AlexJones

We were all pretty confident when we got a home draw in the quarter finals this time last season, and look what happened to us! Let's use that as a lesson / motivation not to repeat the same mistakes this year.

Rangers don't exist anymore.

To be fair the OP has a point. Car-crash reality entertainment is big business. Millions of people watch tosh like Geordie Shore, The Only Way Is Essex, Big Brother, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Keeping Up With The Kardashians etc. Even Liverpool FC got in on the action with 'Being Liverpool'. So whilst the spectacle of a football club trawling the depths of' lowest-common-denominator' content for traffic may be unedifying to the purists, it would probably work.

What is it about the Scottish Cup and Hibs?

Doran injured or dropped?

There are dozens of examples of top players starting out in one position and transitioning to a completely different role (Bale, Henry, Ronaldo, Mascherano, Matthaus - just off the top of my head. Even just looking at our own club - Jim Calder started life as a centre forward, but ended up being one of our best ever goalkeepers. Dennis Wyness started as a midfielder, but ended up being our all time top goal scoring centre forward. Roy McBain started as a winger, but ended up being one of our best ever holding midfielders. Ross Tokely started as a striker, but ended up being one of our best ever right backs. Graeme Shinnie started as a left back, but also excels at right back and central midfield. We're too obsessed with categorizing footballers in this country. We have plenty of talented attacking players with pace, skill, vision and an eye for goal - all the attributes required for a centre forward. There's no reason whatsoever why Marley Watkins, Ryan Christie, Aaron Doran, Nick Ross or James Vincent can't play up front. We should focus on footballing ability, not artificial labels. Thankfully we have a manager who looks beyond narrow 'specialist' positions and looks to be trying to develop well-rounded footballers with full-spectrum knowledge of the game. I hope he succeeds. Let's give him a chance.

Looking at the bigger picture, good to see lots of money coming into / being spread within the Scottish football ecosystem. Old Firm apart, long gone are the days of Scottish clubs wasting silly money on transfer fees for foreign players.

Don't see the need for panic signings. At the end of the day you can only put 11 players on the park, and we already have quality attacking players on the bench chomping at the bit for action. I'd rather give them a chance than get carried away with the transfer deadline hype and bring in some mercenary for the sake of it.

Can't believe Sevco even have a hair-stylist on the payroll, no wonder they're bankrupt. Good news for Dave the Rave if true though.

Typical Welshman.

Terrible pitch, terrible referee, terrible performance. It was never going to be easy against County in these kind of conditions. The long ball approach made sense. We didn't execute it well at all though. Too many completely aimless punts which didn't fall within 30 yards of a blue shirt. When we played long balls in the past we were much better at 'ring fencing' the target (MNF reference) and winning second balls. Today we basically just kept giving possession back to County. For the majority of the second half there was no impetus to get forward, and we seemed happy to sit on our lead, a dangerous game. In previous outings we managed to see out narrow leads by hogging possession. That was never going to work today. On a side not, every time a County player was fouled they feigned serious injury, and every time without fail that gullible clown Beaton flashed a card. Not impressed. Nor by the antics of McIntyre and Dods on the touchline, pair of absolute numpties.

Do we even need a 'traditional' out and out striker? http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1249718-evolution-of-the-false-9-how-barcelona-and-leo-messi-made-the-position-famous

Rory McAllister's goal scoring record is second to none. He won an SPFL player of the month award last season, the first player outside the Premiership to win the award. He was also voted League 2 player of the season. The only reason he isn't paying full time football at a higher level already is because he chose a different career. An unorthodox choice perhaps, but understandable. I would welcome him back.

Polworth has shown a good first touch, excellent range of passing and eye for goal when he's had a run out. It'd be absolutely nuts to punt him. He's only going to get better. I might consider loaning him out for some first team football, but would certainly want him back at the end of it.

Rory McAllister has a much better record at that level than Nicky Clarke.

He has an excellent record for us, but it's a team game, and that record owes a lot to the chances served up to him by his teammates. Intuitively speaking, with no stats to back this up, I hazard a guess that his 'chance to goal' ratio isn't that exceptional. What cannot be questioned though is his work rate. In the early days when he was struggling alongside Tade, he still managed to endear himself to the fans by putting himself about and getting well and truly stuck in. Even then you could see occasional flashes of brilliance in his play, and Butcher deserves credit for persisting with him even when he wasn't scoring goals. Good to see he's chosen to test himself at Championship level rather than go to Hearts. I might even stay up to watch the football league show on Saturday nights now just to see how he's getting on. It's always fascinating to see a player you're familiar with competing in a 'big' league. (David Davis and Andrew Shinnie currently doing us proud) . In some ways McKay leaving actually solves one of our current 'selection headaches'. I would play Watkins through the middle now, freeing up space in midfield for some of our creative players who have been unlucky to find themselves on the bench in recent times.

In an ideal world he would've waited till the summer, but football is a dangerous career - you could get a devastating injury any time you're on the pitch, so it makes sense to get your financial future secured at the earliest opportunity, which is exactly what the pre-contract agreement achieves. He's spent almost 6 years at our club (over a quarter of his life!), so I can't see him having divided loyalties. Put yourself in his shoes. You'd surely want to do your best for your club and teammates, keep on playing the best football of your career and achieve as much success as you possibly can. Next season is next season. For all we know McInnes, Rooney, Hayes and Pawlett could well be attracting their own suitors at this moment. I wouldn't worry so much about the whole 'mind games' dynamic, Football is very unpredictable. One last point, when Shinnie leaves it's not necessarily goodbye forever, more a case of goodbye for now. Who's to say he won't return to us a few years down the line? It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

I agree with them.

Colourful language from the stands is part and parcel of football. Always has been, always will be. Especially on drunken away days. Not something I tend to partake in myself mind, but I'd always prefer an overly boisterous atmosphere to an overly sterile one. The trouble starts when one or two numpties take it too far. I think the problem could easily be solved with a bit of communication. A bit of 'self policing' among supporters would nip it in the bud. Had someone had a polite word with said numpties, chances are they would have toned it down, if not then bring in the stewards.

If you look closely during 'shoot for the boot', Richie is hiding under the car.

"‘Big Terry and I were arch rivals at County and Inverness, but the truth is that we actually got on very well. We fought our corner for our football clubs, sure. But it gave everybody a wee bit of interest in the Highlands. It gave it all a wee bit of razzmatazz and edge. We had a go at each other in derby games. But look at the crowds since we left those clubs. They have dwindled. We made that game an occasion." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2922757/Derek-Adams-reveals-truth-relationship-Terry-Butcher-David-Moyes-helped-job-search.html

I think it'd be madness to make any changes to the team after yesterday's performance.

Has to be a contender for best performance of the season. Everyone was excellent. Tremarco had a shaky start but grew into one of our best players as the game went on. Shinnie had his best game for a while at right back. Warren and Meekings solid as ever. Saints are one of the most dangerous teams in the league from corners and set pieces but they didn't even get a sniff tonight. I can only recall one occasion where a Saints player won a header from an attacking corner. Tremendous stuff. Our midfield completely bossed the game, a real 'beast mode' showing from big Drapes, his crunching tackle on 'you know who' was especially pleasing. Our attacking play tore the dilapidated Saints back 4 to shreds, we could quite easily have had a cricket score if we'd been a bit more clinical / lucky in the final third.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZV5aHSLvUU&t=2m58s

Call me old fashioned but football matches used to be played on frozen pitches all the time and I don't recall any issues with injuries. A home Scottish Cup tie against East Fife at Telford Street Park (no undersoil heating) being one example. Players adapt to conditions!