No case for the defence



County's situation is bad enough without Ivan Sproule auditioning for UFC

On the face of it, Partick Thistle's Gabriel Piccolo is surely the worst defender in the Scottish Premiership right now.  In his last four starts, the club have conceded 14 goals.

But his presence might actually improve the Ross County defence.

County's promotion to the SPL in 2011-12 was built on defensive solidity.  So too was their start to life in the top flight.  Last season, they conceded only one goal in the first six league matches...four of which were goalless draws, mind you.  They shipped rather more goals as the season went on, but that could be blamed on a more expansive style rather than a drop in form - Derek Adams' side went on a great run after Christmas which earned them a surprise top six finish.

2011-12 promotion winning side

In fact, if anything, the quality at the back was improved during the January transfer window.  The back four that won the first division title consisted of central defenders Scott Boyd and Grant Munro, flanked by Marc Fitzpatrick at left back and Gary Miller at right back.  Miller left that summer, for St. Johnstone, but in came veteran Ross Tokely from across the Kessock Bridge, and former Dundee United defender Mihael Kovacevic.  Initially the experience of the former was preferred on the right side of the back four, but by winter the limitations resulting from Tokely's reducing mobility convinced the manager that further changes were needed.  The more athletic Kovacevic was brought into the lineup, and brought far more attacking threat.  So did another January signing, Greek left back Evangelos Oikonomou, who was so superior to Fitzpatrick that the latter was released before the end of that month.  And, best of all, Canadian international Andre Hainault arrived too.  He took some time to force his way into the heart of the defence, but his comfort in possession allowed County to keep the ball better.  His winning goal against Inverness on the final day of the campaign was in itself enough to earn him legend status amongst the support.

The starting XI from the second half of 2012-13

What Adams would give to still have the same defensive options as last season.  In Sunday's defeat to St. Mirren, his backline consisted of Steven Saunders, Brian McLean, Boyd, and Branislav Micic.  Hainault has gone, and is playing in Germany now.  Oikonomou left too, returning to Greece.  Kovacevic, one of the best right backs in the league last season, has slumped, as anyone who saw his dreadful performance recently against Celtic will testify.  Munro, meanwhile, is no longer at the Global Energy Stadium.  Stories that he fell out with his manager may or may not be true.  What we do know is that, at 33, he appeared to have slowed down dramatically - the way he was beaten in a sprint by the spring chicken that is John Sutton for one of Motherwell's goals in one defeat came as quite a shock.  The former Caley Thistle captain has dropped to part-time football with Brora Rangers in the Highland League.

The new signings have not picked up the slack.  Saunders deserves a bit of patience, after two injury-ravaged years at Motherwell, and he has only started two Premiership games this season.  But it's hard to believe that it's only three years since he won a Scotland cap.  McLean, in contrast, has performed exactly as expected - as a hoof ball merchant.  It's no surprise that Dundee United cancelled his contract a year early, but goodness knows what Adams saw in him.  During Highland derbies, we have a joke sweepstake on how many times Boyd will punt the ball out for a throw-in during a match; McLean actually surpasses him in this area. 

Micic was actually signed in January, but barely played because of injury.  I'm told he's a cultured player at centre half or left back, but he's yet to justify his club's decision to offer him a new deal in the summer.  But it's another left back, Ben Gordon, who has been the biggest disappointment, given that he had two excellent spells on loan at Kilmarnock in the past, and is still only 22.  But he's offered little of the expected attacking threat, whilst appearing terribly vulnerable against opposing wingers.  He's the last of the seven different players who have started in County's back line this season.

Of course, the first line of defence is the attack, and the Staggies' have plenty of problems further up the pitch.  The best marker of how poor their forwards are is that none of them have yet managed a goal in the league.  Last season, a target man - Sam Morrow or Steffen Wohlfarth - was used as a focal point to hold the ball up and create space for midfield players, most notably Ivan Sproule, to get beyond him.  Neither Morrow or Wohlfarth are still in Dingwall.  The current flavour of the month is Dutchman Kevin Luckassen, who is by a distance the laziest player I've seen in Scotland this year.  He makes Dimitar Berbatov look like the Duracell bunny.  I suspect there were high expectations for Orhan Mustafi, a Swiss player on loan from Grasshopper Zurich, but he was terribly unfit when he arrived and then broke a toe - he hasn't been seen since.  Things have been so bad that Luckassen's countryman Melvin De Leeuw, a left winger, was deployed as a lone striker against Celtic.  It didn't work.

Lineup in 2-1 defeat to St. Mirren, 17 November 2013

De Leeuw has been one of the few bright sparks, the others are also midfield players; Graham Carey, formerly of St. Mirren, and midfield dynamo Stuart Kettlewell.  But Paul Lawson and Iain Vigurs, who moved to Motherwell in the summer, have been terribly missed.  Lawson, who sat in front of the back four, was a hugely underrated presence.  County's record in the 20 top flight games he started - won 9, drew 7, lost 4.  His record in the 30 top flight games they've played without him starting - won 7, drew 8, lost 15.  Captain Richard Brittain has often been deployed in Lawson's role; not only have the team missed his creativity further forward, but he's been largely redundant as McLean and Scott Boyd punt the ball over his head.

County have lost eight league games already.  They only lost eleven in the whole of last season.

That said, I suspect that, like last season, the January transfer window will be galvanizing.  Uncle Roy McGregor won't hold back from strengthening the squad if there's any sense of danger.  The worst County can finish the season is eleventh, and they only need to be a little better than this to finish ahead of Kilmarnock with a bit to spare.  But there could still be some hard going for the next couple of months.

L.