Kmcalpin

Certainly this threesome have a wealth of experience and they'll know what they're about. I must say I've been impressed with Keith Lasley in his short time with the Under 20s. Both Ferguson & Mackin now need to demonstrate that they're ready for a step up.

I agree about Thomas. He has got the talent to make it but has to improve his final ball. Jack Leitch? His contract expires in 2/3 months. You then have to decide whether or not to give him another deal, possibly knowing that he hasn't been fully assessed.

Maybe lessens the possibility of a pitch invasion?

He'll be 21 this year Fraz and I'd say its now make or break time for him. The next crop of young midfielders like Chris Cadden are now starting to overtake him. Gomis will we with us until the end of his loan contract whenever that is. I agree Leitch should be given a bit more game time now but up until now he hasn't impressed me - just don't see what he'd bring to the team.

The problem is that despite packing our penalty box and playing narrowly we still don't keep things tight in the middle.

Yes, it would. Time after time Celtic attackers managed to find space deep in our box despite us packing it with defenders. The great disadvantage of allowing opponents to get the ball into our penalty area and then marking them is that if you make a mistake or there is some freak occurrence there is no last line of defence. If they can't get into our box their chance of scoring is very much reduced.

What about the likes of Mackin, Campbell and MacLean? Maybe a 5/10 minute slot in the latter stages of a game?

Yes, they did.

Twice in the second half I saw McManus shooing Hammell out wide to cover emerging danger down that flank.

There may have been some tinkering recently but we didn't lose out the season we finished second. A substantial redistribution was proposed but Aberdeen fought tooth and nail to veto it which they successfully did (we agreed to the change). Things then went badly wrong and Aberdeen finished in 3rd place after we stole their runners up spot at the death. The draft fixtures will now have been sent to the TV companies and Police for them to write in red all over them. It could take them a day or two to come back to the SPFL.

Agreed. However do we go hell for leather to maximise our league position as its a fair bit of cash involved or do we say to hell with it blood as many good kids as possible? I don't know.

A bit like that. From memory not so bad at Hamilton but it caused us some problems at Perth especially when Spoony scored St Johnstone's first.

Maybe an element of truth in that I don't know but neither Hammell nor Law possess much positional sense defensively. This causes us problems and goals game after game. As Superward says though it was more like the width of the 6 yard box on Saturday.

In terms of goalkeepers, absolutely. That in itself though doesn't guarantee success in the position.

My thoughts exactly. Yes, he was reasonable going forward yesterday but was caught out again by being too far infield on several occasions. This happens time after time. It places unwanted additional pressure on the central defence and goalie.

I think your post split fixture prediction looks about right Iain. Two homes and three aways. I reckon we're capable of beating st Johnstone at home and drawing with Hearts. The game against Ross County (at Dingwall?) looks tricky.

Back on topic guys. Just watched the TV highlights. MacDonald's goal that was chalked off was a very close call. Although I'm biased I tend to say he was in line. Celtic's first goal was a defensive disaster. Law was caught badly out of position but the covering in the middle was diabolical. Many of Celtic's on target efforts were the result of their players being in unmarked positions 6/7/8 yards from goal. Yes, you can say that this was down down to good forward play, and it was to an extent, but our defending was pretty poor. Still we move on now and look forward to atop six finish. Its going to be a balancing act between blooding a good few youngsters and trying to secure a higher place for more cash. I wonder if the club accountant will advise Mark McGhee as to important the extra cash will be in the short term as that will have to be balanced against developing youth and long term income. Maybe youngsters like Watt, McLean, Mackin and Campbell will be given game time. Will Craig Samson be given a chance to show what he can do?

Not a great performance today especially in the first half when we defended far too deep and showed lack of belief. Celtic could easily have been 4 goals ahead by the break if it wasn't for their amateurish finishing and a great display of goalkeeping by Ripley, who was badly let down by his colleagues. There was no-one in central midfield capable of taking the the game to Celtic just as a few of us thought beforehand. We were second to every ball and just didn't compete. There was an improved performance in the second half but again defensive frailties cost us. Sad to see Ripley lose a silly goal but overall he played very well. Very few pass marks today Ripley being one of them. I'd exempt Moult, MacDonald and Johnson from any criticism as they received very poor ammunition but worked hard. Cadden also tried his best and deserved pass marks. Gomis had a real off day and Lasley wasn't an awful lot better. Both looked yards off the pace. In short our central midfield was non-existent. This left the central defence and Ripley badly exposed. Both Hammell and Law had a poor day defensively being caught out of position time and again, although Law did look better going forward. McManus and Kennedy struggled too but in fairness received little protection. I thought Collum had a poor game with a string of questionable decisions. Both Kazim-Richards and Scott Brown were very fortunate not to receive red cards for lifting their hands and a deliberate off the ball elbow. Still alls well that ends well and we'll finish in the top six which looked very unlikely a few months ago. Maybe today wasn't a good day to judge the players - they have taken us to a top six place after all.

Very much so Iain. The first advantage of finishing in the top six is certainty, which is always important in a business context. There is no threat of relegation now and the lowest we can finish is sixth - the club will know the prize money on offer for that. Compare this to last season where we didn't even know what league we'd be playing in until the end of May. This will allow us to crack on with signing plans for next season, stealing a march on bottom six clubs. Secondly, cashflow. Bottom six clubs don't receive their payout until about August due to the uncertainty of their final league position. Top six clubs receive a partial payout in the next few weeks (based on finishing 6th/7th as a minimum) with the residual amount being paid in August. Thirdly, total income. I think a place is worth £80 - £100k. Ok we deduct an amount for bonuses, but even assuming the most pessimistic scenario of finishing 6th that should give us a wee bit more. In terms of games, we don't yet know how the fixtures will pan out. However although St Johnstone and Ross County won't bring many to Fir Park neither would Inverness or Accies. Aberdeen or Hearts will bring more than Dundee, Partick or certainly Dundee United now. I'm sure there are also other financial advantages.

Well done to players and management of MFC. A good afternoon in terms of our top six place. This should mean a bit of a windfall for the club.

A few other thoughts. David Ferguson: has he done enough to warrant a contract extension? I genuinely don't know much about his progress this year. Jack Leitch: he'll be 21 in July. Has he done enough to earn a new deal? I would tend to say no. Ben Hall: whats happening with his contract offer? Louis Moult: will he still be with us next season? Marvin Johnson: ditto In general we'll need a new keeper either first choice or back up. We may need to replace Lasley and Hammell depending on whether they move on. We'll need at least another central midfielder to replace Gomis/Lasley Do we need an attacking midfielder? As I see it, and without taking into account transfers out, we'll be looking at a goalie, left back, and at least one central midfielder.

Not the perfect pairing but if anyone can keep the Celtic midfield quiet they can. However thats only half a job - they have to support our strikers as well.

Rumours of Bannigan going to Aberdeen and Osman attracting interest from other Premiership clubs. I think McGovern is Easter Road bound. Almost every decent Premiership out of contract player has either signed a pre contract or is attracting the attention of several other clubs. I doubt if Ryan Dow would have much to offer us - never impressed me. Stevie Hammell's pace is going and his defensive capabilities are not improving. At his age he'll be looking for a 2 year deal. As some others have said I suspect we'll target some lower league players from south of the border.

If they draw we will finish 6th.

A few interesting names but maybe not that many. In terms of our own squad I think its time for Stevie Hammell to move on. He's now 34, losing a bit of pace and costing us a few goals this season. A good servant to the club but everyone has their time.