Duke Gekantawa

The main difference in form was over 5 matches ago. In the past 5 games, the've the best form (12 points from 15) and we've the second best (11 points). Our form was very different to theirs prior to the past 5, granted.

Indeed- he clearly didn’t even touch it

There’s a tweet on P&B with a snippet of video showing the penalty decision was a good one. Muirhead steps on their guy’s ankle.

I actually thought that was a fairly comfortable win. It wasn’t fun to watch, but if the game was still going on I doubt ICT would’ve scored. We had the best chances (if not that many) while I don’t remember Mitchell making a save of note, nor them missing any decent chances. Suddenly being defensively very solid means we can get away with a lacklustre showing in midfield/attack

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The end of a poor run of results had made it less apparent that we may have turned a corner in terms of defence since Ayr. The 4 games up to and including Ayr conceded 13 goals. Doolan responded and made changes which have resulted in conceding 5 in the last 5. Not brilliant granted, but much improved and an improvement possibly going under the radar due to not actually winning a game in the next three even with the improved defence performance. What I think (hope?) it shows is that Doolan can react to problems and address them

Ngenwya is a Malawi international though (Scottish born)

I did notice Aero getting absolutely livid at McBeth for something near the end of the game (but before Morton scored). They spent a minute having a proper go at each other. Maybe Aero didn’t enjoy being schooled by the rookie? He did look good in defence though

I don’t agree with most of this. If Doolan truly was that bad at both recruitment and tactics we would not be third. If our midfield was that bad we wouldn’t score so many goals. I’m not even sure recruitment is as bad as made out. I quite like Robinson, Neilson, McInroy, Adeloye, McBeth, Ngenwa and even Williams (I think I rate the latter more than Doolan though). Yes many have been patchy, but most have made a positive impact on at least a few games (even Alston despite being a strange, superfluous signing) and have contributed to our point total. Only McDonald and Stewart look truly terrible. I’m not pretending that everything is great or that mistakes haven’t been made or that recruitment was brilliant (none of the recruits have been outstanding either). I just don’t agree it’s anything as bad as you’ve painted.

I was in the JL stand so might of missed something, but I thought McBeth’s booking was for pulling a player back (albeit rugby style) to prevent a quick counter attack rather than any kicking hard. If anything it was to me the very definition of a professional foul typically described by pundits as a good booking or taking one for the team

As soon as we took on Doolan, I was of the belief we should give him at least two seasons unless relegation was a very serious threat. I still believe this, and also think the team isn’t far away (obviously defensive strengthening). But as you say, falling away now would feel like things are happening the wrong way round and would put much more pressure on Doolan to make a strong start next season.

It does go to show how quickly a bad run can end. The Pars looked in real danger and couldn’t buy a win, now they are the form team. Morton’s promotion form has turned to nearer relegation form. Almost every team (top 2 apart) has had a really bad run at one stage now. In other words, there’s no reason to believe our form won’t pick up soon

I think a reason for some of the delay was some defensive improvement in January, during which we conceded 4 goals in 5 games (and two of those where at the very beginning of January in a 3-2 win). This is presumably why O'Reilly wasn't introduced when a soon as he signed. By the time our defense took a catastrophic turn for the worse, O'Reilly was crocked. Then when things were changed (albeit a couple of games later than was ideal) there was some improvement- but then Williams was injured.

Penalty decision seems perfectly reasonable also

I don’t think it’s offside- it’s certainly close enough to be a reasonable call.

I’m not that sure- I think it’s a good decision

7 games without a win is clearly not good. However, we have only lost two of them, so we are still hard to beat. Of those 7, 5 have been away games. In fact most of the draws have been reasonable results taken in isolation. I thought we looked more solid with Williams- hopefully he’ll be available sooner rather than later.

Williams clearly unfit. Unfortunate.

It’s actually top v bottom in term of last 5 game form.

Surely they matter more- other results don't matter when you're winning all your games

Personally, assuming that our form does not completely fall off a cliff to the point where we are looking at the other end of the table. I'd want to keep Doolan on for another close season. I like the fact we score so many goals. There is a lot going right to achieve this. We are still third and his overall ppg record is still decent. It was always likely we would hit a run of bad form (in all three of McCall's Championship seasons we had dreadful runs of 5 or more games without a win). However, mistakes were obviously made in defensive recruitment. There were mitigating factors in this (in my opinion, I know others disagree), and of course this was Doolan's first ever recruitment window. He did show last season that he can set up a team to defend competently with the right personnel. He's been (partially) unlucky this window in that I don't think we had much to spend, and the one centre back added (which looked the right kind of player) is now injured. The goalkeeper situation is perplexing. However, I would like to see if he is capable of fixing the defence in another close season, in which case we could be very successful with the goals we score. If he proves not up to the task then I accept we would have to look elsewhere.

Doolan was always likely to suffer a poor run of form at sometime. Now it’s here, it will be a proper test for him as a manager Can he deal with low morale and can he actually address the main defensive issues, at least partially? We are top league scorers and continue to keep scoring, which remains (bear with me) a positive. It does mean that we continue to get something right. We also remain third which exceeds my personal expectations at the season’s beginning. However it is now glaringly obvious that we need to try something different in defence- a new formation and/or different personnel. What he does for the next few games and how the team reacts might make or break him.

Actually he initially survived a very similar run to the one we’re on now (below) after which we did show some recovery. Then the Hamilton and Cove games sunk him

*begin to look at the gap to 9th

He’s a better manager with the same group of players, certainly. However, we’re to see if he’s as good at recruitment as McCall (which was his main strength).