Kmcalpin

Plenty of positives last night. I haven't enjoyed a game as much for a long time. Plenty of intensity, energy and good, exciting, football on the deck. Such a change from GA's reign. Good to see young lads like Lennon Miller get their chance and Stuart McKinstry coming home and performing well. A good all round team effort. I was impressesd with McGinn and especially Penney. Midfield created plenty of chances, Van Veen was in the mood, Tierney really caught the eye (needs to improve his finishing though), and Efford was a revelation on the wing. The caveat is, of course, that we were playing an out of form Championship side. Still you can only beat the team in front of you. Penney looks to be a particularly good acquisition and Stuart McKinstry caught the eye with some really nice play. Not sure about the second penalty but our general style and standard of play last night brought them about. In any event, ICT were a shade fortunate not to pick up more yellow cards and possibly a red, so they can't complain too much. I have to agree wth El Grew though. We should have scored 7 or 8, but lacked a killer touch in the box, which was concerning and Stevie Hammell picked up on this in his post match comments. It wasn't costly against ICT last night but it could be against better quality opposition. This deficiency though should be put in the context of an otherwise very good performance last night.

I think United's result at Livingston tonight tells you a lot about their players.

Kelly is a very good keeper, but yes you're right, he's poor in the air and always has been. Therefore the manager has to adapt his defensive tactics to compensate for him. If he was good in the air then he wouldn't be with us.

I might be wrong but I thought Morris was a midfielder being played out of position up front. That said, he hasn't impressed me so far.

Pretty much my take. Barry Maguire is a hard working honest lad and thats all you can ask. However, I think he's more suited to the Championship or League 1.

On checking back you're right. He appeared 8 times for us, starting in all of them but only played the full 90 minutes on 3 occasions.

I can't remember much about him except that he was fast and injured or unfit for a fair chunk of his loan.

I don't doubt Inverness will come and park the bus. If so, it'll be a real test of this team. We find it hard to break down sides who visit Fir Park and defend in depth. Score first though and its a different game.

Absolutely. No point in ruminating over old fat and getting bogged down in blame games. Lets concentrate on the here & now and on the future. We need to ship some players out and acquire new signings. Yesterday and the St Johnstone game are evidence of that. The coming week will be big for us. FWIW, I think the directors were already thinking of parting company with GA after the Sligo game and the fans' unrest simply added fuel to an already burning fire.

I'd say right now we're 3 maybe 4 players short of a decent first team and several short in the 12-18 category. We need another striker, possibly winger, and 2 central defenders as first picks. an experienced midfielder would not go amiss either. That of course would necessitate some leaving. The likes of Efford, Shields, Morris, Maguire, and Ojala, are simply not up to it for various reasons. Whilst we're undoubtedly light up front and require reinforcements there, its our central defence thats causing me most worry. Whilst Lamie, Mugabi and Johansen may be ok as back ups we really do need two first pick defenders there, one of whom should be a leader. Yesterday, like the St Johnstone game before only served to highlight our weaknesses. Stevie Hammell made some errors yesterday and thats only to be expected of a rookie manager - it comes with the territory, but lets hope he learns from them and doesn't repeat.

Very true. We've won some tight games but also lost some. Over the course of the season, our defence is going to cost us unless some changes, however unlikely they may be, are made. Hammy made some mistakes today, and being a rookie manager he'll make a lot more, but we knew that. As others have said the substitutions killed us. I get what he's trying to do - bring on fresh legs and energy but we currently don't have the players to do allow us to do that. I just don't see how Maguire and Morris would have provided that. Today also showed the pressing need to bring in some fresh faces in all departments, especially up front and in defence, although the latter is unlikely.

I was very surprised and saddened to hear of John's passing today. I'll miss him and his balanced take on things at matches. Always had a friendly word for me. Condolences to his family. Our club has lost a great fan today. RIP John.

We don't know what is going on behind the scenes. Whilst he has every right to secure the best deal for himself, the club has to look after its own interests and maybe look at other targets, given the window will be closing next week.

No further news unfortunately. Family are naturally very concerned. Hopefully Andy will be found safe and well.

On balance I didn't think it was a penalty but none of the camera angles were particularly good and I wouldn't rule out the ref being right. The best camera angle would have been near the corner flag.

Yes, as long as it was a cynical foul and not a Louis Laing accidental stumble.

From Stevie Hammell's comments it would seem that there's a strong possibility of a few new faces arriving in the next 10 days. Also, it would seem a likelihood of some leaving. I'd be interested in getting everyone's thoughts on that. Matthew Connelly: possibility of a loan now that Aston Oxborough has arrived? Juhani Ojala: still a year to go so might be expensive to pay off, but very injury prone and not featuring much. Central defence needs strengthening Robbie Mahon: young player who might benefit from a loan David Devine: one of the older young players who has never made the breakthrough? Maybe some young lads going out on loan?

All I'm looking for an improvement in consistency. All too often a player a red carded for example, whilst in another game the cuplrit is only yellow carded or even let off scot free for an identical offence.

Would we have attracted a crowd of 5,160 had GA still been at our helm? I doubt it. Maybe 1,000 less? In that respect the club has brought in a few thousand pounds extra that will help, in a small way, to offset GA's pay off, whatever it was. Every little helps.

I don't know that we're any worse than most Ian. I've just been reading fan fora for St Johnstone and Dundee United this morning and the level of venom and vitriol amongst sections of their supports is frightening.

Although I wasn't at the game today I'm really pleased with the win. As we know, Livy are good at what they do: stifling, smothering and strangling the opposition. Hence games against them are rarely classic affairs. We were always going to have to grind out a result today...... and we did. Hammy will need more time to mould the players into his style and we'll probably need to add to our firepower before the window closes. Games against this type of opposition who come to FP to sit in and park the bus and/or frustrate us will be a continuing test this season. So, its work in progress. I haven't seen any of the main incidents on TV yet but will no doubt do so in the next few hours.

He made his career decision last summer. Not for me either. If he wants to move on I'm sure United could give him a massive pay off. Thats their problem.

If we're not confident of handling him thats ok, just revert to Plan B - cut off his supply.

Thats quite a shopping list, but not far off the mark. The biggest problem is central defence. We already have 4 players signed up for that department and so it won't be easy to move them on. I think Lammie is the best of the bunch although that maybe doesn't say much. I'd say he and Mugabi are ok as back up. An experienced midfielder wouldn't go amiss.

I haven't seen the game yet but what a start for Hammy. Maybe he's given the player more freedom. Anyway, to win at Pittodrie and do so with a bit of style is a great tonic for us. One swallow doesn't make a summeer though and its only the start of a long journey. We still have some weaknesses which need rectified especially in defence but hopefully we can secure some signatures in the next few weeks to strengthen the squad in general but more specifically the first 11. A breath of fresh air or so it seems today. Early doors but maybe we can avoid a relegation scrap this season. Well done Stevie & Kerrso. Perhaps we're starting to see that some of the players can play after all.