hislopsoffsideagain

SNP for me. Not because of a pro-independence view but because of their policy for minimum unit pricing on alcohol and because there is no better (or at least, louder) advocate for Scotland than big Alex.

Yeah, the highlights make the Hearts equalizer look pretty embarrassing for the ref. Why on earth did he blow his whistle if not to stop play? No-one normally blows for a routine throw in. Thomson really does steal about 15 yards. What's Crawford Allan's day job? Circus clown? You know how Bougherra got fined ?2,500 for manhandling Calum Murray? How about we all club together to pay the fine so Rossco can have a good grapple with the ref the next time he officiates up here?

Lots of positives to take from the performance, particularly the bright start. Smashing build-up prior to an excellent finish by Doran. Hearts came back all guns blazing in the second half and the draw was probably a fair result. As for Crawford Allan, it seems that every week I feel that the ref is "the worst one we've ever seen up here". Mr Allan is the new title holder. As for the standside linesman, I wouldn't urinate on him if he was on fire.

While I agree Hamilton do have an odd way of dealing with players, in this case Paixao is injured and recuperating at home in Portugal - they've basically told him his contract isn't being renewed and since he won't be fit for any more games there's no point coming back. Casalinuovo, meanwhile, has been offered a chance to train with a German team to get a contract for next year, which is why he has been released. Both have been fringe players this season anyway.

Thoughtful post from Renegade, who has put a lot of effort and thought into that - whilst I don't agree with all of it he makes a good argument for his point of view. I bet I'm in the minority, but I think Duff is a decent player to have; in fact I think he's the best right back we have in the squad now Rossco's lost a yard of pace. I have nothing against Proctor either, though as they offer a similar degree of versatility I suspect we might only choose to keep one of them. For me, Innes, Golly and McBain do not offer enough even for a place on the bench in the SPL. Blumenshtein hasn't been fit enough to justify another chance. These four surely have no future. Odhiambo, after a bright start to the season, has been utter guff since October, though at 21 he might be worth holding onto for another year. I'm quite up for re-signing everyone else. I'd definitely have Doran and MacDonald back if the opportunity was available. What do we need? I think Kencar has identified our needs correctly. In particular I would say a target man striker would offer us something different.

What the hell? My back garden in Inshes is playable. If this is all that's required to get a game of football postponed these days, no-one will get their season finished! What a complete and utter joke. It's a bit wet. You're a bunch of grown men - man up and get on with it.

Just for the record...I've never worked out why people can't sing and chant and have a good time whilst sitting down...

If Esson wins Player of the Year, we have a complete starting XI from our 11 winners - Esson, Tokely, Mann, Golabek, Cowie, Black, Keogh, Robson, Hayes, Wilson, Dargo! As for whether he is good enough for the international scene...well he's a better keeper than Cammy Bell and Jamie Langfield, both of whom have been in Scotland squads.

Just back. Disappointing result but I was very pleased with our performance - we kept it tight and defended very well for long periods. Celtic had a monopoly on possession but what do you expect - four of their starting lineup played at the world cup last summer. Their two goals were about the only bits of shoddy defending from us; sadly teams like Celtic make you pay for your mistakes. There were two big turning points - firstly the failure to hang on to half time, and secondly Forster's unbelievable save from Sutherland. At that time Celtic looked frustrated and out of ideas, and I think that if we had gone in front again we would have had a good chance of hanging on. A good team effort, everyone looked like they had run themselves into the ground. Stand out for me was Russell Duncan, who kept getting a foot in and used the ball far better than usual. Foran gave Juarez a really hard time, and I thought Rossco was the pick of our back line. Several of these Celtic players are far too good for this league - Hooper, Izaguirre and Kayal stand out like a sore thumb. Izaguirre might be the fastest guy I've ever seen on that pitch!

