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hislopsoffsideagain

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Everything posted by hislopsoffsideagain

  1. hislopsoffsideagain
    At least Butcher said the right things in the post-match interview. The players have lost their day off tomorrow and are being dragged in for training in the morning - "If they won't run during the game, then they'll come in and do it tomorrow".
  2. hislopsoffsideagain
    This was incredibly difficult. Can we not give negative points to some of them? I've gone with: McKay Williams Esson
  3. hislopsoffsideagain
    It's been pretty grim being a season ticket holder this season. Only four wins, but dull tactics and mediocre performances in abundance. In the big games against the Old Firm, we've had terrible luck as well. Today was maybe the last chance the players had to produce a big performance and get their names in the papers, as well as give us a rare opportunity to cheer. Last season, against Celtic, the players rose to the occasion. Today was the complete antithesis of that Celtic match in May. That was the weakest and most vulnerable Rangers side I have ever seen at TCS, containing several players who couldn't even make their bench last season. And yet they ripped us to shreds whilst barely moving out of second gear. I shudder to think what they could have done to us had they played particularly well. Not one of the Rangers goals required even a shred of guile or quality - every time it was just one half-decent pass which cut through us like a knife through butter. We were a tactical shambles. I defy anyone to explain what our gameplan was - I simply don't believe there was one. McCoist did his homework and got his attacking players to press us high up the pitch, knowing that we would end up punting high ball after high ball at our 5ft 8in centre forward. When we did get the ball in decent areas, our final ball was almost invariably hopeless in the first half; when we put in a few decent crosses in the second half, our strikers fluffed their lines. Defensively we were an absolute joke. Could Esson have done better with the fourth? He certainly wasn't culpable for the others, and made one tremendous stop in the second half. Subbing Meekings at half-time was akin to putting down an injured animal. His positioning was terrible and he kept being caught by balls in behind him. His refusal to go beyond the half-way line also meant that Hayes was easily double-teamed whenever he got the ball. As for our other full-back, Graeme Shinnie will have nightmares about Sone Aluko, who just destroyed him. I'm not sure Shinnie managed to tackle him once. Aluko wasn't even that great at Aberdeen; it's galling that he looked so dangerous today. I love Kenny Gillet to bits, but he had a shocker today, to go with a poor performance at East End Park. Williams wasn't great, but he didn't appear obviously responsible for any of the goals we lost, and at least he got one. It was in midfield that we really lost the game today. Foran was absolutely overrun by Edu and Davis. He got no help from Tansey, who kept giving the ball away even when he wasn't under pressure and who frankly chickened out of several 50-50 balls. What was the point of bringing on Jones with 3 minutes left? Even if he only has one leg, he should be on the pitch from the start. Hayes and Ross tried their hardest but whenever they got the ball they invariably had no support. Tade was utterly wasted out wide in the first half, and only got into it when he moved into the centre. When McKay got announced as MOTM, I wondered out loud what he'd done to earn that - the response from a guy behind me was that "He's run about a lot". That seems to be fair,and it's a sad indictment of his teammates. To say he fed off scraps would be an understatement. On the rare occasions he got the ball, he had zero support from teammates. I was impressed by the fact he kept trying, even though he bounced off Goian every time. When was the last time we laid down to an Old Firm team like this? It's not just the lack of quality that worried me, but the lack of fight and the lack of spirit. It's deeply concerning, especially as it's not been the first time this season. I haven't been this disillusioned with ICT since the dying embers of Brewster's second spell. We probably have enough points in the bank to hold off Dunfermline and stay up, but given our recent performances I wouldn't bet my mortgage on it. As much as I love this club, and as much as I love the banter I get from the folk I sit with, I am seriously questioning the wisdom of renewing my season ticket. £300 a year for this dross? Pull the other one. As far as I'm concerned, the starting 11 and the coach can throw themselves off the Kessock Bridge for all I care.
