Kmcalpin

My vote goes to Ripley. He did nothing wrong despite receiving little or no protection.

Word on FPC is that sanctions would have cost us £100k, but I don't know. The game itself was a damp squib riddled by petulance, niggles on the pitch and poor officiating. Fisher in particular was lucky to see half time. It was a game which had been lost by 2.55. The formation was bizarre and ultimately along with poor play cost us the game. In the first part of the first half we looked lively and could have scored 3 goals more had we taken our chances. Johnson especially looked to be in the mood with some great runs but unfortunately looked like a fish out of water playing so deep. For all we looked lively the midfield and defence looked poor and Saints could also have added another couple of goals. We looked very exposed down the flanks and it was no coincidence that both goals lost came from the wings. The midfield sat too deep and found it hard to compete, especially in the second half. Saints looked the better side in the last 45 and comfortably saw the game out despite our fruitless pressure. Saints were impressive in their own way. Not exciting to watch but apart from an error or two looked solid, well organised and played the referee well. They worked far harder than us to close us down. Personnel wise, Johnson was out of position and Ainsworth contributed nothing. The latter should have been replaced at half time. We played without any recognised full backs and it cost us. Couldn't quite fathom out why Leitch was brought on to replace Johnson with 10 minutes to go. I like Cadden but today his first touch let him down. Credit to him though for creating the goal through sheer hard work. Very few pass marks today. I'm a supporter of Mark McGhee but today he got it badly wrong. Poor show from the Saints fans for their treatment of Keith Lasley.

I quite understand the furore over the army of stewards deployed today. Totally OTT. Even quite a few in front of the POD Stand. However the cost of hiring them would have been much less than the fine the SPFL kangaroo court would have imposed for any breach. Last year at the Sevco play off we had double the recommended number of stewards but the SPFL kangaroo court deemed even that to be inadequate. We have not been allowed to see the report of that investigation and I would ask again what the court's recommendation about levels of stewarding was. This has never been made public. Whilst I totally understand the furore over the stewarding today our ire should be directed at the SPFL and not MFC.

I would hope so. Hibs for example are offering their ST holders a 10% reduction.

Yes, he is.

Whilst your example is correct you could also quote the opposite but still valid example of someone who couldn't afford an early bird ticket last year but can do so now. Don't forget either for the 16-18 age group their tickets will be cheaper and for yet others in the POD Stand there is no increase at all.

He did indeed. Of the recently released United players there's none that would interest me. United will finish bottom for a reason.

Lets hope we have reason to celebrate on Saturday and fans enjoy themsleves....but stay off the pitch please.

The club is quite right to appeal. Given what happened beforehand, I think downgrading the punishment to a yellow card would the correct outcome. Shinnie's actions were a bit rich considering what he had done previously.

Pretty much my thoughts too. St Johnstone have a pretty pugnacious and abrasive midfield and so we'll want to mix it with them I'd have thought. Cadden is a bit naive defensively, but yes he does bring more balance and competitiveness to the side than Ainsworth.

Is Watt not a right back?

There's still some confusion as to exactly what he picked up. Was there also a yellow or red card for foul and abusive language? It looked to me like a clumsy tackle nothing more but you're right he has lost those extra yards.

Agreed but I think the difference was that there were a number of Aberdeen players surrounding the referee pleading with him and imploring him to show a red card. A large crowd would also have been screaming the same sentiment. Again inconsistency from a match official can have serious consequences and not just in the game itself.

Just watched the TV highlights of the game and it was very disappointing the way we lost all 4 goals. All very cheap. Three of the four came from our inability to defend our wings and the fourth, Rooney's, was down to shocking covering. Keith Lasley's red card seemed harsh although a yellow card was warranted. Highly likely that the ref's decision was heavily influenced by the protests of the Aberdeen players and an appeal should be submitted.

I think you're being a bit harsh. It was his first game back after a month or two out and he had no protection in front of him.

Yes, today was always going to be a very hard game with Aberdeen having a lot to prove (but maybe not to the BBC). We started with a surprisingly attack minded line up and it seems we were confident to go toe to toe with Aberdeen. Our final placing was never going to depend on this game and it won't depend on our last game either. Laing will have been ring rusty and it was risky throwing him in here. Mark McGhee called it just right with Chris Cadden though. Of the club's last two competitive matches I'd say Wednesday's was the more important and winnable and it was right to give Cadden 90 minutes in the cup final as opposed to today. Had he been fully fit and played 90 minutes today it would not have made much difference to the final outcome I'm not confident we will finish in 4th but should hang onto 5th place. Two very competitive games coming up and they will determine our final placing. If we can pick up one win from those two then 5th spot should be ours. Not to say we won't win both but thats a tall order.

For some there's no increase at at all; for others aged 16-18 there's a reduction; but for others there's an increase of about 4.8% or £15 a year. I quite understand that £15 is a lot of cash to some folk and they just can't afford it. By way of comparison though BT is increasing its prices by £12 + per year depending on your package; and beer has gone up by roughly 4%. Cup games excepted, prices have gone up by about 15% (East Stand adult) over the past 3 years.

People buy season tickets for various and different reasons. I agree with you and for the fact that it helps the club. Each to their own.

Have you tried phoning - maybe more effective.

I don't disagree with much of your post but there is another angle to this, which hasn't been raised so far. Quite apart from the footballing aspect, which is important in itself, there's also the financial aspect. Mark McGhee has a finite budget and if he gives a player like Craig Moore or Jack Leitch ie a youngish player on whom the jury is still out another contract that then reduces the cash pot to be spent on younger players coming through and it maybe that a promising young lad is told he's no longer required as we can't afford him. Its very difficult with young players' contracts as its not always easy to judge just who is going to make it and who is not. Some lads mature quickly but don't go on to the next level whilst others may develop more slowly but go further. At the end of the day its down to the management team to assess how their cash pot is going to be spent and which young players will make it.

Agree with much of whats been written so far. I reckon we'll go for a goalkeeper, either back up or first choice depending on Samson's position; a defensive central midfielder and a striker. Interesting too to see which of the young lads get promoted.

Not an unreasonable package I'd say. Most prices are increasing by just under 5%, but POD adult prices have been frozen. Those aged 16-18 are now classed as concessions which will help younger folk. Those aged 60-64 still enjoy concession prices which isn't the case for most clubs. However, I'd like to have seen us follow Hibs temporary measure of giving season ticket holders a 10% reduction of cup prices but having said that, they are reviewing this. Anyone thinking of upgrading to the Centenary Suite should just ring the ticket office.

Really? I wasn't aware of this.

Hi folks Yabba's Turd: Sorry Ian - I have the Raith programme but there's no mention of your cousin's friend. I've also checked other programmes around that date but still no mention. Tamwell: I have a home programme against Hibs dated 17 August 1991. Dezz: sorry I don't have that programme. Richie: sorry I don't have the Liverpool programme. Superward: yes I have 3 Aberdeen programmes from 22 August 1987, 1 October 1988 and 21January 1989. Take your pick. SBMFC: yes I have the 30 July 2006 Rangers programme. For those of you I do have programmes for can I suggest we meet before the St Johnstone game next week? PM me to arrange.

I think its worth bearing in mind that the team who won the cup last night was not just the product of Stephen Craigan & Keith Lasley's guidance over the past year or so (they have done very well) but also of our scouts from 2/3/4 years ago. A feature of youth schemes is that they take several years to bear fruit and it takes along time to find out if they are working or not. Two more interesting thoughts - Hamilton, who are recognised as having a very good youth scheme have never won the cup. How many of our lads from last night have been picked to represent Scotland?