Looking for positives....

It sounded like another very average performance and it is hard not to be deflated having led against ten men with three-quarters of the game gone. However let's try to take some positives from the game:

- 1 defeat in 5 games;
- 9th in the Premiership;
- same points total after 6 games as last season.

My biggest concern this season is the lack of conviction that I have when I look at the teams we have put out this season. A combination of our poor form over the past 25 league games or so, difficult starts for most of the new players, plus continued doubts over the efficancy of many key players (Lisbie, Kishishev, Fish, Euell...) lead me to look at our team before each game and think, "..we'll do well to get a point today." If this lack of conviction spreads from the fans to the players themselves then we have a problem.

I wonder whether Curbs should be more aggressive with regard to pushing through some of the youngsters. Seeing a promising player that the fans have heard about (but not seen) can give the crowd a lift. Few youngsters that have made it through to the first team have let anyone down - from memory, Jon Fortune was brought through quicker than desired due to injuries and he swiftly became a first choice player. This issue is especially important in my view as we have a number of key squad players in their 30s and with their best years behind them (Kiely, Stuart, Powell, Holland, Hreidarsson, Perry, Fish, Kishishev).