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I’m not aware of any changes having been made to VAR and offside, so the way things are it was the correct call but I’m all for scrapping the lines and unless playback shows it to be blatantly obvious, on side or off side, the on field call should stand.

It's simply not fit for purpose and that's been proved time after time since it's inception. You would think that things would improve through time but if anything the decision making is getting worse each season and that's worrying.

I agree with that. He needs a club where he has complete freedom to implement his ideas, allowed to bring in the players he wants, and patience from the fans. Neither of the OF sides would allow that.

No surprise that the VAR review quickly turned into the VAR Justification Show.

Tight but correct call. Was exact same as one Killie had chopped off against us. Jens should be more concerned about that effort being only 1 of 2 shots on target in 94 mins

JBA sums up the current state of Scottish VAR perfectly in this article from the Sun https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/16067918/askou-fumes-var-lines-drawn-by-five-year-old/

Previously he's said if the leg bends (as it this case) it's a red. They also said he's in control of the ball, he's not even looking at it.

Definitely overthinking it, we are 6 pts ahead because we have been better than hibs, Of course anything can happen but they must be more disappointed than us

The manager also needs to call out the treatment wee Just is getting just now. It’s an utter disgrace. I watched him closely yesterday and it’s constant. More so than any of our other players. Maybe Maswanhise as well but it’s obvious how Just is targeted.

I think I’d rather play Falkirk and hearts than Killie and Aberdeen tbh these Sides are a nightmare to play against at the moment ((Dundee like) they are fighting and scrapping for everything, I fancy Killie to beat most sides just now especially on the plastic and Robinson tore strips off them yesterday so I’d expect a reaction from Aberdeen ….but I do get Butcher vibes at Hibs from him/them…. Which would be very funny.

There are a lot of ifs and buts before it gets anywhere close to being 50/50 IMO.

Like Hibs , other teams will set up like this against us , those two lines in front on us made it tricky to do anything . id add to that having 4 centralish midfielders didn’t give the right balance . When teams play like this against us we need guys to carry the ball forward . Whether it be wingbacks or others . yesterday we played too many backward passes or then tries the eye of the needle to get through 2 lines straight to JT - it simply won’t work . thankfully we have an incredible manager who I’m sure will adapt the team for Falkirk

Quite: he often reminds me of Willie Hunter because of his great movement and control but the latter's career was badly affected by a broken leg and two broken arms (one of which was a horrible compound one) which he sustained playing for MFC. Just shows a great attitude in getting up and persevering but a few more tackles of the Oxo-Chamberpot variety and a serious injury is likely, but our refs will do nothing about it, of course. I also noticed yesterday that Nicky Cadden was always in the referee's ear (and other Hibs players surrounded the ref at times to with their helpful opinions). I thought only the captain could approach the referee or is that another law that has quietly been dropped? Wasn't it also Cadden who raised two hands to push over SOD? Nothing was done about that either.

If we're taking records against the top 6 into account, both Hibs and Falkirk have 2 wins, same as ourselves. All 7 Hibs defeats have come againt top 6 sides, while Falkirk have also lost 7 times against them. I wouldn't count anything out before we reach the split. Desperate times throw up strange results, as Dundee, Killie and St Mirren have shown over the past couple of weeks.

Was always more concerned about this one than I was about Hibs, so yesterday’s performance doesn’t bode well. Wouldn’t be too gutted with another draw, would be nice to start scoring again though.

Time will tell but I don’t think anything is certain yet over him staying or leaving. Obviously money talks and if a bigger club who can offer him more money come in then he will go. But that is a big ‘if’ still I feel. I don’t think he’s at the stage yet or done enough yet to have Celtic or English Championship sides seriously considering him. But maybe they will, as I said time will tell. Of course he may chose to leave of his own accord and take a job in or nearer his home country like Michael Wimmer did. Or he might not and instead opt to stay with us. But of course he then runs the risk of him not hitting the same levels he did this season and his stock falls as a result. Let’s face it, both Celtic and Rangers will not have another season like this one for a long time. At least one of or probably both of them will be a lot stronger and a lot more consistent. Hearts will spend money too and Aberdeen, if they survive that is, will be stronger next season you would think. JBA is 43 years old and therefore still a young manager and still developing his coaching skills. Bigger clubs especially Celtic who demand instant success might view him as too risky an appointment at this stage.

