Our defensive quandary

Has anyone any idea what our best defensive lineup is - I'm totally confused.

I think most would agree that Guthrie was a must start despite occasional lapses but what of the rest. Fitzwater and Brown have both impressed and disappointed me within the first few games; I had totally discounted Ambrose as being unfit and prone to defensive lapses but his performance on Saturday totally change my mind. Given the time he was defensively strong but also linked up well with the midfield.

The position of Left back originally had ATS as the favourite but McMillan did perform admirably in that role particularly against Sevco. Serrano cam in and didnt ham it up - sorry I'll get my coat.

On the right back position Devlin started poorly but has settled and been getting better and better. He had competition for his position by Brown and Fitzwater particularly but looks more assured. My one main concern is where he gets booked early on; at that stage he really needs to be replaced as his type of play will mean that he's walking a tightrope until the end of the game.

I appreciate that Saturday's lineup worked well against a fairly static Ross County and probably would not have been as effective against the more mobile Hibs but I'm still totally confused now.

Thoughts?

I think if played in their proper positions they all can have a case for a starting place, and it will depend on who we are playing who is suited where. For eg, McMillan is the consummate utility FB, played on either wing, and is suited against the likes of Sevco, Celtic and Hibs, bags of energy and gets stuck in.

Devlin for me isn't as good defensively, and is more suited against the lower to middle teams (present league positions of some are false and we know what teams will end up being in this position) where he can attack more and not worry as much at defending.

Efe has been played out of position a lot with the 3 at the back, shoehorning CB's into the team just to play them all, but as a CB he was very good.

Anyways, i'll list them one by one on how I think their pros and cons (this is going to be a long post).

Starting with the CB's.

Guthrie: I think we can all agree he's the main man after sweeping the board with the PoTY awards, think he won them all bar one, and Marv was just given that to stop him greetin about Guthrie winning them all. Excellent in the air and on the ground, and scores a few goals too, has gradually got back to his form from last season but with all the messing around Holt did in defence it prob had a lot to do with his poor start to the season.

Brown Again going on last season i'd stick to having him as a CB, and he'd do well, but again he was messed around putting him more as a LWB or left of a back 3, neither suited him.

Ambrose He's the one that gives me most pause for concern, his rep for the odd defensive blunder is putting me off thinking him and Guthrie would be our best partnership at the heart of our defence. He's excellent when it comes off, but you can see he will attempt to play himself out of trouble all the time and wont just clear his lines, if he gets caught in possession however, it could lead to us conceding goals. Holt knows this though and will hopefully weigh up the pros and cons of playing him. What I will say though, stop playing him on the wings, he can't cross a ball, but played through the centre, making driving runs, his passing was first class.

Fitzwater: Prob the weakest of our CB's, has had the most up and down performances of the lot, again i'd prefer him as a CB, but that run up the wing for Pitts assist gives me pause for thought, if he could be used as a RB. I'm willing to cut him some slack as CB though, with him being new to football in this Country and having to play in a defence that was constantly changed around, in formation and tactics. I think with a settled back 4 formation now he'd settle into being a good CB.

All of which gives Holt a pleasant headache on selecting which one to start alongside Guthrie, but I think they would all do a decent job so it isn't really a problem for the team. Last season too we were constantly swapping the defence and keepers around, and it didn't unsettle us, we had 3 different keepers, 4 if you count Schofield having to play against McCrorie's parent club, and the same swapping about with FB's and CB's (well maybe not CB's, but still changed them around a few times). So i'm not really concerned about having a settled back 4 selection. I think the formation is more important, and knowing that whoever is selected will fit into it and play well.

On FB we have a slightly more complex situation, I thought ATS was our best LB but Serrano coming in makes things a bit more complicated. Also, ATS seems to have been moved below McMillan in the pecking order at LB, one thing for certain though, imo anyway, Brown and Efe shouldn't be anywhere near that position unless we've no other choice, with the rest being injured or suspended.

RB, Devlin seems to be first in the queue, excellent going forward, but questionable in defence, as shown against Hibs, i'd prefer McMillan played there when we're up against the better teams with quicker opponents that'll attack more. Lawson has still to come back from injury though, and he showed at the end of last season he can be a decent RB option too.

Unfortunately for McMillan Serrano has been signed, as I think that means he's going to be used as the utility FB again this season, he'll still get a decent amount of games, but wont have a regular starting spot.

It's looking a lot more settled in defence since Martindale has taken the reins, Fitzwater settling into a CB partnership with Guthrie, Devlin & Serrano as the FB's in a back 4, and Brown coming on later to tactically change our shape into a back 5 when we're ahead and needing to game manage the closing minutes to see it out.

I actually like Martindale's post match interviews, his voice is a bit grating but he explains his substitutions and tactical reasons for making them, and how he saw the game playing out, really interesting listening to him. Doesn't just give us the usual spiel other managers do.

Where are you hearing them or have you got a LiviTV subscription?

Seen them in different places, now he's interim manager his post match interviews are more open over media outlets, and not just on LFC Live, although i got access to them on there since last night's game, and watched the St Johnstone and Ross County highlights today, as well as Martindale's full interviews.

He gives his reasons for substitutions, tactical changes where opposition players were getting at us in weak positions, switching Mullin to assist Robbo when he took off Forrest and switching to a back 3 with Brown coming on etc. Really honest about incidents in the game too, not hiding behind the old 'i didn't see it' when it's something going our way, said the County player played it back for Robbo to run onto for his assist to Sibbs in our opening goal but it may have come off our player, he's not sure. He'll take it anyway if we got lucky there, those type of breaks weren't happening for us before this season.