In an opening spell of the season which contained many disappointments, the biggest low was surely the home thrashing delivered by ICT. Our performance was pathetic, our star goalkeeper abysmal and there was little credit earned by anyone. It was at this point that the pressure on Malpas was greatest. At that point our coming fixtures were Hearts and Dundee Utd – we could reasonably expect a gubbing from the Gorgie mob and if even Craig Brewster managed to coach a side to beat us there was surely no hope.
But Maurice kept the head when many were losing theirs. He made changes, the first being the obvious dropping of McBride but the second one was brave and could well have been the turning point in our season. Graeme Smith was the player of the year last season while Colin Meldrum never inspired confidence. Rather than stick with the misfiring Smith, Malpas brought in Meldrum. We outplayed Hearts and lost but the defence was already beginning to pick up. Hope had been restored. We battled through an onslaught at Tannadice to take a point when we might have folded before taking six out of six at home to Kilmarnock and Dunfermline. All of a sudden we were up to tenth (and in the League Cup quarter final) and things weren't looking quite so bad.
The really heartening thing now though is that we seem set to improve further. Colin Meldrum seems to be solid and he has certainly reassured the defence. Brian Kerr and Keith Lasley look like a good midfield pairing, Mark Reynolds is playing like an experienced pro and even Steven McGarry is contributing. Up front we have the leading scorer in the SPL in Scott McDonald and our star player is clearly displaying the right attitude again. Maybe he still wants away but if he earns his move by keeping up his current form no one will begrudge him a step up. Even Clarkson and Elliot are showing signs that they may be able to do a job for us. We did lose at Celtic Park but for the first time in a long time we went to Glasgow to try and take three points by playing football. It may not have worked but the influence of Malpas in this area is clear – and it is undoubtedly positive. We may lose at Ibrox on Saturday but then we have a run of very winnable games coming up.
Maurice may not have completely turned the corner yet but as we are quick enough to criticise when things go wrong we should also praise when they go well. If we keep on progressing many people will feel somewhat silly over their early season comments!