weeyin

That's probably what they actually do. The official line I've heard from the SPFL, however, is that they do try and predict top 6 before every season and how that complicates things. Right enough, it's usually when they are a week late with the post-split fixtures and looking for an excuse.

You could sell that as a slogan to our Marketing Team

They have to predict who will finish top 6 before the season starts to try and schedule the last 5 fixtures to balance home and away, plus take into account previous home and away balance. I think Hibs and Aberdeen really shafted them with that, which is why we end up at Tannadice again.

I agree Lamie has been our best defensive performer recently. I was one of his defenders (no pun intended) in his early days because we were playing him in all kinds of weird positions - including left mid at one point. He's obviously an effective central defender. Not outstanding, but solid enough. Part of that effectiveness is finding a partner, and we've struggled to field the same duo in consecutive games most weeks. A settled defensive unit is a key platform in any team's success and we're not there yet. Sol reminds me a bit of McManus. Has the talent, but prone to lapses in concentration a couple of times a game. Bevis is a bit like Hartley. Keep the passes short and simple, and he does fine. But you've got to love it when he's on the move up the wing and he seems like a top bloke.

Especially if Charlie Adam's salary is freed up next season.

One of the reasons players move is for more first team football. Lamie has been about 4th choice in his preferred position most of this season, so I assumed Dundee were offering him a better chance of regular starts. If the money was similar (or better) and the length of contract was similar (or better) then you can see how it would have made sense at the time. If we did re-sign him, I think he'd still be 3rd or 4th choice in GA's mind, so not sure anything has changed for him from that perspective.

He's fine when he's playing central defence and keeps his passes simple. When he plays up top (or even galloping up the wing from the right back position) he's pure entertainment.

That's harsh. He's been played out of position quite a few times this season, but he's developed into a solid central defender.

I think he must have been some kind of creative accounting tax write-off.

I played at left back too. I'd have pointed out that Goss and Lamie should both have won their tackles before letting Forrest play the through ball for the first goal.

I think as long as Hibs don't win the cup, I qualify for the Europa League Cup League Preliminary Group Stage Conference Qualifier Round.

The big man pushing up as an extra striker is pure entertainment.

The last few months of Robinson were "eye bleeding". I've posted many times about how, like most clubs our size, the only reason we watch is to be entertained. Our chances of winning anything are slim to none, so enjoyment is key. Football being football, however, you can't guarantee that at Fir Park (or at, for example, Old Trafford). That's part of the fun. Entertainment, for me, isn't just about seeing fast flowing attractive football every week - although that would be ideal. It's also about watching managers develop players, watching new players evolve, watching youngsters come through, watching players adapt etc. Then there is bringing in a new manager that has never managed in Scotland before. If you remember, early on he tried to play out from the back before discovering that Scottish players and Scottish football struggled with that. So had to change tactics. Then with Covid and major injury and fitness issues, we've struggled to field consistent starting line-ups. Again, for me, that is part of the interest of watching a team like ours. It's been a struggle in 2022. but somehow we've managed to get top 6 with just one win. You can argue with the quality of play today, but you can't complain about the character and commitment to get that equaliser. If you can combine that mentality with better players then there should be improvement. Now that GA is completing his first full season I'd expect him to apply his lessons learned to recruitment, training and tactics for next season. If he doesn't, then we need to have the conversation about replacing him. If he does, then it was well worth keeping him around. I assume, since we extended his contract, there are no plans to ditch him. As I said earlier in the thread, there were many people on here wanting Tommy Wright to take over last time around. If you want eye-bleeding football he's certainly your man, but he proved pretty quickly at Killie he would have been the wrong man. Likewise, if fans had had their way, Wee Tommy would have been sent packing in his first couple of season and we'd never have had that success. I remember people complaining about McCall's style of play when we were finishing 2nd and 3rd in the league. I pointed out then you should enjoy it and remember it because we tend to be a 7th or 8th best kinda team and that level of success wouldn't last. This has been a weird Covid season. Not as weird as last season, but it's still had an impact on training, on match days and on killing off the reserve/youth teams which has hampered development. It's certainly not been a classic, but if we finish above 6th, it's been OK. Especially given all the chat pre-season that there would only be one top six spot up for grabs after Aberdeen and Hibs took 4th and 5th. In fact, based on my last 50+ years of watching, it's probably slightly above average. But that doesn't mean I don't want it to improve on the run-in and next season. First things first, though - let's get 2 or 3 wins post-split and see where that takes us.

Monday: "It's all about the result" Tuesday: "It's all about the result" Wednesday: "It's all about the result" Thursday: "It's all about the result" Friday: "It's all about the result" Saturday Morning: "It's all about the result" Saturday Afternon: "We got the result" Saturday Evening: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Players who sign pre-contracts shouldn't play for their team for the rest of the season. Discuss (once you've cast your vote for Lamie)

Given that many on here wanted Tommy Wright to take over our last vacancy I'm not convinced about their managerial opinions. Personally, I'm quite happy for GA to sort it out during the summer and then see what happens.

It doesn't take Nostradamus to predict an away game to Livi for any team is going to be eye bleedingly painful to watch. My biggest disappointment this season has been that the early season chat about the OF + others going to insist on grass pitches in the Premiership has come to nothing.

We deserve it more than the other 6 teams.

It's the Tony Macaroni Triangle. You never see away teams play well there and there has never been an entertaining game played on that pitch. (Used to get more consistent bounces on my school playground). It's all about the result today. Entertainment factor was always likely to be zero.

I'm complaining now. I think the mixing desk is under a waterfall.

No commentary here, not that I'm complaining.

My Android box crashed just before kick-off (back up and running now). Hope it's not an omen.

I'm still not seeing what other people are seeing in Woolery. Can't cross, can't shoot, can't beat a man with the ball at his feet. He's fast and he's powerful, and good to have off the bench, but Efford has been more effective for me in the past few games with better dribbling, crossing and shooting. Fun game - count how many times Woolery "crosses" it straight to an opposing defender.

That's a shame. He played in the first 'Well team I remember watching.

McCall was the opposite of McGhee in that regard. When things weren't working, he never had a Plan B. With McGhee, even if things were working, he liked to overthink it and come up with some weird formation every now and then. In both cases, though, it just goes to show that it's often personality of the manager and how it gels with the players that is the deciding factor in success. It sets the tone for everything, and once you lose that, your time's usually up.