Kmcalpin

As often happens, the truth is somewhere between the two extremes. Faddy is not the player he was but still has something to offer. He can still produce that bit of game changing magic. However he has to be used properly and Stuart McCall hasn't quite got that right yet. As with many of the team last night Faddy had a game of 2 halves. In the first he was far too isolated, especially from John Sutton, and he didn't have the pace to put himself about. We needed someone to harry, annoy and pester the United defence but had no-one. Had he been fit Henri Anier would have been a better bet to start. However, in the second when we were on top he was a thorn in United's flesh and tried to create. Faddy is fine when we are on top but when we are under the cosh he is ineffective. As Craig Paterson said last night he is a difficult player to pigeonhole but probably his best position is sitting in the gap just behind two strikers.

Pretty much agree with that summing up. It was pretty depressing stuff in the first half, characterised by poor defending and an apparent lack of belief. It was disappointing to see us defend so deeply, and show fear so openly. That only encouraged United. By 8.30 I had assumed that lack of fitness had been critical in our midfield being scared to put themselves about too much and support the forlorn Sutton who looked most uncomfortable ploughing a lone furrow. However we put a lot more into the game in the second 45 and chased and harried far more - so maybe fitness wasn't so much of an issue after all. As has been said United didn't have to work for their goals which was disappointing. Hutchy made a blunder but surely one of his colleagues could have shouted "man on" but no one did. The ref had a very poor game with a series of decisions that disadvantaged us. In recent years United have displayed an unpleasant nasty edge to their play and last night was no different. A string double footed tackles, flying elbows, leaving boots in. They quickly sussed out the ref was going to let them off leniently and took full advantage. Very, very disappointing to see young Connolly come on from the bench and not long afterwards take a blatant dive. What are they teaching their kids at Tannadice? Still hats off to the likes of Lasley, Carswell, and Ainsworth who clearly should not have been playing but opted to declare themselves fit. Impressed by Craig Reid, who looks to be a good short term signing and Gunnar Neilsen, who could not be faulted last night.

Very impressed with Craig Reid last after he came on from he bench. He had a decent debut and wouldn't allow himself to be knocked about. Certainly helped steady the ship.

Shares can be bought either directly from the club orfrom an existing shareholder willing to sell a few. The vast majority ofthe club's shareholders have bought shares simply for the sentimental value andto say they've got a stake in the club. A modest holding also allows themto attend AGMs, view the accounts and vote. Most will have holdings of about 5/10/15/20 shares I'd think. I know it may be obvious will say it anyway they're not an investment - don't buy them ifyou're looking to invest. On the advice of the club, I think the going price is about £10 per share and that's the price for which I sold a few to friends last year. Anyone can apply butyou would probably only want a few. The Directors have to approve anyshare transaction but I doubt if there would be a problem. If anyone isinterested in finding out more – PM me.

You can still buy shares from either the club (unissued shares) or from existing shareholders (issued shares) willing to sell. As time goes by shareholders pass away and leave them to their families. In this way the shares are held by fewer and fewer individuals, although theres no reason whatsoever that others can't buy a few. Probably the more new shareholders the better.

How many shareholders attended last night? There seems to be fewer every year which I suppose is only to be expected.

A null vote from me. Overall I thought that the result was down to a good all round team performance. We had 4 different scorers for example. No-one had a very poor game and no-one had a great game. Most individual players had a mixture of good aspects and poor aspects.

I don't mind pantomime villains at all but when a player puts in a tackle as bad as he did today I draw the line at that.

Yes, it was. It took place right in front of us and was a vicious tackle. He was nowhere near the ball and was single mindedly going to do Las. A yellow bordering on a red. If that wasn't enough he took a sly boot at Vigurs out of sight of the ref but not out of sight of a few punters. Although he's a talented player that did not go down well. An entertaining game with a great comeback and it was obvious we were ring rusty. At times our defending and midfield was comical but we showed loads of character to come back late in the game. So many moves just didn't quite come off for us today and on a better day they will. I suspect 2 or 3 of the players weren't quite fit and it showed. McManus' winner was an absolute cracker - a goal all the way! Lastly a huge thanks to the groundsman, his staff and volunteers. Due to your efforts the club's cashflow situation has eased and we picked up 3points.

