HawkeyeTheGnu

No matter what he said, or how it was reported, I would still be of the opinion that Thompson is a kn0b.

Indeed, if he was that keen to talk to United, he could have just resigned and done so. That, however, would have been his risk. Whereas allowing him to speak to them was our risk.

However, if my prospective employer was telling all and sundry in the media the compensation was not a problem and then failing to meet my current employer's valuation, I may wonder about the integrity of my suitor. If United wanted to talk to them, they knew what they had to do. It would have been mad to allow the two parties to talk before compensation was agreed. I don't have a problem with people progressing - in fact it is probably a necessity if we want people to come to our club. However, things have to be done in the right way, and I don't believe Thompson was acting in an appropriate manner.

I would hope that any clause in the contract allow us to tell Thompson to ram it if he comes sniffing again.

It's all very well allowing people to speak to our manager, but if the club making the approach isn't prepared to trigger the release by paying appropriate compensation then isn't it just wasting time and unsettling people? Given that the Dundee Utd chairman was giving it 'Compensation won't be an issue' at the outset of their search for a new manager, maybe what is said in the press by Utd shouldn't be taken at face value. Although unsettling clubs above Utd may have been Thompson's aim all along.

He can be as disappointed as he wants. He should also reflect on the fact that Dundee Utd weren't willing to meet the contractual value required to be allowed to speak to him.

Ho ho.

There's only two Craig Beatties?

It's the Claus in Yogi's contract I worry about.

It wasn't a back 5 v Celtic. Meekings was playing right back. I think I would 'rest' Devine, and play either Raven or Horner at RB. Might even put Tremarco at LB (or is injured, given he wasn't on the bench and we only had six subs?). That would allow Williams to play in midfield and add some width. Silva to partner Storey would be desirable too.

Would prefer the Binos over the Colts as I've never been to Forthbank. That said, I had one of my best days out at Broadwood - the 2-1 game that effectively sealed promotion to the SPL.

Devine should still have gone to the ball. If McGregor had passed it on then it wouldn't have been his fault.

Storey also provides width, but the problem then is that there is no one in the middle to benefit. I wouldn't mind seeing Storey & Sho-Silva both start up front and hopefully provide width and a target for each other.

That was frustrating. The first two Celtic goals were down to poor defending - McGregor was allowed to run for too long, and the cross for the second should have closed down. Would need to see the third again as it was impossible to tell from the other end of the ground what had happened. Positives were that we created some decent chances, and I thought we started the second half well - Draper should have done better with the free header he had. Negatives were that we showed Celtic too much respect, we are still trying to play too much football in our own defensive third, and too many times players turned back rather than going forwards and found themselves closed down and having to play a rushed pass towards our own goal. There still isn't enough movement ahead of the ball, and Storey ends up wide with no one in the middle too often. As has been said elsewhere on this thread, the disappointing thing is that this Celtic team aren't very good, but too many teams show them too much respect. As for Collum, can't comment on the third goal yet, but while he didn't make any other controversial decisions, every marginal decision went Celtic's way. Nothing you could take much issue with on their own, but when taken as a whole showed him up for what he is.

Pitch passed the inspection and its game on according to the official site.

Well that's me lost my tea...

The five at the back at Firhill was so bad, that I would advocate that we don't use it again, particularly with two holding midfielders. Against Motherwell, we were being pushed further and further back, and could easily have conceded another if they had been more clinical. My concern against Celtic would be that if we allow ourselves to be pushed back like that from the off by playing 5 at the back, and effectively play the game in our defensive third, we will be under pressure, not them. Celtic will score and our record this season when conceding first is poor. I agree that Celtic's defence is mediocre, and would like to see us put them under pressure, but would prefer that to be as a result of us being on the front foot, not from trying to soak up pressure and hit on the counter. Were we not playing with 4 at the back when Raven was sent off? We conceded from the penalty, so it would be harsh to attribute the goal to a particular system. I thought we then went to three at the back, before bringing on Warren and going back to 4, although I could be wrong.

