ALSY

Another timeless moment on Soccer Saturday seconds ago: Hartlepool go 3-2 ahead after being 0-2 down, James Brown the scorer; Jeff leads the assembled panel in a chorus of "I Feel Good" by the Godfather of Soul. Sometimes impartiality is overrated...

I'd agree with that except for Wood's score - thought he worked well and managed to get on the ball (unlike Barrowman) without dropping so deep that we lost any threat up front (unlike Niculae). The missed chance was frustrating but it was a moving ball and he did manage to get it on target from a first time shot - it wasn't exactly Iwelumoesque. Think he would get 3 and a half smileys from me, if we did half-smileys.

Pretty good performance - we didn't deserve to lose. Like most other posters, I felt Imrie had a great game and Cowie also looked far more positive than previous games this season. Wasn't happy to see Wood starting ahead of Rooney, but I thought he did well. We shouldn't judge him too harshly for that miss in the first half - he created the chance and placed a moving ball on target; he just didn't get enough lift on it to beat Boruc. Also took his goal well. The only player that didn't seem to contribute much was McBain - would have preferred to see Vigurs in the midfield as Celtic were nothing special today and a little more creativity might have given us a few more clear cut chances. Frustrating but encouraging, as long as we can take the same attitude and focus into our next matches.

Fraser Tokely McGuire Munro Hastings Cowie Black Duncan Vigurs Imrie Rooney Cowie and Imrie have been inconsistent, but I get the feeling both will be right up for this one (Cowie hopefully remembering his MOTM display in the 3-2 last season), and they are the two players best equipped to come up and play off Rooney if Barrowman is out. We need Duncan in the holding role against Celtic - he's often excellent in these games, where his concentration is at its sharpest. Vigurs just shades it over McBain for me - more creative with the ball at his feet and hopefully he won't be overawed. It's a great stage for him - don't think he's started a live TV game yet, has he? Most experienced defence needed for this one, I think - Roscoe is usually up for these games and I think McGuire was good enough during Granty's absence to regain his place from Duff.

I voted "better" based on our points total, because I was pretty pessimistic about the season and expected us to lose at Aberdeen and Falkirk, but I agree with Don about some of the performances. In the two away games I mentioned, I was surprised and impressed by how we played, but listening to the Hamilton and St Mirren games was frustrating and depressing - we seemed to have very little fight or composure. If we don't start dominating teams in the lower half of the league, especially at home, then we'll definitely be in a relegation battle right up to the end of the season - there's no Gretna this year.

I never saw the game...was that the craic? have to say....stating the obvious but, 2 VERY valuable points dropped at home.....am not fancying our chances for second place at this rate. We seem to have taken a footballing step backward under Burley. Having defended Fletcher in your earlier thread SMEE, I've got to admit that he was pretty pish today - didn't seem to know where he should be playing, and a certain ex-ICT player was by far the better of the attacking midfielders. Just posted a lengthy post-mortem on P&B so can't be bothered going over the same ground again, but 2 mistakes on Burley's part are clear: McFadden should not be on his own as a lone striker, and Morrison should not have been picked in the first place, particularly when Brown, Robson and McFadden can all play wide midfield (in addition to Maloney, who was, IMO, on the wrong wing).

Until the recent Scotland campaign, I always felt he played much better for Scotland than for Man U as he had more freedom on the ball and got forward more. His passing and ability to shield the ball and look for a pass are excellent - better than Ferguson IMO - but he cannot tackle and should never be played deep. I think he's one of those players who would be outsanding in the SPL but looks average compared to the other players when playing for Man U. Yet the fans there seem to appreciate him more now and I remember listening to 606 after the 7-1 game against Roma, when almost every caller nominated him man of the match for his use of the ball. As for the captaincy, he seems the obvious choice to me - experienced, intelligent and will command respect from the other players. Who else is there? Gordon possibly. Caldwell? Hartley?

Are these line-ups confirmed? Interesting changes - McGuire, who scored last week, replaced by Duff, and Duncan, who apparently had a good game, replaced by Cowie. Is Duncan injured? He's not even on the bench. First away game I've missed this season.

