hislopsoffsideagain

Those querying why Bazza wasn't sent on have a pretty good point I think. There were about 20mins left when Rooney scored, suddenly giving us a bit of impetus. I know coming back from 1-3 is a bit unlikely, but should we not have thrown the kitchen sink at them? Instead Brew waits another 10mins until the game is completely dead as a contest before making changes, and brings on Zander instead of Bazza.

Just back. We imploded in the second half, as soon as Dundee Utd turned up a gear. If Brew didn't know that the fans lacked confidence in him before then he does now - let's just say the responses to the subbing of Imrie and Barrowman will have told him that. It's ironic that he suggests fans need a reality check - if he thinks we'll score a goal with Barrowman as a lone striker then he must be joking. He just about managed to equal his performance against Hearts with another display of laziness and cowardice - I know Wilkie is big, but the number of times Barrowman chickened out of 50-50 balls was a joke.

As for the rest of it, the decision to play Duff at right back was astounding, and the boy was exposed more and more as the match went on. Surely he should have been at centre-back, with Proctor at right-back? Add the usual move to play Cowie and Imrie on the wrong sides, then to play Vigurs wide right after Imrie's substitution, just beggars belief to what our manager is thinking at times.

And to cap it all, Rooney once more comes off the bench and changes the game. And yet Brew still leaves the boy on the bench, when he is the only way we're going to score goals consistently. If a 4-5-1 doesn't work with him in it, we need to find a system that suits him and play it instead. Before he scored, we had managed a grand total of one half-chance (for Cowie) in the whole game.

Positives? Hmm, will have to have a good think! Black and Duncan did all right, and Hastings put in a power of work down the left, though his final ball was guff as ever.

I suspect there will be a lot of posts once more questioning the wisdom of giving our gaffer a new deal. And after another home game that stank of ineptness I won't blame those posters in the slightest.

Smileymometer:

Esson :D :thumb04: could he have done better with the goal? Two great stops in the second half but Fraser-esque distribution

Tokely :018: ;) worked hard, did okay against Driver but delivery from attacking areas was a let down

Proctor :015: :D :P Found it hard early on against Nade but got the better of things as the game progressed

Munro :021: :D :D :D I think he's been great this season, and kept it up today

Hastings :D :D :D light years ahead of Wednesday's effort

Wilson :D :D showed some flashes early on and didn't do too bad a job of tracking back either, but looked knackered by half time

Black :D barely a chance to get involved before having to go off

Duncan :D :D the poorest I've seen him all season. With Black off the onus was on him to spray the passes and he couldn't deliver

Imrie :D :D :D :D not enough end product, but kept running and running and seemed to be involved in everything we did well

Rooney :D :D :D impressed with his work-rate and bravery, but again nothing much seemed to come from it

Barrowman :D the footballing equivalent of a chocolate teapot

McBain :D :D another one of his invisible man days

Vigurs :D :D should have been on earlier, used the ball better than the rest of the midfield even in an unfamiliar right flank position

Wood :D :D followed Rooney's example when he came on

Gaaaahhh!!!! Another frustrating afternoon - but for completely different reasons to Wednesday. Lots of effort from the players today (with one or two exceptions but we'll get on to that in a bit) but we just didn't have enough quality to break down Hearts, especially with no Cowie, no Black (who got an eye injury early on) and with Barry running out of legs early in the second half. Our defence dealt with Nade much better than expected, with Munro getting the MOM and Proc putting himself about too. Rossco also put in a solid shift. But, Imrie apart, we lacked pace and flair and simply didn't create enough chances.

Two subjects are likely to come up from this game. One is the referee's performance - he made a good pantomime villain with some daft decisions, though I wouldn't say he was the reason we lost the game (Some who think we should have got a pen for a challenge on Rooney might disagree, I guess). The other issue is that of Mr. Andy Barrowman.

When was the last time that seeing a player being subbed has raised a cheer from the North Stand? Unfortunately, Barrowman is going to get a slagging tonight, which may be down to the fact that he hadn't even broken sweat when he was hooked. He took one look at Zaliukas and wet his pants, I reckon. While Rooney gave Berra as good as he got, and went in where it hurts time and time again, Barrowman gave a performance reminiscent of another legendary Caley forward named Rory McAllister.

Anyway, not a bad game, certainly one we didn't deserve to lose. But if we can't get results when we play okay, that doesn't bode well for the rest of the season.

As Scotty said, there's not a lot of reasons to moan about Brew today though.

Trouble with Barry is he doesn't have the stamina for more than 45, or the legs to protect his full back.