  4. hislopsoffsideagain
    First things first - I learned for the umpteenth time today never to trust a BBC weather forecast - so much for their prediction that there would be no further snow shower in the hills after midday. The trek back up the A9 was an interesting experience. I drove past the scene of that accident this morning and was horrified by the lack of any treatment to the roads. As for the game, I guess you can either look at it as a point that keeps us from being dragged into a relegation battle, or two dropped points that significantly damage our top six aspirations. Dunfermline were absolutely woeful in the first half, to the point that their own fans started booing them. This made it all the more horrifying that we went in behind at half-time. Our midfield were dominant in possession, but we had no cutting edge in the final third. Gnakpa had a shocker - not surprising considering the guy is not a striker. I'm inclined to defend Sutherland against criticism, as he put in a good shift, but I would agree that he didn't look like scoring today. Their goal was a catastrophe for all sorts of reason. I thought the awarding of the free kick was a terrible decision - the forward punted the ball miles ahead and then leapt six feet in the air as Gillet ran across him. Hardie's effort crashed off the bar, and Proctor, indefensibly, headed the rebound straight to Cardle 2 yards out, who couldn't miss. Proc was under no pressure at all. After the break, I actually felt the home side looked more likely to score than us. Esson made one particularly good stop from Kirk after another Proctor blunder (there is a theme here). The substitutions changed the game. As stated above, Tudur Jones started spraying passes around and stretching the game, but I thought McKay was just as effective - his lovely reverse pass put Hayes in down the left, and he fizzed a ball across the face of the goal that Nick Ross slammed into the roof of the net from point blank range. TB deserves a fair bit of criticism for his selection today. It was clear from even the first 10 minutes that Gnakpa up front was not going to work - certainly there was a case for just swapping him and Sutherland around. As for his decision to play Proctor? Well, Gillet is quick, has good positional sense, and times his tackles well. But he's not big, and he needs someone who can dominate in the air to play alongside him - like Williams, Golobart or Tokely. The former two weren't available, but instead of going for Rossco he picked Proctor, who struggled against Andy Kirk, a guy who isn't any bigger than he is. I could list his every mistake today, but that would take a while - so I'm just going to say he was dreadful and that you can be certain he won't start next weekend. The big positive today is that our midfield played very well. I thought Nick was our best performer even before the goal. Jonny had a quiet first half but was electric in the second. I was impressed by how willing Tansey was to get on the ball, and his passing was pretty good. Foran maybe wasn't as great as the rest, but moving him up front in the second half gave us far more firepower. Credit to our support, who made an impressive racket. That attendance today is a shocker, and the home crowd were as quiet as ours at TCS.
  5. hislopsoffsideagain
    The Pie&Bovril thread on the matter is the greatest display of schadenfreude I have ever seen http://www.pieandbov...administration/ Anyway,I'm off to polish my grave dancing shoes. Celebrate good times, come on... EDIT: my own blog on the subject
  6. hislopsoffsideagain
    You're calling me a cheat?! My feelings are totally hurt :cry: If it makes you feel better, I could just copy and paste everything I blog onto the website...but then you poor buggers would find it harder to avoid reading it!
  7. hislopsoffsideagain
    <style type="text/css"> <!-- .style21 {color: #FFFFFF} --> </style> January started badly for Kenny Gillet, with a red card against Dunfermline in the cup. But, whilst he missed the replay as a result of suspension, the Frenchman's performances in ICT's other three matches was sufficient to make him the club's first Player of the Month of 2012. In fact, after the 0-0 draw with St. Mirren, all 43 voters chose Gillet as one of their top three players in the match. Gillet's 68 votes put him just in front of Jonny Hayes (62) and Richie Foran (59), and make him the sixth different player to win the award this season. Special mention should go to Roman Golobart, who was man of the match in both games against Dunfermline and the win at Motherwell, but who has been out with injury since the game at East End Park. Graeme Shinnie continues to head the overall standings, but his lead has been closed considerably over the last few months. Golobart has moved into second place, and Gregory Tade is third. Here's the breakdown for the January games, and the overall standings. <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="85%"> <tbody><tr bgcolor="#FF0000"> <td colspan="7"><span class="style16 style21">Overall quantity of votes cast for each player in January: (<em>Used to decide Player of the Month</em>)</span></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <td><strong>Player</strong></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>07/01</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>14/01</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>18/01</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>21/01</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>28/01</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>TOTAL</strong></div></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#000099"> <td><span class="style4 style21">Kenny Gillet</span></td> <td><div class="style4 style21" align="center">0</div></td> <td><div class="style4 style21" align="center">15</div></td> <td><div class="style4 style21" align="center">0</div></td> <td><div class="style4 style21" align="center">10</div></td> <td><div class="style4 style21" align="center">43</div></td> <td><div class="style4 style21" align="center">68</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jonny Hayes</td> <td><div align="center">12</div></td> <td><div align="center">4</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">38</div></td> <td><div align="center">7</div></td> <td><div align="center">62</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Richie Foran</td> <td><div