You would have thought that the referee would have made efforts to arrive a bit earlier or am I being unfair?

That defence would cause me concern. Euan Murray is untested and requires a gradual introduction to the team. He would need protection from a strong central midfield - something we're not at all good at. Stuart Carswell, for all his strengths, is never a right back as he proved against Aberdeen. With Ainsworth not being the best defender in the world Partick could rip us to shreds down our right flank, if they have a decent left winger. If Stuart Carswell played there they would focus on that weakness. Probably best to play Stevie Hammell at RB with ZFA filling the left back berth. Faddy & Ainsworth on the wings with Anier and Sutton up front. In addition to the above, we also have 2 or 3 others carrying knocks, so its anyone's guess what team will line up. If they're defenders we're really in trouble. We have a very small squad and this season we have been unlucky with injuries. On the bright side today will possibly give some youngsters the opportunity to at least fill the bench. However they may not be ready for that. Time will tell. Probably McManus has a better than even chance of making it.

The big question for me is who plays at right back. Simon Ramsden seems to be a definite non starter and Fraser Kerr must be in the very doubtful category. Stuart Carswell is not a right back and the only option would appear to be moving Stevie Hammell there with ZFA taking over at left back.

RIP Andy, condolences to his family. He was a gentleman to the last and a friend to the Fife & Tayside Branch who will miss him. A true steelman.

Must admit I've absolutely no time whatsoever for English top flight football. If I can't watch the Well I'd rather watch another senior game, junior game or even amateur match. I can't recall the last time I watched an English Premiership match on the box apart from the odd snippet on the news or whatever. I wouldn't give the EPL a single penny. Its doing great damage to the game world wide. If Scots fans spent more cash on our own clubs, our game would be the stronger for that and clubs could bring in better players.

There's more to it than that of course but yes, that's true and has been for years. A player with an English first or second division side is always worth considerably more than a player of exactly the same calibre with a Scottish Premiership side. Scots Fans' and media's increasing obsession with the English Premiership is causing our game no end of damage.

As far as I'm aware the 11-1 vote was retained for certain issues. Don't forget voting rules are very complex and vary according to the issue. As far as Celtic is concerned its more about the power and control than money although the latter does come into it. However its not a simple as that. Aberdeen, who are one the biggest clubs in this country and won't let the other teams forget it, are another club who were and still are bitterly opposed to any change of the 11-1 rule. I might be wrong but I think there is at least one other club (Hibs?) who are dead set against any repeal of this particular rule. These outfits combined are more than capable of and willing to scupper(ing) or delay(ing) any change to any other rule if they don't get their way on the 11-1 vote.

Alan Martin left us when he was about 18 years of age. He was frustrated that, with his talent, he wasn't being given a chance in the first team. He hawked himself around a bit and eventually signed for Leeds (we did receive a small compensation fee). Didn't cut it there and went out on loan to Barrow. Then lost track of him and he turned up at Ayr. Now turned up at Crewe. A bit like a younger version of Tom Hateley. I always got the impression he was a young lad in a rush with an inflated sense of his own ability.

Mentioned on the radio by none other than by Jim Spence.

Couldn't the youngster's parents or guardians simply cancel any "contract" with his current team and walk away? If they can that's exactly what they should do.

Normal practice would be approach the parents first, and then out of courtesy the coach. This does not say much for A) the enquiring club, which should get a severe reprimand and B) the Coach, who has got his priorities all wrong. This says a lot about the state of UK football.

I'm not overly concerned Iain so long as the club benefits. However, your suggestion above seems sensible.

Very true, we were all given a copy of the rules to scrutinise and no-one raised this issue. We're all culpable. That said I agree with Iain that there is surely a simple legal / administrative fix that could be applied to rectify the situation.

Not many players worth buying at Tynecastle but there will be no fire sale - they only want to scare their fans into buying season tickets.

In John Swinburne's view the top 3 would be Ben Ellis, Archie Shaw and Joe Wark who collectively played for us for about 42 years. Of that trio, Ben Ellis is reckoned to be the best. I wouldn't argue with that.

Cup final crowd was 136,000 with several thousands locked out. I think about 280,000 watched the semis against Hearts alone.