Kmcalpin

Well, us older fans have seen us probably claim 2 Scottish Cup records (losing the quickest ever goal to Aberdeen and picking up the quickest ever cup red card). I don't know if we could call that a privelege. They say things come in 3s...whats next? Mugabi's red card was dubious and I would say it was a yellow, as it was identical to Roberts's. We've seen a tackle, just like that, escape any card recently at FP. That effectively killed the game as a contest, but I suspect Hibs won't be overly concerned about that. If it hadn't happened then I think we would still have lost out. We rarely, if ever, play well with 2 wingbacks and today was no exception. The line up was something else. One positive was the performance of young Dean Cornelius. He played very well in difficult circumstances. Long standing faults were once again evident today. Anyway next weeks game is looming and thats more important.

You obviously think we still have a chance here. I admire your optimism.

Our target now is to avoid any more red cards and bad injuries. Let's concentrate on next week's game.

Roberts foul was identical.

A yellow never a red. Game spoiled and now over.

Looks like we're set up for a long ball game which is fine..............but we don't have the strikers to do that effectively.

Mine too. The best Well team I've ever seen in the past 60 odd years. It had everything: pace, skil and hardness - just the right mix.

Possibly the finest Well performance I've ever seen. The team was dead on its feet that night after a flu outbreak. Hibs got what they deserved that night. We asked for a postponement but their Chairman Tom Hart accused us of underhanded tactics and in effect cheating in trying to get the game called off despite having medical evidence.

I respectfully disagree David. The important thing would be to ensure that if they left they left i.e no B teams left in the SPFL. Yes, there would be a drop in TV money, I don't deny that, but that would be made up by increased crowds and more teams being involved in European competition. The top league would be more competitive and free from sectarian bile. That in itself would encourage more to come back. Teams would have more chance of progressing in and winning cups. You'd also be less likely to have Celtic and Sevco fans travelling to away games in numbers week in week out. Its easier and cheaper for them to get to Motherwell or Kilmanrnock than it is to Bristol or Watford. As far as their attendance at our home games, I guesstimated that our gate money would drop by about £38,000 a year (based on this season's attendances). Not a huge sum. Now this broad calculation doesn't take into account increased income from catering and hospitality nor increased security costs. On balance we can do without them, but it won't happen.

TV to blame, in part. I and a few others would have been there onSaturday, but can't make Sunday. Poor form too is a factor.

Not sure that Goss is a defensive player, but I agree with your general point. A start would be to play 2 decent defensive midfielders in the first place. There is little or no link up play between defence and striker/wingers, but that could be down to instructions. With the currently favoured midfield 3, lack of pace and positional discipline are sadly lacking.

That is critical to our game plan Iain, as we are set up to be a counterattacking team. Lose the first goal as we have done in our last 2 games and we haven't a clue how to break teams down when they park their buses.

There have been some other factors but essentially you're right Yorky. We need a bit of nous up front and someone who can hold play up and link up with others. He was worth a goal a game which makes all the difference in a tight contest. Where GA has gone wrong is not planning properly for him moving on given that we knew he was unsettled for months.

Nothing much wrong with that approach for a club at our level. However, what is lacking is organisation, discipline and reliability. Yesterday Dundee outbattled us for a long spell. I can quite happily accept GA's brand of football so long as we are winning.

Well so far its been a season of 2 halves. A great start uo to the end of 2021 but diabolical since then. We're still only a point off 4th and outside the top 6 on goal difference, albeit thats poor. We're 12 points above the play off spot. Thats down to our great start. Our winless run continues and of our 3 remaining games to the split, I can only see us pick up 1 point (St Mirren at home) if our form continues. Unless we have a change in fortune, there's little chance of a top 6 finish now. Whats of more concern to me is now finishing above the bottom 2. We don't want to go in to the post split fixtures on a poor run of form with the bottom clubs fired up, as they will be. You'd think our points cushion can't be overhauled but thats not a given. The longer this poor run continues the worse it will get. Maybe I'm a bit pessimistic? For me a 7th spot finish will represent success ie finishing higher than last year. That would be slight progress. If we don't achieve that then serious questions need to be asked.

My take on yesterday's debacle. No point in chewing over old fat (Donnelly, SOD etc) as I largely agree with it. GA is changing things that maybe don't need to be changed and not changing things that do. 4-3-3 with the squad he has largely built is not working - maybe it would work with different players. I quite get why we're shelling high balls at our striker and wingers but we don't have the players to do it. It was obvious, within the first 5 minutes yesterday, that Dundee's defence would gobble up high balls happily all day long and they did. The midfield, as is, has no pace at all and zero creativity. Time after time they failed to support our strikers, by not advancing up the pitch - maybe GA's instructions? When we did break down the middle or even down the flanks (not the wingers), we were so slow it allowed Dundee to funnell back and organise themselves. The strikers are just not linking up as they are playing far too far apart. Very frustrating to watch our only striker spend so much time wide on the left wing. The subs did make a difference late on but by then it was far too late. Interesting that Dundee had as many shots on target as we did, despite them parking the bus. With Dundee fielding a young rookie keeper I would have thought we'd pepper him with crosses and shots, but no. Certainly Dundee's defence was pretty solid. They looked the hungrier team and worked far harder than us for a good part of the game. It was only in the closing stages that we looked like doing anything, as they tired. Two other observations. The pitch isn't looking as good as it has in the past - bare patches and uneven. The POD stand side linesman was at a totally different game from me. Some of the decisions he failed to indicate on incidents right in front of him were ludicrous.

He's not a midfielder but a defender. A square peg in a round hole.

I agree with him but we're simply not achieving the results and that is the bottom line.

Kelly for me.

Lamie at left back??? Presumably Carroll is not fit.

The usual caveat applies ahead of tomorrow's game. We'd be best to ignore reports of a Covid/injury crisis in Dundee's squad and plan for a full strength team. If they do indeed field a weakened team then we can use up to 5 subs to adjust our line up and game plan.

SOD's passing and clearances as well as crossing were poor last night - he put us in unnecessary trouble several times because of that. Replacing Carroll? Who with, as McGinlay is injured (FWIW I agree with you about Carroll). How many OGs has Bevis scored? He adds energy to the wing and is great in the air. He's had one bad game recently. Lamie - I wasn't impressed with him last night. Yes, Ojala should be reinstated.

A huge game for us and the way we're playing right now we'll do well to take anything from it. Things are unusually tight between 4th and 10th positions and whilst its looking increasingly unlikely we'll end up in the top 6, many of our close rtivals are struggling as well. Its still all to play for but we must up our game and quickly. We'll need to negate Charlie Adam - get in his face and close him down or, if that isn't possible, cut off his supply. I'd keep Goss in the side for his offensive abilities, and partner him with Slattery and Cornelius. We certainly need more pace and aggression in midfield. Mugabi must replace SOD at right back. Do I think that will happen? No.

Its a penalty if a foul begins outside the box but continues into it. Thats the rule. Certainly the Ross County player made the most of it.

Agree about Max Johnston. As for Conor Shields, I'm not convinced of him but, as you say, he's not being played in the correct way. He needs to play off a main striker's shoulder.