Kmcalpin

Rightly or wrongly, he does split opinion Busta as he did whilst at Inverness and for the same reasons. That could be changing though, as it is in my case. What isn't in doubt, as far as I can tell, is his talent and his ability to create chances. His free kick for the goal at the chiller on Wednesday was an absolute peach. He definitely isn't a finisher or or a winger. The divergence of opinion centres on his work ethic, defensive capability and physicality. As far as I'm concerned he's not the best defender in the world but then again I don't mind so long as he is "adequate" in that regard. Is he lazy? I'd say no, but others disagree. Where I have continuing doubts is his tendency to disappear in a scrap of a game (a Hibs' fan's comment), although one moment of magic can change that. Its unfair, I suppose to compare him with David Turnbull, but I' m going to do it nonetheless. Leaving aside technical ability Turnbull still can turn it on whilst being closely marked and can ride tackles and shrug off boneshattering challenges whereas Polworth does struggle when games turn into urban hand to hand combat. However if Polworth can be anonymous for 89 minutes but help to create a goal or two I can live with that - Andy Ritchie anyone? A lot depends on who is playing alongside him.

It wouldn't matter if he thought Gallagher got the ball or not, I think I'm right in saying its the amount of force used re Carl McHugh appeal where he got the ball but also his opponent. It looked like a stonewaller to me certainly. Its also possible that he realised in hindsight, or was told by another official, that the foul immediately preceding the incident (the one allegedly committed by Grimshaw) was a dive, which it was. Minimal contact and the player goes to ground very easily.

I'm still concerned at our lack of options up front. Taking Long out of it, the likes of Scott, Manzinga, Ndjoli and MacIver aren't exactly experienced at this level. Apart from our loanee, the others are work in progress and haven't been seen much in the first team and James Scott isn't yet ready to play in the middle. That said goals have come from quite a few players.

I'm surprised as they have a stand named after him at Pittodrie.

We're suddenly looking very short of strikers. Currently Scott and Manzinga?

Great result tonight away to very close rivals so credit to management and players. Just hope our injury list isn't growing. Relegation now avoided, top 6 place very likely and top 4 place very probable and it's still only January. Happy days.

Well that makes a change. Over the years they've benefitted from quite a few dodgy penalty decisions against us including 3 in the 1 game as I recall.

Not the BBC then!

Agreed but we mustn't neglect our flanks either. We need to guard them closely and prevent unnecessary crosses and incursions into the box.

Yes. Hopefully Grimshaw and Donnelly will return and Polworth is passed fit. Midfield will be critical and Donnelly and Campbell will need to be at their defensive and competitive best. If fit, this is a great opportunity for Liam Polworth to prove that he can turn on his undoubted talent in a big game. Central defence is a worry. I have no fears about big Declan but who should partner him? Aberdeen will not be as wasteful as Dundee were last Saturday and if we are are careless we'll lose a goal or two.

We could not afford his wages of over £4k per week. United blew other suitors out of the water.

You must like dirty hammer throwers too Geoff.

Some decent discussion on P & B just now about our striking options or rather lack of them. I could not put it better than "Casagolda" has done and have copied his post over; hopefully he/she won't object. "Massive fan of Long but his game is about pace and movement- see the 2nd goal on Saturday. When we’re on the back foot, he has a tendency to almost switch off and drift out the game. We could do with a forward who has a bit more experience and a bit of a physical presence. Cole was probably the pick of the bunch and we’ve replaced him with yet another inexperienced winger. It’s a huge ask to go through the rest of the season with Long as our only senior striker. He’s scored 5 of our last 8 goals and if anything happens to him, we’re humped." This weakness was very evident in the Accies game and also for a 20 minute spell on Saturday. We need someone, and reasoanbly quickly, with the physicality and experience to hold the ball up and take some pressure off the struggling midfield and defence.

Thats about it. Another away tie against Premiership opposition. It would've been nice to get an easier team for once.

