vikingTON

Less than a week ago we were apparently prepared to wait for the right number 9; now we're giving a six month contract (which suggests both significant doubts and raises the issue of what happens if we have a 'right number 9' in January). I hope for the club's sake we have found our own cheat code signing but it would be largely by fluke rather than our increasingly erratic transfer 'policy'.

The only inconsistency apparent here is your and 'Dale''s 'our transfer policy will account for injuries and fitness - except when it doesn't but that's not out fault honest'. Just like the pre-season matches that would prove excellent preparation until they didn't. And the land purchased that would generate matchday revenue for the club until it couldn't. So it's being discussed among the growing set of tells that the GM as a prime bullshit merchant. You may empathise with that character trait but I agree with the above poster - this looks so far like a CV-padding exercise without credibility.

Would this be the same 'Dale' who said that we'd be signing players this summer based on their ironclad fitness record (Corr!) as well as 'minerals' (not yet forthcoming)? And who said that we needed to play a parade of turgid snorefest home friendlies to fully integrate our new talent before the League Cup began? It's probably best to start filing Dale's pronouncements in the same bin previously reserved for his Iron Man predecessor.

Well I'm sure that their three fans celebrating will add to the atmosphere, but I'll not be paying £15 for this one.

1) With such tenuous links and clichés you should be writing for the Tele. 2) It's hardly Man United 'swooping' to sign Cristiano Ronaldo again anyway.

I see no reason to exclude Moffat from that description.

On today's showing at least, we aren't actually okay at keeping the ball though. We can knock around a few passes sure, but one in every dozen is so wildly inaccurate in either direction or pace that we have to scramble to regain control. Which allows the opposition to reorganise behind the ball or steal it away entirely - exposing us to being cut open on the break. Given the excuses made about the Cappielow pitch (and East Fife) before, the fact that they couldn't keep the ball without dropping a bollock every other minute at McDairmid today does not bode well for this gubbins 'style of play'. There's also no obvious purpose to the possession that we have. We could be playing until now and still wouldn't have registered a serious attempt on target, never mind an actual goal. The abysmal goal and shots record across three games speaks for itself - this is Johanssonball. We didn't even get into Saint Johnstone's penalty box to lose that game.

What service would be suitable for Davies? He doesn't have pace, can't trap a ball reliably, and was bullied physically throughout. We hardly have Iniesta in midfield but I fail to see what pass would have made Davies any better than a 20/80 bet to get past the defence today or against Championship opposition too.

If attracting yellow cards was exchangeable for goals and assists, perhaps. But the reality is that we're well overstocked with ineffective sand-dancers - see the bench today - and he is the one who by virtue of contract is the easiest/least embarrassing to punt. I'd be up for Henk van Scheiking some of the other ringers too though.

Was thinking Donovan Simmonds myself but very much in the same 'gubbins' bucket. To try and implement a possession based philosophy with a guy who can't trap a ball, chooses dreadful passes and runs it out of play so often is utterly hopeless. I don't see what Davies is going to offer either. A final (well not really) issue is that if you are going to try and play this garbage Johanssonball then Gillespie (an actual passer) needs to play in central midfield instead of Blues. But it gets nowhere near as much from Wilson as a more direct approach - as of the few strengths this team has, we need to play to those.

It's wishful thinking to believe that two players will be enough to make this team genuinely competitive though. Against Ross County last season we had a system that worked and would clearly kick on when new players and squad options were added. I've seen absolutely nothing to build around today - that is a mediocre League One standard of team.

Were the posters reporting on our promising performances in pre season friendlies handing out free toast in the blind folk's room too? Because that's my first viewing of this team and it is syphiliis. No attacking threat whatsoever, no theory of how we're going to actually break down a team's defence, a hospital ball being inevitably played after 10 useless passes. And worst of all, absolutely no effective pressing off the ball to either win the ball back in dangerous positions, or at least make us difficult to break down. Unless this shan, Jonatan Johansson-esque philosophy is binned then we are getting relegated with comfortably less than 30 points. Even then, I fear we've already committed to too many sand-dancers to go back to basics effectively.

Our next game on Saturday will likely require an ability to play quickly on the break - at least in some stages of the game - which does not seem beyond the current squad on paper. If we continue to play glacial pace Johanssonball then serious questions will have to be asked about what exactly is to be achieved by this 'new playing style'.

Right, but what happens if those magically available players sign... and then get injured? Reverting to this current horseshit level for weeks at a time because one or two key players aren't there is not even going to sustain our place in the Championship this season. It will get punished like Arbroath last season. It's therefore not good enough to make excuses and play wait and see for further new signings; if the current squad can't perform better in their own right then many of those players shouldn't be at the club.

Why? If you are fully fit and can't perform to an even adequate level against League Two and then Highland League opposition respectively, then the problem is your ability rather than some nonsense like 'team gelling'. It's becoming clearer and clearer that since day 1 a parade of excuses have been used to cover an entirely underwhelming set of performances. There's another reality check coming very soon though unless new and old players get the finger out.