RicoS321

He's very good when the midfield in front does it's job. As part of a back five, he should have licence to get forward and have the expectation that someone will cover in behind, either in the shape of Devlin, or one of the midfielders, or Rubezic stepping across if numbers permit. In the games where we've been set up like a serious football team, rather than some weird Robson conceptual project, he's generally held his position well and dominated his opponent.

You're not supposed to track your marker, they're supposed to track you.

I had thought of him, but for some reason I thought Shingles was captain at that point. Edit: and Whyte? Surely one of those two were ahead of Cuntbarry?

He's definitely the best of the three defenders we've bought. He's had a poor run along with the rest of the team, but seemed to be more himself in the last game. He's very good in one-on-one situations and reads the game well, as well as being reasonably aggressive. At 26, he's approaching peak age for a defender, so having him around for another few years would be a perfect stabilising influence. Could even be a future captain perhaps. Have we had a foreign speaking captain before? Snelders or Kjaer, were they captains? I'm thinking actual captains, rather than someone who might have just taken the armband for a game or two.

1-0 to Queen's Park in the biggest televised game of the evening.

Think both Tims are well out of our range. Pretty certain the Tims are wanting to keep Vata, but clubs in the EPL are trying to get him. Lowe would be a great signing, but I'm guessing that he'll be miles out of our reach, given he's still getting minutes in the EPL.

Neither? There's a Scottish game on BBC Scotland. Infinitely better than any English pish, and TNT can ram itself in the bumhole.

Decent rugby player too.

I misread that and thought you were suggesting he play at fullback! You're right, he can't be relied on to be a wing back, and a 4-2-3-1 is definitely his best formation. He played number ten in one of Glass' teams from memory and he did okay. He's definitely got talent, I just think it's in the same way Cammy Smith did, at a level below. Between him and Morris, to be honest I don't care, and if one has a bad attitude and the other doesn't, then that probably sways it. I think it was as long ago as the Atlanta trip that Besuijen was frozen out, so I think it even precedes Robson. He was shiter than Matty Kennedy in my opinion anyway.

I don't think either are particularly good. Besuijen reminds me of Jeffrey De Visscher. Technically good and composed, but easy to brush off the ball, and lacking in any pace to get away from a player. He's a level below what we're looking for too.

Morris' biggest issue is his cowardliness (I don't mean it in a bad way, just can't think of a better description). He doesn't do the driving runs to the byline that Hayes used to do. He kicks the ball, hesitates, then does his run. He doesn't show for the ball, and he doesn't make runs that will lead to him getting the ball in dangerous areas. He doesn't have the skill of a Niall McGinn, where he can leave a guy on his arse either, so if he's not got the beating of a defender for pace, he's basically fucked. He's also not got a huge potential beyond what he's already shown. The attributes that he's missing - skill and strength - aren't likely to take him to the next level. He's currently a poor man's Matty Kennedy, and his ceiling is probably Matty Kennedy. Matty Kennedy wasn't terrible though, just that we should be looking for better. I'd rather we gave any Morris minutes to Duncan. Duncan has physical attributes that could probably give him a higher ceiling and is still young enough that his confidence can be built over time. I'm not sure he'll make it either, but is certainly a better project. Ideally we minimise the number of guys we have hanging around the squad who aren't at the required level, as inevitably we'll buy more guys who also aren't at the required level. McInnes was quite bad for building up crap in the squad. I'd be happy to see players like Morris and McGarry moved on in the summer, with Hayes moving into coaching. Keep it lean and try and take through youth (like Milne for instance) to make up the numbers. Polvara and McKenzie should be the level we're currently aiming for with our squad players, both more than capable of holding down a position if required, whilst maybe not being part of an ideal first eleven (McKenzie is at the moment of course). Edit: also, we should look to use the winter break to leave Gueye on an uninhabited island somewhere too.

I wouldn't mind Duk leaving. I'd rather that than the fans started to turn on him. I don't think we have the resources to deal with a player like Duk when we need points and performances. He'd be a fantastic asset off the bench, but a couple of good performances and he'd be back in the team where we end up having to switch tactics to accommodate him. If we had a really top class left back, we could probably afford to play him on the left, but we don't. He's better off elsewhere, making cameos for someone else unfortunately. He's been entertaining and frustrating.

Also, Jayden Richardson getting plenty of ten minute subs appearances for Stockport, so maybe we should look to bring him home. He actually came on up front for the final ten minutes a few weeks back when they beat notts county (they were drawing when he came on), and I have a feeling he could be the next Josh Magennis. Ideal replacement for Miovski in my opinion.

Anyway, not sure what is meant by defensive midfielder these days, and probably not a necessity. I wouldn't have called Ramadani a defensive midfielder, nor would I really describe Shinnie as such. I'm hoping it means someone with the ability to run about a lot and get stuck in, while giving the ball to the good guys as quickly as possible. Whilst I'm keen on another midfielder, there's a large part of me hopes we don't get one so that Robson is forced to continue the setup we had at County. I've a feeling any new midfielder will see us revert to Clarkson deep and the direct approach again. I'd like to see several out and maybe only a couple in. I'd be happy enough with McKenzie for the remainder of the season at fullback and Duncan given more minutes in a wide role. Right wing is where we should definitely be strengthening, as Morris is clearly not good enough there. I think that if we keep to a 4-2-3-1, then we're quite well served as a squad otherwise, and perhaps we concentrate on trimming the squad ready for more errors in the summer. Unless, of course, there are some long term targets that we will miss out in if we wait. A pre contract or two wouldn't go amiss either. If Barron leaves, then we either risk Polvara until the end of the season or look elsewhere (Watson at Killie would be fantastic, but he has over two years left).