A fortnight off so time to recharge batteries. Longelo will be back and I would start Big Thor and maybe have Maswanhise on bench as could be tired after internationals. Just could be tired also so a lot of thinking for JBA. I wonder if Nicholson due a start

I think JBA would be best staying another season and making stock higher. These last 7 games are where we see his credentials even more hopefully as teams are sussing us out and he needs to vary it. Yesterday his time in making changes was very poor. Big Thor should have been on a lot earlier and I would have taken Watt off before Priestman

There’s no certainty that JBA will leave us for another club this summer either imo. I mean there probably as as good a chance of him being here as not next season but is his pedigree as a manager that high or his performance with us this season really been that exceptional that bigger clubs would be circling him? That’s not a slight on him, I think he’s been really good for us, but he’s been knocked out of both cups in really poor fashion and his record against the top half of the league really isn’t that impressive. A lot of lovely football, yes, but also a lot of draws and from being talked about as title contenders a few weeks ago (ridiculously albeit) we’re now looking over our shoulders to stay in 4th place. Put it this way, if he was to go to Celtic as has been mentioned by some then he would flop spectacularly in my opinion.

Falkirk are a good, solid team and we will struggle to break them down again. Our problem all season long is that we just aren’t strong or clinical enough up front when it really matters and that is why we were never seriously in contention for a top three finish. As someone highlighted in the match thread yesterday, our record against the top six sides is actually pretty poor. 2 wins in 13 albeit only 4 losses. As has been the case most of the season it’s the inability to turn draws into wins that has been our downfall. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if the end of the season sort of mirrors the start, with a lot more frustrating draws.

I don't disagree but I think what you also have to take into consideration is that these players are playing at this level for JBA there is no guarantee they will remain at that level under a new manager. For Example McKinstry under Hammell probably our best player under Kettlewell he barley played. Slattery under Wimmer/JBA to Hammell/Kettlewell. We also have to start planning replacements for each player for example if Elliot Watt leaves I'd like to see us sign Dean McMaster from Airdrie he's really impressed me every time I've seen him on the Friday night Championship game and is a similar profile to Watt. I think we could replace any of Watt, Longelo or Said with a similar player the ones we'd stuggle to replace are Just, Fadinger, Maswanhise because their profiles are quite rare and probably can't be replaced like for like. We would now probably struggle to replace Ward as his kicking this season has been excellent.

Hibs were well organised yesterday, they stopped us playing through midfield, two lines in front of us all the time. It forced us to try to go round them down the sides to get in behind and thats not our game. And i though VAR had done away with the big toe or half a boot being offside, that decision was a joke.

Just certainly does appear to being singled out for "special treatment" the referees should be doing more to protect him. If they dont, guys like Said will end up getting booked or sent off trying defend their team mate. Dickinson is a really poor referee which, given the pool he swims in, is really saying something.....

A fair summing up Joe. I thought JBA made some mistakes today with his line up and appraoch. It looked to be an overly cautious approach designed to ensure we didn't lose. Longelo was a huge loss, the midfield looked congested and we lacked venom up front. The early plan of shelling long balls over the top for JT to run onto was fine in theory but the execution was very poor and was rightly stopped. For most of the game we lacked any penetration up front and Hibs were happy to soak it up and their keeper was larlely unemployed. Ward was slightly busier but again didn't have much to do. Not sure why Priestman was taken off as he was our most industrious midfielder. I thought we were too late in making changes. Our chalked off goal was very tight and certainly not clear or obvious. Thought David Dickinson had a poor game. Both Cadden and Suto were very lucky to escape 2 yellow cards each with the latter being substituted to save him. In my view, if you lift your hands to someone. Not quite sure how the 4 minus additional time was calculated. 7 second half subs @ 30 seconds each; blatant timewasting and several 2 protracted injuries. Overall, 2 points dropped. A slight blip is now gradually turning into a bit of slump. Other teams seem to have sussed us out. A change in plan now required for remaining games? Some positives though: another shut out and a 9,300 attendance. 2 asides. The media now needs to starts to start calling out cynical thuggery when teams target Eli Just (but it won't for fear of offending old boys) and the POD was an accident waiting to happen at half time (queues down the stairs for the kiosk, those wanting to visit hospitlaity and those wanting the toilet).

We're currently 6 points above Hibs with a 13 goal advantage. That seems a fairly safe cushion. However, before the break we face Falkirk at home and Hearts away. I reckon we'll take 1 point from those games. Hibs have Killie at home and Aberdeen away. They should be good for 4 points from those games. IF, and it is an if, it pans out like that, then our lead is cut to 3 points. That then takes us post split and we'll be due Hearts and Celtic at home. Maybe one point from those games? We'll play Hibs at Easter Road and they'll fancy their chances. On top of that, our record against current top 6 sides isn't great nor is our away form. We might well secure 4th spot, but it will be very tight and the game at Easter Road will be crucial. Yesterday, was defintiely 2 points dropped. In short, a 50/50 chance is realistic.