align="center">20</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">33</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">59</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Roman Golobart</td> <td><div align="center">28</div></td> <td><div align="center">18</div></td> <td><div align="center">12</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">58</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Greg Tansey</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">2</div></td> <td><div align="center">38</div></td> <td><div align="center">14</div></td> <td><div align="center">55</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ryan Esson</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">2</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">19</div></td> <td><div align="center">24</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Gregory Tade</td> <td><div align="center">6</div></td> <td><div align="center">12</div></td> <td><div align="center">2</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">21</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Josh Meekings</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">5</div></td> <td><div align="center">9</div></td> <td><div align="center">14</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Graeme Shinnie</td> <td><div align="center">13</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">14</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>David Proctor</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">11</div></td> <td><div align="center">12</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Claude Gnakpa</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">11</div></td> <td><div align="center">11</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Andrew Shinnie</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">11</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">11</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ross Tokely</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">9</div></td> <td><div align="center">9</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jonny Tuffey</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">9</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">9</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Steve Williams</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">8</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">8</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Shane Sutherland</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">7</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">7</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Lee Cox</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">6</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">6</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Nick Ross</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">5</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>David Davis</td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Billy McKay</td> <td><div align="center">2</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Thomas Piermayr</td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="85%"> <tbody><tr bgcolor="#FF0000"> <td colspan="9"><span class="style16 style21">Player of the Year Points ~ Current Standings : 2011/12 (<em>Player of Month also highlighted in monthly column</em>)</span></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <td>Player</td> <td><div align="center"><strong>JUL</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>AUG</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>SEP</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>OCT</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>NOV</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>DEC</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>JAN</strong></div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>TOTAL</strong></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Graeme Shinnie</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td bgcolor="#FFFF00"><div align="center">18</div></td> <td bgcolor="#FFFF00"><div align="center">13</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">36</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Roman Golobart</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td bgcolor="#FFFF00"><div align="center">12</div></td> <td><div align="center">15</div></td> <td><div align="center">28</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Gregory Tade</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">8</div></td> <td><div align="center">8</div></td> <td><div align="center">4</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">23</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Richie Foran</td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">5</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">8</div></td> <td><div align="center">6</div></td> <td><div align="center">22</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Greg Tansey</td> <td><div align="center">5</div></td> <td><div align="center">5</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">5</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">6</div></td> <td><div align="center">21</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ross Tokely</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">6</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">4</div></td> <td><div align="center">8</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">21</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ryan Esson</td> <td bgcolor="#FFFF00"><div align="center">6</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">6</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">19</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>David Davis</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">2</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td bgcolor="#FFFF00"><div align="center">9</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">17</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Andrew Shinnie</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td bgcolor="#FFFF00"><div align="center">10</div></td> <td><div align="center">5</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">16</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jonny Hayes</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">14</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">16</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Kenny