Match Preview/Thread - Hamilton vs Morton (30th July)

[Drew Busby's Moustache]

A point away from home.

Take that any day of the week.

[SassenachTon]

We should really have taken advantage of playing against 10 men for 60% of the game. But look on the bright side. We're already in a playoff position and Raith are already bottom

 

[Madton]

Frustrating not to have won that as they were brutal 1st half. We just didn't make the extra man count at all. Played better v 11.

Great ball by King at the end, Robbie needs to score. 

Loved their reaction to their pen shout, guess the boys watching the stream can confirm or not.

Not a loss but 2 points dropped.

Striker this week please.

Edit- Gillespie and Jai weren't the most exciting signings, but thought both played very well today.

 

 

 

[Mr.Blue]

Definitely feels like points dropped. 

We are 2/3 players away from competing for the play offs imo. Although we need to sort out these defensive lapses.

[so72]

8 minutes ago, Mr.Blue said:

Definitely feels like points dropped. 

We are 2/3 players away from competing for the play offs imo. Although we need to sort out these defensive lapses.

Unsure about that, would need a couple teams to really underperform even with another 3 starters.*

 

 

*which we of course wont get.

[Ton in Shawlands]

Still unsure how to judge the opposition this year. The year to year contracts have made first weeks a bit of a lottery in recent years. Between signing windows and players bedding in it can be hard to judge what you're playing against. Today could be OK or a draw against relegation candidates.

[AyrshireTon]

Felt like points dropped in spite of the number of late corners we were facing. Their shithouse timewasting tactics are absolutely brutal - even the ball boys were part of it (their keeper rarely got given the nearest ball and we were never given it).

[gmfc23]

4 hours ago, Drew Busby's Moustache said:

A point away from home.

Take that any day of the week.

Against 10 men for a long period of the game have some ambition for christ sake 

 

[EanieMeany]

Pretty rotten stuff, in all honesty.

I'm not sure Muirhead really is an out and out centre forward, which would be fine if we had wide players capable of interchanging and moving inside when Muirhead drifts out wide* etc, and the fluidity across the whole...but we don't, and it's leaving us without a proper focal point for the attack. In fairness, I think that fluidity could develop between the front 3 over time, but that could take a while and doesn't alter the fact that we need an actual striker.

*Moot point now, but I'd have liked to have seen Muirhead get a run up top with Reilly last season, I think they'd have formed a really good understanding, but that's by the by now.

The big positive so far has been Gillespie, - I didn't have overly high hopes for him tbh, but there was always a chance he'd turn out to be a good fit given how well Imrie knows him, so it's pleasing to see it turning out that way so far. There's a touch of composure, awareness and intelligence about him that we don't otherwise have and if he keeps this up and stays fit then it's been a very shrewd move by Imrie. Some of his wee one touch passes to "recycle" possession for loose balls today was very good indeed, but it relies on having a proper unit in the middle to really capitalise on that.

If we could get him and Lyon playing together, they should compliment each other well, but we need them to be able to play close to each other and not be having to keep plugging spaces for an empty jersey, which they just aren't capable of the way Wilson was. It's not a great example, but the way they (sort of combined) in the build-up to the penalty against Hibs is a glimpse of that. Get the two of them doing that and either put McGrattan or a new signing as the third player and we could have a pretty tidy midfield.

It's certainly true that Lyon hasn't hit his best yet, but he's been good in spells and would be helped enormously with a functioning third part of the midfield. We failed to get a hold of the game even with an extra man, and we are never, ever going to get a hold of any game if Imrie is going to insist his boy wonder plays every minute of every game. No grouping of the midfielders we have or will have is going to work properly if that doesn't change, and Lewis McGrattan has to be pretty irked about not getting on today. What's the point of him being here on a 2 year deal if he's not going to get used in games like that?

O'Connor was excellent too, and seemed to be the player taking on instructions from the bench at the (numerous) stoppages, so whilst that isn't necessarily a big deal in itself, it suggests he's somebody who's capable of being a leader at the back which is exactly what you want from your defenders. Carlo done well enough, and King yet again showed signs of what he's about - whilst it's obviously tricky for such a young boy to establish himself in the team, I would like to see him getting used in a more fixed role at some point rather than getting slotted about where he's needed although tbf that's easier said than done and also he has adapted very quickly to every situation he's been in so far so it's not necessarily a bad thing for him in the way that it could be for someone else at that age. At any rate, Strapp's position is the only one that's not up for grabs in normal circumstances so there's no reason he can't claim a starting spot before too long.

