Kmcalpin

The pitch was in excellent condition. What the club can't control is the amount of rain that falls on the pitch. Irrespective of the quality of the pitch, if prolonged heavy rain falls then the surface will be slippy - fact. Its hardly rocket science.

Some good points but I'm not so sure about the game plan. On several occasions in the second half, when under pressure, we broke and the striker(s) were looking for support to mount an attack but the midfield steadfastly refused to come out of their shell. The front men looked a tad hacked off with them.

We should feel pretty optimistic this morning as we beat ST Mirren, and are in 3rd spot, but performance wasn't overly impressive - it followed the pattern of previous games. We start off well, score early but then sit back or are penned back for the rest of the game of the game. For spells in the second half, we not only had 11 men in our own box but 11 men defending deeply in our own box - no one even on the edge of the box. Despite those armadillo style tactics, St Mirren still managed to score. The midfield again let us down. Although Chris Humphrey did well in the first half and scored a great goal, he disappeared in the second. Keith Lasley and Steve Jennings had passable first halves but then disappeared completely in the second. The defence has had worse games days but struggled to cope with St Mirren's aerial ability. We were unlucky that Steven Saunders had to go off as he gave us some height at the back and it was worrying when John Sutton went off too for the same reason. Our strikers were all over the place, with Nick Blackman playing at left back for spells in the second half. If he wasn't there, he was on the wing supporting Jamie Murphy in the middle. I think Alan Gow made a valuable contribution when he came on and surely now is worth a starting slot, but on the wing please. Darren Randolph too impresses and its reassuring to have a reliable stopper.

Seconded. Pros and cons aside don't do it.

If St Mirren choose to "park their bus" on Fir Park we'll struggle. Our home record to date this season isn't good and we toil to break down packed defences. If however they opt to have a real go at us then we should win.

I'd take him in a minute. He's not a a great football player but he's a very big guy who can motor from box to box knocking bodies out of the way like a rampaging buffalo. Thats good enough for the SPL but not whats required in the Championship where he's encountered even bigger buffaloes with a bit of skill as well.

I too thought that we sat back in the second half against Aberdeen a week or two ago.

Last time I was there was the Cup game a couple of years ago and the same thing almost happened to me. Surprised that the H & S authorities haven't taken a keener interest in this issue. Still I'm sure a 2-0 win will help you get over it!

Great result today - its always extra special to beat Hearts. I haven't heard Jovial Jim's comments yet, but no doubt we were lucky/it was down to poor refeering/Hearts were robbed Bring on St Mirren.

I don't know Jim. Ok he's injured just now but he wasn't making the first team before even as a sub. He's not exactly a raw youngster. We can only hope he comes onto a game once he's fit again. Maybe Jamie Pollock is due his chance. I've only seen hom once and that was last season against Celtic. Only thing that concerns me is that he's on the small side and would take a battering and buffeting from SPL midfielders. Still if he's good enough give him his opportunity.

I share your concerns Jim. The problem is that our central midfield deficiencies limit our options. We can play it quickly up the wings, using Humphrey or Gow or we hump it up the park to a combination of Blackman and Sutton. Another option though might be to play Murphy just behind a front two.

I sympathise with you Steve. On Tuesday night he was played out of position (what would we think for example if Steve Hammell was played in right central defence?), he was at times marked by 3 men, received appalling service, oh and to cap it all he isn't fully match fit. He might not shape up but, we should give him a few months before we condemn him.

Pretty well sums it up for me. I never feel comfortable when we sit back in our own penalty box and invite the opposition to have a go at us. It only takes a mistake, a bad refereeing decision, a deflection or a freak event and the balls in the net. I prefer to defend well up the park - make a mistake there and you've time to recover. What was worrying on Tuesday evening was that in the second half we retreated to form a packed defence that sat deep and Brechin still managed to find glaring spaces and create several chances.

You can stake your mortgage on that. Win, lose or draw they're a helluva tough team and take no prisoners. They'll probably view the league game days beforehand as the ideal opportunity to rough us up.

They're different kinds of player though. Jon Page is the better defender of the two. OK Stevie Hammell is more of a creator on the ball but Jon Page is the better finisher. Its early days for JP certainly but I think Stevie Hammell could now face some much needed competition for the LB slot.

