25-01-2021, 12:16
(This post was last modified: 25-01-2021, 13:58 by HerefordBull.)
Can see both sides of the argument.
As Wattie says, once they cross that white line, the players have to rise to the challenge and influence the game with the way they play and their desire.Both these attributes were sadly missing on Saturday and at other times during this season. As someone said, our league position flatters to deceive as nearly all games have been a tough watch and we certainly rode our luck in many which eventually turned out to be Hibs wins.
However the manager decides the team formation and tactics for on the field and should be building a strong team spirit and mentality off the pitch. On paper we may have a reasonable squad but this does not lead to a team that plays together well on the park. This is down to the managerial side.
Ross decides where to strengthen the squad and in my mind we are sadly missing in the back four and at least one other striker...........a good goal poacher like Griffiths is needed. ( sadly we can't afford him) Nisbet needs wide players to be flashing crosses into the box and he is a good finisher whereas on Saturday he played the loan striker with little support so was inocuous for the most part. As for Doidge, I don't rate at all.......slow and usually needs the opposition to get the final touch lol.
With the back four, good competition is coming in for the LB position but we sadly miss two ( tall!!) no nonsense experienced bruisers in the centre. Hanlon and Porteous together are not the answer and am sure it would help Ryans game to play alongside such experienced CBs. Talking of Hanlon we also need a strong captain and leader on the pitch.......that is not Paul Hanlon I am afraid.
All Ross seems to do is get in midfielder after midfielder without really knowing how they are going to fit in, what their best position is and many are unfit or recovering from serious injury. Irvine looked good on Saturday and there is certainly a player in there. However I feel as he is with us to the end of the season he is just putting himself in the shop window and he will be looking to move on ASAP, especially having seen the abject performance at the weekend. Players need to know and be comfortable with the role they are playing.
Some fans say if we had taken our chances we would have been 3 up in the first 30 minutes. This I dispute as once we netted one St Johnstone would have changed their game plan ( defend for the first half and look for a set piece goal as they know we struggle to break down a packed defence) . Having got one we also tend to defend deeper and then look for the quick break ........something St J did well! If we don't score first, we struggle.
So the Ross squad, to me, is unbalanced and his team selection was odd for the semi final. Boyle plays more centrally on one of the widest pitches in Scotland, he plays 3 players with little game time and possibly fitness in the middle of the park and does not pick a dead ball specialist so we then rely on Boyle..........as we saw,he struggles to cross a dead ball........surely they must have seen this in training? ( when I see a player always hitting the first defender with the set piece I am always taken back to my days at Edgar Street watching Hereford United where Paul Tester inevitably did this and an old guy in the crowd would always shout....."first defender Tester".........he took to shouting it before the kick was taken in the end lol.) I know Mallan may be moving but would have been worth a punt as he looks to impress and can strike a good free kick and certainly Hallberg can cross a dead ball and played well v Killie. Ross did change it after the second goal by bringing Doidge on and pushing Boyle wide but by that time the fight seemed to have drained from the squad and it was too little too late. Teams are also prepared for this as they double up on Boyle and know if they take him out the game by marking or fouling we are virtually toothless. Nobody else seems to be able to use the extra space created by this. When you watch sevco against sides who do the same to Ryan Kent plenty of other Rangers players use this extra space......as we may see on Wednesday night!
However the question always is, who do you bring in and will they be any better. Hibs have had a succession of managers and although some impress to start they all tend to fall away, so since we are in a good position in the League I feel Ross will be there for a while. As 0762 says, it is a good job for him there are no crowds in the stadia as by now he certainly would be feeling the wrath of the fans and also attendances would be falling at ER........something that influences these types of decisions.
GGTTH
As Wattie says, once they cross that white line, the players have to rise to the challenge and influence the game with the way they play and their desire.Both these attributes were sadly missing on Saturday and at other times during this season. As someone said, our league position flatters to deceive as nearly all games have been a tough watch and we certainly rode our luck in many which eventually turned out to be Hibs wins.
However the manager decides the team formation and tactics for on the field and should be building a strong team spirit and mentality off the pitch. On paper we may have a reasonable squad but this does not lead to a team that plays together well on the park. This is down to the managerial side.
Ross decides where to strengthen the squad and in my mind we are sadly missing in the back four and at least one other striker...........a good goal poacher like Griffiths is needed. ( sadly we can't afford him) Nisbet needs wide players to be flashing crosses into the box and he is a good finisher whereas on Saturday he played the loan striker with little support so was inocuous for the most part. As for Doidge, I don't rate at all.......slow and usually needs the opposition to get the final touch lol.
With the back four, good competition is coming in for the LB position but we sadly miss two ( tall!!) no nonsense experienced bruisers in the centre. Hanlon and Porteous together are not the answer and am sure it would help Ryans game to play alongside such experienced CBs. Talking of Hanlon we also need a strong captain and leader on the pitch.......that is not Paul Hanlon I am afraid.
All Ross seems to do is get in midfielder after midfielder without really knowing how they are going to fit in, what their best position is and many are unfit or recovering from serious injury. Irvine looked good on Saturday and there is certainly a player in there. However I feel as he is with us to the end of the season he is just putting himself in the shop window and he will be looking to move on ASAP, especially having seen the abject performance at the weekend. Players need to know and be comfortable with the role they are playing.
Some fans say if we had taken our chances we would have been 3 up in the first 30 minutes. This I dispute as once we netted one St Johnstone would have changed their game plan ( defend for the first half and look for a set piece goal as they know we struggle to break down a packed defence) . Having got one we also tend to defend deeper and then look for the quick break ........something St J did well! If we don't score first, we struggle.
So the Ross squad, to me, is unbalanced and his team selection was odd for the semi final. Boyle plays more centrally on one of the widest pitches in Scotland, he plays 3 players with little game time and possibly fitness in the middle of the park and does not pick a dead ball specialist so we then rely on Boyle..........as we saw,he struggles to cross a dead ball........surely they must have seen this in training? ( when I see a player always hitting the first defender with the set piece I am always taken back to my days at Edgar Street watching Hereford United where Paul Tester inevitably did this and an old guy in the crowd would always shout....."first defender Tester".........he took to shouting it before the kick was taken in the end lol.) I know Mallan may be moving but would have been worth a punt as he looks to impress and can strike a good free kick and certainly Hallberg can cross a dead ball and played well v Killie. Ross did change it after the second goal by bringing Doidge on and pushing Boyle wide but by that time the fight seemed to have drained from the squad and it was too little too late. Teams are also prepared for this as they double up on Boyle and know if they take him out the game by marking or fouling we are virtually toothless. Nobody else seems to be able to use the extra space created by this. When you watch sevco against sides who do the same to Ryan Kent plenty of other Rangers players use this extra space......as we may see on Wednesday night!
However the question always is, who do you bring in and will they be any better. Hibs have had a succession of managers and although some impress to start they all tend to fall away, so since we are in a good position in the League I feel Ross will be there for a while. As 0762 says, it is a good job for him there are no crowds in the stadia as by now he certainly would be feeling the wrath of the fans and also attendances would be falling at ER........something that influences these types of decisions.
GGTTH
"FOREVER UNITED"