SlickDT

Smith
Irvine-Mackay-Dubbery-Grainger
Millar-Morris-Sheerin-Craig
Deuchar-Jackson

Our crowd was a damp squid yesterday. Barely any noise at all and the numbers looked poor. Im in the Ormond Stand this year and have been suprised at how poor the crowds have been.for such a good deal. I expect it to be stopped at the end of the season.

Something needs to change drastically or we are heading for part time football.

I hope something like the ultras work, but have my doubts.

As has been said I truely believe we had enough talent on show to beat Macedonia, but in the end the style of play that most of the British public demand to see means our players are unable to cope with the technically better foreign players. The Premiership "basketball" football is great to watch, but the fundamental truth is that on the international scene players are given alot less space to play their game and British players struggle to find an answer.

The single biggest problem we had last night was the fact we didn't have a single player in the midfiled that is able to keep control of the ball, stay calm and keep possesion linking defence to midfield. Had they been fit both Scott Brown and Darren Fletcher would of started in the middle- I firmly believe we would of gained three points with them in the side.

Caldwell is actually not a bad player in DM, but is more suited to playing bigger sides where he has to do more of a defensive job. He is not the answer to linking with attack. Morrison and Maloney have had great seasons in the Premiership but they are very similair and again are unlikely to be the type of player that keeps possesion against even teams the size of Macedonia.

We can all hound Levein as much as we want, but who could Levein have possibly of picked that would of helped us keep possesion and build attacks. There is NO ONE of that ability that was fit/ available or playing regularly. The closest we havr to it is Barry Bannan (fairly untested) and Charlie Adam (who prefers to play long balls over the top) People can shout for two upfront all they want, but if we can't keep the ball and build attacks it would simply mean two men stranded up-top rather than one and leave one less man behind the ball.

Levein gave Snodgrass, Morrison, Maloney, Forrest and Mackie all the chance to make an impact and apart from odd glimpses none of them stood out massively. We had no real tempo to our game. It's very hard trying to get into the rhythm when you can't keep a ball for more than ten seconds.

The performance and result were unacceptable, but to put the blame all at Leveins door seems harsh and naive to me. The players must take account for their performance and most importantly those responsible for the whole of the coaching set up in Scotland for the past twenty years must also accept blame.

As has been said I truely believe we had enough talent on show to beat Macedonia, but in the end the style of play that most of the British public demand to see means our players are unable to cope with the technically better foreign players. The Premiership "basketball" football is great to watch, but the fundamental truth is that on the international scene players are given alot less space to play their game and British players struggle to find an answer.

The single biggest problem we had last night was the fact we didn't have a single player in the midfiled that is able to keep control of the ball, stay calm and keep possesion linking defence to midfield. Had they been fit both Scott Brown and Darren Fletcher would of started in the middle- I firmly believe we would of gained three points with them in the side.

Caldwell is actually not a bad player in DM, but is more suited to playing bigger sides where he has to do more of a defensive job. He is not the answer to linking with attack. Morrison and Maloney have had great seasons in the Premiership but they are very similair and again are unlikely to be the type of player that keeps possesion against even teams the size of Macedonia.

We can all hound Levein as much as we want, but who could Levein have possibly of picked that would of helped us keep possesion and build attacks. There is NO ONE of that ability that was fit/ available or playing regularly. The closest we havr to it is Barry Bannan (fairly untested) and Charlie Adam (who prefers to play long balls over the top) People can shout for two upfront all they want, but if we can't keep the ball and build attacks it would simply mean two men stranded up-top rather than one and leave one less man behind the ball.

Levein gave Snodgrass, Morrison, Maloney, Forrest and Mackie all the chance to make an impact and apart from odd glimpses none of them stood out massively. We had no real tempo to our game. It's very hard trying to get into the rhythm when you can't keep a ball for more than ten seconds.

The performance and result were unacceptable, but to put the blame all at Leveins door seems harsh and naive to me. The players must take account for their performance and most importantly those responsible for the whole of the coaching set up in Scotland for the past twenty years must also accept blame.

Why exactly "must" Forrest start?

Naismith, Maloney, Snodgrass and Morrison are all in good form in a superior league and Phillips is looking the part in the Championship.

I'm not saying he shouldn't start, but it's easy as an arm chair fan to pick out promising players that are untested at international level and say they are sure to make a huge difference. If Levein was to throw in untested players and it didn't work he'd be accused of being naive and gambling too much.

I'd personally like to see Maloney and Rhodes come in to freshen things up, but fully understand if we go for the same starting XI

I really think its a daft comment to suggest Levein's out his depth. If you look at the quality of our squad now compared to when he took over their is a noticeable difference.

Criticism of playing a holding midfielder at home? Barca, Spain, Germany, Chelsea better be told they've got it wrong!!

Yes Levein is cautious, but lets not forget we are playing teams with players of higher quality. I expect us to play more attacking against Macedonia. Truth is we managed to keep a clean sheet with a keeper that had been injured, a rb that has been in poor form for a while now, two heavily criticised cb's and probably our 4th choice lb making his debut. Something to build on, especially considering we were missing Fletcher, Brown, Bardsley and Fox.

Levein has made mistakes (eg- over estimating the ability of his players to play 4-6-0) The call-up of Black was a poor decision aswell, although his form for Hearts was good enough for a call up. The stupid friendly in America also didn't help him, a game we should never have taken on.

His record has been ok up to date and his handling of the Steven "clearly doesn't want to play for us" Fletcher spot on. He now has the squad to give it a good go, I'll judge him at the end if the campaign.

Criticism of Houston is also strange, I think folk are getting influenced by the fact he's a bit of a dobber, because his record at United is very good considering his team gets disrupted every season with the sales of their best players.

Fully support Levein on this one. Fletcher has proven by his actions that playing for his country isn't important to him, otherwise he would swallow his pride and move on.

Levein is a talented manager (no matter what some say) and he now has a range of attacking options. It will be tough with Belguim and Serbia but possible.

Fully support Levein on this one. Fletcher has proven by his actions that playing for his country isn't important to him, otherwise he would swallow his pride and move on.

Levein is a talented manager (no matter what some say) and he now has a range of attacking options. It will be tough with Belguim and Serbia but possible.

He has had to put up with a situation that could crush some men in recent times. He's been a great servant to the club and will continue to be. His form will come good.

He has had to put up with a situation that could crush some men in recent times. He's been a great servant to the club and will continue to be. His form will come good.

He has had to put up with a situation that could crush some men in recent times. He's been a great servant to the club and will continue to be. His form will come good.

He has had to put up with a situation that could crush some men in recent times. He's been a great servant to the club and will continue to be. His form will come good.

Levein can't win with some. Caldwell has played that role before and did a great job against Italy a few years back playing in defensive midfield. With the point being made (which I agree with), that Black shouldn't be in the squad, who else would you play in there considering our injuries and call-offs? He's put in an experienced player that is the best of a poor set of options.