Harry Davis

Young Ahkeem is getting a lot of the praise for his goal yesterday, and rightly so.

However, I think Harry Davis deserves a lot of credit too. His ability to beat Connor in the air and provide the knockdown under pressure was excellent. I think he's slotted in very very well since his injury layoff and we can start to see why St Mirren fans thought so highly of him.

I finally believe that we’re starting to see glimpses of what he’s actually capable of. I thought without Rose’s late goal, he was a shoe in for MOTM.

Although, the bigger question is who plays alongside him ? Danny Collins has been a very good servant for the club but it’s starting to look like this season is one step too far. If possible, he’s the sort of person you want to keep within the club in a non-playing capacity though - a very likeable and knowledgeable character that has a high degree of class how he handles himself both on and off the field.

Quoted from bradzmilne

I finally believe that we’re starting to see glimpses of what he’s actually capable of. I thought without Rose’s late goal, he was a shoe in for MOTM.

Although, the bigger question is who plays alongside him ? Danny Collins has been a very good servant for the club but it’s starting to look like this season is one step too far. If possible, he’s the sort of person you want to keep within the club in a non-playing capacity though - a very likeable and knowledgeable character that has a high degree of class how he handles himself both on and off the field.

That back-pass yesterday was not the first potentially catastrophic member-up by DC this season. One minute he's stood with the ball on the halfway line looking for runners and, but for Macca and the naivety of their runner, could easily have led to them being gifted a 1-0 lead to defend.

Quoted from bradzmilne

I finally believe that we’re starting to see glimpses of what he’s actually capable of. I thought without Rose’s late goal, he was a shoe in for MOTM.

Although, the bigger question is who plays alongside him ? Danny Collins has been a very good servant for the club but it’s starting to look like this season is one step too far. If possible, he’s the sort of person you want to keep within the club in a non-playing capacity though - a very likeable and knowledgeable character that has a high degree of class how he handles himself both on and off the field.

Akin Famewo for me, fast, athletic, strong and would provide great balance to Davis.

On the subject of Collins, could he take up some of the work fees up by Adam Forest's departure?

He clearly knows how to look after himself and is very fit for a man of his age, given his background you would think he'd have picked up a lot of knowledge over the years with regards to fitness and running sessions... I realise he won't be as ofey with the science side of it but with Greg and Dave Moore, they could have all bases covered?

I'm not too concerned about the backpass yesterday, it happens, and to give DC his due he is generally not too bad with his distribution. It's other areas of his game that concern me on an individual basis and affecting team play. One thing that stood out in the first few minutes of the game yesterday was how easily Ollie Palmer ran past a stiff legged DC and got a shot off even though DC had a huge head start.

He's too scared of getting touch tight to forwards because of the high percentage of getting done on the half turn so it gives the forward easy possession and shockingly even enough time to turn and face him.

Secondly he invites pressure by dropping too deep because he's scared of the space behind him which exposes spaces in and around our midfield areas.

Thirdly he can leave the covering space behind the full back on his side on quite a few occasions.

And fourthly, nowadays he's not winning his fair share of his headers when he's one and one with strikers battling to win a long ball.

It seems a bit harsh after not conceding for four games at home but we have lost three on the bounce away. I do question because of some of the frailties in his game, do we set up a little bit too protective of our back four which detracts from us being able to get forward from midfield to support our forwards and also get past them at times, and also, are we too easy to play around if the game is stretched by our defence automatically dropping too deep? The only way we'd find out is by playing without DC.

I've got a hunch that we could be more progressive with a quicker back line, it just depends whether the other players are ready to step up take the leading role..

DC reads the game well and puts in some important clearing headers and last ditch tackles and blocks, but that's what they are, last ditch. I think we may do better in trying an alternative defender to try and reduce getting into areas where defending has to be last ditch..

We can bimble on as we are or could MJ make a change for us to be more progressive? We'll never know unless MJ makes that decision..

DC is playing a percentage game due to his lack of pace, do we put someone else in there that doesn't have to worry about percentages due to lack of physicality?

In the interest of balance, Davis had a dodgy first half with his distribution, gifting possession with wayward diagonal passes and failure to spot or demand movement down a neglected right side. Midfield should be demanding the ball and upping the tempo. Leave defenders to their primary task. When Collins and Davis try to be Pirlo bad things happen.
That said, Jolley has a difficult call to make. Whitmore and Famewo offer more for the second half of the season. Collins is a fine pro and would have been a more appropriate Club captain than helicoptering Welsh in. His fitness in preseason was exemplary compared to many.

I’d like to see Davis and Whitmore given a run as Collins won’t be here next season and if we are trying to be “contenders” then a solid and consistent CB partnership is one of the essentials for that.

A couple of recent errors by Collins but for me, and I suspect for Jolley too, he would be the first defensive name on the team sheet.
The assaination by some is embarrassing. On another thread it has been pointed out that we have kept four consecutive home league clean sheets and Danny Collins has been a consistent performer.