Happy Dosser

I meant to write "punditry" 😱. Apologies.

Agree with a lot of the above. I began in 1962, after Ian St John and Pat Quinn had left the club, but there was still the belief in the Bobby Ancell philosophy of quick passing and movement and what might call "pure football". In those days there was a certain pride in supporting such a team, which had famously gubbed Rangers 2-5 in a Scottish Cup replay at Ibrox (the awful 0-1 defeat to Airdrieonians at FP in the next round was claimed by some to be one reason Sinjy agreed to a move to Liverpool). Our manager seems to have a similar philosophy based on more progressive continental ideas and he seems to have annoyed a section of Scottish pundrity by having the temerity to buck the trend for smaller clubs to grind out results, relying on physicality and set-piece routines to avoid the spectre of relegation. I am Sure J-B will stay true to his principles and that he will strengthen the club gradually by shrewd recruitment (no other way for a club of our size). Our midfield is the best I can remember, our defence has been strengthened significantly by Welsh (who was faultless against Hearts and has excellent distribution from the back) and if we can develop a striker in-house or find one in January (unlikely) to score regularly we could cement our top four place. The increase in our attendances shows that fans have an appetite for such creative football as opposed to the usual "hod-carrier" stuff practised by many Scottish clubs. It will be interesting to see how such teams adapt when they play us in the second half of the season. Strap yourselves in for an exciting ride (I hope).

I thought Longelo was quite poor yesterday: hardly won anything in the air and didn't get forward (was this an instruction?). Slattery wasn't so great either and Priestman was impresssive on Tuesday so JBA might pick a new formation against Falkirk.

Quite right: Sportscene last night was another example of faint praise for us and Radio Scotland before the match yesterday took a swipe at J-B Askou for allegedly "dispespectful" comments about Hibs' Hanley on Tuesday night. Wee McCall was in his element. Don't think he likes us very much.....

From what I saw on the highlights, Just's shot was on target and was not really "from close range". Having said that, the handling in the box law needs to be re-thought because the inconsistences in its interpretation are too common, and not just in Scotland.

Very impressed with our swift passing and movement last night, reminiscent of the Ancell Babes at their best by all accounts; only disappointment was not scoring more goals in the second half. Askou has broken the mould for the smaller clubs in the Premiership by insisting this kind of football is possible with imagination, good coaching and shrewd recruitment rather than the more unimaginative, defensive, physical grind dependent on set-pieces so typical of clubs outwith the OF. Perhaps this explains why some football pundits are eager for this great experiment to fail so clubs like us can get back in our box. I had a look at the btl comments by Hibs fans in the various Hibs videos post-match. Quite a few used the term "outclassed" to describe their team and while some complained about the penalty award and the sending off, others said we clearly deserved to win and congratulated us.. I hope we make amends on Saturday for only drawing at Tynecastle while up 0-3 but I think this will be a tremendous tussle worthy of a sell-out crowd. May The Force be with us.....

A history lesson:

This was my first home game this season after recovering from an operation and having extra Saturday family commitments so I haven't commented on our team this season. I was really impressed with our passing and movement in the first half and at times our play reminded me of the skilful Ancell Babes team I watched in my first years at Fir Park but I was nervous at half time because of our slender lead, although Falkirk looked all at sea and could only muster one corner in the first 45. All John McGlynn did in the second half was to push his team up and press us and we fell apart and I can't improve on Big Stall's analysis above. Our defence was so easy to unpick it reminded me of our Alexander/Hammell/Kettlewell years as we succumbed passively to late pressure and threw away the points. What concerned me most was that Jens Askou seemed devoid of a Plan B to combat Falkirk's obvious counter measures and consequently there was no reaction as the game slipped away from us. So may of our attacks seemed to lack conviction when it came to pulling the trigger and there seemed to be a lack of fighting spirit and dig when things started to go against us. Callum Hendry looked unfit and was blowing like a Beluga after 60 minutes and if he is our cover for Stama then we have real problems up front. Our manager needs to react quickly to come up with some answers because it will be obvious to other teams if we can't adapt to changing circumstances in a game. If he doesn't, our chances of beating a physical and streetwise St Mirren in the LCSF will be slim and our league form will suffer further. .

I thought JBA was a bit downbeat during that interview, probably concerned about the lack of cover in the striker position as well as the physicality of St Mirren. It will be interesting to see if we can adapt to the challenge SM represent (and avoid any more injuries).

Agree completely and with MJC's comments above. It's far too fussy and busy and a horizontal band and verical pinstripe just don't work, even before we get on to The Shorts Question. Our "Theo Bair" year jersey was fine imo and should be our basic template. If the likes of Newcastle United can keep their stripes for a century without needless experiment why not us? We can do that with the other two strips each year. The hoop is such a distinctive feature it's a pity the club don't seem to value it as a "brand". It was used for sixty years until about 1968 and we won the league, cup and league cup wearing it. Oh, well, maybe next year, if I'm still around.

I've never heard the adenoidal Keevins say anything remotely favourable about MFC. He's there to buff up the Ugly Sisters and I've never been convinced his football knowledge extends much beyond their squads. Scottish football's churnalists and presstitutes generally constitute the bottom layers of football writers in the UK, with very few exceptions.

I know it's age-related but me too. We've had some honking strips over the years which deliberately turned their backs on a very unusual combination of colours and design which are unique. We can always reserve the honking designs for the change strips if necessary. Sadly I think we'll get another jersey next season designed by an interior designer on psychedelic drugs.

Nice to see the hoop for once and not an advertising bar or this season's revamped "yoke" from nineteen canteen. God only knows what our groovy "designers" will be up to for next season 😱. Place your bets!

Delighted with yesterday's victory since I didn't think we would win the first two games post-split and was resigned to a few more nerve-shredding weeks. Wimmer has done really well to grind out the points with a poor squad further hampered by an incredibly bad run of injuries while trying to cope with a different football culture and language . At times I even felt he might have regretted taking the job so I'm glad things have turned out well in the end and we have avoided relegation. I hope he now has plenty of time to concentrate on rebuilding for next year and has some specific signing targets in mind because it's obvious the overall ability isn't there at the moment. I'll be renewing my season ticket (which was frankly in doubt given the dreadful football on offer for most of this season and the general downward slide in quality at Fir Park) because it could be interesting seeing what the new manager will do as he tries to mould a new side without the pressure and distraction of involvment in European competition.