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Yengi allegedly on his way out in January. Would have loved to know what whoever watched him was on when they decided to sign him.

P&J reporting that Yengi likely to be away in January and apparently some interest in him. Would be no real surprise with that one. Hopefully Ambrose will be away too and get his career back on track. Can't be good being a footballer and not getting to play, regardless of what any of us think of them

You might be right, but Nisbet has shown throughout his career that he's really only useful in a two. It doesn't have to be rigidly a two of course, Nisbet was at his best when playing in a 4-2-3-1, with Gueye occupying defenders ahead of him - a role that Lazetic would be great at. Lazetic wins headers, but can also take the better ball on his chest or just generally get his body between defender and ball and do something. Nisbet is great at bringing the ball in and distributing it, just not when under concerted pressure. Two up front doesn't mean less in midfield either. It does mean less width, but we should be good enough at home that we can allow the wing backs to play a lot higher (like how Lobban started yesterday). We could have two sitting midfielders, with Armstrong in front, a flat three, or one sitting and two in front of we choose to go long. The width would be the biggest concern, as you point out, however none of our wide players are operating in a role that prioritises width currently - they are all inverted. Our width, with Karlsson, Keskinen, Milanovic basically serves to narrow the pitch, or make the run for the very difficult over the top ball. If we had Morris still, I could see how we might lose something by playing two, but I think it could only be a gain, in that we might get more out of a guy who will score goals.

Should have said in my earlier post, no they were taken over in the 90s and become the Aberdeen Buttery Company, who then went bust about 12 years or so ago. I think out of the bakeries that were on the go when I was serving my time, only Thains and Ross of Chapel Street are still on the go. We have lost the following bakeries. Copie Baker Murdochs Lows Gordon Bakery (Dee Street) Aitkens Sunnybank Strathdees Claremont Bakery Duncans (Thains took them over in the early 90s) AB Hutchison

That is a good question. I wasn't at the game last night, but by all accounts were decent in the first half and then fell away in the second half, going by what I have read here and elsewhere. It was the same against Hearts and numerous other games this season, that I have been at. One good or decent half, and then we disappear. Substitutions kill any sort of momentum we may have, or usually just makes us look worse. Has Jimmy pissed off a lot of our players and the whole squad is suffering. Does he lack man management skills. I am sure player and squad limitation issues are to blame for some of it, but the manager is rightly under scrutiny from a lot of fans and has to take his share of the blame. It's not just as though it has been this season, we have been consistently poor for just over a year now.

I don’t get why people think two up top will work. It’s in midfield we are really poor. We had to go to a back 5 because of that. Going two up top will, in my opinion, mean more long ball. And neither lazetic or nisbet are strong in the air. To dominate games means you have to dominate in midfield. How does two up top help us there? We also don’t have width/wingers to stretch the field to give two up top more space to operate in.

Who? Can't remember him

I struggle with the fact we have no real style of play. We’re a horrible watch. When Thelin first came here I felt we were a clear counter attack team. We had identity. We’d win the ball deep, hit a forward, and you’d see pace from our midfield supporting and attacking, and we had width. That’s how we played during our positive run. Since teams figured that out and sat more we’ve struggled with no clear style or identity. I also think the inverted winger shit has done more damage than good. I’ve seen inverted wingers work, and work really well. But it doesn’t for us. We’re a 3-4-2-1 team by default. Because we are crap and had to go to a back 5 for the most part, not because it’s what we want to do. Because we were so weak in midfield a got over run. so, shit recruitment has led to a poor squad and imbalanced team. Is jimmy a bad coach or just a coach struggling with a very limited squad.

Lazio reported as tracking Watson with a view to making a move in January

Pink Floyd- Us and Them

I suppose taking a step back, it’s possibly a recruitment issue more than a manager issue. Going back a few years, we had a number of players who were arguably one of the best in the league in their position. we had Joe Lewis. Have we upgraded with mitov? We had Shay Logan, I’m good with lobban. we had McKenna, I think we have two good ones in Milne and kneuster. we had McLean, maybe that’s clarkson. But McLean had jack hayes and McGinn, we dont have that. If we had the pieces around clarkson I’d say he’d be as effective as McLean. We had Christie or Maddison, our luxury item. Both were popular team players. Doesn’t sound like karlsson. we had Rooney, nothing special but a good goal scorer. But scored a ton because he had service and got chances. Harsh to judge nisbet or lazetic when the service is so shite. throw in a Ferguson young shinnie Rama miovski, even duk. Last year we even had morris and gueye, two mediocre players who contributed to the squad. We haven’t even replaced them. you can have about half a team of average players. But you need that talent to bring the best out of a team. Who in our team would other teams want in their team? karlsson is a luxury item we cannot afford right now. We need grafters, fighters, and team players to work to improve us. We don’t have the pieces around karlsson to make him a success. His tricks and flicks are fine with the right balance in a team. But we’re still closer to bottom of the league than top, and he’s not what we need right now. Much like clarkson, we don’t get the best out of karlsson because of the limitations around him, and you’re seeing people turn on him as a result. my fear is we get offers for lobban and Milne in January.

I don't think there's a formation that we could use that would solve our left side problem. We don't have a full back worthy of the name to play on that side and we're lacking a winger as well. Maybe Shinnie on the left of a four would be alright, be he wouldn't have much ahead of him so we'd still be pretty shite on that side. As @RicoS321 says, that's a squad-building issue. Likewise in the middle of the park, we just don't have the player(s) that we need to win the battle and control the game in there. If Jimmy is responsible for that then it's a big worry, if he isn't then it's also a concern but perhaps one that has been addressed with Lutz's arrival. He said in his arrival interview that there are one or two positions we need to sort out and I'll be amazed if it isn't left back/left wing back and centre mid. If we're not blaming Jimmy for recruitment then I'm ok with him getting until the end of the season but it'll mean Lutz has a hell of a lot of work to do in January.