Gillet</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td bgcolor="#FFFF00"><div align="center">8</div></td> <td><div align="center">9</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jonny Tuffey</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">4</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Gavin Morrison</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Josh Meekings</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Owain Tudur-Jones</td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Thomas Piermayr</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">3</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Chris Hogg</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">2</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Aaron Doran</td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Nick Ross</td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">0</div></td> <td><div align="center">1</div></td> </tr> </tbody></table>
  8. hislopsoffsideagain
    Rubbish game, rubbish result, rubbish performance, rubbish weather, rubbish attendance. Did I mention it was rubbish? To be fair we were making Celtic work very hard until their first goal - I haven't seen the TV pictures but I had several texts from friends watching the game on Sky who also highlighted Proctor's failure to track Samaras for the first goal - so people should lay of RiG! However the fact is that Tokely made a complete dog's dinner of it and, for all the power and swerve in Samaras' shot, Tuffey seemed to get two hands on it. I'm staggered that, in a game of such importance, Butcher decided to use our second choice keeper. I don't care about keeping Tuffers happy - the cup is the only chance we'll ever have of winning anything (and even a replay would have been worth £££), so Esson should blatantly have been in goal. After we fell behind, we seemed to switch to some sort of 5-4-1 system with Gillet slotted in as a third centre-back and Shinnie and Meekings as wingbacks...which was a foolish move as it just condemned us to being cramped in our own half. We never looked remotely like scoring in the second half. I didn't agree with the substitutions either - Nick Ross was having a much better game than most of his teammates, and I'd much rather have had Tade on the pitch than Sutherland. The second goal was even more farcical than the first - initially Tuffey's throw out to Sutherland was risky at best, then Sutherland gave the ball away and put us in trouble, and finally Proc made a hash of shielding the ball out and bundled the forward over for a penalty. And that, as they say, was that. Pass marks to Gillet and Ross, but that's about it. I felt quite let down by the lack of fight we showed in the second half. Opportunities for glory don't come around all that often for ICT players - and they well and truly blew their chance today to make a name for themselves. Was thinking after the game about our centre half situation - for me, Hogg, Golobart and Williams are our best centre-backs (all of whom were injured), and Gillet is probably the next best. So today we had, for me, our 5th and 6th best central defenders on the pitch. I'd like to see any other SPL team keep out Celtic with their 5th and 6th centre backs on the field!
  9. hislopsoffsideagain
    As regards Nick Ross, I've been really impressed in the last couple of games by his runs from deep, getting in behind defenders. His timing is good and he does often arrive in the box at the right moment...the problem is with what he does next!
  10. hislopsoffsideagain
    We were absolutely honking in the first half - if we strung more than two passes together even once, then I didn't see it. I lost count of the number of times Foran, Tansey and Proctor gave the ball away cheaply. Their keeper, who could have spent the opening 45 minutes drinking coffee and reading a newspaper, must have got a bit of a shock when we came out second half and created enough chances to win it. Gnakpa's effort off the post was incredibly unlucky; the misses by Tansey, Tade and Ross were just poor. That said, St Mirren had chances too, mostly because of horrendous mistakes from our players. If you'd offered me 4 points from the last 2 games ten days ago then I would have taken it; to be honest, today we were nowhere near the level we were playing at last week and a 0-0 was a fair reflection of both the parity and the quality on show today. Anyone who paid £20+ for a ticket for that must feel like a right prat. At least they got the MOTM right for once - Gillet was easily our best player. Rossco also did well today, I thought. Gnakpa gave us a real lift when he came on; Tade had his poorest match for a long time today and I wonder whether he might be replaced for the Celtic game by his fellow Frenchman.
  11. hislopsoffsideagain
    Bajram Fetai, anyone? He was brutal(Though he went on and won some international caps after he left us!)
  12. hislopsoffsideagain
    Take a bow, lads. :clapping: That was a superb performance in really difficult conditions; in the second half the wind was so bad that Ryan Esson's main concern was getting his goal kicks near the half way line. A deserved win in the end, against a Hearts side who offered very little until the last 10 minutes. It could have been more but for the chalked off effort from Gillet in the first half, and the referee's refusal to give a pen for what looked like a blatant handball by Hamill in the second half. The back four deserve plenty of plaudits for the clean sheet- especially since none of them played on Wednesday! I often moan about Proctor, but he was superb today and really handled Sutton well. Williams looks like a good old-fashioned British centre-half, and dealt with the conditions well. Gillet did his usual solid job at left back (should we keep him there or move him back to the centre?) and every time I've seen Meekings I've been impressed - hard to believe he's only 19 and I think he's a real prospect. Our best players, though, were Tansey, who looked like the only person on the pitch who could pass the ball today and had his best game of the season, and Captain Fantastic Richie Foran, who continues to be a revelation in midfield. Considering the lack of running he seemed to do when he was playing up front, the workrate he has put in during the last few games has been remarkable. I've just seen the table, and we're only two points off sixth place!
