Tree

Laughable.......I suspect pathetic is probably more reflective of the context. I suppose this merely represents the PC society in which we live, and to be fair to the OP and others, highlights how protecting against true racism has been hijacked by protectionism against anything that can be in any shape form or otherwise linked to racism, homophobia, etc, etc Did I really just type this? A bit serious for a Sunday morning

Going back 5 to 10 years the club did at one time give out tickets to schools for home games.

4-0 H/T :)

4-0 Eric?

3-0

2-0 :) Rooney diving header

:D

Amazingly it was the west side Assistant Referee who flagged for the handball. Neither the referee nor Main stand Assistant (both of who were much closer) were going to give it :P

If either Falkirk or Kilmarnock go down, there may be interesting times for either from a financial perspective. At least St Mirren are largely debt free. The same cannot be said of the other two.

I think the sighs of relieve when Roy was named alongside Russell speaks volumes. With Cox out we needed to ensure that we could compete in the centre of midfield. He then went on to show what we have missed at times (in the early part of the season at least).

I would agree that Tokely the full back is questionable. He has lost too much pace to play right back in the SPL against fast wide players and from a defensive perspective Proctor has made a massive difference since being dropped back in this roll. If he is re-signed I would expect him to be in the centre with Grant as our initial pairing.

Eric benefited from the fact that Dunfermline came with an attacking formation which lengthened the game and gave space for him to move into. He has a habit of popping up in dangerous areas and even when he moved to right midfield he showed an awareness of what was needed both going forward and tracking back

Butcher looks to preserve squad

At a guess, ?280

Gaffers Aftermatch Thoughts

Season Tickets 10% off next season

I actually thought all of the starting eleven played well today. I would have to single out Tokely as being immense in defence today. He seemed to pop up everywhere and was organising everything from the back. After the way last season finished, I thought he possibly showed today that his strongest position is now in the middle (as Butcher has already seemed to notice).

:huh:

Sanchez certainly splits opinion and there appears to be a desire to present him as either useless or the best player we have. In reality he is neither and is simply average. His major failing is to lack a cutting edge, whether it be in front of goal, passing a ball or in beating a player where he seems to get past the first man then wait for the defender or others to close him down without maximising the advantage. Is Eric a better player? Not necessarily, however as I mentioned in an earlier post, as long as he provides some form of end product (e.g. scoting in the past two games) he is likely to be the preferred choice.

In other words we have the basis of a squad for next season assuming we are promoted and assuming all, or most of, the above want to re-sign for the club. We appear to have the basis for a team not a squad. Outwith this group we do not really have the necessary players to replace these listed in the case of injury, suspension or loss of form. Even Eric is a major question with Rooney having to show that he is able to replicate his scoring form at a higher level (I would caveat this with the statement that he has justified being given the opportunity). We have a few younger players who with time may make the step up, however if we are to make it out of this league we are needing probably to add four to five 'SPL level' players.

Yet again a slag off Jud thread (as appears every time he is left to do the announcements). The only reason that Jud ends up doing the announcements is that nobody else is willing to do this and it is unfair to give personal critisism. I agree that we need to sort this out and since Don "left" we have not found a replacement. Something for Darren to sort out.

There is a massive difference between being able to run around for 90 minutes a couple of times a week and being able to perform at 100% effort over the same period. Adding in that most players have niggles or minor injuries which are not allowed to recover between games this all adds up to the fact that players fatigue over time. Take the case of the british cycling team. They have a programme which aims to have the performance peak once every four years (i.e. the Olympics). Footballers are expected to 'peak' over 10 months every year.

Sorted your typo for you

He'll keep getting a game as long as he scores. To be honest neither Odi or Sanchez are up to the mark and of the two Odi is more likely to get goals. Otherwise he does quite a good impression of someone jogging around the park pretending to look interested. Cox was impressive yet again with Rooney, Golly, Tokely, Hayes and Foran all good also. I thought Proctor actually played quite well in the first half but lost his was during the second half. Stratford...........well, it is clear why Duncan is such a massive part of this team.

:025: :025: