What we need is a massive improvement and 3 points.

Hopefully durnans back and robson to left back.

I think he might have to shake things up a bit but not too much. The back four was the biggest issue yesterday I thought. Feel sorry for young Mason's baptism of fire but he'll have learned plenty from it & hope he might find a role on the East End Park grass cos I think I saw a player there. I take it Durnan will be ok for Saturday having been an unused sub at Falkirk but if that's because he was half fit I don't get it. Other than that we'll be looking at the same 18 unless any of the short-term injured Murdoch/Edje/Toshney is fit again. Is McMullan banned for two games?

lifesanocean wrote:

What's the story with Stewart Murdoch?

Last i heard he was back training.

That was in the last week of December. Surely he will be fit enough for the bench on Saturday.
 

I'd like to see Ballantine, Smith and perhaps Chalmers in to have some energy about going forward and having a go and dev centre back Allardice acting as a minder playing in front of the back 4. Oh and after Falkik, might be the time to give Mehmet a chance. I'd probably like Laurie to step in instead of Csaba.- I couldna bear another Csaba shambles

Re Murdoch.. did the manager not say he would have made the bench for bechin game? Im sure i read that.

I had a brief and rare period of supreme confidence that Csaba was the man and he knew exactly how to navigate us out of this league as Champions. I'm now back to the same level of confidence I was after losing 3-0 to Livingston. Out of our next few games (Pars A, Morton H, QoS A maybe, ICT A) I fully expect us to lose all the away games and win the home game. This will put us firmly in the driving seat for 2nd place 

PatReilly wrote:

GC2, Livi was bad, but only 2-0.
I've no idea what team Csaba will select, but I doubt a week's training will get Slater fit. Or maybe he just didn't fancy it on Saturday, and the warmer temperatures and grass will be more to his liking (however, he played on plastic at Killie for a few years). Can't see Lyng starting either, he also looked a good way off being ready. And Mason....... hoping he isn't here with Watford under the impression he'll start each match.

If Lewis has passed an eye test, I'd stick with him, and have a back four of Ballantyne, Durnan, Scobbie and Robson.

Murdoch in front of that, with Stanton, King and McDonald in midfield. 

Smith (cover the right side) and Keatings up front. Keatings is never a midfielder.

It pains me to say, but the only player who showed passion on Saturday, Flood, is dropped, as in his desperation to try to cover everything, he unsettles the players around him.

                      Lewis
Ballantyne, Durnan, Scobbie and Robson
                    Murdoch
  Smith Stanton McDonald King
                    Keatings

But I'm hopeful we'll sign at least one match fit player this week.

Don't hold your breath.
 

He’s proved that he’s not capable of providing that ....performance’s have been a joke imo

Diver !

annanarab wrote:

I'd like to see Ballantine, Smith and perhaps Chalmers in to have some energy about going forward and having a go and dev centre back Allardice acting as a minder playing in front of the back 4. Oh and after Falkik, might be the time to give Mehmet a chance. I'd probably like Laurie to step in instead of Csaba.- I couldna bear another Csaba shambles

 
annan if you think the defence was bad on saturday wait till you see the dev centre backs absolutely honking Reekie in particular could be the worse ive ever seen in a utd shirt. In short there are no solutions in the reserves

Tek wrote:

This is what we need really. A Manager who makes average players better, more consistent players. A Manager who makes players organised and in no doubt of their role within the team and the teams collective game plan.

 

I thought that's what we had following Csaba's first few games. I've no idea what to think now...

Beharder wrote:

annanarab wrote:

I'd like to see Ballantine, Smith and perhaps Chalmers in to have some energy about going forward and having a go and dev centre back Allardice acting as a minder playing in front of the back 4. Oh and after Falkik, might be the time to give Mehmet a chance. I'd probably like Laurie to step in instead of Csaba.- I couldna bear another Csaba shambles

 
annan if you think the defence was bad on saturday wait till you see the dev centre backs absolutely honking Reekie in particular could be the worse ive ever seen in a utd shirt. In short there are no solutions in the reserves

 
I was only meaning Allardice who looked good at the back when I’ve seen him play. I’d rather have an extra defender playing in front of the back 4 than any of our def mids who don’t seem to be able to do the defensive bit.

CCX2 2010 wrote:

just watched the managers press conference and it's nothing other than a twenty minute ramble ( I hope he gets his instructions across a bit better in the changing room).

The reason IMO we lost last week was that the senior players crossed that lines with no confidence in our line up.

Sometimes less is more and the Dunfermline match presser should have been a 2 minute message that we know what went wrong and we are going to fix it. end of the feckin story.

We can't do any worse this week obviously and we need most players that are fit in their preferred positions. Ballantyne and hopefully a fully fit Durnan back in the starting eleven.

Get this wrong this week and our hopes of going up will be hanging by a thread.

I was hoping for very little talk from the staff this week, but sometimes wonder if they are pressured by the United Media folk to provide a product.