  13. hislopsoffsideagain
    I think it's fair to say it is now official - 'Useless' Euan Norris is the worst official in Scottish football. Not content with screwing us over against Rangers, he appeared determined from the outset to allow our opponents to take liberties all over the pitch. The sending off of Gillet looked a bit fishy to me - Kenny appeared convinced he'd won the ball - and certainly there was plenty of protest that Barrowman was offside as he put Dunfermline in front. Two incidents summed Norris up - in the first half he pulled up Barrowman for his umpteenth foul and clearly gave him a 'final warning' chat; a minute later Barrowman hacks someone else...and Norris stops him for a long chat again. Then, right on half-time Dunfermline's defensive wall refused to retreat for a free kick even when the ref stood where he wanted them to be. Instead of booking one of them, he gave up when he got them 8 yards...and then ignored the fact that one of them raced out so they were about 5 yards from the ball when the free kick was taken. About the only thing that cretin of a referee got right was adding on six minutes for the obscene amount of time wasting the Pars did in the second half - though I don't know why he can't book the time wasters as well as adding on the time. If I was a Dunfermline fan, I would be horrified and ashamed by their second half performance. They never had any control over the game, even against ten men, and seemed content simply to camp out on the 18 yard box and see the game out. Entire civilizations have risen and fallen in the time it took them to make one substitution. They managed all of two speculative efforts on goal in the second period, as far as I can recall. As for us, we were pretty hopeless with eleven men, but I thought we did about as well as you can expect in the second half. Tuffers is the main villain of the piece - it was his horrendous air-shot on a backpass which led to the Gillet dismissal, and then he only managed to palm the resultant freekick straight to Barrowman. Frankly, he had bugger all else to do for most of the game. Our back four did a pretty good job today. Piermayr did well when tucked in at centre-half, though Coxy looked a bit uncertain when he was shunted to right-back. Once again, Golobart was superb. Barrowman took one look at him and clearly decided "I'm not up for taking him on" - so nothing has changed from when he played for us. Most impressive for me was Foran, who I felt gave a real captain's performance today - he led by example with fantastic effort and seemed to be still urging everyone on even when all was lost. He's had plenty of criticism this season (much of it warranted) but since moved into midfield he has looked like a different man. The big message to take away from this game is this: If Dunfermline are like this every week, then there is absolutely no chance we are going down.
  14. hislopsoffsideagain
    <p>It's definitely good news that Roman Golobart has extended his loan deal from Wigan till the end of the season.</p> <p>The centre-back opened his goalscoring account with a header against Aberdeen on Christmas Eve, in one of a string of good performances last month which make it no surprise that the Spaniard was CTO's player of the month for December.</p> <p>Jonny Hayes has also been in top form - the Irish wide man picked up the most votes in the St. Mirren, Dundee Utd and Hibs games - but Golobart was the star man in the defeat by Rangers, and in the victory over the Dons he was selected by every single voter in the poll. His 68 votes put him nine ahead of Hayes, with David Davis in third.</p> <p>Golly becomes the fifth different player to win player of the month this season, following Ryan Esson (July), Graeme Shinnie (August and September), Andrew Shinnie (October) and David Davis (November).</p> <p>Hayes and Golobart move up to ninth and tenth in the overall Player of the Year standings, which are still led by Graeme Shinnie. The young left-back continues to enjoy a healthy lead over Gregory Tade and Ross Tokely after a blistering start to the season.</p> <!-- This HTML code has been optimized by http://www.iwebtool.com/html_optimizer --> <table width="95%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="50%" align="center" valign="top"><table width="90%" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;" colspan="2"><h4><strong>DECEMBER VOTING</strong></h4></td></tr><tr> <td width="95%"><strong>Player</strong></td> <td style="text-align: center;"><strong>Votes</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Roman Golobart</td> <td style="text-align: center;">67</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Jonny Hayes</td> <td style="text-align: center;">58</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">David Davis</td> <td style="text-align: center;">32</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Richie Foran</td> <td style="text-align: center;">30</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Kenny Gillet</td> <td style="text-align: center;">26</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Billy McKay</td> <td style="text-align: center;">23</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Gregory Tade</td> <td style="text-align: center;">17</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Ross Tokely</td> <td style="text-align: center;">16</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Lee Cox</td> <td style="text-align: center;">11</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Ryan Esson</td> <td style="text-align: center;">9</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Andrew Shinnie</td> <td style="text-align: center;">9</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Graeme Shinnie</td> <td style="text-align: center;">9</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Chris Hogg</td> <td