mazza20

Thought the second half was really good, and we go into Tuesday's game with some confidence, not ideal but we've left our best bit of form until the end of the season with too much to do

3 minutes ago, Huisdean said:

Yet again absolute joke of a linesman and referee have cost us. Referee and standside linseman are simply not up to standard. Will we ever get a decision as it also looked like we could have had a penalty at the end of the first half yet inexplicably the ref gives a foul to Morton.

Got it on a very pixelated stream so couldn't see what happened but the team was raging about it

Looking at stats in the other game, don't think Airdrie has shown up to play tonight

Think we need to start to build momentum so must win this, either we go into playoffs with a bit more confidence or we're safe. We play like we did against Raith a couple of weeks ago and get a slice of luck, we can do it.

Prediction - heart says 2-0 win, head says drab 0-0

4 minutes ago, ClickbaitProponent said:

Brings Pepple on who hasn't done anything for us and leaves Roddy on the bench! If we go down at least we should be rid of Dunc and Gardiner.

Quick insult another player

On another day we win that by 4 or 5, MotM goes to the woodwork followed by Raiths keeper

Thought first half we were in control but lacked that bit quality to finish the chances

Second half we were ***** for the first 10-15 mins and got punished by Raith. We picked it up and Samuel was unlucky not to get a hat trick. McAllister looked driving the ball forward but only really troubled the keeper once.

Overall, thought our best chances were from corners or counter attacks as soon as the press blocks the CBs from midfield we pass along the back line until we launch it forward

1 hour ago, Yngwie said:

I’m struggling to think of many direct free kicks we’ve scored in recent years. Having to go back as far as Barry Robson for the last player I can recall who you could trust to either score or at least make the keeper work hard.

I still have nightmares about Chalmers smacking the crossbar against Hearts in the cup semi final 5 years ago ...

Great 3 points, and glad we didn't crumble when they equalised.

Only saw the second half, but I feel we're coming to regret letting Welsh go. We sit with the ball between 3 CBs and no midfielder is dropping deep to collect and push play forward. We spent the 25 mins of that half just launching balls long into the wind, if we're going to do that, lose a CM and have another striker up top. Once they went down to 10 men we pushed forward and we're able to create a few things.

Positives though, we've scored more than one, thought the defence handled what was thrown at them for the most part, and Big Dunc started with a win Arbroath so here's hoping for another hot streak

3 hours ago, bishbashbosh said:

Sorry hopefully Anderson is a typing error above.

wotherspoon could see a pass and then execute that pass.

anderson is a grafter in midfield. His first touch  usually heads to the sky and his next touch is a tackle. (thats what happened when he was red carded trying to take the ball down from head height after a poor first touch).

Arbroath play their game in hand on us tonight against airdrie. We will be still 9 or 8 or 6 points in front with a 34ish better GD going into Saturdays game v Arbroath with Queens Park playing Dundee Utd same day.

big game Saturday, huge game the next week.

All to play for.

Win for us and DU on Saturday get the bus booked for the hampden showdown 

 

Like I said, not a tactical genius... I was always thought Anderson was supposed to be an attacking midfielder hence why I said him, my point was the system with Wotherspoon worked and seemed like instead of trying a replacement in that position we've gone for a park the bus mentality.

I think we have to be looking at getting at least 9 points from the last 5 games, unsure if that will be enough to leap frog QP but we would be feeling more confident going into a playoff 

38 minutes ago, bdu98196 said:

probably systematic of the realisation that Wortherspoon was the creator and scorer of goals on our good run and that the club could not (or were unwilling to) afford to keep him. Therefore we have a 35 year old up front who's form has plummeted yet is still our best hope of a goal and absolutely no fight or creativity in midfield. Meaning we cant score and if we want to at least try keep a clean sheet to have any chance of a positive result a defensive formation is the best hope and try **** fest our way through the rest of the season.

 

Think that's what baffles me, we were quick to move away from what worked with Wotherspoon when he left but we've had 3 months of ***** playing with this new system and doesn't seem to think it needs changing. Instead of slight tweaks, we go full defensive with a 5 at the back.  I won't pretend to be a tactical genius but I always thought the 5 at the back systems were much more complex and difficult to get right, when we could have had Anderson or McAllister in at wotherspoons position.

For those that have been going to games, what's happened after Xmas? When we had Wotherspoon, it looked like we were playing a 4-4-1-1 and getting results, but now it looks like Fergie is determined 5 at the back is the answer/ play defenders as midfielders and surprise we can't score to save ourselves. Why is he so determined 5 at the back is the answer when other formations have gotten us results? I want to believe there's a manager in there but maybe he just intimidated Ancelloti into making him assistant manager 

Just watched the goals, and the first Arbroath goal was a rotten bit of luck to be fair. We took our 3 very well, some finish by Mckay, and good to see the goals come in different manners (set piece, good bit of wing play, and classic keeper straight to the striker). The crossing is the first thing I noticed different, not just floated balls into the box all the time.

17 games left for Dunc to better his Forest Green record!

