alternative maryhill

Butcher could possibly use the Dundee game to tinker a wee bit with the formation, I suppose, and bring in a couple of the players that you mention. I think Ross has had a good season so far and thought he looked like he was coming onto a game towards the end of the first half - there was one really good direct run from about the halfway line to the edge of the Aberdeen box - but he didn't seem to be in the game much in the second, even though the team overall did better, so maybe it would be worth giving someone else a chance in a less important game. I was more concerned with where Vincent was supposed to be playing yesterday. I assume he's supposed to be the link between midfield and attack and he did plenty of running about yesterday, but he never really seemed to be in great positions to receive passes and open up play in the final third. Whether that has been because our defenders have been too quick to punt the ball long in the past couple of games, or one of the reasons for it, I'm not sure, but it has meant that McKay has looked far too isolated and that we have created far fewer chances than in the games pre-Killie. Does he need to have his role defined more clearly for him, or should someone else be given a chance in that position against Dundee? Again, this isn't knee-jerk negativity - it has been a remarkable start to the season and every team is entitled to an off-day - but we do look far more effective when we are moving the ball about on the deck and building through the midfield. Defensively, we looked composed and solid again yesterday, so if we get back to creating chances for McKay again quickly, we should have a great season.

The chat at Killie last week was about going to the Bobbin, iirc. Nice and handy for the ground. I'm arriving around 11.40 but going for lunch with my Aberdeen-supporting brother - will hopefully catch up with a few of the CaleyAway regulars for a pint before kick off, if you keep me in the loop about where you are.

The current league table is a thing of beauty.

From the radio commentary, it sounds like a superb performance - flowing, confident, inventive, utterly dominant. Just about the best I've ever heard a home crowd on the radio too - they've been singing for the last 15 minutes solid. Really encouraging stuff.

You should also change your name to Jesus, just to emphasise your omnipotence.

I said exactly the same to a couple of Celtic-supporting colleagues after the game yesterday. The name meant nothing to them, but I don't think that will be the case come the end of the season. His progress over the last year has been hugely impressive.

Lazy cut & paste of what I just posted on P&B: Great result and probably deserved, although I was very relieved when the final whistle blew. That's as vulnerable-looking as I've seen Celtic, though, and if we had taken them on on the ground more in the second half, then I think we could have had one or two more. Someone criticised us for reverting to the long ball against Dundee Utd a couple of weeks ago, and while I don't think that was true then, it was yesterday: throughout the second half Brill was punting the ball up to the Celtic penalty area and inviting pressure straight back onto us. I doubt this was tactical - it's more likely that the team kind of defaulted to it through nervousness after going 2-0 up - but it was unnecessary, as we had been matching Celtic for skill and composure earlier in the game. Fine display from Meekings and Warren in absorbing most of the pressure, though, and I was also struck by how well Nick Ross used the ball throughout the match - he's been a bit under the radar for us this season despite starting every game, but the way he tracked back and supported Shinnie yesterday epitomised the strength of this team at the moment. Seems mad to be criticising the team for anything after the way we have started the season, but that is the mark of how far Terry & Mo have taken us. A lack of strength in depth means we couldn't realistically challenge for the league, but at the moment our first 11 can match any team in the country football-wise, imho.

The name doesn't ring any bells. My folks might know the family though.

Must have been some helluva sized hole (and fence!) to squeeze through from Broadstone Park! That bit of road's Broadstone Avenue....pedantic? Me?! I'll see your pedantry and raise it. The fence in question was at the bottom of my neighbour's garden. Broadstone Avenue was only half the length of Broadstone Park; after that the back gardens in Broadstone Park ran right up to one side of the ground. My parents' garden actually represented the dead end at the end of Broadstone Avenue, but our garden fence backed onto the stand, so I had to squeeze through my mate's fence two doors up.

1. Aberdeen in 1973 2. Inverness from 1974 3. Thistle from about 1979, 1980 - can't remember what the first game was, as I just used to squeeze through a hole in a fence from Broadstone Park 4. Glasgow since 1991

Got to echo the calls for a minute's silence. I'm not sure the club has any supporters that were more committed than Mikey. As Govan Jaggie says, we travelled back from Elgin with him a few weeks ago, and although he didn't look great, he was on good form. Shocked to hear this, and condolences to those closest to him.

Can't make it - I'm in Ayr on mother-in-law duties. Thought you were boycotting all pre-season friendlies on the grounds of excessive gate prices?

