dead_ball_specialist

Can you really blame Bayne for this? Surely the guys who keep hoofing hopeful long balls up to him rather than picking a pass are to blame.

PELE

The arrogance of Mark McGee is salt in the wounds. Apparently the two sending offs had 'no bearing on the result', and 'the game was won by half time' :rolleyes02:

Tannoy "Well, it looks like Graeme Bayne and Dennis Wyness's places are safe next week" I would like to see Bayne attempt the Flybe challenge at half time next week, I wouldn't bet on him scoring once.

Brewster hasn't had a chance to bring in any players yet. Judge him then.

Bayne is suspended :tic01:

We were very naieve today. Early on it was apparent that the referee was going to give a foul for any physical play whatsoever - but we didn't adapt, instead we just hoped that if he took enough stick, the @rsehole in the black would straighten out - he didn't and we got punished. One decision that stood out for me was when McGarry (I think) dived to the ground writhing in agony, when nobody had even touched him, the home fans went mental, the referee blew his whistle, raced over, and gave a drop ball. :029: I was certain he was going to book him for diving (which would have meant he would have thought twice before he keeled over to get Roscoe sent off later on) but he bottled it, and decided to make up the rules as he went along. How much contact Roscoe actually made with McGarry was unclear, regardless of the fact that McGarry is a cheating scumbag Roscoe should have the book thrown at him. He let down the team and the fans. Bayne's first booking was ridiculous, but the second was pure stupidity on his part. The only good that came out of todays game is that he's suspended. He must shut his eyes when he heads the ball because absolutly none of his flick ons go anywhere near an ICT player. And his aerial 'threat' is the strongest part of his game :017: I hope the decision to play Bayne ahead of Niculae was to motivate the latter, because if Brewster thinks Bayne is a better pick than Marius (or even Deano) then his judgement has to be seriously questioned. In a bizarre twist, the only decent performer for us today was Michael Fraser. Some excellent kicking and a world class save where he tipped it over the bar near the end. Shame he got nutmegged to spoil it.

Rankin was garbage at the start of the season, every bit as bad as when he first signed for us. That's why he's not playing. He's a luxury (can't defend, loses the ball all the time etc. All he's got going for him is that he has a good left foot) Alan Morgan is a much sturdier, more reliable player who always puts in a shift and makes things happen.

Proctor cetainly looked the business when he came on at centre half against Aberdeen. IHE will probably have heard the phrase "Madness is doing exactly the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." I think we've been guilty of a bit of that this season. Fraser and Caff are simply not up to the SPL. They would be pretty average players in the SFL. McGuire has looked OK at home - but the league table doesn't lie. We're conceding far too many goals. Something has to change at the back - we can't keep on just hoping everything will 'come good'.

Malkowski will come good if he gets a chance. I'd put his poor start against Aberdeen down to rustiness and nerves. Fraser has no excuses.

I thought it was a shocking decision to drob Malkowski after 1 error, and its been punished tonight. What recouse has he left himself with now? Putting Fraser straight back into the side without having to earn it was a terrible call.

I hope he keeps his playing career going for as long as he possibly can. The only people who'll celebrate him hanging up his boots will be our opponents.

There was a piece in 4-4-2 last month called 'when Enlgish keepers were good', apparently back in the 80's the England team alternated between Shilton and Clemence every game, because the manager thought they were both equally talented. :024: I don't see any reason why we can't do the same thing with MF and ZM. Continuity between the sticks isn't really all that important compared to a back 4, a midfield, or a striking partnership. Competition for places is always important and whoever gets handed the number 1 jersey should feel under pressure for his place as much as any outfielder. Some of the criticism of Malkowski has been over the top. He had a nervy first few minutes against Aberdeen but did OK after that. Considering it was his first SPL action since January, and virtually his home debut (the CIS cup match was in a half empty stadium) I think we should cut him some slack and he has the potential to be a good player for us. That said, I've always rated Ally Ridgers and was glad to see CC bring him back to the club, even if it was on an ad hoc basis - he did well enough to earn a full time contract. The fact that Brewster sent him out on loan along with Sutherland suggests that he see's him as one for the future. The woeful form of MF and doubts about ZM might accelarate things a bit. It hopefully won't be too long before he gets a chance. IMHO AR is a much better keeper than MF, and possibly a better keeper than ZM whose still an unknown quantity.