I hope we go for

Esson

Tokely Duff Munro McBain

Cowie Black Duncan Vigurs

Rooney Wood

But Brew's insurmountable logic will surely lead to

Esson

Tokely Proctor Munro Hastings

Cowie Black Duncan McBain Imrie

Rooney

Of course - the fault is with the players, not with the system. So he will play Rooney up front because he scored, even though he needs a partner, and he will drop Vigurs for McBain, even though he had Vigs out of position tonight, even tough Imrie was guff, and even though McBain should be replacing Hastings.

I'm going to stand by Granty here. I thought he was doing the job of three players, given how bad Proc and Hastings were. He dealt with Higdon pretty well, compared to Proctor who just bounced off him again...and again...and again

I don't know about anybody else, but watching us is just so painful and frustrating for me right now. We go through periods in every game (a long one tonight) where we can't put two passes together, and we're about as organised as a bowl of alphabet soup. And (or so it seems) it really is not hard from 7 or 8 rows back to see what the problems are. So why can't the bloke who's getting paid for it (and his assistant, the last living member of Homo Erectus) sort these things out, instead of standing there with his arms folded looking like he's dreaming of his holidays?

I can't help feeling that if you zoomed into Brewster's brain, it would be like the bits in the Simpsons when you see what Homer is thinking.

If you had offered me a draw with 15 minutes left, I would have bitten your hand off.

We were absolutely awful, and we somehow got away with it because we were playing a Falkirk side who for some inexplicable reason didn't go for the jugular, and because they had a goalkeeper who was an absolute joke.

We lined up exactly the same way as against Hibs, as Brew clearly expected that Falkirk, despite their reputation for playing a disciplined, organized possession game, would instead set out in the ridiculously cavalier way that Mixu's boys did. Therefore we were treated to a first half of Falkirk keeping the ball for ages, and us occasionally getting it and promptly hoofing it away. As usual Imrie and Cowie were on the wrong sides, and for the love of goodness, why play 4-5-1 at home if the midfield won't go within 20 yards of the lone striker?

The Falkirk goal was just calamitous. First they got a 2 on 1 against Tokely out wide, then no-one shut out the cross, then Lovell beat Hastings in the air (Richard, mate, you had an absolute shocker tonight), then no-one even tries to close down Higdon for the shot, then Esson for some reason doesn't attempt to save it. It was so completely and utterly preventable.

We were then treated to the comedy of Brew attempting a tactical change in the middle of a match. Most coaches would wait for an injury or something, call 3 or 4 players to the sideline and explain what to do. Brew instead kept yelling incomprehensibly at Vigurs who, understandably, couldn't really believe that Brew wanted him to play wide right, with Cowie wide left, and Imrie up front, mainly because it was an absolutely stupid idea. In all the confusion, Proctor then ushered Higdon through on goal, but somehow he sliced the shot miles wide.

The best you can say about the first half is that we were only one down at half time. Brew at least chucked on Rooney and Barrowman, though Wood hadn't had the chance to break sweat and Vigurs was being played out of position and just looked lost. And, god forbid, our wide players were on their natural sides! We made it a shade more difficult in the second half, but our equalizer was probably the first opportunity we got. Their keeper completely flapped at a ball in the six yard box under pressure, and it bobbled around before Rooney headed it in from about half a yard. It might well be the worst goal ever scored. So why Rooney felt the need to leap into the crowd and get a pointless yellow is beyond me. Falkirk had one great chance to win it, so did Barry Wilson, and that was about it.

Not sure it was really worth haring back from work in Dornoch and skipping my dinner for, frankly. At times it looked like it was Munro and Rossco against the whole Falkirk team, as everyone else was a waste of time. Rooney made a difference of the bench with his running. Hastings, as mentioned, couldn't put a foot right, and Imrie also goes in the "turkey" category for his performance tonight.

Brew, my friend, you got away with it tonight. Will you get away with it on Saturday if Hearts show anything remotely resembling ability?

I don't buy the whole "we're at home, therefore we must play two up and go on the offensive" malarkey at all. Falkirk never come up here and stick 10 men behind the ball, they'll come up to win, either with 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. If we put 5 across the middle we can get in amongst them and stop them making pretty patterns with the ball in the midfield area.

Of course, as has been traditional in recent seasons against Falkirk, if Latapy comes on, we're pretty much screwed regardless. He always seems to cut us to ribbons.

I think that the starting 11 for us will be the same, unless Wood is knackered after his exertions at Easter Road - could see someone else leading the line instead then

Murray at LB for Hibs, with Samba in defensive mid? Maybe?

Looks certainly like Mixu has picked a lineup to test how fragile we are defensively after last week.

Glad to see Vigurs in, can't help feeling Wood is going to be pretty isolated today.