[GiGi]

King looks good when going forward. Could see him being an oft-used sub for Quitongo and Kabia this year.

He and McGregor look to me like they could grow into quality players like Strapp, it's just a shame that our squad is so thin right now that we can't loan them out to get that game time at a lower level like Strapp had. 

[port-ton]

Just watched the highlights and the most noticeable thing for me was that's now two weeks in a row that Strapp has lost his man off the second ball at a corner and we've conceded. We've definitely lost a bit of physicality from last season so defending the second balls could be even more important and he's been caught ball watching both times. 

Hard to get a feel for the game from few minute highlights but there definitely seemed like some positives in the performance. Hopefully a key addition or two to the squad this week with the money Jacobs leaving freed up. 

 

 

[Madton]

So ours was never a pen, lovely.

Where is the apparent stonewall pen claim for them?

 

 

[EanieMeany]

Following on from @dunning1874's post last week regarding Imrie's comments about moving the ball quickly etc seeming to be directed at Reece Lyon, he's saying in the paper today that there was no need to change in the second half, but the ball wasn't moving quickly, the team started doing what he wanted and moving it quicker in the "last few minutes"..which would seem to mean, in other words, after Lyon went off. 

It's just really baffling if that's how he's seeing things, that Lyon is the recurring problem in the ball being moved quickly, given that it most certainly wasn't happening when he dropped out the team last season either. Maybe there's some man-managerial masterclass going on that's going to really re-ignite Lyon's form in the coming weeks, but as it stands this all just quite bizarre. As I said before, Lyon may not be hitting his best form consistently so far, but there's signs there of what he offers and we'd be a lot better served trying to get a proper unit together to get the best from him than this thing of seeming to want to have wee pops at him at every opportunity. Even if there is something quite egregious going on with the player, this doesn't seem a good way to deal with it.

 

 

[ChampTon]

I thought Lyon was almost anonymous on Saturday, Gillespie made him and Blues look like amateurs in comparison. I would have McGrattan in his place on Saturday or Garrity (as he seems the more favoured option). 

Kabia's body language throughout the game was irritating, he looked completely uninterested unless he had the ball, when he never really done much with it either. I'd like to see King start on the left against Cove.

If we do sign a striker this week I would maybe have them in ahead of Muirhead too. 

[vikingTON]

14 hours ago, EanieMeany said:

Following on from @dunning1874's post last week regarding Imrie's comments about moving the ball quickly etc seeming to be directed at Reece Lyon, he's saying in the paper today that there was no need to change in the second half, but the ball wasn't moving quickly, the team started doing what he wanted and moving it quicker in the "last few minutes"..which would seem to mean, in other words, after Lyon went off. 

It's just really baffling if that's how he's seeing things, that Lyon is the recurring problem in the ball being moved quickly, given that it most certainly wasn't happening when he dropped out the team last season either. Maybe there's some man-managerial masterclass going on that's going to really re-ignite Lyon's form in the coming weeks, but as it stands this all just quite bizarre. As I said before, Lyon may not be hitting his best form consistently so far, but there's signs there of what he offers and we'd be a lot better served trying to get a proper unit together to get the best from him than this thing of seeming to want to have wee pops at him at every opportunity. Even if there is something quite egregious going on with the player, this doesn't seem a good way to deal with it.

If the ball was being moved quicker after the change and leading to chances, then the manager has every right to point this out. The onus is then on all the players in midfield to apply that lesson so as to not flounder against ten men or the dross outfits in our League Cup group again. 

Reece Lyon is an established first team player by the current squad's standard and is big enough and old enough to deal with critical feedback without this weekly wagon-circling exercise. 

[EanieMeany]

15 hours ago, ChampTon said:

I thought Lyon was almost anonymous on Saturday, Gillespie made him and Blues look like amateurs in comparison. I would have McGrattan in his place on Saturday or Garrity (as he seems the more favoured option). 

Kabia's body language throughout the game was irritating, he looked completely uninterested unless he had the ball, when he never really done much with it either. I'd like to see King start on the left against Cove.

If we do sign a striker this week I would maybe have them in ahead of Muirhead too. 

Yeah, I'm not arguing Lyon was particularly great and this is a huge season for him if he's going to have any kind of future in football, but there's still signs of what he is able to bring and we should be looking to try to find the best way to utilise him and hopefully coax his best form from him. Having Lyon sitting deeper beside Gillespie with license to burst forward would be a good fit for both of them, I reckon, focussing Lyon's game and taking a bit of the load off Gillespie, and McGrattan has surely done enough to show that he's more than capable of doing the business in the more attacking role and linking play up. If Imrie is going to want to play Blues in every minute of every game and not countenance any other option which seems to be the case, he's going to make things much more difficult for us.

