Leaderboard

Absolutely. There's too much negativity going around just now about the team's playing style. In our situation a manager's first priority should be to stabilise the team and sort out the defence to reduce the goals aginst column. Thats what Robbo has done. Once thats been achieved then the next stage is to concentrate on improving the attack. You're right, some of wee Tommy's early teams were "dire" to watch - soaking up pressure, not conceding too many, and then breaking away to score the odd goal. Jim MacLean adopted the exact same approach at Tannadice and was lauded for his "attractive" footballing style. I've only ever deserted our team twice, albeit temporarily, once during the dire Alex Mcleish era; and once in the mid 80s when I went to Tannadice to watch Dundee United and Hibs in preference to our own game. I'd been brainwashed by the media into thinking that Jim MacLean's team was the finest footballing team Scotland had ever produced. I got carried away and just had to see this game for myself. Hibs pounded them for 89 minutes and penned them back in their own box but couldn't score. United broke away twice and scored twice to win 2-0. The Arabs went crazy as did the media over this footballing "masterclass". It just left me cold. I decided there and then that there was nothing wrong with following our own club. Much more recently our 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock seemed to go down very well with the Ayrshire fans despite their style resembling two parked doubler decker buses. I didn't hear many moans and complaints at the game from their fans or read scathing comments afterwards. Maybe some of our fans have unrealistic expectations? Right now I'm perfectly happy with us winning 1-0 by playing defensively, playing the long ball or whatever. Yes, playing flowing silky soccer is nice but that comes later. All that said, it seems to be in vogue for certain fans to criticise fellow fans who wanted Stephen Robinson sacked a few months ago. All I would say is live and let live. These boards and football in general, are all about opinions and no-one should be sneered at for holding a different view. Our team is doing quite well just now and despite internal differences our fanbase should stick together. There's room for all shades of opinion so long as we show mutual respect.

Aye, from you!

Is it too early for Craig Levein to express concern about our over-physical style and hope his ball-players will be protected by a strong referee?

"Ssome of wee Tommy's early teams were "dire" to watch - soaking up pressure, not conceding too many, and then breaking away to score the odd goal. Jim MacLean adopted the exact same approach at Tannadice and was lauded for his "attractive" footballing style. " Very true, Kmcalpin. I remember in the early days of Tommy's tenure all we had up front was a very young Andy Walker and old war-horse Andy Harrow. John Reilly was then a panic signing from The Arabs whose career was virtually ended soon after by a knee injury, so zero attacking options after that. There was one game at FP when Charlie Nicholas played for Aberdeen in which we actually scored early and spent about the next 70 minutes defending desperately to win, if my memory serves me correctly: nerve-racking stuff.. Our team has a strong spine now and I am sure Robbo will planning Stage Two of The Project.

Finishing 7th with 3 or 4 (or even 5) wins after the split would not be the worst thing in the world. It would be even better if we had a final trip to Hampden to look forward to.

I’m not sure if I want to make the top 6 this season other than for the extra money that comes with it. I think the fixtures against the teams in the bottom 6 will be much more enjoyable.

Of course he is doing alright. After all he won the last game we played!

It will never happen, but if refs were allowed to comment publically on their decisions - what they saw, and why they called it that way - I think it would help. Not only because it would help clarify, but because it might make for more accountability and keep them on their toes. Not quite the same situation, but after our League Cup semi when Vincent Lunny explained in great detail which incidents would be punished, or reviewed, and the reasons why - it helped make sense of a few things which are usually kept quiet behind closed doors. We might not always agree, but knowing the thought process behind these things often adds some much needed clarity.

Just saw this tweet from the club marking Robinson's first 50 games in charge: Given the fact that we were debating whether he should be binned a few weeks ago, and some are still not keen, I hadn't realised how impressive the stats were. However you look at it, that's a superb record so far.