Kmcalpin

The jury is still out on Graham Alexander for me, but he's beginning to impress. His first piority surely, is to keep us in the Premiership and he's certainly improved results and performances, despite a 1 in 200 year injury list. With a very few exceptions, he's used the same players as Robbo but has them playing more confidently and has tweaked the system to suit the players we have e.g. Tony Watt, Chris Long, Devante Cole and Robbie Crawford. In other words no square pegs in round holes. He's also made some behind the scenes improvements. All to the good. Do we need to ask questions of the players though? He's still to be tested though in the transfer market and in his influence on the youth development system. Presumably his record with youth is one of the reasons that he and not Tom Wright got the job. These of course are longer term objectives. Time will tell, but so far so good.

A huge result for us yesterday and thats the bottom line in our position. We also played well, but thats a bonus, although there were aspects of the game that'll concern management. So, in that respect it was job done. Kelly was again immense although he was left exposed at set pieces. The defence was reasonably solid but looked very vulnerable at set pieces as Livi had 4 or 5 free headers, one of which rattled off the bar. An issue to be addressed. Midfield played reasonably well for the most part but did disappear a bit whilst we were under the cosh. Crawford and Campbell impressed with the latter still going strong at full time with a surging run or two. Barry Maguire was quiet and didn't feature much but that said, he didn't do anything wrong. Good to see the midfield supporting the front men for once - what a difference it made. The strikers were very impressive with Roberts and Cole outstanding. Both ran themselves done and caused constant hassle and danger for Livi. Our set pieces still give cause for concern though and we'll need to improve that aspect of our game. All in all though, a decent all round team performance. Livi played just as we expected and, for all their faults, they kept going to the very end despite a very onerous week. Probably some squad rotation helped. Fortunately they were toothless up front and had to rely on long throws and set pieces. The ref was very inconsistent with fouls and cards. I didn't see our first penalty claim but will look at it later...if it is shown in the highlights. Had Tiny Wharton been officiating then Watt would have seen out the full 90 minutes. By modern standards, both Long with his card and presumably Fitzwater with his critical foul were unlucky, but that’s random refereeing for you. Now a chance to recuperate before the Killie game.

A great result. Some dodgy spells but the win was thoroughly deserved.

Good question.

Livingston are kindly giving us warnings. We need to make changes and soon.

Very inconsistent refereeing.

I'd be tempted to bring Gallagher on for Magloire. His prowess in the air is badly needed and Magloire has shown his inexperience 2 or 3 times. In midfield, Crawfiord and Campbell battling manfully but Maguire is having little impact.

A very fragile single goal lead, which we just deserved. We do need to tighten up a bit at the back though and shouldn't rely overly much on Kelly, who is playing very well. Hopefully Livingston will tire after the break.

Livingston looking very dangerous from set pieces.

We've got a chance if we can contain Livingston until well into the second 45 when they might tire given their hard week so far.

I don't know that Livingston are physically stronger than us, Greg. They do have an abrasive and combative midfield though - maybe an attitude of mind? Both Robbo and GA have commented in the past that we need to get more streetwise and manage games better. Certainly we have improved a bit since the management change. Maybe our squad is a wee bit younger and inexperienced than others?

I agree. We'll need Gallagher's height and experience at both ends of the park.

It'll be a real test for us and GA tomorrow. As we all know Livingston won't come to Fir Park to entertain viewers; they'll defend well in an organised and uncompromising manner; rely on the long ball and long throw ins. They won't give much away. Our midfield will need to be up for a real street scrap. In short just the type of game thats given us trouble this season.

6 of their players yellow carded. A taste of what's in store for us come Saturday?

Lower image was taken at Charlie Aitken's testimonial.

The Dundee Courier reports that "Dundee United are "heavily reliant" on cash from season-ticket renewals and will ask fans to forego their right to credits for games missed this term when they begin to sell seats for next season later in the month." Well someone will have to foot the bill for this summer's signing spree.

Sad news. I think I'm right in saying he scored the fastest ever hat trick in senior Scottish football - 2 mins 30 secs against Hibs. I only ever saw him play for Scotland. RIP Ian, a Well legend.

Thanks for clarifying a few points Denny. There may be a few reasons why these players have been treated differently by our support. In the case of Hastie. He only played a few good games for us whilst Gallagher had had a good year behind him. Hastie's situation was more clear cut with no confusion surrounding his position. The club also issued statements. As far as Gallagher is concerned, very little has actually been said. To that extent, not all, indeed not many, of our fans know what has happened. As Steelboy said though, some do. Last, but by no means least there were fans in the ground when Vigurs and Hastie were playing with us. There have been no fans this season.

Craig Gordon?

It seems that GA was red carded for an arm gesture.

As far as you're first point is concerned, Steelboy is basically correct (I'm not aware of the specifics in the middle). Only a very select few would know about details of his contract and if they were inaccurate or just downright wrong then surely the player, his agent, or the club, which doesn't tend to comment on contracts, would have quashed this story immediately. This did not happen. Alan Burrows, at the AGM, stated that Declan Gallagher was out of contract in the summer. So we know the start and end points. It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to work out whats happened, in principle, in between. In short, I agree with you Denny. As to your second point, I can't agree. When his stock was somewhat lower, Mr Gallagher was happy to sign a 2 year deal with an extension clause. Now that his stock has risen he wanted the club to rip up that deal. How would he feel if he'd been a failure and the club had said to him after 6 months that it wanted to rip up his contract and he'd simply to leave without any payment? Contracts should be honoured on both sides. There may well be more to this saga than that, but thats how it appears to me. I'm not at all sure sure what his name has to do with it and what you're getting at here. Had it been Jake Hastie, Iain Vigurs, Allan Campbell or whoever I suspect the reaction would have been exactly the same for the vast majority of our fans. Its people's comments and actions that have coloured fans' reactions, not their names.

I wonder how many "soft" penalties they've won this season? Since the one Erwin won against us, and including it, my count is 4 or possibly5. Something stinks.

According to GA, Carroll was removed from the fray because his nose would not stop bleeding.

St Mirren got yet another soft penalty yesterday. Thankfully on this occasion it benefitted us. As our luck has been abysmal theirs has been very good this season.

I didn't see this result coming but that makes it all the more welcome. I've only seen Jordan Roberts goal and boy did he take it well. What a sublime pass from Tony Watt though! Given results earlier in the season though you have to ask whats made the difference? Certainly Campbell has added a spark since he's come back although Steven Lawless was hardly able to make a major contriution yesterday. Has GA been gradually tweaking positions, tactics and training methods? Is he bringing the best out in players? Were the players not performing for Robbo? Whatever it is lets hope it continues. Last Wednesday and certainly yesterday certainly proved we have players of a decent enough calibre to stay up. Good to see Ricky Lamie getting some praise after the flak he took earlier, much of it deserved it has to be said.