joewarkfanclub

Great disciplined team performance, but Tony Watt for me is leading from the front. What a shift he put in again today. He is our player of the season by a distance right now.

Once Onthefringes alludes to the possibility of a deal happening with Rooney I might start to believe it!

I remember every time we played Partick Thistle or Livingston he put in very good performances, either scored or provided an assist and was generally one of the better players on the park. Did I wish he was back at Fir Park? Probably not. But he is a proven and consistent SPL level player who should be good for a minimum 6/10 performance every week. Not the flashiest, most inspiring signing we will ever make, but the boy will do a job.

I really dont see what the alternative is here? With the spotlight that Scottish football is currently under due to previous breaches and Celtics heavily criticised recent actions, the panel would be absolutely mad to overturn this decision. Both clubs admitted breaches of protocols. That has to have some form of punishment attached. The financial penalties were deferred pending future good behaviour, which I think is entirely correct, given the financial situations of most clubs. Therefore docking points is the only alternative. I think you could alter it so each game is only a 1-0 loss so as not to adversely effect goal difference. But thats about it.

The 25% we reportedly negotiated in the original deal. If we didnt get that heads should roll

Coles chance was a good one. But not any better than the St Mirren chance at the other end that met with the same fate. Or the one that Erhahon missed in the second half. The debate here is whether St Mirren deserved a point or not regardless of the penalty that should never have been given. I would contest that they were deserving of a point. Others may differ.

I generally feel that the team that plays the best deserves to win the game. You dont always get what you deserve but thats fitba'. St Mirren had a gilt edged chance in the first half and another in the second as well as the free kick. We had the goal, Watts header and O'Hara's free kick. So if you want to ignore the balance of play and go on chances alone a draw probably was still the correct result. Not sure why that part of my post seems to have irked you. I talk enough shite to find fault with without focussing on a minor matter of opinion.

In the last game we played nobody up top. We played 2 banks of 5 for 70 mins and when we lost the goal and did change the answer was Jordan White. No offence, but the change came too late and when made it was the wrong one. I dont think we can play open against Rangers as they have the quality to pick us off. But that doesnt mean we should just sit back and invite them onto us. We could play a high press and try and keep Tavernier and Barisic from pushing up. But thats a long shift as well and we still have Kent and Morelos to take care of. On the plus side I think Arfield and Roofe are still injured so thats 2 less to be concerned about. Particularly Arfield as I think he is the type of player that really gives our defence problems with late runs into the box. Its a fine line playing good teams. Hopefully we can get the balance right for once.

On the balance of play, St Mirren were the better team in the 2nd half, just as we were in the first.

Id play Watt up top. I think he is the most likely to make it stick long enough for the midfield to get up and support.

Now that we have all seen Sportscene, can we agree that it wasnt a penalty, Mugabi did nothing wrong and actually played the ball? Still doesnt change the fact that St Mirren probably deserved their point, just not like that!

Hopefully given the fact that he has lived and played his entire life in England he wont be tarnished with the "we have no right to expect to beat them" mentality. I dont mind if we set up to be really hard to beat, but we need an outball allow us to counter attack.

I thought Carroll looked much more assured today but clearly still has a bit to go sharpness wise but it will come. I was impressd with O'Hara and he stuck to his task despite the yellow card, albeit he rode his luck at times. Great free kick. However, went for the much maligned Mugabi probably just to swim against the tide a bit. Thought he had an excellent first half defensively and his striding purposefully out of defence with the ball is something to behold! Second half I thought he stood up to the increased pressure pretty well. I need to see the pen again, but I didnt see much wrong with it on first viewing. The guy is still young, and with the right support and playing partner I dont think he is an absolute write off just yet.

Thought today totally encapsulated our season in 90 minutes. Good first half. Controlled the play,. Played some nice stuff without carving out too many clear cut chances. Took one, couldnt press home our advantage by converting another and giving ourselves breathing space. Totally allowed the opposition back into it 2nd half. Made some dubious substitutions that didnt improve much. Lost a goal to a really dubious refereeing decision. Failed to win 3 points. On the plus side, we didnt capitulate. We actually seemed to react a little after the goal and finished strongly. Mugabi, Carroll, Polworth, O'Hara, Hastie, Cole all put in vastly improved performances. Plenty for the new gaffer to be encouraged about but plenty of scope for further improvement.

Just read McFedz post on the other thread! Great minds and all that....