Kmcalpin

A refreshing interveiw. Presumably he tells it like it is, and not what we usually get in bland media interviews ? 2plus8 - I presume there was nothing personal in it with Gallagher; he'd just be following Alex Ferguson/Matt Busby type instructions.

The cleaner would have to rub his pate every week.

A thoroughly deserved win today after a shaky opening 10 minutes and a nail biting last 20. I feared the worst when I saw the midfield line up but they did not too badly over the piece although their defending was a bit lax at times. Thought that Ojala had a shaky opening spell but he grew into the game. Thought that Solholm also had a good game although left a bit exposed at times. Carroll did ok but was caught out positionally a few times and his passing was a bit wayward, but didn't let us down. The front 3 line up looks promising and is worth persevering with. Efford looks promising, and Shields put in a good shift. Van Veen is frustrating though. He could easily have notched another 2 goals. If the game had finished 4/5-2 neither team could have complained. Overall a real determined team performance today with no failures. I thought GA's substitutions were a bit risky and negative although agree that some players needed taking off as they were done. In the latter stages we showed Aberdeen a glass jaw and defended a bit too deeply for my liking but we prevailed. Had the Dons equalised we would have been in big trouble. Referee was a bit overly fussy and allowed some Dons players a bit too much leniency when they hit the deck very easily. I'd also like to see our disallowed goal again. I don't condone what some of our young lads did when throwing missiles onto the pitch and that needs to be nipped in the bud, but I suspect that something sparked it off - maybe Ramsay booting the ball into the middle of them - I don't know. He's also building up a reputation as an olympic class diver. Anyway credit to the players and management for a fighting and determined performance and treating today like a real cup tie. This will give the club a much needed boost.

What a midfield!!

There are many reasons for this but a fundemental one is that we, and by that I mean most clubs, are losing our brightest talent to English predators before they even make the first team.

We're a better team than results suggest just now. Not great, but better. Several players are underperforming for reasons I don't know ie Slattery. We're not playing well right now or getting results but I've seen worse Well sides as I suspect you have. The relegated 1968-69 side for example finished second bottom in a league of 18 and won just 6 games out of 34. Possibly the worst side I've seen was Alex McLeish's in 1995-96 when we scored far less than a goal game average. I almost gave up at that point. Bad, but I've seen worse.

See my post on the Dundee United thread.

I just can't understand our failure to bring in a Watt replacement, and yes I don't mean a "like for like". By all accounts we knew months ago that he'd move on and even in the window it wasn't as if he left at the very last second. Maybe all our targets fell through? Maybe GA felt that Shields and Van Veen were all we needed. Baffling as you say.

I don't recall Killie being lauded as a fine footballing team, and as successful as St Johnstone have been they've been dire to watch for years.

Thats been the case for a few seasons now, although the current run takes the biscuit. I always believe in building from the back and making a team hard to beat, but that hasn't happened for years. We have one of the poorest performing "defences" in the league. We've not been playing good football and most fans will accept that as long as we're winning, but they won't accept that if we're losing. For a team of our size - mid Scottish top league we'll never be able to field a good footballing team that can achieve results. There's always a trade off.

Tonight's result came as no surprise to me and in our current shocking run I don't care how we play so long as we pick up points. Surprised that Donnelly was still staring with no sign of Dean Cornelius and we had no strikers starting. Over the years I've seen many games just like this at Tannadice. I don't know if GA knows his best 11 and I sure as hell don't. I don't even know our best set up. In mitigation, we've been disrupted by injuries and we don't know whats been happening behind the scenes. We have some decent players, like Slattery, who aren't performing for whatever reason. The only thing I know is that if we play 3 midfielders, then they should be Slattery, Goss and Cornelius. In defence, I don't know our best line up. Months ago I would have said that it must involve Ojala but he seems to be made of glass. I was genuinely shocked to see him pitched in tonight after having been out for months. It could be that the 4-3-3 set up doesn't suit the squad we have. If Tierney plays then we must ditch 4-3-3. I have real problems up front. As I see it we only have 2 out and out strikers - one isn't ready and the other is currently doing nothing. This should have been rectified when Watt left, and thats another issue. We have 4 wingers, none of whom is setting the heather on fire, albeit one is still settling in. We're on a shocking run just now, with no end in sight, albeit thats against the better teams, but I doubt if we'd have fared any better against bottom 6 sides. Whatever w edo that run has to be arrested. Interesting tonight that Celtic dished out a 3-2 hammering to Aberdeen.

It's hard to see where our next goal is coming from.

I never expected us to replace like for like but surely we should have had another striker lined up?

Game was lost when United scored the opener. No red cards and no bad injuries please. Apart from that limit them to 2.

I couldn't care less how we play in the second half so long as we score more than United. I'd be more than happy if they played us off the park but we get a draw or better still beat them. Limited options on the bench ie an off form Van Veen.

I take your point but neither are strikers.

All very well but are we testing Siegrist?

Is that game over as we can't seem to buy a goal and are shipping them at the other end?

Now there's a surprise.

Maybe squad rotation has shaped tonight's line up given games are coming thick and fast just now. Defence looks OK but midfield will struggle. A lot will fall on Slattery's shoulders. 3 wingers up front?

Our recent record against United is poor. Doubt if that will change but here's hoping.

I believe Celtic players and staff are also given some complimentary tickets for the POD Stand.

I'm glad our club supports us as opposed to chasing the dwindling once or twice a season green/blue pound.

To a degree we were no worse yesterday than we have been of late but, as Celtic are possibly the best team just now, they ruthlessly exploited our weaknesses. Team selection again looked odd but we don't know if there are any fitness reasons behind it (Ojala for example). We're not the best side when not in possession as Celtic well knew. There are also a few unknowns just now like the impact of players like Efford, Shaw and possibly Tierney. We need to sort out all areas of the team; defence; midfield and up front. For me Slattery, Goss, and Cornelius are stick on starters in midfield if we play with 3 nominally up front. If we go with 2 up front then Tierney slots in between them and the 3 midfielders. I'll reserve judgement on Shaw for the time being. Longer term, I would be in no rush to renew the contracts of Donnelly and O'Hara. Maguire is a squad player at best.

For starters, hammer sectarianism and erode their fanbase. However there is zero political will for that to happen. Too many votes at stake.