As said before, didn't look like scoring, would say I felt our passing was better today, actually playing it into space at times instead of straight to feet or up to the opposition CBs. If we're going to stick with wingers and crosses into the box then Mckay needs someone up front with him 

I may be misremembering Robbo's last stint, but felt he had us hard to beat but we lacked a proper goal threat, wonder if having Brooks and Mckay as options if his tactics would get better results this time

Second half was very sloppy, could be the team low on confidence as we lost possession too many times with players holding on to the ball and not playing the pass or making a run with it. We ended up just launching the ball forward towards McKay against their 3 CBs. With the way the ref handled the game, I'm honestly surprised Duffy didn't get a second yellow and sent off.

Just now, WYNESS101 said:

1-1

Camera veered off as the corner came in ...

Feel that's their first threat on our goal

8 minutes ago, WYNESS101 said:

What formation are we playing?

4-4-2 diamond or 4-3-3

Looks to be 2 up top from what I've watched online so far

9 hours ago, ICTPaisley said:

20k signing on fee and another 20k at the end of his contract as well.

Is the 20k at the end not a goal bonus instead? Heard it was if he got 20 goals then got another 20k, could be both I suppose 

2 years will make it too expensive to sack him at Xmas if we have another mid season meltdown...

26 minutes ago, big cherly said:

Your explanation in your first sentence mazza20 perfectly makes my point!
I fully understand fans wanting to back the club irrespective how they do, and thats fine if you like what’s on display ( I have no problem with that). 
I simply want to be better and entertained, and whilst we got to the playoff last year and a cup final this season I can’t honestly say what’s been on display for the past two seasons fills me with expectation. I discount the Covid year for obvious reason.
The off the field antics by the board during the same period is directly linked to the retention of Dodds due to the lack of money!

More of the football on display last season at home is simply not for me! 

Think a real world example would be Leeds and Everton this season. Everton knew they needed to be more defensively solid and went and got Dyche, whereas Leeds changed to Big Sam with 4 games to go and look how that went.

I don't get to games much unfortunately, but the few games I've been to last 2 years have been tough to watch, would say we lack that player that could really link the midfield to attack if we want to play the passing game or a proper target man if we want to play route 1

1 hour ago, ICTPAISLEY said:

I’ll certainly take more of the same, 45 minutes away from the Premier League against St Johnstone and this season 3 points off second place with a cup final at Hampden. We got a bit unlucky this season and there’s certainly room for improvement but we aren’t as bad as we’re made out.

I don’t really get why some of our fans have the old firm mentality where we should be outright winning this league.

Tbh I don't think there's a better candidate we could realistically get at the moment, if we're going to change manager then the board needs to have plan and then get someone who's style aligns with that. Next season will be worse if we just let him go with the expectation that there's someone better ready to take the job instead of doing any sort of research prior to this point.

I'm not thrilled about another season of Dodds but he's now got 2 years working with the squad so knows what he needs in terms of recruitment, and hopefully his match management improves with experience.

Luckily next season our bogey team in Hamilton are gone so that could 3 of our league losses turned into points instead

40 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Attendance 47,247 - so where were the 5,000 empty seats?! A few hundred where our section and Celtic section met, the rest seemed full from where I was at least.

Couldn't see how full the top section of the south stand was so maybe some there?

As everyone else as said, result was better than expected. Had no trouble with the Celtic fans (except for the one that made himself known in our section after the 3rd goal) and was surprised to see my train from Killie was pretty evenly split.

1st half was tough, think the instructions were to stay defensive unless you're confident you're in the clear, noticed anytime Henderson or Duffy got the ball on the right there was a reluctance to either make a run or an overlap. 2nd half was much better as we moved our press up the pitch started getting the ball higher up and made some decent pressure. Agree with Dodds the goals in the 2nd half came at the wrong time for us, but would argue if Celtic didn't get that first before half time then 2nd half would have continued the pattern of the 1st. Wasn't overly happy with the ref, don't think I can say he impacted the result but Billy Mckay was definitely getting manhandled during the 2nd half and never got a call for it.

23 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Time to pose another few questions ?

Should we get rid of Dodds before the Cup Final ? Is missing out on the play offs more of a positive than a negative ? Would we have been totally fecked if we were to progress in the play offs ? What can we do in the next few weeks to prepare ?

Now Dodds - IMHO - provided quite an encouraging response to the last question - we take a whole week off to recuperate. We then get together like a training camp - work on fitness, work on team building and work on how to take on Celtic and start the final with a clear plan.

And most importantly - Are we organising a pub for either pre or post Cup Final - or both ???

I would let Dodds have the cup final, think it would potentially put off potential candidates if we did get rid of him. We should be doing some work behind the scenes, identify targets we want etc, gauge interest for the role, and need to have a sit down with Dodds and give him a chance to show why he may be the best candidate. We'll at least know that way if he wants to be here and we should be putting in milestones that he needs to reach if he wants to keep the job.

Missing out is good for the cup final, but probably bad long term. We need some major rotation throughout playoffs and rest days if wanted the best possible chance to get through.

Anyone put themselves through the post match interview? Don't agree with most of what Dodds said, it's been another big missed chance instead of a good season. Claimed he wanted to make changes before half time, but thought he'd see if we'd sneak to HT 0-0. To me that's him all over, make changes too late, it's a must win, last game of the season, if it's not working then change it immediately!