They should start selling chicken curry pies at the pie stall.

What did he say in the Mail? This might turn out to be tosh, but for me he's not a natural striker. He moves around alot - and pops up all over the park looking for the ball, which is to his credit. But he isn't a penalty box poacher. And his efforts on goal often leave alot to be desired. He's clearly far better at creating chances for others than he is at hitting the net himself. I think he could run the game if he was put in the centre of midfield.

Zibi Proctor McGuire Watt Hastings Duncan Tokely McBain Cowie Wyness Brewster

I bet the players who play against him don't come out of it calling him Bambi. He gets stuck in - and for his size he's amazing in the air. He doesn't look like a centre half, but he certainly played like one today.

Lets lynch him after '1 costly error'. :rolleyes02:

I thought McGuire was half to blame for the second goal, he had a chance to slide tackle the Aberdeen player into the stand - but he stood off, stayed on his feet - and ended up giving away a needless free kick. Strangely, we seemed to solidify at the back when Proctor came on to replace McGuire at centre back. He looks lightweight - but he dominated the air and made some good tackles. His distribution was also first class. Perhaps we might be on to something? :024:

That'll be why Feyenoord signed him. :023:

Chick and the boys were taking the p*ss out of him on Radio Scotland today for not giving them an interview. They went as far as to say that he was out of order, and that players should be contractually obliged to talk to the media like in the States. The craic was something along the lines of "For all the money the media pours into the game, these players need to give us something back." I think it's refreshing that a player chooses to shun the limelight and do his talking on the park.

It was harsh to drop Fraser after a run of shocking performances, yet its OK to write off Zibi because he had a nervy first 15 minutes. :017: He made one error when the ball slipped under his body (it happens to the best keepers in the world) and his kicking was off for the first few minutes (he hooked it to the left 3 times). So what? He settled down after that and did OK. You couldn't exactly compare his performance to that of Fraser last week - not by any stretch! He's kept 1 clean sheet in 2 games, Fraser has kept 0 clean sheets in 10 games. :024: He had a good game against Gretna and according to all of the reports I've heard he's been excellent for the reserves. Instead of rushing to judgement based upon prejudicial pre-conceptions, we need to give him a reasonable innings to show what he can do.

Pearson was played in the middle for spells.

The team selection was wrong. Miller and McFadden might be a decent partnership when you're playing on the break - but against a team who were sitting deep it was a non starter. We should have taken a target man on, maybe even bypassing the midfield and going 4-3-3 or 4-2-4? There was far too much pitter patter passing in our own half a la Alex Smith. They packed the midfield - so it was never going to work (no wonder our first shot on target was in the 70th minute!) especially when you take into account how bad the pitch was, plus the fact that we had Pearson :014: in the center of the park - a total lightweight who couldn't hold onto possession, and who can seemingly only touch the ball with one foot. The only midfielder who got stuck in was Fletcher, him apart Georgia were first to almost every loose ball - Maloney and Pearson reacted like zombies most of the time. Ferguson did OK but he didn't get up the park often enough. It was a shame that Barry Robson didn't get a run out - I would have liked to have seen him running at their defense and whipping in a few decent crosses. He couldn't have done any worse than the players who started.

The only way we're going to beat Georgia tonight is if we play an aggressive attacking game, otherwise we're looking at a 0-0. For this reason I would have picked Steven Whittaker to replace the injured Alan Hutton (NOT Alexander) Barry Robson or Andrew Driver in for the injured McUlloch, Derek Riordon or Shaun Maloney should be in to replace Scott Brown. Gordon Whittaker McManus Weir Naysmith Fletcher Riordon / Maloney Ferguson Robson / Driver Miller / Boyd McFadden