joewarkfanclub

I thought the 3 centre halves were very good tonight and Bevis certainly caused them problems when he went up top. Kelly had very little to do right up until the end but then pulled off 2 very good saves before they scored. But for me Slattery was our best player by a distance. I wouldnt have taken him off.

I agree with that. The manager is in charge. If he lets players undermine him, he is toast. Looks like GA isnt gonna let that happen to him.

It strikes me that, the way GA deals with the media doesnt do him any favours. He never reveals any information about injuries, and he never criticises the players individually in public or gives the media any bones to chew on. I totally respect his discipline in doing so, as he clearly feels he needs to do everything in his power to deny the opposition any advantage and to try and extract some advantage for our team. However, as a fan, I find it very frustrating as I feel a lot of our support would cut him more slack if they knew some of the issues he is having to deal with behind the scenes. As for the game, I thought we were competitive first half and played a bit more football in midfield than normal, with Slattery and Shaw showing a bit more quality in that area than we have seen of late. It was interesting in the post match interview that GA felt the need to say he would trade that for the 3 points. As much of an insight into his own thought process and tactics as we have had from him. The Kelly booking is just so typical of Scottish refereeing. Totally pedantic and unecessary when a word would have done. The first goal is a collective clusterf#ck with no one taking responsibility to clear the ball but all getting dragged towards it leaving Halliday totally unmarked. Goss looked most culpable as he had the best chance to boot it away, but in truth its badly defended as a team. I thought the turning point was Maguire going off injured. He gave a solidity that allowed Slattery and Shaw to go play, which disappeared when Goss came on. This is Maguires value to the team imho. 2nd half our press wasnt as effective and Hearts had more of the play. I still felt we looked dangerous on the counter and it would have been interesting to see how Hearts woud have responded if we could have equalised. The 2nd goal and the one that should gave resulted in a 3rd that was cleared off the line was again collectively bad defending albeit it exposed some individuals more than others. In short, we did a lot of good things, but we still have a lot to work on and Hearts still look closer to the finished article than we do at the moment.

Donnelly out. Slattery in. Shields in for Woolery. Apart from that, I dont see us changing it up mutch. If Ojala was fit, Id be tempted to play him and put Bevis to right back, but I dont see GA doing that.

Hard to choose this week as very few of our team put in a full 90 minute performance. I thought the defence, collectively, made too many mistakes. Maguire was the pick of the midfield for the simple reason he tried to keep the ball and play it on the ground. Why he got hooked for Shields is a mystery to me. I gave the award to Roberts mostly for providing the one bit of real quality on show from our side and for keeping at it for the 90 minutes despite the lack of decent service throughout.

Anyone doing a MOTM thread for this one? Id try myself, but not sure Im allowed or would know how!

Im starting to get a bit annoyed with all the McGinley bashing. Im not saying the guy doesnt make mistakes. That would be patently untrue. But he does a lot of good stuff that seems to get overlooked, while other players seem to get a free ride. Bevis and Sol both made worse mistakes than McGinley on Tuesday night imho, but nobody is demanding they are taken out of the team. Most (not all) have also ignored the great interception he made just before Ross County scored the first goal. Covering for team mates who made mistakes. The guy isnt perfect but he is a better defender than Carroll, who may be great going forward, but gets caught out of position all the time, hence why he isnt starting. Until we sign someone better, which is unlikely on our budget, he is the best we have in that position.

Surely everyone knows Partick Thistle are the cuddly toy of Scottish football?

Always thought Gogic was decent in the holding role and he could probably do a job. However, as others have said, we are well covered in that area, so dont really see the point. Money better spent elsewhere.

Fans to be allowed in unrestricted under 10k. Motherwell to grind out a 1-0 away win. Ross Tierney with the winner from the bench. Lets get the fitba back!

I think Shankland can probably still do a job in the SPL, but given the likely finances involved, Im not sure it would be good business for us. Given we play a front 3, Im not sure how you fit him and KVV into the same starting 11, which would mean one of them warming the bench. If Watt does leave, then its a similar type of player we need on that side of the pitch. Shields deserves a chance to see if he can make the place his own and we still need to see where Ross Tierney fits into the picture. I wouldnt rule out us signing another forward, but I dont think its essential. Shaw looks like a good addition, but I share the concern about what that means for Cornelius. If he adds quality to the midfield, it would be foolish not to use him, but Id hate to think it blocks Deano's opportunity to stake a claim whilst developing a rivals player for them.

Numbers rising isnt the be all and end all. Hospital admissions, admissions to ICU and deaths will govern what happens next. If they dont rise, there will be no justifucation to limit outdoor gatherings.

Good points. Cant help but think TW is being badly advised and / or isnt that savvy. Seeing out the season with us, forcing his way into the Scotland Squad with possible future World Cup appearances has to be on his radar? He would have significantly better offers at the end of the season if he had been patient. Anyway, the horse has bolted. Time to shut the stable door and move on.

Never gonna happen the same year Scotland win the World Cup!

Gone. But never forgotten. Forever 10.

You mean like Louis Moult?

Thank you. I didnt know that it was general practice to pay a contract in full if another club wants to sign your player. It would seem common sense that if you choose to leave to go to another job then you have broken your contract. Not the selling club. Although I guess Watt could say he hasnt chosen to leave, he is happy to stay to the end of the season and it is the club that is forcing the move now becuase of fan reaction, not him. I look forward to seeing how ruthless GA can be.

Clearly an insight I dont have, and still dont really understand. You could help me out?

Why do you never answer a question? If you have an insight others dont, you could answer it and make us all better informed.....

Why would we need to pay up his contract in full if he is transferred and he is the one that wants to move? Surely moving to his new club on double the salary with whatever signing on fee they have promised him is reward enough? If we were punting him and he was losing out financially, then I would agree we would be legally bound to honour his contract, but thats not the situation here surely?

Well first of all dont kiss the badge and indicate your going nowhere in front of the East stand if youve signed a pre contract. Secondly, if you are moving on try and make it to a bigger club in another league. Thirdly, if you cant manage 1 and 2, try and make sure you, your agent or the club you are going to dont leak it to the newspapers.

Its a real shame it has come to this, but I expect he has played his last game for the club. There are ways to manage your departure without pissing off the fans and this isnt it. It would be nice to keep a fully focused Tony Watt to the end of the season, but the reaction form the 500 fans there yesterday will only be multiplied 10 fold when the fans are back in. The club cant afford to let that unrest poison our season. Get what we can from United in January and move on. Looking on the bright side. At least it wasnt Dundee!

Very disappointed if this is true. No issues with a player leaving to better themselves and earn more money, especially one who has done so well for us. But to a league rival, for not that much more money? It makes the badge kissing and goal celebrations look totally ridiculous and doesnt paint Tony in a very good light. Probably best if he moves on immediately. I dont think the reaction from the East Stand will be very positive. He is lucky there will only be 500 fans there tomorrow. Of course, if this is all shite, he could easily come out before the game and say so.......

I hope Tony Watt scores 30 goals this season, helps us to the Scottish Cup forces his way into the Scotland squad and has his pick of Championship clubs queing up to throw money at him on a 4 year deal where he can take the league by storm and get promoted to the Premier League. Unfortunately his team will likely be relegated straight back down again and he can finish his contract and pop back up the road to us aged 33 where he will be warmly welcomed and finish his career with his granda's team. More chance of that than him signing for Dundee!

Whatever happened to those Covid passports we were all so keen on?