Ya Bezzer!

Clean sheet? Conceding a single goal wouldn't be that bad given our recent record. In the last four matches we have conceded 3 - 2 - 3 - 3 which has to be a concern if we want to pick up points. Perhaps this is a little unfair on Neilsen because I think some of those goals were not his fault but Twardzik conceded 2 goals in 5 league matches. It's now 5 league matches since Neilsen replaced Twardzik and in that time we have conceded 11 goals. That doesn't make good reading. St. Johnstone have been mediocre recently and the excellent home form they had the last time we were up there has faded a bit. Stevie May has scored 10 of St. Johnstone's last 12 goals and they have failed to score in 8 of the last 12 matches so it seems clear that if you want to get something out of St. Johnstone neutralizing Stevie May will probably do it as they are struggling to get goals from other sources. Defending better will probably be the crucial aspect of this match.

He may come in but I don't think he will come in for either of those two. His strength is he is a utility player than can fill in at various positions. I don't see him as a first choice pick at centre half. Ramsden could move across again when Hutchinson leaves but surely that would only happen if we failed to bring in a more recognized centre half.

Terrible short termism that could really kick us up the arse if guys like Lasley break down from being played when not fit. Sutton just scored.

The bonuses was just unfortunate and we'll just have to put that down to a bit of bad luck. In the long run though we will benefit from the redistribution and we have to take the long view on it over 5, 10 , 15 years. The most worrying thing is the television and sponsorship issue. It may improve in the future as the economy seems to be recovering slightly but I think we are in a bit of a catch 22 position at the moment. We need additional revenue to hold on to players and bring in quality but investors aren't likely to put in cash at the current attendance levels. On the other hand attendance levels aren't going to improve without the investment.

I hope we don't rush him back if he's not ready. I'd be happy to maybe drop points in this game if we had Lasley back fit for the rest of the season rather than rushing him back in and have him break down and do more damage. If he's actually fit though that would be great news.

In their bad run they had 5 out of 7 matches away from home.

One bad punch but that was the only heart in mouth moment. Looked a bit more confident and made a few saves although I'd expect any decent keeper to make them. No chance with any of the goals.

History books also say we have only won 1 of the last 7 league matches Keith Lasley has missed with 5 losses in there (1-1-5). He will be a big, big loss if he doesn't make it as was suggested in the post match comments. Also if we struggled with Kallum Higginbotham and Chris Erskine we are going to have to do a lot better against Gary Mackay-Stevens, Ryan Gauld and Stuart Armstrong. Dundee Utd have only lost 2 games at home this season - to Celtic (1-0, 87th minute goal) and Aberdeen (2-1, 90th minute goal). Obviously no push overs on their own ground.

Andy McLaren used to get pelters which I thought was a bit unfair given his personal problems. No love of Rangers but the 'Richard Gough' chant was a bit OTT as well. Remember Ian Ferguson turning round and firing a cannon ball shot into the East Stand after taking some stick.

Extremely ropey? Didn't have their best games but McManus headed a 88th minute winner which is surely going to get a few votes and Hutchinson made a terrific block on the penalty spot that would surely hit the back of the net. Partick's first goal was a poor one to lose but otherwise most of the problems Partick caused us were down the two weakened flanks. Don't remember Partick winning too many headers in our box, one in the first half that was about it.

Lasley for me. Must be about three in a row now!

Thought it started off a bit scrapped but by the end it was brilliant entertainment. I suspect Higginbotham will feature heavily in the game discussion and I felt the turning point of the game was Partick's decision to take him off. He was ripping us down that side of the pitch and having a bit of a stormer. We looked a bit rusty in some areas, we didn't really work the wide areas well enough and Ainsworth in particular was very quiet in the first half. I'm a big fan of Sutton but I felt he also struggled to get into things although he did eventually get an important goal. Second half things really hotted up and it was end to end stuff. We looked open at the back especially down the right with Hammell in an unfamiliar position and Ainsworth not helping out much defensively (perhaps just as well given his tackle that gave away the penalty). 0-1, 2-1, 2-3, 4-3. Unbelievable stuff. Felt both teams could score every time they came forward. Great comeback, shame Higginbotham wasn't on the pitch though to sample defeat!

Pretty sure I saw his first ever game in Scotland. Falkirk v Gretna at Fir Park, scored a couple of goals too.

Is Ramsden back? If not him Euan Murray might be getting a first start.

They drew 1-1 the last time at Paisley earlier in the season. Aberdeen might have a wee cup come down.

Felt we were a bit lucky to take the full points last time against Thistle at Fir Park. They have only lost once in the last 6 league matches but most of them have been draws. They have also brought in a few new players during the break (Prince Buaben, Chris Erskine, Lyle Taylor etc.) so it will probably be a fairly different team that lined up last time round. I'd be disappointed to lose this one but our long lay off might be a problem as players are never as sharp after a couple of weeks off as they would have been if they had played games. I'd take a scrappy win from this one to get us back into the swing of things. Here's a disaster courting wee stat. No one has beaten us in the league outside Celtic in 4 months. Last defeat was 9th November to Dundee Utd.

That's why it won't happen. The Champions League usual suspects have two great cash cows to milk. They aren't going to get rid of one.

At least we get a third match in February. It's just unfortunate St. Johnstone and Inverness both made the semi finals which ruled out a weekend rescheduling.

Or a Steve McDonald table for relatives over from Australia who are flying straight back immediately after the wedding.

Philliben misses out again. Poor guy.

Excluding the cup win it would probably be my first win at Ibrox. '93 I think when we came back from 1-0 down with two late Dougie goals. Hugging strangers and wild scenes of celebration. I stayed over at a mates house (Aberdeen fan) who lived in Ibrox and when I told him we won 2-1 he wouldn't believe me.. It wasn't until we got a newspaper the next day that he accepted Motherwell had actually beaten Rangers at Ibrox. The other one that sticks out is the League Cup semi final against Hearts when Fitz scored in the 120th minute. One of those ones where we have blown a lead, we are taking an absolute pounding and you are just waiting for the inevitable to happen and then within seconds BOOM mad celebrations and the ultimate victory. Nothing beats football for being propelled from one extreme of emotion to the other.

Big Sieb's debut!

I'd say they have about 10 big-ish earners but most of the rest of the squad is filled with home growns - Shaughnessy, Robertson, Pawlett, Jack, Low etc. Can't imagine they are on big money. Not really in the same boat as say Hearts were when they had a first team squad of about 40 players! They also have a few guys out on loan, Magennis went to St. Mirren in the window for instance, and they released Gregg Wylde.

Not the one I was thinking off. I didn't start going to away games until I got a student grant so that was '92 at the earliest. I think it might have been the Gilles Rousset era Hearts team so that might be roughly the same period as the McLeish Catastrophe Seasons. Glad I wasn't at that one you mentioned, once was enough! EDIT. Did a wee bit investigating, think it was the 4-1 defeat on 28th December 1996. We took the lead through Tommy Coyne and then lost 4-1 with John Robertson scoring twice, and Jim Hamilton and David Weir getting the others. We also lost 4-0 around the same time but it was a midweek match and I think the match I'm thinking off was played in 'daylight' if you could call it that!

My take on it as well. The boy that scored was the difference between the teams.