Preview; Aberdeen (a)

Last updated : 27 November 2008 By Firparkcorner

It is hard to say exactly what has gone wrong - arguably the disaster is not even as big as it seems. The first two games of our bad run were against the Old Firm and we actually performed reasonably well. We may have failed to hit the net but a respectable loss at Parkhead and a draw at home to Rangers is definitely not that bad.

They also serve who sit/stand and watch!

The rot therefore is actually only two games old but what a rot it is. The performance at Falkirk was absolutely dire and we showed little sign of improvement the next week against Hibs. Despite somehow going in level at half time, the Easter Road men crushed us 4-1 and the final score could have been even higher.

The 4-4-2 we are currently playing doesn't seem to suit us. We are using players on the flanks who are neither attacking wingers or possessing the suitable qualities to be defensive blockers. A switch back to 4-3-3 would seem a solution but Mark McGhee might want to persevere with the new system.

Craigan and Clarkson are missing with injury and suspension so Malcolm will presumably continue as the defensive stand in although Klimpl did make a reserve appearance in mid-week and will come into contention soon. It might be worth changing the attack slightly as Porter and Sutton rarely seem to click together and an alternative like Murphy, O'Brien or Smith could be used. The exact line-up will obviously depend on the formation but if ever the team needed to be freshened up to spark an improvement it is now.

The matches with Aberdeen and Hearts are season defining. We are already on the fringes of the European race, another pair of losses will mean even making the top six will become a huge challenge. We will improve here but might not take everything that we want in a 2-2 draw.


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