I'm not even really sure the thing about the ball moving quicker quite stands up, certainly King moving forward gave us far more of a threat (and indeed some of Carlo's supporting runs from left-back were very good indeed), but whilst there was that Muirhead chance late on, there was as much chance of Hamilton scoring as us as the game became more "broken". We certainly didn't have any great control of proceedings, which should not be happening with an extra man, yet nothing was actually done about it. 

Agreed on Kabia, there's definitely talent there but I'm not sure he's going to be the kind of guy we need in what looks like being a difficult season but it's still very, very early and there's plenty of time for him to toughen up a bit. I'd definitely fancy King to get a start next week, and if we get a proper striker, I could be tempted to move Muirhead on to the right in place of Quitongo too.

 

[Madton]

1 hour ago, EanieMeany said:

Yeah, I'm not arguing Lyon was particularly great and this is a huge season for him if he's going to have any kind of future in football, but there's still signs of what he is able to bring and we should be looking to try to find the best way to utilise him and hopefully coax his best form from him. Having Lyon sitting deeper beside Gillespie with license to burst forward would be a good fit for both of them, I reckon, focussing Lyon's game and taking a bit of the load off Gillespie, and McGrattan has surely done enough to show that he's more than capable of doing the business in the more attacking role and linking play up. If Imrie is going to want to play Blues in every minute of every game and not countenance any other option which seems to be the case, he's going to make things much more difficult for us.

I'm not even really sure the thing about the ball moving quicker quite stands up, certainly King moving forward gave us far more of a threat (and indeed some of Carlo's supporting runs from left-back were very good indeed), but whilst there was that Muirhead chance late on, there was as much chance of Hamilton scoring as us as the game became more "broken". We certainly didn't have any great control of proceedings, which should not be happening with an extra man, yet nothing was actually done about it. 

Agreed on Kabia, there's definitely talent there but I'm not sure he's going to be the kind of guy we need in what looks like being a difficult season but it's still very, very early and there's plenty of time for him to toughen up a bit. I'd definitely fancy King to get a start next week, and if we get a proper striker, I could be tempted to move Muirhead on to the right in place of Quitongo too.

 

Thought Jai done really well on Sat and was unlucky with a couple of chances.

Caused them a lot of problems with his pace so absolutely should keep his place for me. 

[ChampTon]

25 minutes ago, Madton said:

Thought Jai done really well on Sat and was unlucky with a couple of chances.

Caused them a lot of problems with his pace so absolutely should keep his place for me. 

Agreed, showed a lot of fight on Saturday, he's just never been a great finisher, he tends to just whack the ball rather than having any finesse.

[dunning1874]

You saw the positives and negatives of Quitongo on Saturday. In the first half with a relatively open game, his energy and pressing was really unsettling their defence and he was straight onto any ball over the top.

In the second, where with 10 men their defence was deeper and there was never space behind them to exploit, there were three occasions where he had the ball at his feet in the final third (twice inside the box) and all he could do was put his head down and charge into a tackle hoping for the best rather than getting his head up and working a space for a pass or shot. Every time it ended in a defender playing it back off him for a goal kick.

If you want a nuisance who can harass the opposition defence he's perfect, but going by his performances (and to be honest career) so far there's no end product. If he's going to be more than an impact sub we need one.

[EanieMeany]

I don’t necessarily think Jai deserves dropped as such, but at a basic level Muirhead is simply a much better footballer. He’s capable of coming in off the wing to score goals and to combine with the forward and midfielders, and can also create from wide areas. Just off the top of my head, look at his goals away to Motherwell and Raith, the run from deep down the right away at Inverness ending in a perfect ball across goal that Ugwu contrived to miss, or the difference at Easter Road when he came on and his part in the build-up to the penalty. Whilst it remains to be seen if he can do all of this consistently as a starter, I think he earned the benefit of the doubt in the last months of last season that he can, and at the very least showed us that he’s capable of producing something regularly.

Quitongo, on the other hand…just doesn’t really do any of that. There’s a place for a speed merchant for sure, but as @dunning1874said, there’s not really a great deal else from him.

I suppose it can depend on circumstances too, and what kind of game it is, but I’d be more inclined to trust Muirhead to contribute far more than Quitongo.