Kmcalpin

Interesting article in the Scotsman about how much clubs spent on agent fees over the past 2 windows. Our total was £6,575 the 3rd lowest in the Premiership and only above Accies and St Mirren. Ross County and Livingston even spent considerably more, as did Partick Thistle. https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/scottish-premiership-clubs-splash-out-6m-on-agents-fees-1-4923636

I agree Haggis. Of late our defence has been less than impressive. The result will depend on whether or not we can score and if so how many.

Potentially 2 important games coming up for us. One game at a time though as they say. If we want to win it badly, for the cash, then Main or Sammon must start to make the ball stick up front. If on the other hand its to test out youngsters, then Scott should start. Thats our choice. It'll be a tough game against a well organsied and very hard working Saints side.

Gallagher seems to be very highly thought of and is exceptionally good in the air; quick too. Defensive midfield could be improved from this season. Our defence this year could have been better and ourgoals against record this term could be improved somewhat

One vote per club although thats by no means perfect?

Certainly one major factor in the equation Greg. Undoubtedly the voting system is flawed.

I expect both Aldred and McHugh to leave at the end of their contracts. Just part of a bigger rebuilding exercise. The important thing is that they let the club know their intentions as soon as possible.

Two good posts Ya Beezer and Yorky. When we play with a lone striker like Scott, there's usually a disconnect with wingers playing wide or deep and attacking midfielders. We were creating chances from wide but there was a lack of bodies getting into the danger areas quickly to take full advantage and take the weight off Scott. Turnbull played in a deeper role. We definitely missed Gorrin as he is a good all rounder. He's someone who can compete and tackle, albeit rashly at times, but is also comfortable on the ball and can pass. We've not had such player for some years now. This type of player is a real asset for any team and means that they can support and help more specialised types. Polworth, as I understand it, is an attacking midfielder who can also play wide. Hopefully we will replace Gorrin with a like for like player, but Polworth isn't that man. Carl McHugh is a decent but limited player. On Saturday he defended reasonably well and won more than his fair share of aerial duels but his lack of pace and passing ability limited his influence. I thought he could also have been more assertive at times, especially in the closing stages, when we needed someone in the engine room to kick a few butts. All that said, there are worse players than Carl McHugh.

I don't take these awards seriously as they are very subjective and in reality are influenced by a range of factors other than ability and performance. Unfortunately Iain the fact that David Turnbull didn't win the award will have no bearing on when he leaves.

Again shocking defending. As the game entered its closing stages we began to defend deeper and deeper and paid the inevitable price. No-one was marking Magennis who had plenty of space inside our box. A last ditch but unsuccessful tackle shouldn't mask poor organisation. St Mirren were surprisingly unambitious yesterday as others have mentioned but their defence was overall more solid than ours on the day; not great but not error prone. I was also puzzled as to why Ariyibi was taken off. He didn't have a great game overall but maybe halfway into the second half he really came onto a game and annoyed the Saints defence to such an extent that they decided collectively that enough was enough began to take turns to hack him down. Was he injured or knackered?

Forgot to add that playing as a lone striker is a big ask of anyone let alone an inexperienced youngster like Scott.

Yes he was definitely a bit slow and got caught on the ball a few times but he didn't have a bad game. A draw was just about right. Our defence looked shaky all day and it was no surprise when they deservedly equalised. Again we looked vulnerable on the wings. Neither side deserved to win nor lose. Our biggest problem was that nothing stuck up front, where we looked toothless, although we did create quite a few chances. I thought that Main or Sammon might have replaced Scott for that reason round about the 70th minute mark. The substitutions did seem a bit odd and certainly didn't help, our cause. Another valuable lesson for James Scott, who showed some neat touches but was up against another big tough centre back who conned the referee. A summer in the gym beckons for young James and maybe a six month loan spell. Saint's Mullen was extremely annoying with his constant diving and he was lucky not to pick up at least one card. The referee lost control near the end much to the relief of MacKenzie who was only yellow carded. Does anyone know why we didn't have a substitute goalie on the bench? At the end of the day a decent late season workout, although it wasn't exactly scintillating stuff.

Mostly average displays but dunne gets my vote. McHugh would have done but got caught on the ball 2 or 3 times.

I wonder if the likes of Well fan Dean Cornelius or Reece MacAlear will get a seat on the bench.

Hopefully we'll see some more young players in action at some stage tomorrow or on the bench. This is the perfect time to give them a taste of first team football.

Now agree. Ariyibi says that he was pushed to the ground and this is the opinion of some Dundee fans also. In short two erroneous penalty decisions in the game which could have had serious repercussions not just for us but also for other teams in the bottom 6.

Not exactly a glowing statement is it? A bit abrupt and no thank you.

Partick and Cambridge's combined average attendance comes to about 9,100. 50 odd people represent about 0.5% of them or roughly 1 in 200. So 99.5% didn't comment on him or thought he is ok/good. Give the guy a chance and lets see what he can do.

Don't forget too that Cedric Kipre's not inconsiderable fee falls into the current financial year.

Decent post. I don't know if we are though. Its quite possible that of those "signed" so far only Polworth and Campbell will be with us.

I agree it was harsh but according to the laws of the game it was a stonewaller. Ariyibi slipped and the Dundee attacker fell over him. It doesn't matter whether its accidental or not.

Renew your season ticket Jim and it will help to bring in a better calibre of player.

Very true, but defensive work isn't all down to the 4 defenders, the midfield is involved as well.

Add to that Gorrin, Turnbull, Cadden and McHugh possibly departing it could leave us short in the middle of the park. That said, Polwarth can play wide.

Kevin Clancy yesterday had an exceptionally poor game from start to finish and could easily have affected the outcome. Very relieved that he didn't. In the first half he could easily have yellow carded Kusinga and MacGowan for persistent jersey pulling on Scott, but only once awarded a foul. Many criticise Curtis Main for preferring to wrestle rather than play football but week in week out we see big defenders resort to this, mainly without any punishment. In the first half Gorrin was yellow carded for a 50:50 challenge and whilst it was robust it was probably not as bad as his opponents one. In fact I thought we'd be awarded the foul. He has been playing on a knife edge of late and picking up yellow cards so yesterday probably wasn't a surprise. His second yellow was also debatable and whilst rash it wasn't that bad. In terms of the 95 minutes yesterday he can consider himself unlucky given what the referee missed/ignored. Late in the second half, Tait was cynically brought down just outside the box by Woods just as he was about to pull the trigger. Foul awarded but the culrpit wasn't even spoken to. A stick on straight red in my book for denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity. The penalty decision was ludicrous, as the ball was not over the by line. We were astonished that Clancy, only a few yards away, consulted the linesman who was a good 40/50 yards away and unsighted, at the insistence of Dundee players and changed his decision. Poor refereeing and officiating from start to finish. I get that referees are only human and make mistakes but standards are poor in Scotland and bedevilled by inconsistency... Over to the SFA.