ALSY

@rse. Excellent ball in, unfortunately. Home debut own goal for Innes.

Lovely goal! Think we deserve that, just about. Hearts will really have to attack us now, which hopefully should suit Eric and Hayes.

Good to see Foran on the bench. Obviously Sanchez didn't make it though. Shame; would have liked to see him play a part today after his performance last week. Nice wee piece about Terry & life in Inverness on ESPN about 10 minutes ago.

Top Six has got my ticket. I'm meeting some of the Edinburgh contingent somewhere near Queen St about ten to seven - time for a quick beer then a taxi, hopefully. Could maybe meet you and Red Card too unless you're planning on drinking nearer Celtic Park? Meeting at 1530 at the Horseshoe for a warm up beer. Normally head over to the London Road Tavern pre match to mingle with the locals. Is normally good craic. Half three is probably a bit early for me on a school night, but if I decide to come straight from work I might see you in there.

Top Six has got my ticket. I'm meeting some of the Edinburgh contingent somewhere near Queen St about ten to seven - time for a quick beer then a taxi, hopefully. Could maybe meet you and Red Card too unless you're planning on drinking nearer Celtic Park?

What manforthejobandyngwieandwandererandmantis said, pretty much. The midfield was a worry for most of the game: both Duff and Cox played so deep that there were huge gaps where Hibs were just able to stroll onto the ball. At least one of our central midfielders should have been trying to take the ball onward more when we were in possession, and both should have been trying to close down further up the park more when we weren't in possession. Eric, when he was on the ball, showed he is absolutely capable of performing at this level, but I don't think he showed for it quite enough (to be fair to Eric, this was a problem with the whole team, especially from throw-ins, as it has been all season). Rooney and Hayes worked really hard, but too often they looked really isolated. Don't want to be too negative - in the last half hour we definitely earned our point, and there is enough talent in the squad to do decently this season if the midfielders can refine their roles a little more clearly. Also, Sanchez looked like he felt he belonged at this level and was keen to take players on when he got the chance; personally I'm delighted by that, as I think he's maybe the best footballer we have, and I want to see him properly involved with the first team this season. At the same time though, I think this was a pretty poor Hibs team, and a better side might have wrapped it up earlier. If we're going to get ahead of the other relegstion candidates this season, the team needs to know exactly what it's doing from the off.

I'll say Eric. Solo effort picking the ball up in midfield, feinting to pass to Rooney then taking it on himself instead and pinging it into the top corner. Tomorrow.

There speaks a man who does not take defeat to Hamilton lightly! How many changes is that? Away from home, I'd be inclined to give the bulk of the team from two weeks ago* another chance: with any luck Hibs will come out at us and Eric, Hayes and Rooney can try to pick them off on the counter - assuming we don't lose another goal in 41 seconds... Would like to see Sanchez get some game time from the bench if it's not working though - his passing could make a difference. *Edited to add - in fact, I'd agree completely with RiG's team.

I agree with most of this but I think you're a little harsh on Cox tbh. He started last season very well, faded a little in the middle then came on to a great game towards the end of the season, and he's only played three games in the SPL. Added to that, he's only around 20, so can be expected to improve and impose himself more on games with more experience at this level. Re. Duff, I don't think he will add a great deal in terms of flair, but his experience and versatility must be a good thing when we're a little short on depth, and one thing even Utd and Aberdeen supporters who don't rate him agree on is that he is absolutely committed on the pitch.

Had a few beers with the missus in the sun in Ashton Lane on Friday after work... fed my Fopp addiction with a few new CDs on Saturday... ironed ten shirts and a suit... marked a few essays and prepared a couple of lessons for Monday... read the Sunday papers... ate far too much... kept returning to the internet and bemoaning the lack of new posts on here and on P&B, and realised again that I am a sad sack that doesn't have enough of a life outside football... @ Mantis: I did that once, a couple of years ago. Very civilised having a beer on the terraces at Hughenden on a Friday evening. Couldn't make head nor tail of what was happening on the pitch, mind. All I know of rugby is my memory of getting shouted at by Colin Baillie and thrown into ice-covered puddles by fat flankers when I was about 12.

Team announced as: McGregor Hutton Weir McManus Whittaker Robson McCulloch Fletcher Brown Naismith Miller Not actually sure how that midfield will line up and whether Naismith will sometimes play as an auxiliary striker. Would have preferred to see McFadden in there.

Maybe not the most likely way to get the good cup run we've been waiting for again for years. From a selfish point of view I'm quite pleased though - this will be a really easy game to get to.

Last couple of times I've been it's been the Iona on Easter Road - just a little way past the turning for the stadium.

Absolutely. Dragging a couple of non-regulars through too, hopefully, to swell the ICT massive.

No slagging from these quarters: have a green dot. I'd avoided this topic too so far as I wasn't at the game, but I agree completely with you that there can be no justification for these sorts of chants at football. It's not simply that their intended target almost certainly doesn't deserve this sort of attack; statistically it's also very likely that there will be someone in earshot whose life has been affected in some way by some sort of child abuse. The last thing anyone in that position would want to hear is the subject being made light of and used as a cheap weapon to try and hurt someone who is, ultimately, just a footballer for a rival team. Sorry if these seems melodramatic, but as jagster says, there are some things people feel strongly about.

Lee Hendrie as in ex-Aston Villa? From what I'd heard, Aberdeen were interested but wouldn't meet his wage demands. Maybe those have changed with the transfer deadline almost upon us, though. Certainly a talented player in his day, but reputedly a disruptive influence in the dressing room.

It's probably because he hasn't really being playing for Cardiff recently after a reported argument with Dave Jones. I thought he looked decent for Scotland too. He's just joined Leeds, I think, so maybe if he does well there he'll get a recall.

I think we can expect to see that happening more with future opponents this season too. Towards the end of last season it was clear teams were adapting to cope with Hayes' threat and managing to contain him more, and given the impact he made against Utd and early against Celtic, SPL teams will already consider him our main threat. Hopefully Odhiambo can maintain the form he showed in pres-season and against Utd so we don't end up trying to channel all our creative play through Hayes. Re the original post, surely it's counter-productive to start picking on any of our players this early in the season, particularly one so young and inexperienced? Ross has had two decent performances out of his first three SPL starts, which I'd suggest is a decent return. It's unreasonable to expect him to be consistently effective when he has so little experience, particularly when the rest of the team doesn't perform either, and when, as so many people have pointed out, he still has a fair bit of physical developing to do. Don't forget, too, that he wouldn't be in the side if Foran was fit: it's not as if Butcher sees all the hopes of the team resting on his shoulders.

who beat them? should use their tactics against ammies in the league Raith Rovers - current Div 1 leaders.

Hamilton are out of the competition.

Aargh. How frustrating.

There's a mordant wit about the Smiths that is quite beyond Brian Irvine. I suspect he's a David Gray man. That half sounded very unpromising. It seems like we weren't in the game at all. Hope Terry has a few gently motivating words at half time.

0-1. Imrie in 41 seconds.

It's character-building.

I completely understand this mentality, Harry... I think my brain's hardwired to be pessimistic even though common sense tells me we're a better team than Hamilton just now and favourites to win tomorrow. However, if you'd like another red dot I'll gladly contribute - your op is only one away from double figures now!