers tend to pack their squads with experienced and very limited players with a sprinkling of investment opportunities if they can get them and the only way to really grow the quality is through youth, which isn't happening on a big enough scale in Scotland. The quality of our game should be on par with similar sized countries and it's really not, all down to managerial culture and boardroom risk-aversion arising from the unfair split of external revenue as the millstone that is dragging our game down

True, it's a terrible league with hardly a good player across 10 of the teams Not one we would want to slide down any further

When i had the temerity to suggest CBM wasn't contributing I was told on this forum that his play alongside Baccus was a thing of beauty and that O'Hara would not get back in ahead of him. It's pretty clear that Baccus is the driving force in the middle and provides the spark (when it is there) and the other players don't know what to do without Gogic in midfield. Jamieson was disappointing yet i still think he will do very well for us. In all honesty, aside from home v the fakes we have been shit since that cup game at Easter road. As for Mandron, he seems to lack the heart for a battle and all of a sudden Jon Obika looks like a goal machine again in comparison. Instead of decorating lamposts maybe we should have a whip-round for Van Veen on loan in the new year It's our perrenial problem, the opposition suss out both the tactics in the Robinson playbook and they know we can't score. That means they only have to sit it out and hit us on the break in the way Dundee did so effectively against us. Very quickly, we need to go to 4 at the back or even 5 with 2 holding in midfield, but we don't have that many decent defenders in the squad. If Robinson can figure out how to get the door closed at the back then fine, if not then he has the kind of trouble that very few managers can get themselves out of

without checking the stats, I kind-of bought into the notion that a returning Ayunga would help solve so many problems, however he had one goal in his last 11 appearances before injury So I kind of think we are screwed, Mr Robinson seems to be shopping in the clothing emporium for emperors and we have no real answer YET AGAIN when the opposition suss out our one tactic

Under a lot of-stress Is he changing his name to groyan strain?

We really need the 9, get those and a win at Tynecastle will see daylight between us and them with Hearts still to come to Paisley before the split. Apart from the glasgow two, Hibs in the cup and Dundee I don't really see a bad performance from us, just lacklustre ones in a few games We can do this as long as the manager can get his head round why we have fallen off so much. he talks about a small squad and injuries yet doesn't utilise Bolton and Jamieson so

I had hoped we would be considering offers to let him move on in January. Being out until April means he wont get fully fit again this season and that will maybe have a knock-on in terms of the offers he might have expected to get for a PCA. His injury record is significant and he really needed to get to january fully fit to cash-in on his next move, maybe he will accept that extension now as he needs a supportive club behind him rather than the uncertainty of what the summer might hold for the out-of-contract players, expecially those with a fitness concern.

due to a week of spicy food my arse is certainly smarting

We need to win this one as the fakes will be looking to reverse that defeat in Paisley which marked their low-point, getting a point or better against us will be seen as proof they are going somewhere again. We should be targetting Clarke for some harsh treatment as he is a thorn in our flesh, he annoys me so much I think we should sign him at the next window. Winning on Wednesdsay would get the tails up again, Hearts are unlikely to get a win v rangers so we could be challenging for 3rd place again and beating Ross County & Motherwell after a win in Perth could see us in a match to consolidate 3rd place again at Tynecastle right before Crimbo, Happy holidays and it all starts in a soul-free trench on the outskirts of Perth this week

That is not really good defending, getting the ball out to your own side and reducing pressure is the hallmark of a good defence.

We are not ticking along at all just now, 3rd, 4th and fifth place are big prizes in this league and you have to seize them. You don't get there by jogging along with a bit of limp as awe are just now. We petered out after the split last season and if we had to compete to stay in the top 6 then we would not done so.

What is the point of signing players like Bolton and not using him when the defence is not delivering? McMenamin took a while to get going for us and after some good performances has fallen away so I'd say that the very lively LJ should be given the chance to put Conor under pressure. Small is definitely a player and has both strength and pace, so why not use him? As for Nahmani, maybe get him some minutes on the pitch. Good to see Ryan Flynn back in the team for the fakes game I'd like to see Bolton, Fraser and Dunne across the back with McMenamin or Flynn and Small as wing-backs. Get Alex back in his best midfield position alongside O' Hara with Jamieson linking back to the midfield supporting Ayunga and Olusanya. Good players like Kiltie, Tanser, Baccus and Mandron have flattered to deceive with good-looking play that really hasn't delivered anything much for a month now. The fakes give me the fear right now, it's a bad tie to try and turn things round in. Clarke usually manages to get a goal against us and they won't be as bad as they were in Paisley a few weeks ago. That shitty hole-in-the ground stadium also seems to suck the life out of our performance there. We need to rise above the environment, the reaction they have given Levein and our really poor recent form. I thoroughly applaud the way we started the season, it was enough for me to suspect that Robinson really is a top manager and the proof of that will be in turning around this languid spell that has already run for too long.

I hope Ross Stewart is back fit and scoring well soon after Christmas it would be fantastic to finally see him fulfill his potential in a Scotland shirt

Bumpity

Jennings will be inconsolable