nogbad the bad

Controversial, unlikely and a little unfair perhaps, but how about putting Marius on the transfer list and using the freed up wages to pay Mark a decent wedge to come back to us. A proven top class keeper is more use to us at present.Plus offload Rankin and Caff to help with the potential transfer fee.

Prison.

I see the Sunday Herald gave Marius the man of the match decision, which is encouraging, although his two best games for us seem to have been against Arbroath and Gretna, which may not be saying very much.

Could be the live telly game....only celtic v hearts might be considered the better game for neutrals......and celtic were shown in the last round.

Exactly. Its similar to what Micah Richards is starting to do so well down the right side for Man City and England. Very effective when your a big defender with good ball skills.....not so potent when your a heavily marked midfielder.

What happened to the guy who ran on the pitch? I saw the police shoo him off towards the wall....then what? Did the stewards cart him away?

Best thing about his game yesterday was the change in attitude. All of a sudden he has found his voice and was shouting at his defenders all afternoon. Lots of 'leave its' ,'keepers', etc, and loads of advice to them to move up quickly and pointing to areas needing cover. Plus, he seemed more ready to come to the edge of the six yard box and beyond to gather and challange for balls( He also gave a withering glance to someone in the home support in the 1st half who shouted something or other....neer chilled me to the bone it did) . I get the impression he's been given a bit of a blast from the management too.

Umm! Is'nt there a little 'rose tinted glasses' going on here. Yes, from the limited highlights it appears we had a few good moves and several decent attempts on goal, but please, they tore us apart down the flanks and they only ever looked in second gear. From what I could gather our defence was not unlucky it was awful and unless we sort that aspect out PDQ, we will be leaking goals against the likes of Gretna and Falkirk let alone Celtic.

Can I suggest in future, for anyone watching an Engand game on t.v, that you turn down the sound, tune in to Radio 5 Live, and listen to Alan Green's ( Northern Irish, Bigoted, near r-cist ) commentaries. He relentlesly savages the English team , even if they play brilliantly... and there is only ever one great English performer....Gerrard. By the way ... Green is a liverpool fan

I dont quite get this, Brewster player/Brewster manager, percentage wins bit. Brewster before and even now at 41 years old is still one of the best target men/goal scorers in Scottish football( and that doesn't say a lot for our football I'm sorry to say). So, naturally, when he plays , a team has a much better chance of winning than when he is replaced , due to tiredness or suspension or whatever, by a player not even half as good as him.It has nothing to do with how good or bad a manager he may be. Surely this is a no brainer.

Surely its not just Dods. Don,t forget we have lost the whole heart of last years team......Brown, Dods, Wilson ?, and Dargo. It will take time to settle the team down and for replacements to fit in..but time will start running out soon. There is still the basis of a good team there waiting to shine....time for Charlie and Donald to earn their money and bring it about.

If , as it appears is the case, there is a shortage of decent affordable centre halfs in both English and Scottish football at present, would it be too much to hope that are contacts in Eastern Europe cannot turn up another 'Niculae' in that particular position......awfully disloyal to Stuart all this, I know, but we can't afford to be sentimental.

It's pretty much like this every year. The players seem to be resting on their laurels of the previous season ie, the relative success of staying in the Premier league. It takes one or two games to get up to speed and for the guys to remember what got them there in the 1st place; hard work, fitness and 100% for 90 minutes ( and also encouragement and close teamwork and perhaps a smidgeon of skill) Don't worry , all this will return soon (apart from the skill perhaps), there is no way these boys want to or will be playing in Div 1 next season. My only real worry, like some others, is Stuart MacAffrey at centre half, a great trier and loyal servant and nice guy, but I,ve never considered him good enough at this level........good cover for injuries and suspensions, but we need a tall powerful centre in this type of football and league and then Grant can carry on playing his more accustomed sweeperish type role from the left side.

According to most sources he's defo playing for the next 2 or 3 weeks. Personally I hope he plays great and puts real pressusre on Borucs place in the team. He's a top keeper who served us well and did as much as anyone to keep us in the Spl for 3 years. Good luck Mark.

