PerfICT

Yup - funny how that particular street only seems to run in one direction! No McLean isn't really a defensive midfielder, but he has been playing quite deep for Abdn. Of course, they've also been playing Shinnie in there, but I can see why they would be interested in Tansey, given that it would free both of these up to play in their more natural positions. Can't blame him if he goes (for the wages) and I doubt we'd do all that well financially out of the deal. grrrrr.

...funnily enough, I wondered if that might be an option! Looking at their midfielders, Flood, Jack, Robson and McLean is all they have in the defensive area, so I can see why Tansey might fit, particularly as Robson doesn't seem to get a look in these days. Draper and Robson? Not sure! Maybe it could work....

...and let's not forget, he's one of our few players signed for next season!!

I think it's fair to say that Tansey hasn't had his best season this year, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be in most supporters' first XI. Midfield is one area where we do have cover, but I really hope this isn't the case because he was starting to get back to his best and we all know what he's capable of. Fingers crossed that this is guff...

...Tansey story seems to be gathering pace! What a shambles if we lose another key player on deadline day, with no time to replace. I thought we might at least escape this transfer window without losing any players. I hate the transfer window!!

Agree with SP. This was an excellent piece by Josh Meekings - he has responded in a very mature way, making his thoughts clear, but without having a pop at JH in the process. Move on...nothing more to see here.

Weather today and forecast for tonight and tomorrow not great. The ground is sodden and there's snow and sleat forecast overnight - winds are still strong. Rain tomorrow morning too, so I reckon there is a serious risk that it will be off.

Probably why they're called Ass refs!

I'm sure that's it Alternative Maryhill. I haven't seen him play at all, but he got decent reviews in pre-season. Just eager to see something different from the same old, same old. Different doesn't necessarily turn out to be better, but you don't know until you try!

Excellent news about Draper and Esson. We at least now have the "core four" of Warren, Meekings, Draper and Tansey to build around. I'm presuming that Esson will continue on his coaching path, but I doubt we'll keep both Fon Williams and Brill TBH. Goalkeeper and strikers next, then we have the spine of the team for next season.

It's just a half-@rsed compromise, which suits nobody. An aspect of "summer football" is introduced in the guise of the league cup reorganisation, compensated for by 3 weeks' break for premiership clubs in January. Show some b@lls spfl and either go for the summer option or leave it where it is for all the reasons thaat Sneckboy indicates!

It is fair for Yogi to bemoan the loss of players like roberts and Doran to injury and Christie to Celtic. HOWEVER, the complaint only hold water if, when these players are available, he plays them! Doran rarely got a start under JH and Roberts is keeping the bench warm - is it just that he doesn't actually value width and creativity? Further fuel to this fire was his public denouncement of Mutombo's "showboating": one man's showboating is another's creativity and attempt to actually beat an oppentn with skill. I'm no supporter of flash for the sake of it, but I crave seeing an ICT player skinning a defender with skill and/or pace this season - the message seems to be that these tactics are banned in preference for passing a team to death??

Absolutely nailed it, AJ. Attack wide and defend narrow. Press high and hard, winning the ball back within 7 sec of losing it. Fast transition from defence into attack. Unless you adopt the whole game plan and have a highly talented group of footballers + Messi to do the unpredictable and beat people, the style is very predictable and so easy to play against. Just sit deep, wait for the mistake in the defensive third and strike fast on the counter. PT, St J and Stirling have all sussed this. Ironically, I think we're more likely to get a result against Hearts and Aberdeen because they'll have more of a go and force us to be more counter-attacking. As I said yesterday, I go to football matches to be entertained. In Yogi's defence, a slick passing move with a tap in for Storey can be that, but so can a fantastic piece of skill by a winger to skin a full back or a last ditch tackle by Warren to save a goal. 90 minutes of square passes across the defence with insufficient movement and width ahead of them is truly tedious and has lost us any chance of recruiting new supporters on the back of the cup success last year.

Hats off to the club for trying everything to get punters through the turnstiles - it appears to work! Shame that the product on show at the moment won't result in any return business.

This is just dull, turgid cr@p. Football is an entertainment business and whatever our football is at the moment, it's not entertaining. If Man U fans are bored with the football at Old Trafford, they should try suffering 90 min at Inverness. Sorry to be so negative, but all my optimism after the win at New Year has been sucked out of me! Width, pace and goals, please!

My guess is - and it is only a guess - that the comments were aimed at neither Doran nor Meekings (both of whom have had quite serious knee injuries (very serious in Doran's case) - perhaps more aimed at the likes of Tremarco and Vincent who seem to nip and out of the squad with niggles?

mmm. Just watched the "highlights" - not great. Second goal was a peach, though - Draper's run was fantastic and a clever finish by Vigurs. Mutombo's was a good strike, but I'm not sure aout the keeper. I agree with some of the earlier posts about a lack of movement, rather than a lack of desire to get the ball forward. The instruction clearly is "if nothing's on, just keep the ball", which I don't have a problem with. What is an issue is that nothing will ever be on if players don't move - either to create a hole or to run into space. If Draper, Vincent and Storey are the only ones making effective runs, the options are limited, so we keep the ball and play it across and back. Take one or two of these players out of the team through injury or suspension and we're really toiling...

We'll need a much better performance on Saturday. Another chance to break away from DU and Hamilton, who had a shocker tonight! Glad to hear Mutombo delivered tonight - he's flattered to deceive until now, but it would be great to have other options up front. How did Roberts do (yellow card aside)? I presume some of those yellows will translate into suspensions (e.g. Vigurs?)

Would love to see Roberts get a run out to give us some width and pace. A front 4 of Roberts (maybe - not seen him yet), Mutombo or Vincent, Storey and Williams would be my preference!

Agreed. For all that honesty is a great virtue, it can also land you in hot water. There is absolutely no need for this to have been put in the public domain. As for the issue itself - decisions about fitness to play are made with medical/physio input. In the end, though, only the player himself knows whether he is willing to risk playing with a niggle - it isn't always the wisest thing to do. Draper playing on at Killie in October probably cost him a few weeks on the treatment table, so this is a double-edged sword Yogi!

I agree with DD. For me, DU are too far detached to really get back on course and I suspect it will be Hamilton that will end up in 11th, but there is no way we are safe. It is critical that we pick up points against those teams around us, which is why losing on Saturday was such a blow. I reckon 35 points will avoid relegation and ~40 will avoid 11th, so there'as still plenty of work to do. Equally, 4th is easily do-able too: the joys of a competitive league!

A real opportunity missed. Didn't fancy the starting line up and the subs were uninspiring. Could have been above County and looking up to St J: Instead still looking over our shoulders at the play-off spot.

There's no point in Stokes coming here unless he really wants to come and I don't get that impression from what's been speculated in the press. I would prefer it, however, if he didn't go to any of our Premiership rivals!

For anybody who is interested, here's the relationship between goals and possession. Statisticians will get all upset about the fact that "goals" is discontinuous data and therefore doesn't suit this kind of analysis......but I still think it shows something interesting! I wasn't expecting any kind of pattern from such a small data set. Red symbols are losses, green are wins and orange are draws.

Totally agree. The possession stats can be bewildering sometimes, so I'd take them with a pinch of salt. Another stat I meant to include - approximately half our goals have been conceded in the last 10 minutes or in injury time. This has not escaped the notice of the supporters, players or management. Knowing the problem is one thing, identifying the cause and rectifying it is quite another!