TopCat

If Wilson stays and Murray sticks with his 4231, we need a first choice upgrade on Gillespie/Blues as the second deep lying midfielder, which should also make us less reliant on Wilson's fitness. Blues is a great box to box player for this level, but not very convincing sitting further back. Both Blues and Gillespie (pace) struggled at times with the opposition running straight at them this season.

This is an issue we just need to deal with and treat as the norm. We don't have the fanbase or budget to operate at Championship level as anything other than a shop window for players pushing their way up the pyramid. Our whole setup should be geared towards that. The list of players worthy of being poached is also pretty short this year and the tricky bit will be getting a high % of our recruitment correct following a necessary clearout.

Looking back this morning with a cooler head - it's hard to give any players pass marks other than Wilson, Longridge, Storer and O'Halloran. We may have snatched survival but it was only after Strapp dropped it at our feet. I get why folk look to defend the players (especially those who consistently run their guts out) but the edge O'Halloran gave us when he came on demonstrates the general lack of quality this season. Murray needs to have a good look at himself for his involvement in the Q4 collapse but hopefully the recruitment improves dramatically in the summer to give him a chance. We're unlikely to have the buffer of a Ross County esque basket case to rescue us.

Survival update. Ross County and St Johnstone exiting the league and Livi and (probably) Inverness entering reduces the average financial clout of the league but puts us in more direct competition for players with another 2 clubs. Keep: all of the Dalrada-funded contracts, Owens, Wilson, ask the question for Storer. Maybe (depending on budget to fund better and availability): Blues, Ballantyne, Comrie. Release: the rest

I didn't say he was, but did he step up and get a grip of any of our recent shitshows? He's had 7 years at the club but it's been a while since he was critical to our performances.

Huge relief, and always great to see Airdrie suffer. Garrity, Shaw, Moffat, Delaney and Main shouldn't be allowed to step foot in Cappielow again. It's probably a good point to call time on Blues, Gillespie and any/all of the squad filler as well. Survival is massive but we need a serious, unsentimental look at the structure of the club, the ground and the playing squad to ensure our survival as a top 20-ish outfit. Hopefully the Estrella deal can provide the stability Dalrada failed to deliver.

Any worry for ourselves should be overridden by the need to relegate this horrible stain of a club. Get them down.

Going to an 8-8-8 setup as a cost cutting exercise was a failure when Rae tried it but a hybrid/part time model with a budget the same or larger than this season could give us an edge. We currently can't compete with the likes of Partick and Dunfermline for wages but we might be able to tempt better players with e.g. £800/900 a week part-time deals.

Very true, but home advantage is a big factor. They're also down at the bottom of the league with us because they're rubbish as well. A point or more certainly isnt a given, but I haven't written us off yet (nor are Ross County guaranteed any points away to Raith - they've beaten them twice this season but also lost 6-0).

Relegation certainly wouldn't be an improvement, but the level of apathy on matchdays, shambolic infighting at board level and general lack of sporting interest over the last 2 seasons leaves us firmly at the bottom of a huge rut that we look incapable of getting out of. Another 7th place finish in the Championship next season with Cappielow continuing to decay won't change anything. A lot of folk seem to view relegation as a disaster scenario which would put us on a path to League 2 obscurity - we're already on it. Dalrada should've gone a long way towards improving things, but they put their trust in the wrong people. I still think we've got a decent chance getting it over the line on Friday though. Both of Airdrie and Ross County are unlikely have 3/4 big results in a row in them and Airdrie have also been chucking a lot of goals in despite their recent improved form.

My count included the Partick defeat a few days after he joined, but i don't disagree with the gist of your post. We're in an alarming rut at the wrong time, within the context of an overall dirge of a season.

I'm pretty sure a win on Friday would put Murray on 18 points from 16 games - the same as Imrie.

I know I have a lower opinion of the squad than most, but I'm not shocked to see us in this position. Having had the misfortune of witnessing the last two games, I haven't seen a team deserving of a place in this league. The pitiful, talentless forward line against Queens Park and the tactical and defensive disasterclass today were equally pathetic. Murray clearly (and understandably) doesn't trust a lot of the squad, but that's no excuse for persisting with Wilson at the back and Gillespie ahead of him. Hopefully he sees sense next week and Airdrie shit the bed.

I certainly dont mean this as a defence of Murray, but we're now onto the 3rd management team who can't get a consistent tune out of these players. We're in a relegation battle because we don't have enough good players to keep us out of it. Trying to pick the biggest culprit out of the squad, Imrie, Davies and Murray doesn't make much sense if they've all failed to meet the standard required.

I wasn't expecting anything from this game, but this is pathetic.