We were poor again last night and dispayed a lack of creativity, lack of leadership and lack of pace. In the first half we had loads of pressure but created little against a packed and determined rearguard. The lack of pace and creativity in central midfield was particularly evident. We have no option other than attack up the wings where we do have some pace. The second half was even worse with Brechin putting us under the cosh and finding gaps in our packed defence all over the place. Very concerning as you say. They created at least 5 good chances and fortunately for us Randolph was in excellent form. Alan Gow was out of position - he's a winger or inside left, not an out and out striker. We stiil can't find the right tactics up front and the midfield is completely unbalanced. The game passed Keith Lasley and Ross Forbes completely by and they were humbled by lower division opponents, but its wrong to single them out for our failings. Apart from Darren Randolph the star of the show was Jonathan Page, who showed great character as well as ability. If he can maintain that form then he'll be our first choice left back. I thought we might have changed things around a bit when we were under pressure in the 2nd half and chasing a second goal. Route 1 was our only option last night and I think taking off Lasley or Forbes and putting on Sutton earlier, with Gow moving to the wing would have paid dividends. Still we're through. Oh, and we can add Glebe Park Brechin to the list of pitches that would need levelling if the SFA get their way. The surface was unbelievable.

It has to be Jon Page. He scored 2 cracking goals to win the tie and also showed great strength of character after going off with a head knock. If fit, I'd keep him in the side. Maybe our first choice left back shortly?

No the old Main Stand was a corrugated iron structure which was demolished round about 1960 I think. Rumour has it that the new stand, a completely new structure, was built on the proceeds of Ian St John's theft sorry transfer.

I see it the other way around. We don't have a genuine creative central midfielder or a central box to box type to support the strikers. Lasley, Jennings and Hateley are all defensive players who are more comfortable playing just outside our own box. That then means any pace/creativity we do have has to go up the flanks. Time after time yesterday we broke up the middle but didn't have the pace to make it tell. By the time Lasley & Jennings reached the halfway line the Aberdeen defence (all 11 of them) had pulled back and were waiting for them like serried ranks of pikemen facing an army advancing at snails pace. But mounting attacks up the wings is problematic for us also as you rightly say. Chris Humphries has pace but lacks the crossing ability, at least at present. Couldn't agree more about Jamie Murphy. Mark McGhee saw him as a winger but was aware of his failings in that position and that was why he was in and out of the team. His best position is indeed just behind the front man/men. In short we have limited resources but I'm not convinced Craig Brown is getting the most out of all of them, although he's doing a decent job.

Darren Randolph for me. He didn't have a lot to do but made two or three vital/brave saves. Would have voted for Keith Lasley. Had a good first half but distribution let him down badly. Completely disappeared in the second half. Steve Jennings too had a reasonable game and although not as visible as Lasley in the first half kept going for 90 minutes.

I suppose you can prove almost anything with statistics. My basic point is that I think our defence is simply not good enough for us to be able to sit back and soak up pressure. If we stick to SPL games, we have conceded 5 from 5, and 5 from 3 home games. Last week we were lucky not to concede a penalty through a rash challenge. Yes, our squad is heavily biased towards defensive players and we do lack creativitiy - no argument from me on that score. However clearly our lads are under instructions from the dugout to play a safety first game - often only playing one man up front, funnelling back very quickly and defending in our own box. Too often our central midfielders are reluctant too push too far up the park, when we are on the attack. A bit more ambition and aggression wouldn't go amiss especially in home games. Craig Brown and Archie Know have done a good job in stabilising the ship and taking us to Europe last season, but that achievement has come at the cost of attacking football.

A draw was the right result today and both sides should be kicking themselves for not being more ambitious in a game that either side was capable of winning. Aberdeen set out their stall early on with 5 central defenders on the pitch and 11 men behind the ball at times? Why? They could easily have won this game had they been more ambitious. Pretty much throughout they were solid and reliable. That said they were away from home. As for us, as Steve suggests, we lacked ambition and were scared to push men forward. It was our home game after all. Again too many men out of position and a weak and unbalanced midfield. The fact of the matter is that our defence will concede at least a goal a week and there was little doubt in my mind today that Aberdeen would score. I still don't understand why John Sutton is played in midfield. Surprised too that Tom Hately was preferred to Jon Page at left back. On this showing, and its only one game admittedly, the Dons will finish above us in the league this year.

I would think very few grounds are level as such. Even New Douglas Park has quite a slope.

Probably your best bet is to go via the Forth Road Bridge. At Dunfermline you then have a choice of either continuing up the M90 and then taking the A90 from Perth to Dundee or going via the A92 through Fife to the Tay Road Bridge.

Who told you that?