There are gonna be a few goals, question is whether we get any of them!

Would I be right in thinking that Esson didn't play for the reserves this week? If so might that suggest a start for him on Saturday?

As much as I like Fraser, he's been too dodgy this season (not just at Ibrox) and I think he's run out of second chances by now.

I too move from the "undecided" column to "anyone but Brewster, please".

Are there any mods left who still give Brewster a chance?

How long has there been a rule that the visiting team at Ibrox have to use a clown between the sticks instead of a goalkeeper, and four wheelie bins instead of defenders?

Oh wait, that's actually Fraser and our back four.

There's a phrase I'm saying a lot this afternoon, and it rhymes with "clucking bell".

I don't have many arguments with the starting 11 today, assuming it is a 4-5-1. Proctor back in for Duff is probably a good call. I still think Kris Boyd will score a hatful, though...

The Sunday Times today notes the "Big Jock Knew" poster So now the press think we're a bunch of bigots as well. Fantastic. Whose bright idea was it to put that on a flag?

Take away the first 20 minutes of the second half and we were the better team. Brew had us well organised from the off, and the lack of a target man and a route one ball meant Celtic had to play it through us, which they found pretty tough. Wood deserves a bit of flak for missing that glorious chance, but it was a world class stop by Boruc.

What does Brew put in the players' half time tea though? Yet again we were caught cold at the beginning of the second half. Imrie had a wonderful game otherwise, but he should have been tracking Naylor down the left. Our defence should have dealt better with the cross though, and the same goes for the second goal. It was a shame as we looked great in the closing stages after Wood grabbed one back, the substitutions were good ones (Black was walking a tightrope and wasn't having all that great a game) and we definitely warranted a draw.

C'est la vie. Imrie deserved his MOTM, while I thought Wood did a good job with such little service. Munro was the pick of our defenders for me.

by request of andyp85...

Fraser :thumb04: made a complete pig's ear of the Killie goal. Other than that had bog all to do

Tokely :018: :D ;) solid enough defensively, didn't get forward as much as usual

Munro :015: :D :P good to have the skipper fit. Got the measure of Sammon as the game went on

McGuire :021: :D :D :D best he's played in ages, looked very comfortable. Not sure if the goal was quite how he meant it!

Hastings :D :D :D see entry for Rossco

Vigurs :D :D :D some nice touches and worked hard, but was out on his legs after an hour

Black :D :D :D :D allowed to get further forward today and gave us a real creative spark in the final third. Bet that's the only header he ever scores

Duncan :D :D :D :D he drives us mad with the lackadaisical passes, but fact is the defence is much better protected for us having him

McBain :D :D Quiet game, didn't really contribute much

Imrie :D :D :D :D :D fantastic performance, ran at defenders all day long and at the centre of most of our best moments

Barrowman :D :D :D :D super pen, super celebration, did a good job holding the ball up and won more headers than he should have

The Subs? Not much impact from any of them, though Cowie should have grabbed us a late fourth

Look, it's quite simple.

Anything that is published on this board that is potentially defamatory could result in legal action against those who run the site. Potentially, if this all turns out to be rubbish, they would be breaking the law by allowing it to be displayed.

I don't understand why some people posting here feel justified at putting the moderators at risk just so they can gossip about somebody's private affairs. Grow up, for goodness sake. Or join P&B...

After a rather shaky start, we came on to a good game and thoroughly deserved the result in the end, helped by the way the Killie players rather lost their heads.

I really feared for us in the first 15 mins, when Taouil and Fernandez roamed wild all over the pitch, and a real rush of blood from Ike left us a goal down. He made his mind up really early to come for a high ball from the halfway line, only to run into shedloads of traffic and looked like a complete pillock when the ball went past him and was tapped in by Sammon.

Our equalizer was fairly against the run of play, but changed the game completely. A half-cleared set play fell to McGuire on the edge of the box, and I swear he sliced his volley, but it floated past Combe into the top corner. I think the keeper misjudged it, thinking it was heading over the bar.

Then came the penalty, and the fallout from it, with umpteen Killie players losing it completely, not least Combe who might have seen more than a yellow card for his protests. Was it a spot kick? Barrowman showed glorious footwork in the box, but seemed to have run it out of play when he fell over. That said, I was miles away and hardly had a good view. No doubt about the way he took the pen though, whamming it into the top corner. From his rather exuberant celebrations, I'd say he enjoyed it!

Killie were broken after that, and never offered much in the second half. Fowler got his second yellow for a stupid handball at the halfway line, and Black's looping header from a good 15 yards out made it three. The defender on the line made a pig's ear of dealing with it, mind. Cowie came off the bench and should have knocked in a late fourth, but shot straight at the keeper after a great move.

