A very disappointing performance.
The game followed the familiar recent pattern, with Rovers dominating the ball but the opposition looking more threatening on the counter attack, but the problems were more severe this time. In addition to the striker issue, I think there is a major confidence problem now after a number of poor results, with wide players and midfielders reluctant to play the 'risky' pass, dwelling in possession too long, and opting for the 'safe' ball, generally out wide to Cogley for him to knock the ball into an eighteen yard box occupied by Nevitt and three or four defenders.
I am not convinced the majority of the players are as inadequate as some people are suggesting above, but we are in the kind of rut we were in the early part of the 2017-8 season and we need some kind of spark, probably new bodies in the squad, to get us out of it.
The absence of a recognised striker is still the core of the issue for me. No professional team can function properly if it does not have a centre forward that understands which runs to make, where to position himself in the box, and how to occupy the centre halves. Nevitt is the only forward we have who comes close to that description, and he is very raw and naive. He held the ball up well a few times today but, as Sparky mentions above, his movement in the box sometimes is not cute enough and he makes himself too easy to mark. That said, the service to him was not good enough, particularly from Feeney: Elliott has said he likes through balls slid down the side of defenders, but I did not see any attempt to play those kind of passes today.
Of the other forwards, Glatzell was lightweight and completely ineffective today and we know Mani's limitations. Nevitt needs someone more experienced alongside him to help him.
One other observation from today is that it really is time that Feeney was dropped. He is ok at holding the ball in the middle third of the pitch, but never offers a final ball and his set pieces are awful. Watson was probably the best of the outfield players and did seem to have more licence to get forward, as he had a few decent efforts on goal. However, I think he should be occupying Feeney's number ten position, with Merrie - who did well when he came on and looks a natural footballer - alongside Spearing in the centre of midfield. Elsewhere, I thought Cogley had a decent game and NKP was solid, while Murphy kept us in the game with two or three decent saves.