CELTIC1CALEY3

Agreed but some suggested it was unfair to take a 3-0 win even though we play Morton this weekend and they were grateful that justice prevailed when they were up against said ineligible player..

Just to add more spice ....July 2022 The Hibees are facing an early exit at the group stage of the Premier Sports Cup competition after Wednesday’s draw with Morton. The Championship club took the lead before Ewan Henderson’s equaliser ......Hibs have effectively been kicked OUT of the Premier Sports Cup after fielding ineligible Rocky Bushiri.The result will be recorded as a 3-0 win to Morton. Scottish Cup rule 12.5 states only those players signed for the first match can be involved in the rescheduled game.

That is an extremely fair assessment but we have had little luck this season. We currently would have a free weekend during the next round so game time against a team we caught cold in the League Cup would be no bad thing. In addition being awarded a 3-0 win against Queens would keep our unbeaten run in 2023 intact. All of this would provide significant motivation to play well this Saturday. Owen Coyle has been a manager both here and in England to know selection rules.

So Simon Murray is destined to play against Inverness but Ross County pay Queens a decent sized transfer fee. Murray departs the Kingsmills for the City of Dingwall just before the Queens players prepare to board their bus to the Caley Stadium. In a very squeaky voice the former manager of Ross County tells Euan Henderson 'you are now playing' and the boy plays extremely well. This might be an occasion when we thank Ross County for their wealth because had Henderson stayed on the bench and Queens still won, the penalty might have been a fine.

...but more well chipped balls to the 6 yard box.

Ross County would love to be still in the Scottish Cup..........anyway, Raith Rovers this Saturday is now far more important for us.

Misread the SFA website - games go to extra time if level at 90 minutes. That means game might finish at 10.30 pm.

Austin is close to a return. George was basically out of his depth with us so good to see him move on.

If we can avoid defeat and injuries against Raith this could be a piece of luck for the club allowing more players to return. In addition I think it could a cracking cup tie with maybe a plum in the next round. Unlike Andy Murray this morning finishing at 4 am, the cup match will finish either before 10 pm or just after 10 pm if it goes straight to penalties after a 90 minute stalemate. The long term weather seems reasonable. Let's focus on Raith - they are playing really well at present.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46362879 There is a lot in this article but silence on the fact Richie Foran was about to head home the winner with a few minutes to go but was clearly pushed by Considine. The referee that day was Steven McLean. However, he also missed this 'Meekings’ handball from Leigh Griffiths’ header in the 3-2 semi-final victory against Celtic was not penalised by referee Steven McLean at a crucial stage in the game.' Griffiths subsequently imploded but McLean had a good game yesterday...

One can but hope no one suffered an injury yesterday and that Cameron Harper returns next week. The draw was a fair result yesterday and re-established us as a tough team. We can be optimistic that next weeks game is a great cup match. Our bench is definitely getting stronger by the week and Lewis Nicholson gained more experience yesterday. Woods needs to improve on his physical and match fitness after rejecting a new contract with Burnley in the summer so we should reserve judgement for a while. Oakley at some stage must start scoring as does Boyd who both need to be motivated to gain new contracts or move on.

An interesting signing especially as we are likely to see a lot of our injured players back in the next 4 weeks. With the two new players and indeed the younger players back from loans, the future looks optimistic. Our previously injured returning players will after settling back in be like new signings. February is certainly the time teams need to gear up for good runs. If we can get a bit more out of January our strength will definitely be greater from February onwards.

By definition another win against what looked like the odds. Lewis Nicolson gets his second goal for the first team - another benefitting from the injury crisis. Two wins gives us a glimmer of hope next week against the league leaders.

A result and performance like the good old days..... Thought Dodds might have mentioned Ridgers as part of the experienced players key to the result....Duffy should be back this Saturday as hopefully will be Harper so potentially a slightly stronger squad for Arbroath although the younger lads were certainly very active and enthusiastic .

One problem is that Dodds indicated that Jim McIntyre would see it as a success if he kept Cove up this year. That will no doubt be drummed into his players on the coach along the goat track and possibly motivate them more than us to prove Dodds wrong and place us in that position instead!! I hope I am wrong.

Good to see someone take a stand against players going down easily and conning referees. VAR in the world cup stopped this to a large extent but back in domestic games it will continue. The law should be changed so that dives at one end should be given to the opponent at the other end. Very difficult for referees to judge though.

We can do this....

Really good news!!! Another week to help some players recover.

So often young players do not get a chance given the dominance of senior players on teamsheets. I am sure the players who represented the club yesterday will be really proud that they were given a chance. This can only be good for these players and adds to the experience we can call on.

From what I recall most our serious injuries have been during games. On the basis that most key players will be back by the end of January, 2023, it makes sense to conserve energy and players in less important games. I want a win in the league game against Hamilton but this year am happy to give it our best shot in the Cup especially giving younger players experience. Other clubs do the same. With expensive floodlighting and other costs and little sponsorship from this cup I see no need to take risks or seek progression at the expense of the league.

With all due respect this is not the time to be criticising Billy Dodds. I have done so this season and during the poor run last season. Stress levels at the club must be quite high currently and if ever there was a time for united support, it is tomorrow. The injury situation is unprecedented at the club. After Ayr we have two games that are not critical to our season - Stirling is important from a financial point of view but our need is to get more players back into the playing squad. The first of the double headers against Hamilton is definitely not important. We may lose to Ayr and Dundee but if we can get a lot of the injured back by the league game against Hamilton we still have a long season ahead of us. I am sure that the players who take the field against Ayr, Stirling and Dundee will believe they can get results against the odds............we've done it before when the support was superb.

Dodds has been getting ratty with a few players in the last month or so. Maybe he is feeling the pressure that supporters have been putting him under when performances have been poor. However, in terms of man management, the current crop of injuries would seem to suggest that support and sympathy are vital to retain unity under very trying circumstances. I did not expect us to win at Morton but potentially we had no too bad a team on the park. The Manager needs to calm down and put a supporting arm around EVERY player to help us tough this out.

The injury to Robbie looked bad yesterday. However, he did walk out on crutches to a waiting car so we can but hope the healing process will be relatively straightforward. Another blow to Robbie and the club. We wish him well in his recovery. Unless some magic money materialises we are unlikely to be able to sign a short term replacement being a player of experience.

Today's results when taken with this season's results overall confirm what a really challenging league this is. So credit for what we have achieved so far but this is really just the beginning of another very tough season.

No. I see us having more determination to beat Partick as RC at present are once again struggling in the higher league and their luck will one day run out, and they will be relegated.