Good performance, stand outs today were Blackie, who played further up the pitch than recently and made a real impact, Barrowman who looked as sharp as he did against Aberdeen and put in a power of work, and most of all Dougie Imrie who ran all day long and caused Killie's defenders kittens.

In fact, I can't even think of a reason to criticize McGuire today. I must be dreaming...

Fair enough, to be honest I don't know anyone who wasn't shouting at McGuire...

I love the idea that people think I'm posh though! There's not exactly a prawn sandwich brigade...

<sigh> was Roscoe23 shouting abuse at the players for the whole game again? He did it sitting behind me for the whole of last season. I swear I can remember him constantly shouting insults out when we were three up against Kilmarnock last season...or is that just a nightmare I had?

Just back from an utterly disheartening experience. I challenge anybody to find something positive from that performance. In the first half we were the better of two pretty awful teams, and when St. Mirren got their act together in the second half we were exposed for what we were - disorganized, leaderless and inept. The irony is that we still had chances - Rooney denied by the bar, some great stops by their keeper - and I think that shows that losing a game like that to a team like that is a disaster.

Let's go through it, player by player:

Fraser - Awful distribution, poor decision making, should have come out quicker for the first goal. The defence have no confidence in him at all right now.

Tokely - Atrocious passing, not a single half decent cross all day, and made to look like a mug in the build up for the second goal.

Duff - No disasters, but never looked comfortable against the physical St. Mirren forwards. Panicky clearances were the order of the day.

McGuire - What does he have to do to get dropped? Played for an idiot by Hamilton time and again, always second to the high ball and constantly beaten by the flick on or gave away stupid free kicks. His failure in the air was key to the first goal.

Hastings - Not the worst game ever, but lets too many crosses get in. Distribution the same as usual.

Cowie - Never got in the game, but puts in so much running that you get the feeling that it's the team's fault rather than his.

McBain - The invisible man. Didn't protect the defence well, didn't get forward at all. Mind you, we looked even more vulnerable after he was subbed.

Black - Well below his best, but still the class act for us. Covered every blade of grass and kept trying to keep the ball on the deck, but too often let down by those around him.

Vigurs - A few good touches, but didn't protect his full back well and never offered much of a threat.

Rooney - Well taken penalty, denied a second by the bar, looked sharp and reasonably threatening. The decision to take him off was a bit of a puzzle.

Wood - worked hard without much to show for it, denied by a great save second half. Looked like he could be a player for us, but too often made the wrong decision when he had the ball. Should have been hooked instead of Rooney.

Subs: Barrowman looked a bit dangerous, but neither Imrie or Wilson got into it.

A pretty poor performance against a pretty poor team. If we can find a way to drop Fraser, Tokely, McGuire, McBain, Wood and possibly Vigurs next week, I really really would. Certainly the former three have not impressed anyone this season.

Not good, Brew. Not good at all.

Importantly, that's seven points between us and bottom now. A few more decent results and all the focus can go on top six instead of survival.

Praise to Brew today for what sounds like some very good management. It would be nice if I was writing those words after our next home game as well though!

Brewster in quality substitution shocker!!!

If we nick this, it's a hell of a result.

Utterly, utterly pathetic from start to finish. Not a single person out there, management or players, who should go home tonight feeling anything other than ashamed. All the optimism from last season has evaporated, and we once more look good candidates for the drop.

We may look back on this as the beginning of the end of Brew. His hoof-ball tactics (high balls at Imrie?! What were they thinking?) were bizarre to say the least, but sitting behind him in the dugout it was noticable that whenever he tried to change things, the players on the pitch appeared to be making an effort to ignore him. And to cap it all Cowie threw a massive strop when he was subbed. Quite frankly, it looks pretty desperate for the gaffer if the players aren't paying him any attention.

Anyway, we couldn't keep the ball for love or money, and we couldn't get it back once we lost it. The boy Duff looked comfortable right up till his massive howler for their goal. The miracle is that McGuire didn't cost us anything with his accident-prone defending. Meanwhile our full backs kept punting it, and Barrowman went into a sulk in the second half because he would have got better service at a Zimbabwean bank than what he was given today. Imrie looked put-off by the slagging the away fans gave him, while Black and Duncan (the latter got hooked at half-time despite making ten times the impact Roy did) watched high balls sail over their head.

The depressing thing is that Hamilton weren't actually particularly good, nor did they need to be. But if Brew's after-match comments don't include a slagging of the players and an apology to those of us who were dumb enough to turn up, then he's even less of a man than he is a football manager.