That's a bit harsh... Ultimately, though, the thing people care most about is: are they enjoying the games?

We lose 1-0 to Hearts... ;) Only joking. Sounds like Imrie took a lot of confidence from midweek and really played well. Good for him. How did Barrowman look to you, goal apart? He did my head in at Tynecastle because he did so little. I know he's a goalscorer and wants to keep the shape of the team correct, but he did so little last week that it looked like he was taking the pis5.

Black given BBC motm.

FT 3-1. Great result as our unpredictable season continues. Sounds like we worked hard and also kept our heads while Killie's players lost theirs. Also sounds like Black was superb again. Well done to the team - looking forward to Tanndice, although Utd fairly turned over Hearts today.

Black score with a header. How bizarre, yet how wonderful. Rooney and Wilson on for Barrowman and... someone.

Cowie for McBain. Can't say I've heard McBain mentioned much during the game - certainly less than any of the other midfielders. Fowler sent off. Let's get this won.

Sounds like Brew should take Vigurs off before he gets sent off for dissent or persistent fouling. Maybe bring Barry on and reshuffle the midfield a bit?

Fantastic! Barrowman and McGuire both justifying selection it would seem. Killie players sound like they're losing it.

Get in! BTW Guy Krr scores for Elgin.

Just arrived home. Looks like the usual ICT-Killie match - plenty of goals, plenty of errros. Had 2-2 on the predictor but will be happy to be proved wrong if we win this one. Surprised Rooney didn't get a start after Tuesday, but very glad to see Vigurs in the team.

Devil's advocate, Alex Craig Brewster, as long as he retains as much determination to learn and develop from past mistakes and experiences as he would expect from his players.

Quite like the look of that, IHE, although I dunno about McGuire at right back. Would probably stick with Tokely myself. Rooney up front with either Imrie or Cowie coming up to support looks good to me, especially after Barrowman's performance on Saturday. One query though - isn't Vigurs left-sided? He's certainly played more on the left than the right for us so far.

I found his bbo too and all his albums are of him and his mates in abrs, didnt want to bring that up as you'd think i was too sad.........but there's two of us! This is a new one on me. Did you mean bars. Or bras, even?

I wasn't at the game and am interested in the opinions of those that were. Given that the players were pretty poor for the first hour and Brewster then made changes which improved the performance (and subsequently attained the win), I really can't understand why some fans are calling for Brew's head!! I think most fans would agree that the basis of the squad is about as good as we can get (given finances, geographical constraints, etc, etc) so what is the beef with Brewster? The starting line up was reasonable and pretty much as expected, it wasn't working, Brew changed it and we eventually got the result! Hardly a sacking offence is it!? I don't wish to defend Brew blindly, but I do think that some fans have completely unreasonable expectations of what this club is actually capable of. And before anyone says "beating Morton in normal time" - I accept that, but...... the quality of players that we have will lead to inconsistency of performance at times. The important things is how the manager, and the players, react to that. Ultimately, the response last night was what was required! I'm not calling for Brewster's head, but people's dissatisfaction is not purely down to unrealistic expectations. There are issues that should be within Brewster's control that need addressing: Why is the tendency to revert to the long ball as soon as we are under pressure not stamped upon by the coaches? Clearly the team don't start out intending to play that way, as the Aberdeen, Falkirk, Hearts and Morton games all showed, but it becomes our default tactic as soon as we start chasing a game, and we have had no success using it. Why has Ian Black, our outstanding player so far this season, been the midfielder to be sacrificed when Brewster decides to make substitutions? Why was the experienced central defender we still obviously need not made more of a priority over the summer, rather than a last-ditch token bid for James McPake being made on August 31st? Why does the team so often appear unmotivated and lethargic in SPL games (e.g. Hamilton, St Mirren, from what has been said by the home-based supporters) when our survival is at stake? If there are, as people keep mooting, divisions in the dressing room, are any steps being taken to resolve these? I'm aware that certain things, such as Imrie's and Duff's inconsistency, may be down to age and lack of experience, that players like Cowie will inevitably go off the boil from time to time, that errors will always be made in games, and that in these circumstances our relatively modest resources will not always be able to compensate for them; and I also accept that Brewster probably couldn't be expected to resolve all of the things I listed above; but the supporters do have a right to question whether they are being addressed at all.

