The final third

[Captain Trips]

Quite awful at times and that IMO is why we failed to score.No guile and crossing that was simply woeful.

I think Scott Allan would be the difference in this team it needs cutting passes and he does that.

[cabbageandribs1875]

it's a pity we can't trust anyone other than stevie mallan taking our corners, i'd much prefer if he was hanging about outside the box for any balls headed out of the box, imo

[Forza Fred]

Yep no aerial threat whatsoever today, and think Boyle is much more effective when kept on the right.

Think we need a back up target man type forward, if we can find one in January.

[Heckys Wheel]

Said it at the game, even if the crossing was better, there was nobody there that was going to win any headers.

Our recruitment was bad in the summer and we’re paying for it now.

[eastcoasthibby]

I said it at the time we didnt get enough of the right type of players in during the summer, our midfield is full of non tacklers aka lightweight, we do need creativity, but we also need them to be able to defend as well. Hyndman, Mallan and Horgan in the same team whilst great on paper its imbalanced and we lose shape and presence. We needed to try and get in a natural left sided midfielder who worked gave us presence and a bit of ability.Upfront I think we all knew that we needed another striker in, but failed to do this and have suffered since the Europa adventure.

[K.Marx]

Yesterday was very similar to a few of our home games the first half of last season. Some decent build up play but no end result. Didn’t surprise me that the result ended up the same as the last time st Johnstone visited.

We clearly missed Kamberi. Without him there was no focal point and nothing was sticking. Also think it’s been a mistake taking Milligan out of a midfield which seemed to be finding its feet. Really hope he puts him back in front of a back 4 shortly.

I hope the recruitment team are looking at another physical striker in January. We need that option if Kamberi’s not available.

[Scotty Leither]

The one or two decent crosses we did put in had nobody bursting a gut to get on the end of them, and I don't think the two centre halves playing for them got turned once the whole game.

I would've made a move for Kris Boyd in either one of the last two windows to give us something different both in terms of a physical presence and a recognisable regular goalscorer.

I was told by Stephen Dunn though that we were already "over budget" in January, so does anyone know if we were "over" or "under" budget in the last window, when we pfaffed about in the last week trying to get Allan in, and left us where we are now with a light squad and signing short-term jersey fillers?

[whiskas]

Yep me and the guy beside me both commented on the fact that the forwards (Boyle and Maclaren) both ran near-post when the cross was played back post on a number of occasions.

[Scotty Leither]

...and I'm sat here watching Boyd batter the Aberdeen defenders around in a manner that none of our
forwards are equipped to do.

[EH54]

Yep me and the guy beside me both commented on the fact that the forwards (Boyle and Maclaren) both ran near-post when the cross was played back post on a number of occasions.

I noticed a couple that were aimed for The back post and no one was there to meet it, your wingers should be tucking in or your full backs if they are providing the width. Something gray is very good at.

[Allant1981]

I noticed a couple that were aimed for The back post and no one was there to meet it, your wingers should be tucking in or your full backs if they are providing the width. Something gray is very good at.

yip agree, or any of the midfielders to be honest, they should be bursting a gut to get in the box just incase the forwards miss it

[Allant1981]

...and I'm sat here watching Boyd batter the Aberdeen defenders around in a manner that none of our
forwards are equipped to do.

yet hasnt scored more than 2 of our 3 strikers yet this season

[Scotty Leither]

Yet has a bigger physical presence than anything we've got, and brings other players into the game, so more to his game than goalscoring, yes?

We've been here for a year now, needing a hold-up player up front and the stubborn resistance by the bean counters in the Boardroom to address it is a recurring theme at Easter Road, I'm afraid.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I was confused by our whole set up yesterday. We had two wingers on the park and even more advantageous one was a right winger and one a left winger .. the opportunity was there to stretch St Johnstone's defence all over the place, but instead we relied on Whittaker ( who overhit 80% of his crosses ) and Stevenson ( who cant beat a man to save himself ) to provide that width. The end result was a return to Groundhog day on the left with Lewis playing every possession back the way or infield where the St Johnstone defence were easily able to stifle our attacks.

We relied on Bartley in midfield and even though he had a decent game he cant use the ball as well as Milligan, who wasn't needed at CH when Porteous is more than capable of doing the job as he has proved time and again this season and we also had McGregor who was excellent at Tynecastle .. OK I realise that in the end Daz's error cost us a point.

Without Kamberi on the park Bogdan had only one long range out ball and even a Sunday league manager could set up to counter bye kick after bye kick and clearances up the field from the keeper heading in the direction of the only guy we had in the final 3rd touching 6 feet tall IE Whittaker, never mind a very good pro like Tommy Wright.

It all resulted in a pedestrian effort for most of the game and a lacklustre defeat where we barely troubled the away keeper apart from a few long range efforts.

This one is on Neil Lennon unfortunately …. he is known for being a brave manager, but there was nothing brave about his set up yesterday, especially in his reluctance to set up the team to utilise his two wingers.

[matty_f]

Yet has a bigger physical presence than anything we've got, and brings other players into the game, so more to his game than goalscoring, yes?

We've been here for a year now, needing a hold-up player up front and the stubborn resistance by the bean counters in the Boardroom to address it is a recurring theme at Easter Road, I'm afraid.

Only Celtic and Rangers have outscored us this season and last.

Maybe the problem isn't as evident to the bean counters as it is to you?

[Allant1981]

Only Celtic and Rangers have outscored us this season and last.

Maybe the problem isn't as evident to the bean counters as it is to you?

dont be posting facts now!

[Beefster]

Yet has a bigger physical presence than anything we've got, and brings other players into the game, so more to his game than goalscoring, yes?

We've been here for a year now, needing a hold-up player up front and the stubborn resistance by the bean counters in the Boardroom to address it is a recurring theme at Easter Road, I'm afraid.

We scored six in our last home game before yesterday.

[Scotty Leither]

Only Celtic and Rangers have outscored us this season and last.

Maybe the problem isn't as evident to the bean counters as it is to you?

Evidently not...mind you I have forgotten more about football than what Petrie, Langham, and Forsyth combined know.

[matty_f]

Evidently not...mind you I have forgotten more about football than what Petrie, Langham, and Forsyth combined know.

They've been involved in professional football for a great number of years, what makes you think you've forgotten more?

[Nicho87]

I’d be letting slivka, shaw, Nelom, laidlaw, hyndman go in January.

Shaw id look to punt to a Dundee or something on loan and see what he does with regular game time.

[H18 SFR]

I’d be letting slivka, shaw, Nelom, laidlaw, hyndman go in January.

Shaw id look to punt to a Dundee or something on loan and see what he does with regular game time.

I'm not convinced that in his current form Shaw would command a place at a Prem side.