This sounds like something to take advantage of the Irish diaspora in the U.S., probably to the benefit of Celtic. The average American probably has little interest in "soccer" and even less in the Scottish game. If our authorities spent more time trying to fix the game in general, and less time pandering to the needs of two particular clubs - I can't believe that Roger Mitchell's statement that he worked "tirelessly" to get the Old Firm into English football went so unremarked, way to develop the Scottish game, Roger - then maybe it would be a bit more competitive.

Foran playing? Interesting. Maybe our injury troubles are starting to ease.

Yes, but we were two goals up at the time. We were also hanging on for the last 10 minutes. My concern would be that if we allow Celtic to come at us, then we will concede and lose.

Not a fan of 5 at the back since the farce at Firhill last season (the second league game, in case you are having difficulty with your Firhill disasters). Five defenders and three holding midfielders seems a touch defensive too. Not sure what the answer is though, maybe something like: Fon Williams Horner Warren Meekings Tremarco Tansey Draper Sho-Silva Polworth Williams Storey Failing that, could we borrow Molde? Seeing as having properly registered players is no longer necessary...

I should have made it more clear. If we get relegated it will be a scandal. We are not one of the two worst teams in this league. However, Saturday's game was exactly the sort of game that we need to take something from if we don't want to end up in the bottom two. Too many players are having too many off days. Can the team who played the first 45 minutes against Aberdeen please turn up again soon?

I wonder if the Williams and Storey substitutions were as a result of them coming back from injury? If not, then I agree that they were a bit strange. I'd like to see it again, but I think the problem for Fon Williams at the winning goal was Pogba. Cos of where Pogba was standing, he couldn't start moving until the ball was past Pogba, so I don't think he had enough time to get across to where Stevenson's original shot was heading.

Freudian slip!

Peed off doesn't begin to describe it. We we scored early on, and for about 20 minutes were in control, passing and moving well when we had the ball, pressing when we didn't. Storey put us in front, Williams nearly added a second. There were another couple of decent efforts that were either blocked or flew wide, and Storey (I think) had another chance that he should have put away And then we let Partick back into the game. Fon Williams had a couple of good saves, before we completely switched off and allowed Partick to equalise. Someone (Meekings I think - given he got a bo11ocking from Fon Williams) was caught ball watching leaving Doolan completely free to score. The second half was pretty even, although Fon Williams had to tip the ball over the bar. We created some chances, but nothing as clear cut as in the first half. And then we did it again. Amateur defunding at a throw-in in the last minute allowed Stevenson to score. It used to be that if we didn't get the first goal, then we wouldn't win. It is now starting to look like we need at least a two goal cushion to even stand a chance. Our inability to defend in the last ten minutes of a game seems to have spread to the first half too. The really weird thing is that individually our defenders did ok - Devine was a lot better than I've seen him recently, but as a unit something is missing. There were too many loose balls in midfield - we can't hope to win if we keep giving the ball away like that. We still need another striker. More than once Storey found himself with the ball and needing to pass to someone and there was no one there. There is also a lack of movement in front of the ball, which leads to the constant passing sideways. I thought Polworth worked his socks off, before tiring and eventually being replaced - I thought he had faded for about 5 minutes before he was taken off. Horner had a good game, he certainly likes to get forward, and was causing problems in the first half. Sho-Silva showed some promise when he came on, but late on he looked to lay off in the box when I thought he should have taken a shot. Fon Williams had a good game and made a few good saves. Can't blame him for either goal - he was completely exposed by the defence. I would have put Warren on instead of Draper to try and beef up the defence, but it was good to see an experienced bench at last. Finally, can we stop trying to waste time when we take an early lead? There is no way we can defend 1-0 at the moment, and all it does is extend the game, giving more time for the opposition to get that late goal. The positive is that I think there are enough teams who are worse than us that we shouldn't be in danger. The worry is that this is exactly the sort of game we have to take something from if we don't want an uncomfortable second half of the season.