zico

Jan 20 2016, 10:20 AM

Pessimism?? No.more like being Realistic..no club has survived from our position.

Naebody

Jan 20 2016, 10:54 AM

zico

Jan 20 2016, 10:20 AM

Pessimism?? No.more like being Realistic..no club has survived from our position.

Apart from Leicester City, eight months ago.

vvhatsthatonyourback

Jan 20 2016, 12:06 PM

We have no grit whatsoever. None. We deserve to go down.

zico

Jan 20 2016, 03:36 PM

In view of the above comments can i aak that we get 100% behind the team and drive them to victory?

Cobardon

Jan 19 2016, 11:33 AM

vvhatsthatonyourback

Jan 19 2016, 11:14 AM

radger

Jan 8 2016, 07:21 PM

Getting the case for optimism in before we win at the weekend, I'm far from convinced we'll go down. 11 points is a sizeable gap, but points wise that can be closed in 4 matches. Granted we have only had 2 wins all season but I wouldn't underestimate the effect of momentum. It's also worth remembering that the last team to stay in as bad as position as we are was the United team of 2000/01 and we were absolutely dire the first half of that season, far worse than we are now.

For me one of the biggest factors we are where we are is that we have a losing mentality, rather than being a miles worse team than every other side in the league. If we were the worst team out there then our chances of putting together a run of results like we need would be a very long shot. Looking at the results since Mixu took over, there's been ten games, 7 have been defeats, 5 of which were by single goal margins (the other two being to 1st and 2nd). We led in 3 of those games as well as one of the 2 games we drew. That to me doesn't tell me we are the worst team in the league, but there is clearly a huge fragility there. A fragility that causes us to gets nervous when in the lead (and in front of goal, missed a tonne of easy chances this season) and dispirited when falling behind.

One of the big problems and reasons for this has been the huge amount of inexperience in the team, from a combination of having lost senior players and injuries to other experienced players. Paul Paton wasn't popular with everyone but what he did do well was provide a lot of protection to the defence when he played, something the young players this season haven't done. The goalkeeping situation has also been massively detrimental with mistakes from all our young goalkeepers costing us points. I'd also argue that the influence of a goalkeeper extends far beyond dealing with shots and crosses. A goalkeeper should be able to direct and command his defenders to deal with danger, positioning, awareness and such, something Zwick and Sromnik haven't done to any extent whatsoever. Despite his mistake in the derby, I am optimistic that Kawashima and the extensive and high level experience he has should be able to help us considerably.

That said it would be naive to think that our defensive problems will all suddenly be solved. Dillon while a great servant is past his best, Durnan is far too error prone, Morris seemed forever sidelined by injuries and Gunning hasn't had a great time of it since returning (and I agree he's a massive fud). Cross a ball into our box and we are all over the place. I wonder if that was part of the reason to go to a back 3, but it doesn't seem to have changed anything. For me a Darren Dods type figure would be massive for us. Someone who will lead and organise and win a header or two. That'll do me. Remains our big weakness by a distance at the moment just now though.

Looking at the squad just now there are players there that can get us results, Mckay is always a goal threat, there are solid (if unspectacular) players such as Rankin, Erskine and Mcgowan and 4 recent signings that have played at a high level, Demel, Kawashima, Pongolle (if he is ever fit) and now Riske. There's something of a spine there. And hopefully that can take some of the burden off the shoulders of the young boys who have suffered this season having not had that. Souttar and Fraser have loads of talent and are definitely capable of being matchwinners, Spittal can be too. I don't see any reason why we couldn't beat any of the teams from 4-5th down on any given day.

Killie are rubbish, they're definitely the most likely team to catch. We'll have to play all the bottom 6 teams twice more, there's 30 points available just against them. If we can grab a couple of wins, suddenly there's a bit of momentum, a bit of a lift and a bit of belief. The second half of the 00/01 season was one of my favourite ever as a United fan. Part of that was due to how dire the team had been in the first half of the season and yet we managed to turn that round. 2 results and suddenly everyone's behind the team again and it can be done!

I believe!!!

I wonder how radger feels about this now?

Other than the fact that Killie have picked up points little has changed since then. We're 14 behind three teams and a further point behind Well.

Unlikely as it is, if we were to win our next three games we'd still be in with a shout. Momentum is a huge thing and if we can even get the gap back to about 6 or 7 points going into the split it's doable, if still unlikely. Not only would United gain confidence but the teams above us may start to panic a bit and lose theirs. The bonus of being at the bottom is that, unlike chasing teams further up, none of them are likely to go on 5 or 6 game winning streaks (including us, of course).

It's (slightly) early to throw in the towel yet. However, if we come out of the next three games with less than 7 points then I'm all for blooding all the young guys. No point in rebuilding for the division below when there's still a chance you won't be in it though.

Naebody

Jan 20 2016, 06:43 PM

The way I see it, there's always room for optimism. This doesn't need to be crushed by facts.

Consider the Scottish Cup. Once every two decades or thereabouts, we win it. Mostly, though, we don't. Therefore, a realistic attitude would involve starting each cup campaign with the same sense of fatalism that pervades our current season. Logically, we all know nearly every cup campaign ends in disappointment. But what kind of diseased mind approaches the game that way? So, we tend to be optimistic. Winning the cup is a long shot, but it's still a shot.

That's how I see escaping relegation. It's a long shot, but it's still a shot.

Naebody

Jan 20 2016, 01:59 PM

vvhatsthatonyourback

Jan 20 2016, 12:06 PM

We have no grit whatsoever. None. We deserve to go down.

I find no comfort in the idea that we're getting what we deserve. Who's getting punished, and for what?

There's Thompson, I guess, though that theme slips too quickly into wingnuttery. Mostly, I guess, sensible people blame McNamara for being an absolutely terrible judge of players. He's gone, though. He doesn't have to endure trips to Alloa next season.

Of JMc's crap signings, Schneider's gone. Bilate's gone. Kuhl's gone. Taggart's gone. Bodul's going. Erskine's going. McGowan's going. None is at risk of being punished for their crapness.

Then there's Muirhead, Murray, Telfer, Durnan, Connolly, Szromnik and Zwick. Put simply, there's nothing in any of them to suggest they're good at football. That's not their fault; they're just not good at football. It'd be harsh to punish someone for a lack of ability.

Next: Dillon, Rankin, Souttar, Fraser and Spittal. But the first two always try hard, bless 'em, whereas the latter two are freshers.

Therefore, by a process of elimination, we have to blame Souttar. f*cking Souttar. But he's going as well.

So in the end, who's getting punished? Us twats. And for what? Nothing.

Bollocks to "deserve".

vvhatsthatonyourback

Jan 23 2016, 12:29 PM

us to win this one