weeyin

I think we are really struggling for fit midfielders in that role, but agree it's a risk.

TBF, it's rare any team gets a comfortable win in this league. There's not much to choose between 4th and 10th right now. I'm just glad we got the 2 goal lead before half time.

It's not enforced, very often, but the rule on violent conduct includes an "attempt" and doesn't need to connect: Violent conduct is when a player attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a team-mate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made. So by the strict letter of the law, if the ref thought that he tried (but failed) to headbutt Watt with excessive force, then he can give a straight red.

From the comments during the week, I'm not sure Slattery has 45 minutes in him yet. He was one of the players we've been desperate to get playing in the bounce games that keep getting cancelled. Would hook Davor though, as refs often look for chances to "even things up", especially after soft red cards.

Hope Apostolos is taking notes - exactly what's needed in games like this.

The Sparrow has returned to the flock. I left the 2 Wilsons as votes had been cast against both of them.

Not changing it until someone spells his name right.

Hands up who didn't see that coming? (Not you, Oxborough). Take your pick...

Happy New Year fellow dossers. Even to the posters who keep asking for a null vote in MOTM 🥳 And don't forget to move your calendars forward one year (I stole that one from Emo Philips).

The only sure things in life are death, taxes and Rangers getting the benefit of an incorrect VAR decision.

As I've said before, I can't think of any young player we have released that ended up playing at a higher level than us. And even the ones that chose to leave for "better things" (rather than be punted) have mostly struggled. Max Johnston is the rare exception in the latter category, and even Turnbull (after a good initial spell) has had a downturn in fortunes.

Casey's agression and attitude tend to distract from his lack of defending fundamentals. He was a key part of last year's defensive atrocities and, especially when starting with Blaney, is a guarantee we won't have a clean sheet. He is an asset when we have the ball, and great at causing disruption in the opponent's box. Below average when we don't have the ball, or when he's defending in our box. We've started to slip into our old habit of losing soft goals, and that needs to be addressed with some changes in the back 3.

"When you fight the champion in their home town, you need to knock them out to get a draw" springs to mind. Take your pick...

Can't catch a break here. Celtic have illness in the squad and turn in a subpar performance the game before they play us. Now Rangers turn in a subpar performance the game before they play us. I think you've confused us with Hearts there. Before Rangers result today I'd have predicted a hard fought 1 - 1. Now I predict a hard fought 1 - 1 and then a soft pen awarded to them in the 94th minute.

Saving ourselves for the Rangers home win? Take your pick...

If we did that, we'd have none left. And where are the replacements coming from? Recruiting a new hire and waiting for them to complete the multi-year process to qualify for the Premiership? Or do you think that the refs in the lower leagues are already good enough? I'd much rather train up the existing referees to be competent than promote ones that are less competent to the top league and keep my fingers crossed it goes OK. In practical terms, if refs thought they were going to get the sack if they made a poor decision, you know they would just start relying more heavily on VAR and looking at replays even more often. The refs have been poor for a number of years - replacing them with even less experienced refs (who have gone through the same training as the existing ones, remember) would make things worse.

Away win for Scrooge.

Gordon can't mark his own man and cover for the other two's mistakes as well. They make too many individual errors, have concentration lapses, make slack passes, get stranded out of position etc. You can get just about get away with one of them back there, but they just don't work in combination. Two clean sheets total in the league when they both start says it all for me.

It doesn't need to be that harsh as we are already struggling with limited numbers of refs in the Premiership pool. A spell in the lower leagues, plus some additional training, and further assessments would work for me. If it keeps happening after that, then it's a different story. A bit like real jobs.

That's because we're starting with Casey and Blaney, 2 of the worst culprits from last season's debacle at the back. Whether or not you like them as individual players, they do not work as a combo.

Probably helps when they start him. Most games I've seen Hearts play this season, they've kept on the bench for the first hour.

I'm glad Utd didn't defend that well against us.

Hadn't watched Cardiff City for a few weeks, but saw Turnbull wasn't even on the bench today. A quick google shows he is "facing 'long-term' absence after surgery" after he suffered a hamstring injury. Never great, but even worse for him give that he had established himself as a first team starter this season, and was turning in some good performances.

Remember what I was saying the other day about never keeping a clean sheet when we start with a Casey/Blaney combo? Still saying it.

THAT'S IT! YOU'VE RUINED CHRISTMAS!! Take your pick...