Humphrey's loon?

Is Robson March?

I'm not convinced Robson is behind Barron not featuring. I'm certain that comes from above. It wouldn't make sense for Robson to not play Barron because of a contract situation, as it could directly affect it his own job (by losing a final for example). Imagine he did go to Cormack and say that he wasn't playing Barron until he signed a new contract? At that point, Cormack would still have to either okay it, or say "you're not doing it in our name". Contract talks are done above the manager's level too, that's an internal club thing, so it's not like Robson has any control other than to say he wants to keep or sign a player. Saying that, at no point does Barron really feature in a 3-5-2 with a holding midfielder with Clarkson in the team, so maybe it was just entirely tactical. I guess it could be that. Goodwin did exactly the same with Barron, regularly playing him in front (on the pitch) of Ramadani, which is why Barron went through the same doubting from the fans that Shinnie (and Clarkson) are going through this season. The thing that makes me think it's contractual rather than tactical with Barron is that Duncan barely played any minutes before signing a contract and then went through a spell of playing every week.

Yep. You can see from the first thirty seconds the difference in shape. A speculative punt that they win and Shinnie is running onto the second ball as opposed to it floating over his head. Simple stuff Robson.

I agree about the 4-2-3-1 being out best formation, I'd have that every week, but our defence was generally stretched because of the shite served up in front of them. Our back three has also had some really good games against Frankfurt twice, the Huns twice and others. Those games we performed well in always had two sitting in midfield. If we'd gone 4-1-4-1 today, as I had thought we might be when I saw the team, I think we would have really struggled. The common denominator in our poor performances seems to be playing Clarkson deep and Shinnie further up field. It's certainly worth looking out for, as I have a strong suspicion that if Barron leaves this window, we'll see Robson return to having Clarkson deep (even in a four: 4-1-4-1) and we'll start to fail again. The reason it bothers me so much, and it's nothing to do with anything you've written, is that I've seen (on forums) and heard at pittodrie people questioning our captain and saying "his legs have gone" (the world's most irritating cliché), or "he's done" (often suffixed, ridiculously, with "at this level", as if we're at the pinnacle of the game). It simply isn't the case. His best games this season have all come from playing in a two. Shinnie needs to be facing the play so that he can drive with the ball and nip at folks heels from goal side. Not having a defender clear the ball over his head and have to chase it back, or to play high up the park and receive it to feet just outside their box facing backwards. What we were witnessing was a player doing the work of two players and being run into the ground doing so. The technical side of his game is no worse than it was in his first spell, he's not quick to spot a pass and often makes a poor decision when a more lucrative pass is on. Most fans (certainly around me) don't seem to get the nuance in formation and position, they just see a guy chasing the ball and criticise. That shitey midfield setup has not only wrecked our league season, but also had a huge detrimental effect on the fans views of our captain. Hopefully the next time Robson tries his shite, more folk will side with Shinnie and not the manager, but I don't hold out much hope.

What sort of Hun misses an opportunity to watch the Dandies for a holiday in the Bahamas? Disgusting. Whilst I much prefer the back four today (because it's easier on the fullbacks), it was never really the back three that caused us issues, it was the stupid setup in midfield. He could have easily played with two sitting midfielders and a back three, rather than the holding midfielder and we'd have been fine. I think the 5-4-1 type setup might still be a better option against teams that are better than us, especially away from home, but that rarely came with a holding midfielder, which is why we generally showed up quite well in those fixtures.

Something's gone on at Ibrox. The home supporters have no idea what. An entirely unrecognisable incident.

I think that getting a dog to pish on Morris in training would be excellent motivation.

Night and day from the other day as expected. That's what happens when you play to player's strengths rather than their weaknesses Robson. Just need him to actually stick to it and not revert back at the first opportunity, which we know he will. There was only really Polvara out of position today, but he did fine, and on a narrow pitch perhaps width wasn't necessarily required. Gartenmann on his wrong foot I suppose, but he's comfortable enough on his weak foot. Overall, we played really well, with probably McGrath, Barron and Clarkson standing out, closely followed by Shinnie and MacKenzie. Obviously, the main thing was the setup, and that setup allows us to do so much. That might be Barron's last game for us, but put Polvara in there and Duncan or Morris out wide and we've still got a strong side. Duk can come in for McGrath (although only when chasing the game due to his shoddy covering), McGrath can play where Clarkson played, Clarkson can play where Barron was, Hayes can come in for McGrath, Jensen can cover for MacKenzie or Gartenmann and so on. It'll be a real shame if it wsa Barron's last game for us though.

What a finish from Bojan. Although the defender did him a favour, as did the keeper.

Clarkson. Some lad.