Kmcalpin

Correct but I can't recall the last game I watched in which jerseys were not pulled in the penalty box. Like foul throws and booting the ball away they happen all the time but are rarely punished.

The problem is that our stats show that we often have considerably less than 50% possession in games!

I'm with you all the way on that Allan. The SFA totally ignores the fact that football is an entertainment industry and the paying customers should be given more consideration in terms of major refereeing explanations. VAR is a great step forward but the devil will be in the detail i.e. how it is used and where it is used. I've been saying for years that the SFA and now the SPFL are not fit for purpose and need a radical overhaul, but as you say thats not happening anytime soon. For various reasons, including the identity of our opponents, Madden's decisions on Wednesday evening have not been scrutinised in the media.

I think Madden and the POD side lineman deserved a post all to themselves. Totally inconsistent and error strewn. Unfortunately their incompetence had a major influence on the outcome of the game. A number of errors: * For someone seemingly obsessed with rules, he let off a St Mirren player for booting the ball 40 yards away after play was stopped. If refs aren't going to penalise this indiscretion then its time rules were changed to allow it. * Sean Goss was rightly carded for hauling back an opponent who was breaking. The exact same thing happened to Slattery earlier but no card was produced. * MacAllister put in a shocking 2 footed challenge on MacGinley right in front of us and near to the linesman. A straight red? No, but then again his name wasn't Carroll. * No penalty for Solholm being wrestled to the ground? Now to the 2 game changing mistakes. It was never a penalty as Solholm had nowhere to go and Brophy ran into him looking for a award. As for the retake? Why suddenly penalise that now? It happens week after week with no action taken. In any event TV evidence shows that Kelly had his right foot on the line. You have to question the linesman here. Did he have a clear uninterrupted view from about 30 yards away? Unless he misunderstood the rules he must have known the distances involved were minimal and certainly not beyond resonable doubt. I don't understand though how he could have watched Kelly's positioning clearly with one eye whilst at precisely the same time watching the exact moment that Brophy took his spot kick with his other eye. Has he got monocular vision that allows him to focus both eyes independently of each other? Thats now about 5 games on the trot in which match officials have made wrong, serious, game changing decisions against us.

Spot on. We barely deserved a point last night. St Mirren, with a budget broadly similar to ours I'd guess, looked far quicker, determined, and harder working. They were also better organised. No world beaters though. When we were in possesion, irrespective of where we were on the pitch they hassled, harried and closed us down. By comparison we gave them the freedom of Fir Park. Again our 2 full backs looked poor with McGinley slightly the better. Not sure about Mugabi last though - he looked all at sea at St Mirren's first goal. As others have said, our midfield was rank. Its a case of Slattery plus 2 others (Goss, Grimshaw, O'Hara and Maguire) - take your pick. We badly need 2 new midfielders. Up front I felt sorry for Shields. He chased his heart out all night but was left isolated for much of the time with no support. I understand why we play the long high ball but we don't have the players for it. I didn't understand the substitutions at all and they made little impression when they came on. We weren't defending well enough to sit back and took off Woolery who provided an out ball. Had the game gone on another 10 minutes we would have conceded again. A disappointing result and performance.

Who is the referee?

Picture was taken after the ball was struck.

Although there's a long way to go, tonight's clash marks the end of the first round of fixtures and will provide us with an indication of where we are at. St Mirren will be a rival for a coveted top six finish. So although tonight won't be a six pointer its important that we win. If we lose 3-1 or even lose by a single goal then that will rightly be seen as a very poor result. You're right of course in that St Mirren will be very tough opponents.

A lot will depend on what he does on the park in the next few months. To that extent the ball is in his court. For me, the jury is still out.

Very much so. The same old same old just won't be good enough.

Absolutely. That has always been Kelly's achilles heel. He isn't suited to our current style of playing by allowing crosses into our box and then trying to deal with them.

Quick question. Can Van Veen and Watt play together up front in a 4-3-3 formation?

Firstly David, it's a discussion forum and fans will always have different opinions on players. That's life. I and a few others it would seem have concerns about his performances in claret and amber. Even at our level he's cost us a few goals and made more than his share of mistakes (yes, no one is perfect). Last Saturday's defending for Celtic's first goal was not what you expect from an experienced defender. Status means nothing during 90 minutes on the pitch. It's what you do that matters. He seems to be a model pro off the pitch and conducts himself well. No doubt GA knows him far better than we do and he's the manager, but that doesn't prevent fans from having opinions.

Not the most tactful of replies, but we'll let that stick to the wall. If you read back, no-one has suggested that GA will make that change, but a few of us have raised that as an idea with merit, at least on a trial basis.

I agree about switching Mugabi for O'Donnell. At least give it a try.

Good luck to the lad.

Could there have been an element of sarcastic clapping? As our defenders backed off and backed off our fans knew what DT would do, but the defenders seemingly didn't.

I wouldn't put it quite so bluntly, but yes you're right. In the full backs' defence they have no cover in front of them. McGinley is, for some reason, a target for the boo brigade but O'Donnell is the one making mistakes and costing us the odd goal. He was badly at fault for Celtic's first and left Kelly totally exposed.

So are "non" votes counted?

Perhaps, but its a fact.

Joe Hart did not have a single save to make. Goss, at least, had 2 more attempts on goal than anyone else did.

Any null vote option?

Well, that was as poor a performance against Celtic at FP as I've seen for a long time. We looked a beaten side at 3.00. The only positives were that its good to play so badly and only lose 2-0; no bad injuries; and no red cards. A dire all round team performance.

That could have been a red card. Carded then kicks the ball away petulantly.

2-0 flatters us but yes that was a stonewall penalty.