Kmcalpin

Overall very happy with today's outcome. We deserved to win but made it hard for ourselves. Pleasingly we tried to play football, rather than hoofball. Cole and Foley were our stars I'd say. At times though, especially in the second half as Killie came at us, our midfield went AWOL. As Stevie Kirk remarked that was up to Lamie and moreso Gallagher, as captain, to kick the butts of our midfielders and force them out of our box, whether they wanted to go or not. We had some nice touches up front but the final ball was often lacking. We were a bit slow, as FirParkCorner exile, says to tighten up when Burke came on. Still a good day. Academic maybe, but hopefully, McGinley can appeal his yellow card.

I have no problem with this. Its gone on for decades. I remember Davy Wilson doing this in the 1970s, when he played for either Dundee United or Rangers.

A good day, with St Mirren and Dundee United losing. A real scrap at the bottom but thats not our problem. Foley my MOTM

The problem is lack of cover in midfield.

We've had a warning...we need to bolster midfield.

Goal! Great play by Foley.

Not convinced we're playing that well, especially when not in possession. Midfield has gone AWOL when Killie were attacking. We need to up our work rate in the engine room and/or tweak the formation.

Poor poor defending at that free kick.

Foley is 6'+. However the line up, especially in midfield, is a bit odd to say the least.

I'm really really shocked. Never saw this as a possibility. Fortunately GA won't have been fooled.

According to Graham Alexander's latest interview, he's looking to bring in players who can play 40/50 games a season. Make of that what you will.

Declan Gallagher had a very good first season but has been mediocre this term. I have no problem with him signing a PCA with another club and good luck to him. He has a right to move on for a final good payday. However he hasn't acted like a captain off the field this season and that's what grates with many fans. Its perhaps significant that our media team has sidelind him in recent weeks.l trust GA's judgement on this whatever he decides.

My apologies, yes you were.

Hard cash will certainly be an important factor. However as he is about 30 I'd reckon they'd offer him a 2/3 year deal at about £3/4K per week.

Absolutely. In the past, cup ties had atmosphere and tended to be real battles with players hyped up and teams going hammer and tongs. Not the same these days. Why is that? Maybe in part due to lack of crowds this season. I think the introduction of penalties has also affected games. Nowadays some teams are happy to sit in and go for extra time and penalties, knowing that thier best chance. perhaps also, players' attitudes. with more emphasis on hard cash these days, maybe a win bonus is the same for both league and cup?

I too don't believe that good luck comes with practice. Going back to the 2018 League Cup Final with Celtic when Cedric was red-carded. That wasn't our fault nor was the ref's failure to award us a penalty when Moult was impeded in the box. 3 big decisions in the one game none of which were down to lack of practice.

Its not Covid.

With a dodgy 93 minute penalty of course.

Whatever players we bring in as part of this summer's rebuild, be it 1 or 9, I hope we introduce some pace into the squad. Thats something we've been badly lacking this season.

Good post. Its not all about signing the best players ability wise. As St Johnstone will tell you its all about being a team player, preferably with some experience with a good competitive character.

Could it just be that there's not a lot between 9 of our top 12 clubs? When you question the quality of the league what are comparing it with? I'm curious.

Not sure about that Grizzly. Gordon started out with Hearts. Clark was with Accies and Tanser came from Rochdale.

That result gives us all hope. It just goes to show what a team comprised solid, experienced mentally tough individuals can achieve if they're well organised and hard working.

Like others, I'm not convinced that Carson will fully recover from his injuries and thats a concern. I'd sign Kelly permanently in a minute but thats unlikely I'd think. A very good keeper but he's not the best in the air. If we were to retain him we'd need 2 big dominant central defenders; we'll probably need them anyway. We've lost a worrying amount of goals from, and conceded chances to headers all season; as we can see from the last 3 games against Morton, Accies and Hibs. That needs to change. Midfield needs an overhaul. Hopefully Donnelly will return and add stability to the defensive midfield. I don't think we'll miss Alan Campbell as much as many think. A great work ethic and attitude but he's not had a great season; better than other midfielders admittedly, but thats faint praise.

This. In our last 2 cup ties we've been denied a stonewall penalty and conceded a wrongly awarded goal. I'm not saying these decisions cost us wins over 90 minutes but they certainly didn't help. To win the cup you have to have an element of luck on your side and in that respect we failed miserably. I just want this season done and dusted now but don't want it to end with a whimper against sides fighting for their lives.