Kmcalpin

Well I was at the game and its fair to say its one of the oddest I've witnessed in almost 60 years. I'll not comment on the 3 red cards as I haven't seen them in detail. I thought mistakes were made in the team selection. We lacked pace and movement up front and perhaps, and I say perhaps, MacLean could have given us that. Predictably left wing was a problem for us. We started off well and controlled the game and swung over cross after cross into Saints' box with little effect. Plenty of possession and graft but no cutting edge. After perhaps 20 minutes of pressure we failed to register one effort on goal. Saints broke away and predictably scored 2 goals with 2 attacks. the first one relying on spades of good luck. Bowman and Fisher worked damned hard but did nothing admittedly, with poor service. Poor defending did cost us and thats what Saints are good at - making few mistakes and scoring when the chance presents itself. Over the piece we didn't play badly but lacked experience and streetwiseness. Up front is where our problems lie. Neither Fisher nor Bowman look like doing the business at this level. Hard work in life by itself counts for nothing. As we lost men Saints began to dominate the game as you'd expect. They've now picked up 6 points by beating 2 teams in close fought games as they do. I can't go on without referring to the referee. Red cards apart he had a poor and inconsistent game. He missed 2 blatant hand balls, at close range and a cast iron penalty in my book when Paton, I think, grabbed Moult by the throat at a corner. However you dress it up Paton did not do that by accident. I'd also like him to explain to me why he checked our players 6 times for stealing yards at throw ins and did not pull up Saints once, not once, for similar indiscretions. Failing to give the advantage when Moult was fouled was not something you expect from an experienced referee. As far as Robbo is concerned he must address 2 weaknesses: occasional errors at the back and lack of bite/punch up front. The latter is now becoming a worry. Overall though I'm not overly concerned. We've had 2 tough closely fought league games and sustained two losses with little or no luck. Normally after a defeat I'm hard on the team, but not today. I was one who applauded them off the field for fighting well even when down to 8 men and not giving up. A number of players, including Louis Moult, appreciated that and came over to acknowledge the applause. One final thought is it normal practice for the 3 match officials to leave the pitch before most of the players? I always thought the ref was last to leave.

Mark Reynolds in our classic at Aberdeen? Deliberate handball on the goal line, the ref played on rightly, goal scored but no red card? I'd like to see his explanation about that.

Yes, I think MacLean is due a chance. Injuries permitting you'd think that Cadden, Bigimania, McHugh and Rose are certain starters in midfield. Glad to see that Frear's injury is nowhere as bad as first feared (torn hamstring/serious groin strain).

Good post. I wasn't at the game and didn't have a front seat view. Looking back at the highlights its unclear what happened - yes there was a collision of course and Dunne seemed to come in from behind. However the picture just isn't clear enough to convince me either way. As you say there has to be intent and the appeals committee will have to be convinced of Dunne's intentions - not easy I'd say.

So many unknowns about this game. We've quite a few players suffering knocks and bruises so it'll be difficult to determine our line up. We'll play 5 in middle though maybe in a 4-5-1 formation if Tanner isn't fit. We don't yet know who St Johnstone will play up front - one of the strikers may not even be signed up yet. I'm a bit more confident this season as we're better prepared physically to match Saints. However they're a more experienced and streetwise team than us and know all the scams, cons and tricks. We've got a shocking recent record in Perth, admittedly based on little good luck, so its time to rectify that. I think the team will give the support more to cheer this time round.

Yes a decent player who can be very physical. He'll meet his match in Cedric though.

Just watched the highlights again and I've come to the conclusion that the County keeper was a lucky lad. As MacLean looks to take the ball past him he lunges in late with his legs outstretched. Worthy of a yellow card certainly. Academic however.

I understand what you're saying. If referees interpret that consistently and strictly you could see several red cards per game. Pulling, pushing, shirt pulling, are all very common at corners, free kicks and crosses. Presumably any foul within say 7/8 metres of the goal could be interpreted as denying a goalscoring opportunity.

So, we can expect an absolute flood of red cards this season then?

Yes so am I. He seems to know exactly what kind of squad he wants and is recruiting accordingly. Its not just down to the type of player he's bringing in ie attacking midfielder, defender, but he's also adding pace and physicality. Last but not least he likes players with character (as Jock Wallace would say) who will battle for the cause.

C'mon folks lets see if we can hit a target of £580. The site has a big membership and we have a lot of lurkers or lapsed members. A few more £5 or £10 donations will do it. Iain will gladly accept your contributions.

I assume he was pretty anonymous tonight and most fans didn't notice his contribution. A great night for us in what was a difficult game. This squad is shaping up nicely and we seem to have battling qualities about us now. Credit to the players and management. Safe journey back for our travelling fans. Looking forward to the highlights. Was our new mascot, Steelman, responsible for the win tonight?

Likewise, but this is the starting line up I was expecting, Heneghan apart maybe. It looks a bit unbalanced and it'll be interesting how our left flank fares. Definitely a more cautious and defensive set up.

Whats the current situation Iain?

This. Not many amongst our support will be sorry to see him move on. Robbo has certainly shipped out players he doesn't fancy. Normally in these situations the player leaves by "mutual consent", but given recent events and the club's unusually terse statement I suspect the terms were not that favourable to him.

No, there is indeed more to get upset about on the playing side. That doesn't mean we should ignore sectarianism though. We played our most recent game against Rangers on Sunday and that game is what this thread is about. When Celtic come to town and, if their support indulges in sectarianism (they do have previous as we know), then I'll feel equally entitled to make the same kind of comment at the appropriate time.

It was certainly loud and clear from the South Stand. While certain verses were a bit muted they were certainly still sung and audible.

Is MacLean better than Bowman or Dunne? In short they're different kinds of player. I've never been one to play square pegs in round holes. Surely a manager has to have a preferred system or perhaps systems for his club and all the players are familiar with it. Players are brought in who can play to that system. Its no use asking a plumber to do a joiner's job. While both work in skilled construction trades, those skills will be very different. I haven't quite figured out Rose yet but Campbell is clearly a very different kind of midfielder. Irrespective of how good they both are had Campbell been brought on then our system would have had to change slightly. Had we been sitting on a narrow lead with say 10/15 minutes to go and under pressure then yes Campbell is your man. However we were chasing an equaliser and were very much on top. I don't think we had another midfielder on the bench with the necessary attacking skills. Ross MacLean might have been a decent replacement, as might Shea Gordon, but neither were available. In retrospect we had just too many strikers on the bench and not enough attacking midfielders.

Don't forget the Sash too. Are they banned songs? I suppose it depends on who is singing them and where they're singing them.

We're by no means alone in this regard. Most Scots teams are the same and is the English Premier League any different. I'm afraid thats modern day football. The days of Willie Kilmarnocks, Baldy Shaws and Joe Warks is long gone. Our team of 10 years ago also contained "mercenaries" like Chris Porter, Simon Mensing, Simon Lapping, Jim Patterson, Stephen Hughes, and Ross MacCormack.

No point in further speculation. Just wait and see if he plays at Castle Greyskull.

Play him in the right position and he do'll the business. Interested clubs will be well aware of that and the fact he's not match fit.

All speculation. Bigi has already played in the League Cup and don't forget the SFA approved his registration. Time this rumour was quashed.

The winner takes it all.

Great point. In the first half, all too often Moult was outside of the box when the crosses were put in and there was no-one to get on the end of them.