Blimey, what a turnaround from Tuesday night. To be honest, at 1-0 I thought Motherwell looked much more likely to score...but the second goal just knocked the stuffing out of them. We look so much better with Tokely in the centre of defence, Duff at full back and Duncan in midfield, we really do. Stonking finish by Sutherland for the first goal, nearly took the net off! Lovely breakaway for the second which Foran finished, and Cox missed a great chance before MacDonald came off the bench and scored with his first touch. And to cap it all, a nice sunny day Can't believe Foran got man of the match though; Tokely and Hogg were excellent, Sutherland put in a good shift, and for me the stand out man was Lee Cox, who buzzed all over the pitch for the full 90mins. Motherwell beat Celtic, we humped Motherwell, so that should make next week's cup game a cinch :biggrin:

I've never left early before, but I was sorely tempted to do so tonight, even when it was 0-0. That was just simply an abysmal game of football; to charge £26 for a ticket for that is a scandal. I expect a deluge of complaints about the ref to follow, but I thought he was no worse than most of the duffers we've had this season, and he let our back four kick the s*** out of their forwards in the first half. Innes makes up for his lack of mobility (and ability) by being one of the dirtiest, nastiest players I've seen in our colours - a shirt tug here, a kick in the back of the ankles there. The United players were falling over like ninepins in the second half, but if I was being generous I would say it was because they expected someone to halve them. We started brightly...and then it all faded after Doran was injured and we ditched two up front. With Foran deep we were pushed further and further back, with only a half-fit Hayes offering a threat. United were basically the least-bad team; my first thought for their first goal was that Innes had been fouled in the buildup, but he didn't appeal for it so I suspect he just made an @rse of it. Pass marks to Esson, as usual, and Cox as well for effort. I don't think anyone else deserves any plaudits. Why was Duncan dropped? That was just an utterly terrible game of football, one of the poorest I have ever seen. In fact, our performance resembled Hamilton whenever they came up here. Thats how bad and negative we seemed to be. (rant over!)

Summary of the first half: the game kicked off...nothing happened for ages...Rossco scores!...nothing happened for ages...half-time. Lovely move for the second goal, what was Duncan doing in the 6 yard box?! A hard-fought three points. As said previously the defence did a great job. Hogg is a real find, Tokely had as good a game as he has had this season and I thought Duff did brilliantly at left back. As for the ref...it was like watching Alan Freeland ref - he seems to be operating in a completely different universe and you just have to hope we get the run of the bizarre decisions.

The original game on 4th December was called off because, allegedly, the roads were too icy. On that occasion the pitch was probably playable. Anyone else see the irony?

Can't comment on Munro's red card but had the perfect view of McArdle's challenge on Shinnie. I thought Butcher was going to nut McArdle himself, such was the tantrum he threw. It was a shocker of a tackle, studs up, foot off the ground, well late - a red card every day of the week. We've had some abysmal referees up here recently, but Steve Rentboy - sorry, Conroy - took the biscuit. I thought the players put in a good shift, and worked hard, even if some had better performances than others. Duff particularly stood out for me, he ran himself into the ground. I thought Rossco did a solid job back in the centre...though I continue to see Innes (with a turning circle the size of a bus) as a liability. Sometimes it's just not your night. Tonight wasn't ours, though it rarely is when it is 10 versus 12.

Sanchez was great today, our best player. He kept looking to get on the ball and put in a real shift. He deserved his goal. I'm so pleased for the guy, considering he has been warming the bench all year. Pass marks too for Nick Ross, Esson and for Duncan and Hayes when they came on. Shinnie really struggled in the first half but was much better after the break. He got f-all in terms of help from Foran defensively. As stated by many folk, Odhiambo had a mare - I think he's aware of the crowd getting on his back, it seems his best performances are away from home where he doesn't get a slagging. Whilst I agree with CaleyD that Hamilton stretch the rules to breaking point, I would note that Innes also has the full range of shirt tugs, nudges and body-checks, and he keeps having to use them when (as is often) he gets caught for pace. I'm not a fan - I would have Rossco in the centre, Duff back at right back where he was playing well earlier this season, and Duncan in the centre of midfield. Has the time come for us to ditch 4-2-3-1? Against Hamilton, St. Mirren and Killie here we have looked light in midfield and struggled because of it. That said, changing to a 4-3-2-1 or 4-3-3 potentially means no place for Sanchez, I guess. Like the St. Mirren and St. Johnstone games, today could have gone either way - we lost those two and today we drew. On another day Duncan would have scored late on and we would have nicked it. C'est la vie.

I've made myself a promise - if we beat Rangers tonight I will buy myself a new TV and an iPhone...I've been looking for an excuse to get both but I'm so wussy about spending money. So an upset tonight could be a bit expensive...but it would totally be worth it!