This pretty much sums up what I thought about the game. I would like to have seen more of the new signings in action, but at the same time it was useful to see how just a couple of new players fitted into an otherwise familiar team. Vincent didn't really make any impact on me, but in fairness, he did spend most of the game in that deep-lying role where it is possible to do simple but important things well and stay under the radar. First impressions are that he doesn't quite have the presence and drive of Draper (who I would hope will be kept in that central role rather than being stuck out wide as he was sometimes towards the end of last season), but it will probably take him a few games to grow into the team and start to show his best game. Similar to his performance last week against Elgin, Greenhalgh looked keen and tried to get onto the ball, but most of the time the Raith right back had him in his pocket. Like Roberts last season, he looked like he would struggle to compete for strength with a lot of the SPL players and would get bullied off the ball too easily. Again, obviously these are very early days, but he is a player who is likely to be played in a prominent attacking wide role, and unless he can work on improving his strength on the ball quickly, people might start to get frustrated with him. He does look like he's got a bit of skill, however. Williams certainly looked nippier and more direct and dangerous than Greenhalgh when he came on, and I'll look forward to seeing more of him, but for me the real positive was Liam Polworth's display in the second half. The goal, which was a screamer, epitomised his performance - driving forward from midfield, taking the ball on, looking for opportunities. The whole team seemed lifted by his presence. Arguably the most important question about our team for the coming season will be who fulfils the Andrew Shinnie role and provides the key support for Billy Mackay (who looked sharp and worked very hard yesterday, but was far too poorly served in the first half). I had assumed that either Foran or Doran or possibly Greenhalgh would be tried there, but I wonder if Polworth might turn out to be the best option? Ideally, I'd like to have seen a performance that showed more clearly why we are a division above Raith, but while we were outplayed by a strong and tidy-looking team in the first half, the second certainly provided some grounds for optimism and raised a few interesting questions about how we will line up for the start of the season.

I see your point. I think, though, that Motherwell had so many good chances simply because they are, by SPL standards, a very good side, easily deserving of their position. Until I see the highlights I won't know for sure, but individual errors may well have played a part in the Motherwell goals - I'm terrible at processing these things first time round. What impressed me so much about Hogg, though, was the way he used the ball so intelligently out of defence - there was no long ball stuff yesterday, it was calm and composed building from the back. The praise for Shinnie is to some extent relative as he coped with Humphrey so much better than he has done in any of our other games against Motherwell this season. As for Meekings, not only was he switching back into a position that he hasn't played for most of the season, but he was up against the best Scotland player of his generation, who has been coming back into some of his old form recently. McFadden did score two, of course, but otherwise he didn't influence that much of the game, and this was partly down to how Meekings played him. So yeah, I think that while probably none of these players was flawless, they do all deserve praise for their performances yesterday.

I don't know the answer to this, but I think it had some significance in the performance. No slight on OTJ, who has had some excellent performances this season, but it allowed Draper to be moved back to the middle, and he is infinitely more influential there than he is stuck out on the right. He was one of a number of players who were superb yesterday. Oh me of little faith. That's a couple times this season when I've allowed myself to start believing that the team had lost its edge, that the season was just going to peter out, and then they've proved me utterly wrong. The way they took the game to Motherwell throughout the first half was superb, and in a footballing sense it was one of our finest performances in months. Andrew Shinnie was back to his best, and when he plays like that, Billy Mackay gets chances. The two full backs also had fine games - what a player Meekings has become this season - and Chris Hogg was composed and dominant at the back, despite the penalty decision. Having to go up against a player the size of Michael Higdon, in such good form, after being out for 18 months or however long it was, must have been a hell of an ask, and he coped tremendously. Should also pass on my appreciation to the club for the welcoming and attentive way Red Card and I were treated in boardroom hospitality. I could get used to drinking Guinness out of crystal glasses. It also allowed us prime seats right in front of Neale Cooper, Steven Ferguson and Derek Adams, and the privilege of witnessing the colossal levels of (admittedly quite good humoured) seethe coming off Adams when Billy Mackay won his penalty.

What a pleasant surprise to see no Celtic player on this. Think Higdon is the most deserving winner - the number and quality of his goals have been outstanding, and he's been consistent all season. Griffiths has been good, but probably less consistent, and I can't get past some of his off-field antics this season when it comes to rewarding him, even though these shouldn't have a bearing. Shinnie has been less influential for us since the break, but I'm glad he's been recognised, even though our success this season has been a fantastic team effort.

If we managed to qualify, I'd bite your hand off for a trip to Norway. Aalesund in particular looks stunning:

Just watched as live on Alba as I couldn't make it up for the game. Penalty was difficult to call but the final angle they showed suggested that Taylor's heel got taken just before the ball, so probably a good decision. Overall it was deserved win, though - looked quite even in terms of possession and County were on top for the second part of the first half, but we definitely had the better chances and could probably have had a couple more with a little more guile around the box. Haven't been convinced in the past when Draper has been moved to the right and Foran has been played deeper, but it worked well today: I thought Foran was excellent. Great fight throughout the team all round, and a really big result that hopefully sets us up for a great end to a great season. Adams is an ungracious *****, isn't he?