Very true. Hopefully a lot of lessons to be learnt last night, both short and long term. It was a cup tie, we scored 3 goals, kept a clean sheet and deservedly progressed. Job done. Oh and a hat trick as well. That about sums it up for me. Some other positives like Long's hat trick, and good performances by Gallagher and in the main by Campbell. The loss of Hylton and Polworth did disrupt our play and I hope they didn't suffer anything too serious. I'd love to hang onto Long and pair him with an experienced No 9. Some negatives too though that should surely concern Robbo. Our defence, Gallagher apart was awful and a better team, as Ya Beezer says would have taken goals off us. From start to finish our 2 full backs gave the Dundee flankers far too much room and allowed them far too many unhindered crosses and free entry into our box (thankfully they were toothless up front). Hartley's passing was a bombscare all evening. Gillespie had one amazing save from a short range shot that was swerving all over the place, and flapped at one cross, but in general didn't have a lot to do. His distribution was poor. Midfield was ok in spells. Campbell played very well but disappeared for a 20 minute spell after half time when Dundee were all over us. Donnelly helped to steady the ship when he came on. O'Hara - not a bad player but not in our team (see Captain Oats' comments on P & B). Seedorf - oh dear. James Scott still has a lot to learn and at the moment probably doesn't quite deserve a regular starting slot. We were quite clinical against a strong Dundee team (on paper), but our alarming slump in the first part of the 2nd 45 was reminiscent of the Accies game. Had Dundee scored then we would have been in serious trouble. Once we scored the 3rd goal Dundee folded. A good boisterous, well lubricated, support but a shocking home attendance. I'd guess unofficially we'd have just over 50% of the total attendance. Thanks to Joe Wark the Legend for arranging secure local parking for our cars. Excellent turnout from the Fife & Tayside club. Hope the East of Scotland boys had a good time last night.

Still a few players out of contract this summer most notably Dunne, Hartley, Tait and Long. Of these 4 we only know that Long has been offered a new deal, and thats justified. Dunne maybe? I wouldn't be in any rush to extend deals for Tait and Hartley though. On last night's evidence we still badly need an old fashioned centre forward to hold the ball up.

Long for me although Gallagher was a strong contender. Campbell had a decent game too but went missing for a 20 minute spell in the second half when Dundee were on top.

Agreed Iain. Its worrying though that Donnelly might miss the closing stages especially if Dundee are throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at us. I'm not wholly convinced of him but we don't have any other 100% defensive midfielder. O'Hara is not a defensive player. Lets hope the team is 100% fit and up for a cup tie battle.

Yes.

Any team news in advance of Saturday? Will clearance have arrived in time for Ndjoli to join the squad? Is Donnelly still injured?

I agree that a striker should be our number 1 priority but I'm still concerned at at our lack of cover in central midfield. Yes, we have plenty of bodies who can play in central midfield but how many of them can play well in a defensive role? I'm not 100% convinced of Donnelly but he's the best we have and there's no-one to fill in for him when he's out as we've discovered to our cost several times. its quite a large squad that we have but slightly unbalanced in some areas.

Not much wrong with that sentiment in theory but I don't think we have any up and coming strikers in the youth ranks. others may know different, as I don't get to watch the youngsters. Jamie Semple was a striker now converted to midfield, but I wouldn't have thought he'd fit the bill for the vacant role. As far as Declan Gallagher is concerned this media rumour won't surprise any of us. At 28 he's due a chance to better himself but maybe not this window and certainly not at £500K. If that is indeed the figure we're looking for then we're seriously underselling ourselves.

Time will tell as they say. We've heard this line before as Robbo doesn't like to broadcast his intentions to rivals. We are very short up front and James Scott is not ready to play through the middle yet. If we are serious about retaining 4th place, never mind securing 3rd we have, as Spiderpig points out, got to strengthen our striking department.

So I noticed Andy so that should help but it would be nice to be allocated a bit of space rather than being crammed in whilst large swathes of nearby seats are taped off.

Hopefully Dundee will allow us a bit of space in their Shankly Stand rather than packing us in like sardines in a very restricted area. Not holding my breath though.