Not for the first time, Neil Doncaster chose to distort the truth - If Inverness, Hearts and Kilmarnock were in preference of 14, then not everyone is in agreement. Not yet anyway. We've slagged off our board enough over the years (often with good reason). How about a big thumbs up for George Fraser for supporting the view of the fans?

I never really thought the likes of Soane, Kerr, Ridgers etc would really ever make it - the young players who I felt were a total let down were Zander Sutherland and Rory McAllister - both were given their chance, neither lived up to expectations, and McAllister in particular got a lot more opportunities than his performances deserved. I quite liked Garry Wood, actually - he put in a shift when he played, which is more than could be said for Barrowman. That said - I think we have a shortlist of three for the worst ever - Andy Barrowman, Phil McGuire and Darran Thomson? At least Thomson didn't cost us a huge amount in wages in the way the other two did.

Yes, it was Zander I was referring to at the beginning. Is it fair to say that the battle for the number one spot might be between McGuire and Barrowman? (dreadful oversight that neither were on my original list)

Jeez, how on earth did I forget Phil McGuire? My word, he was awful.

I've just looked up Fetai on Wikipedia - he plays in Denmark still...and won two caps for Macedonia last year as well. He's also now famous for this slightly bizarre goal celebration

Just noticed Paul McMullan was in Berwick's squad for their game against Celtic - didn't he have a few months on our books when we were promoted in 2004? I can't actually find any record of him having played a single minute for us in a competitive game. It started me thinking about other "not so good" signings during our SPL years - players who either came with fanfare and never made an impact, or some who just never got a chance. Ones that sprang to mind: Zibi Malkowski Richie Byrne Lionel Djebi-Zadi Thierry Gathuessi Tom Parratt Steven Watt Liam Fox Alan Morgan (maybe I'm a bit harsh there) Darran Thomson Bajram Fatai Ben Jackson Dean McDonald Gary McSwegan Bryan Prunty And perhaps McAllister and Sutherland if we include young players who we had high hopes for but who never reached their potential with us? Any others spring to mind? For me, the thought of a veteran McSwegan leading the line for us under 10CC makes me cringe. Some of course might suggest Niculae - considering he probably caused us more trouble than he was worth.

Fair enough on Foran, Johnboy - I had forgotten that bicycle kick attempt. On the other hand he spent so much time slipping over and ending up on his backside (not the only one, mind) and I thought his use of the ball was poor.

Well, that was like purgatory. On the one hand, we utterly dominated, and were pretty much camped around their 18 yard box for the whole second half. On the other, the fact it took us till injury time to nick it is embarrassing - though not as much as if it had finished 0-0. Same old problems, to be honest - no-one playing the killer ball. Foran, after a good effort in Perth, was abysmal today and looked in a sulk when he came off. Meanwhile, TB's patience with Odhiambo must be wearing thin; his first touch today was utterly terrible. Ross at least showed some industry and some willing, while Rooney came alive on the rare occasions he got some sort of service. Sutherland and Sanchez both gave us a spark - I was delighted for Danni who surely deserves a chance in the team. It was a sweet, sweet finish for his goal. We at least dominated in midfield, unlike recent games; I thought Duff was as good as anyone. As for a back four, Shinnie might have been our best player; the others are so lacking in pace its as if they are moving in slow motion. I'm not impressed by Innes at all - he keeps giving the ball away and looks in a panic whenever anyone gets half a yard on him (which is often). Elgin had one chance in the second half, but really they just set up 2 banks of four and defended for their lives. They looked devastated at the end. It wasn't pleasant, but job done.

Argh, that was a painful defeat. We were probably second best out there, but not by much - St J got the run of the ball in the box late on to nick the winner. All hail Ryan Esson, who was magnificent again. As said above, Rooney had virtually no service. I don't blame TB for trying something different with the lineup - and Duncan and Foran had both had two poor games - but Blumenshtein barely got a kick and whilst Innes was all right in his own 18 yard box, his passing makes Munro look like Xavi. Just like against Killie, we couldn't keep the ball - but St J didn't have to press very hard to get it back. Foran looked like he had got a right kick up the backside, we were a better team with him on. I'm normally a staunch defender of Odhiambo - but he was terrible and his first touch was a disaster. Come on, Terry, give Sanchez a go, please? Hopefully the Elgin game will be a confidence boost for a few of the guys...and hopefully after that Hayes will be back.