Pars v Killie Friendly

[parsforlife]

Felt that was generally a decent run out.

Few points of note,

Hamilton did reasonably well at CB and could be and option there if we are stretched,  still need at least 1 more centre back and if we're using Hamilton as back up we need another option to come into midfield and do the dirty work.

Trialist 16 seems to have had a few games now,  He looks a decent player but with our cover at full back I don't see the point in signing him to play that position,  as a winger I'd want him to be more willing to try and beat his man one on one.   That's something we massively lack in our squad.  

The keeper,  he's done reasonably well over the 2 games he's been given but a crucial handling error when he had initially look to have done well cost us tonight.  IMO its a mistake coming from inexperience,  He's come in, made a good decision, got the ball and dropped the knees to take the pressure off,   but at that point he's thought job done and not concentrated on making sure he maintains control throughout the dive.

In terms of the giving him a deal,  I'd look to the coaching staff,  They'd have watched him in a few training sessions,  They need to feel confident that the error tonight was a bolt out the blue and can't be expected regularly. It's a big call to make.

 

[Digs]

I thought we did ok for a couple of spells in the first half and generally speaking pressed the ball well enough which was much better than we ever attempted to last year. As the first half went on though, Killie looked a bit more in control. We had a couple of half chances in Wighton and Chalmers long range effort, but the midfield did look a bit weak in the middle for me.

Hamilton did a good job as a sweeper and made tackles when he had to, but any opposition with any nouse is going to target him with high balls if he is deployed there for any length of time, which I would think unlikely anyway. 

I'm not convinced by our centre back pairing. Breen looks nervous and Benedictus gave the ball away or put it out the park under little pressure a few times. I will say though, I'm happy to take the managers word for it that they were playing fatigued due to a hard session Monday, and to be honest, I'm fine with that. Preseason is about getting minutes in the legs both on the training pitch but also in games which is a different type of fitness.

Whilst I thought Wighton actually did well in the middle and we adapted quite well to the forced changes as we were better in the second half than in the first, it just goes to show how paper thin the squad is when one injury forces you to change the spine of your team. 

I think we still need another centre mid if Dorrans is going to be in and out, and we need another centre back, or start adapting the likes of Edwards into being able to play that position. He has the physique and the pace and we have more cover at full back so that would have been the preferred switch for me, but clearly they don't think he is capable if they are asking a 5'8" centre mid to play there before him.

I'm sure he has lots of irons in the fire but there remains much work to be done on that squad yet...

[parsforlife]

Hamilton played the majority of his youth career at center back,  which was why it was easier to drop him into defence than anyone else.

I wouldn't want edwards to play center back, he's better going forward.  

Actually signing someone would be the much more preferred route.

[Digs]

1 hour ago, parsforlife said:

Hamilton played the majority of his youth career at center back,  which was why it was easier to drop him into defence than anyone else.

I wouldn't want edwards to play center back, he's better going forward.  

Actually signing someone would be the much more preferred route.

Aye, I knew that, I'm not saying he can't play there but height and physicality at this level is much more of a factor than at youth football.

I'm also not saying Edwards is a centre back. I'm just saying he has the physical attributes so I'd be more inclined to work with him at training so he can drop in as a stop gap if this situation arises again. It's much less disruption than what we did last night.

Also agree on the last point. We do need a contingency plan too though.

[parsforlife]

22 minutes ago, Digs said:

Aye, I knew that, I'm not saying he can't play there but height and physicality at this level is much more of a factor than at youth football.

I'm also not saying Edwards is a centre back. I'm just saying he has the physical attributes so I'd be more inclined to work with him at training so he can drop in as a stop gap if this situation arises again. It's much less disruption than what we did last night.

Also agree on the last point. We do need a contingency plan too though.

Had we a proper alternative to Hamilton in midfield it wouldn't have caused the same amount of disruption, something we should be doing anyway.  

[Digs]

3 hours ago, parsforlife said:

Had we a proper alternative to Hamilton in midfield it wouldn't have caused the same amount of disruption, something we should be doing anyway.  

Again, I don’t disagree. 

[Superally]

The squad is still looking lightweight, There is some promise from many of the youngsters but I would rather see some of them going out on loan where they can consistently get game time rather than sporadically appear from the bench. Equally while I think we have yet to see loan signings for us I wouldn't want them to flood our squad and inhibit young players development. Its all about fine balances but attracting quality players to this league is going to be very very difficult.