weeyin

Couldn't afford him now. A year too late for Ipswich. A little more defensive nous might have kept them up last season. Good signing for them, though.

It's the managers that are telling them to do it. One of the current trends in modern football, along with passing out from the back, inverted full backs, and wingbacks instead of wingers. You might not like it, and will be more likely to notice it when mistakes happen, but I guarantee all the modern coaches have Gigabytes of match data showing that less goals are conceded that way, and more attacks are created that way. A few years ago, I saw the guy in charge of data at Liverpool discuss his analysis. He had taken all the available stats from all the available matches to create a map of the pitch. They had calculated the percentage chance of a goal being scored from the starting position of the man with the ball on every square foot of the pitch. They used that during training to focus on getting the ball to highest percentage starting positions as quickly as possible. That's the kind of analysis that goes into the game these days, even at smaller clubs like ours. And the kind of thing JBA means when he says that Danish teams play more modern football than Scottish teams. We can't ask for a more progressive approach to the game and then complain about what that means. Well, we can, but it will hold us back. Today's tactics are significantly different from when I started watching football in the 70's, which is mostly a good thing - although preferring full backs that can attack rather than defend still drives me nuts. Back to this game, I expect more of our new signings to start, and a higher tempo game on our grass.

I'm not exactly sure how long the league cup groups have been in place now, but surely long enough for fans to recognise the fact the the first game at this time of the season is always a bit of a lottery. There are so many variables in play that won't be in play once the league is up an running. There is usually one, often more, Premiership teams that fail to qualify from their group, and most struggle in a few games. The reasons are obvious: New managers not having time yet to implement new tactics Thinner squads with new recruits not yet signed, or signed during the week and not ready to play Players at different stages in their fitness due to longer breaks after international duty in the summer Players with trivial injuries not being risked New managers trying out different combinations and formations in competitive games for the first time Managers trying to load balance game time across the entire squad And in the case of yesterday, playing on a plastic pitch on a hot day where the home team has kept it as dry as possible to slow down the tempo. The starting line-up in the first game rarely bears any resemblance to the starting line-up that has taken shape in September. This is just a long way to say keep it in perspective, people - the league cup groups have rarely (never) been an indicator, good or bad, of our subsequent league form.

Early season fitness levels possibly. Or maybe just wanted to try something out.

If anyone was excited about a game at NDP I can only assume this is their first season following the sport. There has not been an entertaining game in that stadium since the day they rolled out that plastic abomination, regardless of the teams involved. As for masters of the letdown, every set of fans say that, and ours forget to say it when, for example, we stuff Rangers in a play off (or cup semi), get 2nd place with a last gasp winner at Pittodrie or beat Dundee Utd in front of a huge crowd. We win our fair share of big games, but we're not big enough to win them all. See Dundee or St Mirren for other examples.

That's how the new manager wants us to play, so it's a risk regardless of who is in goals. Less of a risk if we don't scuff a pass straight to an opposition striker, right enough.

I've read our new manager has a reputation for being a good defensive coach, but still think he needs better defenders to work with.

I agree and have being saying that for thenpast couple of seasons.

Are there any defenders from the past 2 seasons that make you think different - because I'd struggle to think of one.

A decent workout and a good demonstration of our defensive deficiencies to the new manager. Hot day on a plastic pitch was always going to be a difficult watch.

It's that time of year where some of the team looks like they haven't played together before and I need to copy and paste the new player names from Wikipedia. Welcome back and take your pick...

High Press takes the lead!

Slats and Halliday using the "fake argument" approach to that free kick. I remember we had a similar routine under Ally McLeod where Willie Irvine and Brian McLaughlin would "argue" before Irvine flicked the ball over the wall for the man at the end to run on to. Only ever remember it working once.

That will likely be intentional. I remember Accies only used to water the half they were attacking in. Then turned on the sprinklers for the other half during the interval. Also, Slats needs to change his footwear, because he's struggling to stay upright,

TBF It did look like a plastic assist, just surprised Slattery sclaffed it with his experience on these surfaces. Nothing the keeper could do, and it was a good finish from the Clyde player.

Just in time for the equaliser. Slattery redeemed.

I certainly never called Slattery hitting an intended 10 yard pass, 2 feet - even on plastic.

Callum Slattery first to join this season's "Defensive Disaster" Hall of Fame. Dear, as they say, Oh Dear.

Premier Sports are streaming it, apparently - if you're happy to spend 99 quid for a sub.

Panoramic views over the plastic pitch to the empty gazebo stand, with the magnificent, imposing edifice of Morrison's as a backdrop.

The new gaffer is no different from previous managers at this time in the season. The starting line up in the first league cup games takes a shape for many different reasons. Some players are further ahead in their fitness than others, so more likely to start. The manager wants to try out a few new combinations in a competitive match. The manager wants to "balance the load" across the squad over the next few weeks. Anyone with even a small twinge from training will not be risked. Some players handle plastic pitches better than others. Lennon Miller is about to be sold. etc, etc.

Official site says the game will be streamed on MFC TV for overseas subscribers (no PPV option).

No.

We could insist that everyone starts a new Topic any time they want to say something not directly associated with the Topic headings, but I imagine there would be complaints about having 354 new one-post Topics every day.

If you can wait 4 minutes, I'll post my response.