Won't be making this after all - a bunch of Advanced Higher dissertations to mark for Monday and I haven't got near them yet this week. After the carnage of the day trip to Dingwall, I'm also on a prolonged health kick which will be incompatible with the Centenary Bar and Dundee in general.

Really? Oops. My other half phoned the ticket office on Wednesday and whoever was manning the phone told her it looked like we'd have some of our allocation left to sell at the gate on the day so she didn't bother ordering me one - day before pay day and all that. Might be a 360-mile round trip for an afternoon in the Mallard tomorrow, unless anyone on here can keep a ticket aside for me to collect on the day (hint, hint, Laura...). My own fault for not sorting things out sooner, I guess. Just seen OCG's post. Phew. Should be in Dingwall fairly early tomorrow, so will nip up to the stadium when I get there to get my ticket, just in case.

Sounds like we were hanging on a bit at the end there. Pretty good result, tbh - United have been improving, and we had a new combination at the heart of central defence, which might have been vulnerable. Devine had a good game on Saturday, though and sounded even better tonight. Glad Dundee managed to equalise against St Johnstone, though, to keep us in the top three for Saturday.

Outstanding commitment from the players today. We've been more fluent in other games this season, but there was a striking contrast between last week and this week in the way the players got in about their opponents. Terrific winning goal too, from what looked like a well-rehearsed set piece.

Our most worrying performance to date, yet for a while it seemed to promise a lot. I thought the first half hour was the best we have played against Motherwell this season, and in fact among the best football we have played in any game, but as has been the case in a lot of recent games, we just seemed a little too tentative around the box - a few too many touches taken, or players looking reluctant to go in where it hurts. As soon as Motherwell scored, though, it seemed you could see the fear creeping into the players and the midfield ceded more control of the ball, although we still competed fairly well until half time. There was a rather bemusing tactical switch at the start of the second half, with Draper moved to wide right: if there needed to be any sort of change, it was upfront rather than across the middle, imo, and the players didn't look comfortable with it at all. We had one very promising move early on which ended with Ross scooping his shot just over, and had that gone in then perhaps we might have seen a very different second half, but as soon as the second Motherwell goal went in the heads just went down completely. Any remaining fluency went out of our play when we did have the ball - the players looked as if they couldn't wait to get rid of it - and we were bullied off it far too easily. This is one of the reasons why the introduction of Roberts to the game was so baffling - whatever qualities he does have, strength on the ball isn't one of them, and he looked very lightweight. In the end, we were probably lucky it wasn't more than three. In contrast to the previous games against Motherwell, where they just looked to have our number from the start, we actually looked like we could match up to them quite successfully for most of the first half, but in the second we made it far, far too easy for them. I don't really buy Butcher's 'fatigued' argument - or if that really is the case, then it's even more alarming, as we've not played any more games than any of our rivals. Rather, it looked like confidence, finally, had just deserted the whole team rather than just affecting the forward players. I do admire Butcher for persisting with the commitment to an attractive passing game - he said it would come good after our slow start to the season and was proved correct, so maybe he sees no reason why it shouldn't come good again - but after yesterday's performance, and if he does really believe what he says about the players being tired, then maybe now is the time to change it, particularly as we face Hearts, a team that has already proven it can outmuscle us, next. If Foran is fit, I'd be inclined to play him (hopefully just as a short-term fix) as a striker to try to add greater power and nuisance value in the box; maybe also give Shane Sutherland more game time too, as he is pretty tenacious in possession although not as skilful as some of our more regular starters. In the past Butcher has proven that one of his strengths as a manager is the courage to make changes when something isn't working, and while the regular line-up has served him incredibly well this season, I don't think it would be a knee-jerk reaction, after a series of quite toothless performances, to rest two or three players and try something slightly different now.

Is 'form lost' really fair comment? From what I heard on the radio, we played some excellent football but couldn't finish: very similar to what I saw in the second half at Paisley. The current inability to take chances is definitely concerning, but teams do go through these spells. I'd be far unhappier if the shape of the team became lost, or players started hiding, as we've seen from some ICT teams in the past. As it is, these players still seem to be fighting, trying to control games and trying to play decent football, even if the finishing is profligate. I'd take that for the rest of the season, although obviously it would be great if we could start turning the good possession into wins once more. The stuff from other posters about using subs better might be fair enough, though. Tbh, the only sub I've seen make a significant difference this season is Connor Pepper, but for whatever reason, TB doesn't seem to fancy him at the moment. Edited to add: the heart did sink when I heard Robbo saying that it looked liked TB had 'settled for 1-0' when Shinnie was subbed, mind you. Agree with Rene - why not just keep pushing for the second when there are only five minutes left anyway?

Agree Or not. I think I may weep...