Just curious to see what everyone else thinks

Not sure, we did OK without him last night, but then again he may have given us the edge. The game may have suited him as we looked good when we went forward and the added bite in the middle would not have gone unoticed. I'll sit on the fence please.

I'm going to say no, i think that Duncan had a great game last night and i think Duncan deserves to keep his place after the performance last night. Black hasn't quite regained the form he showed last season and hopefully a couple of games on the bench could be the right incentive to improve his performances.

Maybe missing the last 2 games will have done the trick though. He hasn't really played as well as he did last season - YET!

I'd leave him out for the moment so he's more eager to impress when he gets his chance again....

Russell Duncan did ok last night  and maybe it was coincidence but I think Rankin had his best game alongside him .

I don't think that Duncan deserves to be dropped after last night.

Ian Black might benifit from cooling his heels on the benchfor a wee while. He needs to learn that these constant, generally needless, bookings of his will have consequences.

I've always stuck up for Russeldinho in the past when people were giving him stick. He holds it all together and we're a much poorer and lightweight midfield when he's out. Glad Johndo's expert mate agrees.

i would have him over duncan, but then again i thought duncan did quite wel against the dons. he would be a great player to bring on fresh later on in the game. i would maybe like to see rankin on the left and duncan in the centre with black but again mcbain has been doing olrite and he set up baynes goal last night. we have alot of options in midfield.

Normally I would say yes but Duncan did a good job last night. He wasn't great but he broke up the attacks and played the ball well. He did what he had to do and because of that there is no reason why he should be dropped.

I disagree with Rankin supposedly having his best game though. I thought he was pretty annonymous for large parts of the game.

Duncan/Blackie combination. However I did think Russell was just to eager to please last night rushing into thinks - however that shows the hunger he has for regaining his place in the team - the place he deserves. He should have never lost that spot anyway. 

I'd like to see Russeldinho start on Saturday as well. He's good at breaking up opposition attacks and we are going to need that kind of player.

I wouldn't like to see anyone dropped from yesterday. Blackie on the bench for me.

Duncan played well on Monday night, but Blackie offers so much more and has to come back.

Same as Monday except can we please pass it around a bit more please?  :003:

Russell should be able to handle Scotty Brown better than Blackie. Thomson is a problem as is Beuzelin so there has to be graft in midfield.

I think the Hibs boys will have burnt themselves out on wed night. The other thing is that Hibs, though they are running rings around other teams as far as possession goes, are sh!te finishers. Also, I dont think we should look too much into the cup game. It was a cup game, a local derby with bitter rivalry, and against a team who turn up for training each day not knowing who'll be taking the session.

Think we could do the job with out him going on Monday nights form, though agree with earlier comments that he is the sort of player that can give you the edge which i think his temperament shows, with the higher profile games this month though could be a problem for him and a disadvantage for the team.

Unfortunately the wee man lost his place due to being the sort of aggressive player we need that refs tend to learn about and pick on.  Most of his bookings are correct with the odd one due to reputation.  But as most folk have already said Russeldinho played well on Monday and has earned the right to at least start the game.  Think Blackie should come on for the last 30 min if the match situation allows.

I would expect Hib's efforts on Wednesday should mean they will wilt a bit in the second half, which might herald the sort of changes of personnel we saw against Falkirk and maybe the same kind of finale.

I agree rhat Black hasn't reached last years standards yet, and that Russell played well enough on Monday. BUT....against St Mirren the week before, Duncan was fecking awful!

Black should return tomorrow.

I thought Duncan was simply DREADFUL against Midden but I would play him in the middle with Black and put Rankin on the left. Black played better when Duncan was partnering him last year. Black is the only real creative player that we have.

WYNESSS

I am back - thank you for all your kind words but it was only a short trip back to the UK - nothing really :001: :001: :001: :001: