RicoS321

Apologies, I was referring to Miovski on his wrong foot. I'm still not convinced though. Ball behind you, an awkward height, a difficult chance. He'd have had to throw himself in the air to get above it, and there wasn't a huge amount of time to react after it came over the heads and into sight.

On his wrong foot? Not convinced. Not many players around scoring one like that. Very difficult to get your foot over it at the last minute.

Think we'd have been in the Europa League of we'd adopted that setup (or similar) against Hacken.

Extra credit to Robson for tonight. That could have gone really badly, and he experimented with a new setup and made good changes at good times in the game. I think dropping Duk was the right call, and I'd probably do the same again at the weekend. Miovski on his own with the midfield (danger-man Polvara) getting close might be the right move. Thought the back three did well tonight despite the Rubezic switch off at the corner (thought Duk could have done better too, he should be positioned nearer the front post, and Clarkson should be staying on the back post). Maybe a 3-4-2-1 ala Scotland will be the one for us to go for? With apologies to the three other strikers that we bought and won't get a game.

Not to mention Hayes storming the midfield. Played themselves into contention for the real big one on Sunday.

Fucking hell. Robson going for a whole new approach to substitutions. Interesting.

Fucking koch

Earliest sub ever made by Robson?

Why would I watch that rubbish with all the new experiences being delivered by the dodgy links on the stream you sent?

Some save from Kelle like, despite the offside. Not sure about this stream OxfordDon recommended, the commentator keeps shouting "cock"!

Aye, only £30 per month.

Give him a four year deal

When you say "switch on", to which channel did you switch on?

anyone got a stream? Apparently the doubling of cost for Red TV international wasn't enough to include European fixtures.

So 5-4-1? With a very flat four. Maybe Clarkson in front of a three when in possession. Seems sensible.

I'm led to believe that it was beautiful up until the 1940s, then something happened, there were bombs involved and since then it's just an industrial estate.

I don't know. If we did, it isn't working. I think that, for most clubs, there are probably two roles there. Agnew will be the guy that offers something different to the players, so that they're not bombarded with 100% Robson. Whether that be by being a more reasonable guy, or the Knox role of being a bigger mental case. What I'm talking about is someone that sits above (and a step back from) Robson and the recruitment team and challenges the decisions that the management in those areas are making, whilst leaving them the autonomy to dig their own grave as it were. It doesn't need to be a football person, and it could even be a committee of persons. It has to be non partisan and can't be someone like Cormack, and it has to be someone in daily contact with the business (so not the FMB!). Their role should be to ask questions of Robson as if they were a layperson to make him think harder about what he's doing with the team (and the same for the recruitment guys). At the moment, for me, that would focus very much on our midfield. A break down on what each player is expected to be doing, whether they can do the role being asked and what was different previously that allowed it to work. Anyone with a young child knows that there are certain things that you just do without questioning yourself and it's only when they ask you why you're doing it and you can't explain that you realise you're doing something wrong or unnecessary. I'd be intrigued to hear Robson's description to the five year old (or layperson) of what his reasons are behind our current setup, or answers to the questions above. It feels like he's stuck in a mindset and won't budge, and that when he does budge it will be random and reactive rather than a calculated plan (see the 4-3-3), which will only be successful by luck.

I'm not going. Was hoping to get to Helsinki but can't make that either. I'll go to the knockout rounds. Hopefully Robson will contact Martindale this week to get a crash course in shitfesting. Failing that, he could get him to deliver a truck of happy pills for those that make the trip. Take the heat off the players.

Yes, it was. What was key about that match? Shinnie was missing. In order for Clarkson to play his direct, quick passing he needs the left to right space. That requires the two Flood-like midfielders doing their thing. Breaking up play, being first to everything and feeding off the second balls from the direct punts. Just as Barron couldn't be that second Flood in the last game, McGrath couldn't be yesterday (and neither can Polvara). We're banging our heads against a brick wall though, and it seems that nobody at the club is asking the fucking obvious.

I'm aware of that, that's why I'm wondering why he's making such basic errors? There are plenty of very good footballers who don't actually understand tactics and struggle to articulate and pass on what it was that made them good. We'll not know, because nobody actually asks managers pertinent tactical questions, deciding instead to focus on gossip and speculation. For what its worth, I believe Robson does understand, as evidenced by him immediately switching Ramadani's role and making Clarkson a number six with an emphasis on playing it forward quickly for the runs of Miovski. It's completely inexplicable that he's continuing to try the same tactic without Ramadani there, trying to force McGrath to play a game he can't, putting huge physical pressure on Shinnie and expecting Barron to do the same role that Clarkson is failing in this season (because Ramadani isn't there). He seems, without evidence, to believe that by continuing to do the same thing, the players will somehow learn physical attributes that they don't have. The change to a 4-3-3 was also ridiculous as that, too, doesn't play to the strengths of our midfield and appears to be a tactic designed to allow all our number nines to get game time, rather than to play to their abilities. It's not up to me to give Robson a break, he's heading towards what could be the end of his management career before it has even started (see Glass). I would hate to see that. It has nothing to do with number of games either, he's not correcting rudimentary errors and hasn't recognised that the key to his 3-5-2 success is missing. Really, really simple stuff that we (including Robson) watched Goodwin get wrong throughout his tenure. Most of my criticism still lies with the club though. Robson is a young manager who may just be too close to things to gain perspective (a bit like a 100mph young midfielder learning their trade). I think he's said himself that he needs people that can come in and challenge him, and it's unforgivable - given the events of the last few seasons - that that doesn't exist. We've got an entire recruitment team looking for players for a 3-5-2, and seemingly nobody sought to question why McGrath was being brought in to replace Ramadani (I made the stupid assumption that the scouts had seen enough of him to suggest he could be converted), nobody thought to ask him what plans B and C were and if having four midfielders with the same deficiency, and three strikers that play a remarkably similar role was a good strategy. Once again, we seem to be letting a manager hang himself out to dry without anyone at the club asking the basic questions (I believe Robson would happily accept challenge and advice). If we're going for the inexperienced Robson (and I still think we should), then we need somebody to manage the manager. A devil's advocate reading back every move he makes and forces him to stop, think and understand everything he's doing. It's fairly clear that's not happening. The errors he is making are of his own doing and he's not being helped. If I was to adopt your stance of saying "give him time", "only five games", it would be to ignore all the warning signs (big, massive alarm bells). It isn't a time based issue, he could keep doing what he's doing for years and have zero success.

I'm glad I didn't catch any of this one. An away loss at tynecastle isn't the worst result, but I suspect there is a lot more to it, as has been the case in every game so far this season. This season was always going to be a bit pot luck with the signings, but I assumed Robson would at least give himself a fighting chance. He doesn't appear to be doing that. There seems to be, once again, structural and strategic issues. I assumed recruitment was a joint thing. To me that means people raising serious questions. That's asking what our plan b is, and if we've got players that can play in those roles. We start with a 3-5-2, for which we have a completely unsuitable midfield. We finish with a 4-3-3 with an unsuitable front line. Are we just buying players and not players for positions? Does Robson think a midfielder is just a midfielder and a forward just a forward and that there's no nuance between roles? I assumed he'd have taken stock in the international break and accepted that the players in the squad aren't the required fit for what he's asking and we'd see a plan C. I don't see how we turn it around without a change in strategy. I don't see how Robson can't spot this.

That sounds plausible. Maybe even Atlanta B will take him. He's a good all round player whose level is just a bit below where we're at. The only way I can see him having a future here is if he really goes to town on his fitness and becomes a lot more aggressive. Like Morris, for me, he doesn't seem to have significantly improved from last season, which suggests there's probably a limit to his capabilities, which means he won't be good enough for us. I'd probably have him as slightly less serviceable than McKenzie.

It does seem to have Atlanta written all over it. He's 23 and isn't really anywhere near it. I don't think he'll prove anything in the next three years.

New three year deal for Dante. This is the best news we've had since Connor McLennan extended his stay with us under McInnes.

Nah, it's England, he'll get sent off at a crucial moment and they'll get knocked out. Six months later he'll be getting done for sexual assault.