Kmcalpin

As far as I'm concerned, both players have potential and Robbo is quite good at developing young players. Don't know about anyone else, but I'm not writing either of them off; I just happen to think they had a poor game yesterday. Every player can have an off day or poor spell or indeed take time to develop.

I would say Illic and MacIver. I can see why they were given a chance though. Perhaps Manzinga and Ndjoli could have started with O'Hara coming on later, if required. I don't think Seedorf contributed anything when he came on. MacIver looks promising and showed some nice touches but is lightweight and to me looks more of an attacking midfielder rather than a main striker. Nobody on our books though looked capable of facing up to Jackson. Others may know more about MacIver than I do though. The lack of a main striker in our recruitment process this season is puzzling to me.

Overall I was quite pleased with a share of the points as neither side deserved to lose. We had far more of the play but Hibs defended extremely well although we outgunned them in midfield. Rumours of Hibs having a poor defence turned out to be way off the mark. I thought their huge centre back (Jackson?) had a great game and gobbled up everything in the air we threw at him. I've seen one or two comments referrring to their style of play as agricultural but thats paying them a disservice... they were ruthless and cynical and I have real doubts as to whether that was down to spur of the moment decisions or whether it was premeditated, which is more likely. Despite having far less of the play than us Hibs had almost as many efforts on target as us. Our defence looked a bit shaky at times but Gallagher strolled through the game. Our midfield bossed their Hibs counterparts and that was largely down to Donnelly, who took a real beating, and the energetic Campbell. Polworth had a reasonable game but but got caught in possession 3 or 4 times. Illic did nothing of note and I was surprised he wasn't hooked at half time. Up front we were very lightweight and although Scott started well he faded once he was snuffed out by 2 or 3 defenders. MacIver looked promising but was out of his depth and maybe centre forward is not his role. Overall our attack was very lightweight, which was my fear going into the game. We could have played until next week and not scored. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I think we got several selection decisions wrong today. The referee was very poor and bottled a big decison not to red card the lucky Omeonga. The point will please us more than Hibs and it was another clean sheet. I'm not convinced though that had Long played we would have fared any better. If we seriously want to go for 3rd spot then I'm afraid we need to sign an out and out striker very soon. Not easy, I know, to find the right man this month and Robbo's record on signing strikers isn't anything to write home about. Next Saturday will pose us another challenge and we have to come up with something different. Its a great position though to be writing about going for 3rd place...its beats a relegation struggle every time!

A toss up for me between Gallagher and Campbell but decided to go with Mr Consistency big Declan.

Interesting. Maybe youth will get a chance.

I'd expect us to play Scott and either Manzinga or Ndjoli up front.

I think 20% is very slightly less than the capacity of the East Stand.

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.