style="text-align: center;">2</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Thomas Piermayr</td> <td style="text-align: center;">2</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="95%">Greg Tansey</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> <td width="50%" align="center" valign="top"><table width="90%" border="0" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="2"><h4 style="text-align: center;"><strong>OVERALL STANDINGS (to end Dec)</strong></h4></td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Player</strong></td> <td style="text-align: center;"><strong>Points</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Graeme Shinnie</td> <td style="text-align: center;">35</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Gregory Tade</td> <td style="text-align: center;">22</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ross Tokely</td> <td style="text-align: center;">21</td> </tr> <tr> <td>David Davis</td> <td style="text-align: center;">17</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ryan Esson</td> <td style="text-align: center;">16</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Richie Foran</td> <td style="text-align: center;">16</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Greg Tansey</td> <td style="text-align: center;">15</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Andrew Shinnie</td> <td style="text-align: center;">15</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jonny Hayes</td> <td style="text-align: center;">15</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Roman Golobart</td> <td style="text-align: center;">13</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Josh Meekings</td> <td style="text-align: center;">3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Gavin Morrison</td> <td style="text-align: center;">3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Thomas Piermayr</td> <td style="text-align: center;">3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Owain Tudur-Jones</td> <td style="text-align: center;">3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Chris Hogg</td> <td style="text-align: center;">2</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Aaron Doran</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Kenny Gillet</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Nick Ross</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jonny Tuffey</td> <td style="text-align: center;">1</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><table width="95%" border="0" align="center" style="background-color: #e5e5e5; width: 100%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" colspan="2"><h4><strong>Previous Player of the Month awards</strong></h4></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Month</strong></td> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Player</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">July 2011</td> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">Greg Tansey</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">August 2011</td> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">Graeme Shinnie</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">September 2011</td> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">Graeme Shinnie</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">October 2011</td> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">Andrew Shinnie</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">November 2011</td> <td width="50%" style="text-align: center;">David Davis</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> </table>
  15. hislopsoffsideagain
    Just listened to TB's post-match interview - Tokely and Andrew Shinnie both had calf injuries and might be back for midweek. Tansey was on the bench because he had been ill this week. Jonny Hayes also on twitter saying he had the squits pre-match and had to knock back some imodium before the game!
  16. hislopsoffsideagain
    Not exactly vintage stuff...but if you'd offered me a 2-1 win before kickoff I'd have bitten your hand off. The first half was absolutely brutal from both sides. The wind didn't help, but the number of poor touches and misplaced passes was astonishing. At half-time it had 0-0 written all over it. The start of the second period was much the same. Then, out of nothing, Davis skins three players and brings a save out of their keeper. From the resulting corner, Golobart bullets in a header. A few minutes later we get another corner, the ball bobbles around a bit, and Tade's shot squirms through a crowd and into the bottom corner. Of course, we can't make it easy on ourselves; Aberdeen got one back when Cox made a pig's ear of defending out wide, all the defenders ran to the near post and left Fallon unmarked at the back stick to pull one back. That said, Esson didn't really have a save to make before or after. Not a great performance, but on a day like today only the three points matter. Golobart deserved MOTM for me, doing really well considering he got booked in the first minute. Gillet did a fantastic job alongside him. Davis was his usual Tank-like self, and Richie Foran had his best game at home for ages - he played deep in midfield again like last week and seems to bring us a bit of steel to that area of the pitch. Tade put in another great shift. On the other hand, I thought Cox had a poor game, and McKay looked a bit lost up front on his own. Graeme Shinnie got a bit of a runaround in the second half as well. 4 points clear of Dunfermline (and hopefully Hibs) - lets make sure we increase that gap in midweek!
  17. hislopsoffsideagain
    Since Hogg has just tweeted 'devastated isn't the word!!!!!!!' I assume the news about his knee is bad. Gutted
  18. hislopsoffsideagain
    According to his twitter, Hogg will be getting a scan on the knee on Monday.
