Kmcalpin

Football is a physical game but yes, fouls like shirt pulling and diving should be called out for what they are. In the recent Hearts game, we saw Robbie Neilson instructing an injured player, who was very near to the touchline, to lie down, when it was quite clear he didn't have to do so.

I agree with a lot of your post and instructed/managed cheating really really gets to me. My main concern with VAR, and I'm in favour it, is what constitutes a "major decision"? Take Shields' red card for example. Would VAR simply focus on Shields' foul or examine what happened in the run up to it? The proof of the pudding and all that......

A tight game in which we (Shields) shot ourselves in the foot, but the result wasn't unexpected. The goal was abit of a fluke coming off the back of a wicked deflection, but maybe it was coming anyway. Midfield didn't show up particularly well and our strikers were powder puff. Whilst I don't want to see a return to Alexander's tombola approach we probably needed to change things a little, especially in midfield, after 2 games in the past week. Substitutions too could have come earlier. Stevie Hammell is a young inexperienced manager and will make mistakes.

I suspect that you're right. Security probably played a part, although thats not the full story. We've been to stadia with no history of "over exuberance" and still been penned in though. In effect its tarring all our away support with the same brush. The safety, wellbeing and comfort of those who are not part of the Bois though is being completely ignored. On several occasions I've been at Livingston where a part of the stand was sectioned off for our support. Fans arriving even 15 mins before kick off struggled to find 2 seats together, but would they open an adjacent section of the stand? No way.

Poor show from County last night, packing all our fans into a corner of a small stand. Why do this its so unnecessary and serves no purpose. They're not the only club to do this i.e. Livingston.

A game of two halves with us outscoring County in both. Great result and well done to all concerned. It was important to pick up something tonight and boy we did, in style too. Its not every week or two that we rack up a 5-0 win away from home. Hammell seems to be transforming not just the style of play but also the perfomances of individuals like Joe Efford. KVV had one of those nights tonight and hit form with a hat trick topped off with a smashing goal. Encouraging also that Slattery returned and hit the net too. Happy days!

Absolutely Allan. Hammy has to earn his corn here. Lets hope OG is on form.

Predictable defeat but it could have been far worse. Good to see that our new striker OG is starting to hit the net. Some of the squad were lucky to start, and I'm specifically thinking of Shields and Maguire here. Obviously Louis Moult and Stuart McKinstry aren't deemed fit enough to start. When will they be? Once again poor defending cost us. Callum Slattery is proving to be a huge miss.

He should have been in the Hall of Fame long before now. Better late than never though. My late dad and uncles said that he would miss the easiest of sitters but then score an impossible goal. His record will never be beaten and his role in the Championship winning side speaks for itself.

Good news. Fife Police have posted that Andy has been found safe and well. I don't know any more than that.

I remember that spell too, unfortunately. A lot fewer malign influences in those days though.

What exactly are you saying?

Most people don't realise just how thin Police resources are spread these days. I wonder just how many front line Police would be working in Scotland at 2345 on a normal Monday night?

The problem is that final decisions are outwith the remit of the SPFL. It will be down to the Police end of. The SPFL, for all its faults, is at the mercy of Police Scotland.

What evidence do you have for this assumption? Anything I've seen in print says that, in England, the UK Government has advised that its up to the governing bodies of individual sports to decide what to do. Presumably here in Scotland, the Scottish Government has taken an identical line. I think DennyC's take on things is pretty near the mark.

Thats in very poor taste and has no place on these fora.

Max Johnston on loan to Cove Rangers.

An appalling kick off time, but you're right. Apart from advertising though from where do these TV companies derive their footballing income? I feel especially aggrieved. Out of principle, I do not subscribe to TV company sports channels, yet have to put up with their will being forced upon me.

Yes, Goss played very well. I felt a bit sorry for Tierney. As on Wednesday he came in for some stick, which was no surprise. Hopefully he'll beef up a bit and toughen up.

Absolutely. I haven't seen so many happy smiling faces leaving Fir Park for a year or two. More please! That first half was amazing and we played some excellent football, a real delight to watch and chalk and cheese from the GA days. The second half was a bit of an anti climax, but thats no surprise after what we saw in the first 45. I thought Stevie Hammell picked the wrong team but I was proved wrong. Maybe in the second half he didn't quite get one of the subs right but thats small beer. The only negative, apart from being totally impotent up front, was a sloppy last 10/15 with some needless errors and defending too deeply. Still we held out to claim a draw, although 3 would have been more apt. A typical Dundee United game. I thought Efford did pretty well and we lost a bit when Aarons came on. However, is he being played in the right position? Am I right in thinking he's a left winger? The referee had a poor game with a string of inconsistent decisions and what about his play the advantage/no don't decision late in the game? Totally ludicrous. At that point he lost the plot. Ross Graham's dive in the second half was just...embarassing, but he won the foul. United players and fans, as per usual moaned and complained from start to finish......oh it must be grim being a season ticket holder at Tannadice. Our big failing was sterility in front of goal.....as was the case on Wednesday. Final balls and passing were lacking. Maybe Louis will be the answer maybe not...time will tell. Still thats a game we could easily have lost and more than a few were relieved to hear the final whistle. We've been there before, many times.

Just echoing the comments of many others. Great to see Louis back but is he too injury prone? If on form, it will be interesting to see how he works with KVV. Unrealistic though to expect him to be the Louis of old.

I agree but many fans are quite happy to subsidise his, and other EPL players' wages through TV subscriptions. Cost of living crisis???

There was a press conference scheduled for 9.30 this morning or thereabouts. Its now been postponed until 1pm. It might be significant or it might not. Its possible to have signed player(s) before the deadline but not announce it until later. We'll see. Its also still possible that we can sign a free agent. Your bottom line is 100% on the nail though. If we continue with one main striker, in Van Veen, he'll be a marked man. Wannabee Alex Fergusons, Matt Busbys and Alex MacDonalds will have their charges target him for special treatment.

I'm not saying that McGinley will, at all. I'm simply saying that he can play in central defence and according to him, has played primarily as a central defender. McGinn is primarily a full back who has played in a back 3 on occasion. FWIW I agree about our shape not helping the defence.

We need a striker and a central defender. The striking position has been discussed, but we're very light at the back, unless SH knows something we don't. We need 2 first pick central defenders, but I'd be happy with one just now. As back up we have Bevis and , McGinley, but he's currently out long term. Sam Campbell - I don't know much about him, but surely he's a risk just now. McGinn will never be a central defender, although he has played there. Given the goals we've lost this season we need to sort out central defence and quickly.