Also just back. Mixed feelings really - it was an enjoyable cup tie in the end but doesn't inspire me with any more confidence for the rest of the season after also witnessing Saturday's game. Team started brightly - ball on the deck, most things going through Blackie who, once again, looked a class apart. The defence allowed dangerous crosses across the face of goal a couple of times though, and it wasn't much of a surprise when Morton scored, although I didn't see it properly due to the fecking great pillar in my way. As soon as they went ahead, the composure disappeared and the long ball pish started again - Hastings, Munro and Duff the main culprits. Second half was mixed - a few nice moves but also a lot of scrappy football. Vigurs and Barry both made a difference when they came on - Vigurs in particular had one great run on goal and also a hooked shot well saved, and made a lot of intelligent runs and passes in extra time. In extra time we were the better team, as you'd expect, but Morton still made a few chances. Rooney was the main difference in this period - worked really hard and won the ball well for Imrie's goal, which was a beautifully-taken first time shot from the edge of the box. Because of the number of chances created by both sides, the atmosphere, which was pretty good, and the novelty of being back at Cappielow, it was a good night, but the bottom line is that we struggled against the team and the foot of the division below us, and that's got to be a bit of a worry. Positives - Rooney's workarate and ability to win headers against a big defence; Black's commitment; Vigurs' intelligent movement; and most of all, having had a go after Saturday, Imrie's all-round performance - worked his @rse off from start to finish, was willing to take on his man time after time and sprinted back to make tackles when needed. Cynics will say he's playing against "his level" in Morton, but if it gives him confidence and he's willing to try the same things in the SPL, we may have a truly effective player. Negatives - Rory, sadly, looked shot in confidence and probably had to be sacrificed at half-time, although I was praying for him to have a good game; Cowie yet again looked listless and off his game; Duff, unfortunately, looked quite shaky at times; and although he won the ball well as ever, Russell also give it away or passed into no-man's land as often as ever. Hastings wasn't great either, but did redeem himself a bit... Great to see the team celebrate at the end - it looked like it meant a lot to them, and hopefully they can take that fight into the rest of the season. I hope they're also aware, however, that performances as inconsistent as that in the SPL could see us relegated, and that a bit of fluency, concentration and patience needs to come into the play sharpish.

Fraser Proctor Duff Munro Hastings Wilson Black Duncan Vigurs Rooney Wood

Pretty depressing game. Hearts did very little and with a bit more fluency and commitment we could have taken 1 or 3 points. Unfortunately it was a day of aimless punts, misplaced passes and bickering - noticed Imrie and McGuire, I think, having a right go at each other in the second half. Alex's point about teamwork is spot on. Will be interested to see the goal again - my initial reaction was that McGuire started to come out to challenge then hesitated and stayed put, allowing the attacker to gain the momentum that took him though on goal. However, other posts suggest that someone else might have been to blame. Though Munro looked solid and Black and Rooney worked hard - more than can be said for Barrowman. I appreciate that he's a Boyd-type goal-hanger, but if we're not getting any width then he must realise that he needs to chase back and look for the ball sometimes, rather than standing on the 18-yard line bitching at people. Then again, Ruud van Nistelrooy probably couldn't have scored with the service we provided yesterday... Yet again I'm left with no idea what our most effective line-up is. Despite being impressed by the team at Falkirk, I thought, based on the comments of the people who were at the St Mirren game, that Brewster should give Imrie and Barrowman another run. Both were pretty awful yesterday though, and certainly didn't play like players with something to prove. Wonder if having Duncan back would have made any difference? He's not creative but him being there might release Black to play a little further forward and link with the attack more effectively. Mind you. Brewster cleaerly thinks Black is expendable, as he was the first taken off yesterday. What was that all about? Was glad to see him acknowledge the crowd as he went off - he clearly knew that we knew it was a ludicrous decision. If anything, I suppose yesterday reminded me that we're in for another season of bottom six scrapping - having only seen the away games so far, I had perhaps been fooling myself that we were capable of stepping it up a bit this year.