  19. hislopsoffsideagain
    That was an absolute nightmare. 1-0 at half-time flattered us completely - Dundee Utd had all the possession and we just sat back and hung on. When the second goal went in I thought it might be our day...but what a pitiful collapse. Each of the three goals was a defensive catastrophe. With the exception maybe of Hayes and Davis (at least up to his sending off), it was an abysmal performance. Utd's 4-5-1, with an extra man in central midfield, allowed them to dominate, and even when they went to 4-4-2 it seemed like we didn't know what to do. The management deserve plenty of blame - TB's decision to bring on Nick Ross, who touched the ball all of five times and gave the ball away every time, and to leave Tade on the bench for so long, beggars belief. We were desperately crying out for a holding midfield player like Gavin Morrison on the pitch. And I can't help feeling Butcher should have been concentrating on the game for the last 10 minutes, instead of spending the time shouting back at critical spectators. The defence did all right in the first half, but imploded in the second - not helped by an appalling lack of protection from Cox and in particular Tansey who repeatedly gave the ball away and lost every single 50-50 challenge he attempted. Typical Golobart - rock-solid for the majority of the time, then slices a harmless cross-shot into his own net under no pressure. As for Foran, well, our captain plumbs new depths in the quality of his performances every time I see him. Like Tansey, he was a liability today. He's too slow, he can't win headers (he keeps trying to pretend he's being pushed but the ref today wasn't falling for it) and he offers his full-back no protection. With Hayes double-teamed most of the time, McKay is left with only scraps to feed on. We've had some rotten performances this season - Aberdeen away, Dunfermline at home - but this one was as bad as any. And without Hogg, I'm not sure we're going to improve our defending any time soon.
  20. hislopsoffsideagain
    Yngwie, you have just made my day.
  21. hislopsoffsideagain
    You're absolutely right, RiG. Whenever I go up for a header I always look to see who might be challenging me - doesn't mean I want to elbow them!
  22. hislopsoffsideagain
    Outside the ground after the game there were a number of Celtic fans belting out 'ooh ah, up the ra'. Do you honestly think the SPL would dare to punish Celtic? It's quite clear that the Old Firm are pretty much untouchable in Scotland - only UEFA would dare penalize them for anything.
  23. hislopsoffsideagain
    Terry's post-match interview is utterly, utterly wonderful. I hope he and Mo waited outside O'Reilly's door for the coward to come out and face the music.
  24. hislopsoffsideagain
    Usually I'm happy to put down these shocking decisions down to the refs just being incompetent - but having watched that game, that's the closest I've ever come to believing that a referee is bent. I'm certain that, had the score been 0-0 with 20 minutes left, he would have found a reason to give Celtic a penalty. I'd love to see Samaras in front of the SFA for clearly feigning injury to get a player sent off - but the SFA will probably ignore that...just as they will inevitably refuse to rescind the red card. As for our own players today, I thought they put in an excellent performance - the back four did a very good job indeed, with Tokely as the stand out, and I thought David Davis was absolutely magnificent in midfield. The next time we play one of the Old Firm, we should probably just start the game with ten men, in order to save the referee time later on. Oh, and what on earth was the deal with that 'Famine and Oppression' banner in the Celtic end? Judging by the waistlines of the away support, there ain't been no famine anywhere near them. They were also giving the sectarian songs a good belt outside the ground after the match, with not a policeman in sight.
  25. hislopsoffsideagain
    Considering there's been a lot of whinging about how we haven't adequately replaced Adam Rooney, and how we don't have an adequate goal threat, and that Tade isn't a 'natural goalscorer' (whatever the hell that means), I thought it might be interesting to compare Rooney from last season against Tade from this season: Rooney in 2010/11 All competitions: 21 goals in 42 games (41 starts, 1 as sub) SPL: 15 goals in 38 games (37 starts, 1 as sub) Tade in 2011/12 All competitions: 6 goals in 15 games (13 starts, 2 as sub) SPL: 6 goals in 14 games (13 starts, 1 as sub) Note that Rooney's goals included 7 penalties, 5 of which were in the league. So he only scored 10 goals from open play in the SPL last season. Tade is, in fact, only 4 goals away from equalling Rooney's total in open play for the whole of last season in the SPL!
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