Big Arnie flew into London last night.........coincidence? I don't think so.

Mugged Old Gobbo in the town sunday night and persuaded him to part with the dosh.....on its way.

Blimey! Talk about Cinderella and the two ugly sisters......although it appears this time cinders got to the ball first.

I've often thought and mentioned on the forum several times over the years that Ross ''might'' make a really good centre back and I've also given my reasons why too many times to repeat again. My only doubt still remains that he hasn't got the basic speed in general and recovery speed in particular to cope at the highest(scottish) level. Can you honestly see him getting back to make those last ditch, ball winning tackles that Dods makes so reguarly......well maybe, but I'm not convinced. Its a shame, because apart from that to my mind he's fit for purpose as it were........tall, strong, good in the air, strong in the tackle, reads the game and covers well, fine distribution and good going forward. Why not give him a couple of games there once we are completely safe, there would be nothing to lose apart from a few thousand quid in lower place money

" Turning up on time skills"? Is this what it's come to?

Well if that is true Alex, good luck to mark as their no 1, I dont wish him totally ill or anything like it.......but can you really see him as their 1st choice keeper, isn't it far more likely that Craig Gordon will troll on over from Tynecastle for a couple of million and take that position.

Craig Gordon and MacGregor, Scotlands 1st team 1 and 2, last nights B international keepers, Gallacher and Langfield. That makes Mark at most, No 5 in the country and with 2 years of reserve team football and sitting on the bench to come. Yeah, moving to Celtic is really going to improve your international opportunities. Enjoy counting your money, Mark.

The last 6 months of Browns tenure in our goal, saw him, in my view become the 2nd or 3rd keeper in scotland. A genuine top class keeper, great shot stopper, improved his kicking to better than competent, at last gained control of his 6 yard box in the air, great reading of the ball into the area ( whether to stay or come out quickly for the ball) and at last a sound overall understanding with his defence, We wont discuss saving penalties. All this took 4 years to achieve, 3 in the Spl. The times when he went on bad runs of form, noone got too concerned by, because we knew he had bags of talent that had only to be refined over time . A goalkeeper as much as, maybe even more than any other position needs plenty of time to gain experience and mature. I believe it is often said that a keeper doesn't hit his peak years until between 30-35 years old. Mike Fraser is young, has bundles of natural talent, is full of self belief and confidence and has played 4, yes thats 4, games of senior Scottish football. I suggest we all just sit back and relax and enjoy the journey and rise of one of the best young keepers in the country.

If all this is true, really looking forward to seeing Mike Fraser play in goal sunday. Things change, a new era beckons, keep the faith and keep supporting. For those still bitter, dont worry, the curse will kick in,it always does. Big reception in order for Mike on Sunday for his first game as No1 keeper.

I too have often thought about and mentioned on here over the last few years the possibillities for Ross to move inside to centre half after 8 years at right back. You dont have many 6' 3'' 14 stone fullbacks playing pro football at this level and when they do they are usually centre halfs in waiting , learning the game from a different perspective. I know he is a bit slow ( so was Bobby) and can be cumbersome with the odd penalty inducing tackle, but he is strong, dominant in the air, reads the game well and can play football and distribute as well as any of our defenders. Maybe the management could give him a run out in the reserves against a decent reserve side like Rangers or Celtic and see how he shows up. Having said all that, I cant believe that our various managers over the years havent considered this option, so maybe its already been decided long ago that he just wouldn't cut it in central defence. As for Richard Hastings moving inside, for Gawds sake, leave it out..... .... there was a time a few years back when Richard's ego got the better of him and he started to believe he was one of the best footballers in Britain, who could play for anyone , anywhere up to international standard.....he wa wrong! He is now back in his natural and by far best position playing to a high standard, in fact at present he is probably one of the best left backs in the Spl ( despite what Sponge says).......leave him there.

Page 7 Gringo.....underneath the ' 3 Headed Baby' article.