The Fallout Trust - them or it (some of the most bizarre lyrics ever)

Discovered last night from my sister that Stewart is from Aberdeen and I vaguely knew him as a kid. He was an alright loon. Apparently he didn’t really enjoy his time at Mordor. Funny that.

Yip 100% and unless Jimmy changes his tactics, approach and formation we are going to struggle to climb anything. Looking at our next three league games.................. on paper we should really be taking 9 points from them. Unfortunately we dont play the games on paper we have to play them on a football pitch. I really have no fkn idea how many points we will take from this next three games. It should be 9 and it could be but for that to happen Jimmy needs to take his head out from his arse and make the changes that simply must be done 2 up front (Nisbet and Lazetic) bin Karlsson and thats a good starting place. cmon tae fuk Jimmy jist fukin dee it min

Brutal night in more ways than one. Not really much to say that's not been said already. Atmosphere from the word go was flat and this was on and off the pitch. When we took the lead it was literally with our first decent chance and for a guy who has played so little Nisbet deserves great credit for his calmness with the finish. Getting that break just before half time I thought we'd kick on in the second half and possibly score another or two. Noah obviously got an arse kicking in the dressing room and looked like a different team in the second half. At no time after they equalised did I really feel confident of us winning the game and at times they actually looked more like getting a second. A distinct lack of leadership on and off the park on display. Not really one for singling out individuals but totally agree with Rico's comments regarding Karlsson as I lost count of the times I shouted at him for not doing the simple things and when what he tried didn't come off he seemed hell bent on berating those around him. Is he becoming a luxury we can't afford or does Thelin get him told to keep it simple. Didn't realise just how brutal the wind was during the game as was reasonably sheltered in the South Stand. Only when we got onto Merkland Rd afterwards I realised how bad it was. As for the drive down the road, the further south I got, the worse it got. Awful fucking journey home. December is going to be a seriously tough month with the number of games we have coming thick and fast. Much as we might on paper have a reasonable looking run of league fixtures we're going to have to up the ante somewhat to continue climbing the league.

Absolute classic description of the wanker of dogs performance for The Huns last night had me spitting out my coffee when I read this just now.

I guess it's whether two or three targeted good players can bring the best out of the ones who are technically good footballers, but not quite good enough. Guys like Jensen work hard, and are comfortable on the ball. They'd be fine with a couple of strong midfielders for example. We've overloaded on safe, technical players, basically, but they do have their uses. One or two good signings could comfortably get us through to summer until we can recruit better, and clear out again. I'd like to see us revert to a back four once we get signings in, and play like we did when JT first joined (which is essentially what Motherwell are doing, and I suspect they'll get found out in the next round of fixtures too).

^^Agree with that,think our problems stem as much from expensive player mediocrity,(along with the existing),and a few good players past their best.Happy to give Jimmy the Jan window,but unless Lutz has some awesome targets lined up,got a hunch the unrest will arrive before a sustained performance turnaround. Hope not but...

The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make (it makes none)

Superb stuff Neeps. Moreen Simpson eat your heart out. “Gies a bittie”

Agree with most of what’s been said on here. First half was dull, but we exercised some control and they didn’t look threatening. So I was happy enough at half time. second half I thought we were playing our way back into it after their goal but the subs were baffling. Completely set us back, with the exception of Clarkson who at least tried to make something happen. I’m not a Jensen hater but I don’t think he works on the left and Lobban is a better choice than him on the right. Not sure where that leaves him. We did look toothless down the left all night as Michael Stewart kept pointing out. No doubt we’re out now. if anyone wants to flog a couple of Sparta Prague tickets I’m your man… otherwise, January is going to be important again.

I served my time with Kennedys in the late 80s early 90s. The van mannie would have been Jim Baxter, nae the deid hun, although Jim himself is long gone. He took nae shyte in the bakery either. I was always up to shyte, being a daft young loon with too much energy and I think I might have put salt in his coffee instead of sugar, one of the many daft things I did to wind up the older staff. I got plenty of shyte done to me though. He said, you're a young loon, so you get a warning, try it again and you get a crack on the jaw. The others told me to take heed, as he was the type to hit you first and ask the questions later. Took nae shyte.

I don't think we'll find out how good a manager he is, as I think we'll sack him before we can find out. It's fucking simple stuff, you get the sporting director in, and then you spend the money. Thelin was appointed on the basis of having a recruitment team doing the work, while he managed the team. He's had to do the recruitment part, which he clearly can't do, but most importantly there is no devil's advocate in there questioning his motives and decision making. To not have a box to box midfielder in place (now relying on Aouchiche to do that, and he was okay last night), was criminal. To fill our team with project players and guys with zero SPFL experience also criminal. To re-sign Nisbet to play a role he can't play, and to sell Morris with no replacement. To have zero plan B. All errors in recruitment and squad building. I have a very strong suspicion that he is getting the best out of our players. Of course, a new manager bounce might temporarily add something, but it'd revert to the mean. We've signed a bunch of very average players, on top of those that were already average, or ageing. Our squad is gash. We need at least seven moved out in January.

Kursaal Flyers - Little Does She Know