CELTIC1CALEY3

The performances by Partick, Dunfermline and to a slightly lesser extent Morton, show how highly competitive the Championship will be again. I suspect Dundee could get a good result today against a deflated Aberdeen side. We need to be on absolutely top form this Saturday.

Credit to Rooney who looked knackered at the end - great effort after a long time out. White looked thinner in white but still failed to convert a lot of Walsh deliveries to his head in the first half. Carson is a very good new recruit - he has played in a few positions already and looks very promising. Vincent for me is very lively. Pleased to see him back. I thought Arbroath played extremely well. They have some very good players and should have retaken the lead immediately after half time. We were lucky not to be in the same hole as we were against Cove. Walsh did have a very good game and will probably be happier assisting Todorov but needs Robbo to rest White. Keatings is another good signing but like most of the team needs more game time before we wake up. However, two games in, and we have hauled ourselves off the bottom. The Championship is a brutal league to be in. Dundee United look as though they will walk the first place as long as Shankland remains fit. As for the other 9 teams, it is safe to say there are 3 play off spots up for grabs and we need to target one of them. Onwards to Dundee in two weeks time and it is time we achieved something there again.

Hopefully a fitting tribute.

Difficult to Trump that piece of wisdom!

Slight over reaction in the first of 36 games. Shankland was first class. Most of our players improved after the Dundee game. However, Robbo's loyalty to maintaining team spirit will surely change for next week. Todorov must start up front. From a Dundee United perspective that was a peak performance. However, I doubt if they will sustain it. As for Shankland, he must avoid the injury he had late last season or a new one from some tough Championship defenders, or else the heads will drop at United. And yes £24 entry for away supporters is surely a sign that they are paying to help United fund Shankland's large signing on fee and SPFL wages.

Mentally some of our management and players, and some supporters, underestimated the teams in our league. Having watched all four games live, I have to save yesterday's performance was very inept compared to our cup victory at Tannadice last year. Motivation yesterday seemed sadly lacking. Easy to criticise the referee but being off the pace yesterday lead to us repeatedly 'gently' pushing opposition players. Until we get up to speed to compete this tactic will be found out by referees. Whyte did appear to be fouled in the box but he needs to find his Tannadice cup form to show to referees he is not looking for fouls. Trafford was very lucky yesterday not to be sent off. Mark did make a rare error but against Peterhead he made repeated key saves in the second half to save us one point. Had he not read Megginson's Ian Stewart chip we would have been 3-1 down to Cove and taking a real beating. Yesterday the first sub was because of Trafford's repeated indiscipline. However, after Carson came on and performed far better, Robbo seemed to wait an age to bring on Toddy. He also probably chose Curry because of his loan arrangement when supporters would have preferred McGregor. Curry added little before his injury. So on to Tannadice next week where two under achieving League Cup teams meet on the League season opener. There has to be a week of re-think, change and hunger within ICT. Even if we lose next week, we need far more effort.

Are you a secret Kilmarnock supporter who bought their ticket to Belgrade before the easy win against Connah's Quay? Until we get there, the next round is irrelevant.

Simple, we set out to win.

An observation. When we lost to Dundee United last year we seemed to warm up for nearly 40 minutes being quite a bit more than United. Last night in severe heat we warmed up again for about 40 minutes. Cove probably spent no more than about 30 minutes in the heat. In the first half they appeared far sharper than us. Spare a thought for Keatings who ran his socks off in the heat especially doing most of the chasing down of their keeper. He looked quite dejected to be subbed on 69 minutes but appeared to have run more than most players in such heat.

As they say at FC Calais, Tres Tricky. Had Kilmarnock taken Connahs Quay seriously they might have had a plum tie in Europe.

Should have said plan for Sunday...game on BT Sport 1.

Not necessarily so - Peterhead will surely beat Raith and would also be on 9 points. We will know that result on Tuesday and then be able to plan for Saturday. Planning for a bonus point would be risky for either Dundee or Inverness if Peterhead are on 9 points. As things stand, we have to beat Cove and Dundee. Not an easy challenge.

That would be disrespectful to Peterhead - they played well at containing us in the first half and used attack as their defence in the second half as we started with three at the back. Their keeper was solid. A number of Kilmarnock supporters are potentially heading to Belgrade because they assumed it was easy to beat the part timers from Wales. Make no mistake about it, Peterhead have some talented players backed up by some experienced ones.

Aberdeen's Finnish opponents tonight include - Antonio Reguero: The Spanish goalkeeper had spells at four different clubs in Scotland - Kilmarnock, Hibernian and most notably, the two Highland clubs Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The 37-year-old is also RoPS' captain, having moved to the club in 2016 after his time at Easter Road ended without a single appearance.

Looks like we will miss out on Lawrence Shankland.......................Dundee United will now start as firm favorites to win the Championship............again.