The Mantis

Hard to disagree with Dunc actually. More or less dominated the first half and had a few blocked on the line. Always felt it could come back to bite us. Second half was very poor and we relied heavily on the long punt up to Samuel but we had a few near things when the final pass was poor. Looked like 2 stonewall handball claims to me. Arbroath goal was away down the far end but looked scrappy. Not the most memorable trip ever to Arbroath, will miss it although I hope we are in different divisions next season. Half hour delay due to roadworks between Perth and Dundee - should have paid attention to the satnav. Then another 10 mins delay before Arbroath. Steak and black pudding pie 10/10. Plus Mrs Mantis and I have just scoffed two of the biggest smokies ever seen .

Spartans v Bonnyrigg DRAW 3.30 please.

Cheers Robert. Could have sworn I was on that page before and there was nowt

No sign of away tickets online for this?

Wayne was the bassist, no?

As long as they lay on plenty of calamari it’ll be fine.

Airdrie @2.00 please

A bit late as I forgot to post a prediction, but sincerest condolences @MrCaleyjag.

Thought the highlights made that look even worse tbh. We competed well enough in the first half despite Hibs better quality but again, no shots on target so nothing to show on the telly, and it looked ominous when they had players like Youan to bring on at ht. Losing Samuel on the eve of the match was a big blow. But no point in moaning about losing to a Premier team as we have a more serious situation in the league, although even last season’s team would have been expected to give Hibs more of a challenge than that. If we’re going to play with wing backs then why aren’t they doing what wing backs do? Cammy Harper has the ability to run full backs but he’s obviously been instructed not to. We’re committed to low-risk football it seems. Every time we have a promising situation we the fans turn to each other and joke that it’ll end up back at Ridgers, and usually the joke turns out to be true. Playing the ball is not his strong point so he hoofs it and we lose possession. Shot-shy… the story of the season. Even an attempt at goal gets the fans on their feet. One of the few tv highlights that showed us going forward down the left was so typical- screaming out for a first time cross but instead we pass it inside and try to walk it in like Barcelona. I still have faith that Dunc can build a side for next season - the away performances have mainly been excellent but that doesn’t help the poor souls watching the home games. And obviously he has to keep us up first. I have the fear for next week as Brian Graham hasn’t broken his duck against us this season. With the Pars in freefall will they get a new manager bounce by dumping McPake?

Keith Bray got on for the last 15 in Elgin’s 2-0 defeat at Bonnyrigg last night.

Bonnyrigg @1.95 please

If Bonnyrigg can get praise every week from League 2 fans for their highlights, we’ve really no excuses for how poor ours are.

You should get a free mug for providing all that detail.

That was sweet. Never in doubt even after going behind. When I saw the orange strips it took me back to November 2001 when we went behind to a Nacho Novo penalty and won 5-1. Sure the last 20 minutes were nervy but that was all in our heads. A lot of that spell was Rovers knocking it about in their own half looking for a gap. The players looked composed and some of the passing was superb. Hamiltons goal was really sloppy on our part with two newbies in the back three so they will need to work on who is picking up at corners. No failures today and we looked physically strong and made Rovers look a shadow of the side which was flying earlier in the season. The double- barrel Jeremiah looked very impressive apart from his blunder which let Vaughan away to score for 3-2, which made the second half a much less comfortable watch. The other three were solid too. Cammy Kerr, Savage and of course Samuel - Machine #2. What a warrior. On another day Billy might have grabbed a fourth but his touch let him down. A bit risky changing defenders late in the game but hey, it made no difference to the result and we got a chance to see Duffy’s haircut. We have lost 10 games and have probably left too much to do for the playoffs but we should be looking up at Dunfermline, Ayr and Airdrie. At least watching ICT isn’t a chore any longer.

I’ll go for Stenny to win at Peterheid, 2.00.

I found it a bit confusing as at first glance I thought you had to save your ST seat by Tuesday. After the 30th they go on general sale but they must be avoiding selling ST holders seats to others as you can still keep your seat till 6th feb. Thought it would make more sense to do it the other way round - buy your own seat by the 30th then just have an open sale with what’s left?

Speaking to a hibby pal this morning and he was claiming they would bring about 3000. I said they would get the south stand (2500) but didn’t think they would sell out. He said they had 3000 at Forfar so you never know.

The problem is, it took him nearly 3 years to have a decent game in the cup final as anybody who watches the team regularly will tell you, but if he can shine on the big stage you could always give Roy Hodgson a shout £££. It shocked most of us and obviously shocked Dodds into awarding him a new contract as most people thought he would be released. By July he was back to gifting goals against league 2 Dumbarton. We're well covered now on the right side it seems, and Cammy Kerr is a much better player before you count Carragher and Carson. As a CB he's far too skinny and gangly and easily bullied. As a RB or WB he gets 10 yards into the opposing half before he gets a nosebleed, whether he's been instructed to or not. But next time you see him play, I'll happily give you £5 for every time he plays a forward pass, as long as you give me £1 every time he plays it back.

…and Airdrie have managed to sneak into the top 4 by scoring only 19 goals, 4 fewer than Arbroath and us. And 4 of those 19 were against us. In Dunc we trust and all that, but it’s as plain as the scowl on Wee Deek Adams’s face that if we could score goals we wouldn’t be where we are.

Davidson and Duffy too much to hope for …unless Boyes is going back.