Next up, Friday night away to Alloa

[Whitfieldarab]

Think the managers hands were tied re the set up of the midfield on Friday, with Appere and McMullan out injured it obviously left us short on wide players so the only other option he had was to play Glass on the right instead of Harkes or play him in the middle at the expense of Butcher or Powers or play Glass out wide right and play Harkes in middle at the expense of Butcher or Powers. The thing is though like a few others have said it was our woeful final ball that was our downfall and not the central area.

When Appere and McMullan are back in contention then we can't have Butcher and Powers in the same midfield. Harkes has to get back there v ICT on Friday

Butcher for me has been really poor recently(nothing to do with Power's arrival that's ridiculous) and I'd like to see him pair up with Watson at the back as I don't have much confidence in either Reynolds or Connolly.

[shedka]

Because the manager decided to play with three central midfielders in a formation we haven't played all season. Even then, Powers was the best of the three in my opinion.

Disagree that he was, either way the other two are affected by it and play better together as a duo

You can understand him playing the three vs hibs at home after Partick away, Powers played well that day. Butcher etc were returning, it was worth trying it out.

[shedka]

Think the managers hands were tied re the set up of the midfield on Friday, with Appere and McMullan out injured it obviously left us short on wide players so the only other option he had was to play Glass on the right instead of Harkes or play him in the middle at the expense of Butcher or Powers or play Glass out wide right and play Harkes in middle at the expense of Butcher or Powers. The thing is though like a few others have said it was our woeful final ball that was our downfall and not the central area.

When Appere and McMullan are back in contention then we can't have Butcher and Powers in the same midfield. Harkes has to get back there v ICT on Friday

Butcher for me has been really poor recently(nothing to do with Power's arrival that's ridiculous) and I'd like to see him pair up with Watson at the back as I don't have much confidence in either Reynolds or Connolly.

Agree with the first two paragraphs in full, disagree with the last paragraph about Butcher

He is our best cm that's where he should play for me

That's what's worked the majority of the season, we don't need to change much, it's just over a month ago we need to look to find the correct formula

[offshore_arab83]

Sideways or back. That game on Friday he was always looking up, trying to find a forward pass. Nine time out of ten he'd throw it wide to Robson as he was the best available option, but his passing was quick and it was slick and he moved the ball on as soon as he got it. He did give the ball away a few times on Fri as well however. 3 times in quick succession. If he has no options, he has no options and against these small teams that play 10 behind the ball there is little in the way of option other than to put the ball out wide. Remember we've struggled against these teams earlier in the season also.
I'd definitely be up for going back to Butcher & Harkes to see what difference it makes. I do agree Butcher and Powers are too similar for this league. Next season will be different altogether. You saw how good Powers was vs Hibs.

yeah but as above my point is he's not driving and creating, he stops to look for passes, Stanton would drive forward

[offshore_arab83]

Really dont understand all the negative comment regarding Powers, especially after the other night where he was pinging the ball wide and hitting the player every time. He was also regarded as one of the best players v Hibs so i think its unfair to lay the blame at the new lad!

As has been mentioned, we have at times been without Clark, McMullan, Appere, Watson, Robson, Harkes, Connolly and Reynolds during this run, who have all been part of a wining formula, plus Stanton away.

There have been some players who have deserved the attention of the boo boys, especially over the last 4 years, but Powers aint one of them!

its no blame the new lad, its blame the manager for playing the new lad next to a similar player plus still playing harkes. It aint working

[offshore_arab83]

I agree with this. Just to add, to say we had a lack of width on Friday is just wrong. Pawlett and Robson had countless opportunities to put the ball in from wide bit were woeful in this.

Tactically, the way to beat teams that sit in like this is to get the ball wide and this is exactly what we were doing in Friday night. Quality from the wide area was just not good enough, that's what was wrong IMO.

Powers did little wrong and having him and Butcher in the middle makes us very hard to pay against.

what width did we have oot right?

[offshore_arab83]

Butcher for me has been really poor recently(nothing to do with Power's arrival that's ridiculous) .

I dont think it is, not at all. No coincidence he's not performed as well as usual since powers was squeezed into the starting line up..

[the_arab]

Think the managers hands were tied re the set up of the midfield on Friday, with Appere and McMullan out injured it obviously left us short on wide players so the only other option he had was to play Glass on the right instead of Harkes or play him in the middle at the expense of Butcher or Powers or play Glass out wide right and play Harkes in middle at the expense of Butcher or Powers. The thing is though like a few others have said it was our woeful final ball that was our downfall and not the central area.

When Appere and McMullan are back in contention then we can't have Butcher and Powers in the same midfield. Harkes has to get back there v ICT on Friday

Butcher for me has been really poor recently(nothing to do with Power's arrival that's ridiculous) and I'd like to see him pair up with Watson at the back as I don't have much confidence in either Reynolds or Connolly.

Appere was already named on the bench prior to getting injured in the warm up, Neilsons went in to the match with the tactical decision to play Harkes on the right.... that is of course mental and worrying. Whilst I currently still like Neilson and think he is a massive improvement on the recent managers he is starting to show why Hearts fans wanted rid of him even though he was doing well.

[offshore_arab83]

Appere was already named on the bench prior to getting injured in the warm up, Neilsons went in to the match with the tactical decision to play Harkes on the right.... that is of course mental and worrying. Whilst I currently still like Neilson and think he is a massive improvement on the recent managers he is starting to show why Hearts fans wanted rid of him even though he was doing well.

agreed, Harkes on the right is a complete waste. Missed McMullan but RN would still probably fielded the 3 of them and left McMullan on the bench...

[GUNBOAT]

Anyone know how many crosses were played into the Alloa box on Friday?,including corners and free kicks i would guess at between 20 to 30.Any kind of decent delivery or finishing and we would have won by a goal or 2.I honestly do not think we are anything better than an average side with a good goalscorer but although this current team would fight relegation in the top league they are too far ahead to be reeled in by any Championship side.