Kmcalpin

Kieran Spiers signs for Caledonian Braves. A strange one. He burst onto the scene under Hammell, looked promising; then disappeared; and finally released.

I assumed that the Police had set an early kick off time and the club just decided to make some cash out of this game - no?

I've not seen much of him but he does seem a good prospect. Hopefully this loan will give him some hard competitive experience.

There's no doubt we are chronically short and toothless up front and thats resulted in the loss of say 4 points in the past couple of games. Thats down to various factors. Firstly KVV was never going to be replaced like for like. A huge loss beyond our control. Obika was signed as a target man/foil for a main striker, he then got injured again. Wilkinson was signed as a main striker but we've hardly seen him because of injury. Bair was signed as a long term project over 2 years, and I suspect we never planned to play him week after week. Biereth was the victim of a very bad tackle and we were unlucky. Shaw - a last minute stop gap? We've been very unlucky, yes but there some potential question marks over 3 or maybe 4 of our 5 strikers. Early days but points are slipping away.

Just received an email from the Society about Board elections. The various candidates set out their statements. Get involved folks.

Yes let's hope Bair and Shaw are fit.

Oh for Davy Cooper yesterday, as our crossing and set pieces were very poor and predictable. He could vary his deliveries and in a game like yesterday's, where aerial balls were totally ineffective, he'd fire in hard, knee high balls into the 6 yard box, knowing they were a nightmare to defend against. On paper, our best chance of snatching a goal was perhaps set pieces but that was never going to happen. Currently, Shaw is the only other fit senior striker we have but we don't know if he's match fit quite apart from the fact he might not be good enough. I'd like to think though that we'll now cease "the lone striker as Bair" forced experiment forthwith. There are other, albeit limited, avenues to explore hopefully.

I think we've only failed to score twice under SK and on both occasions its been against St Mirren. Lets hope that's as far as this statistic goes. Maybe just a coincidence.

Yes playing one striker who isn't a goalscorer was always going to cause us problems. If injuries permit, I'd play Shaw and Bair up front together. Great that young Ferrie got some game time but any time I've seen him he doesn't seem ready for first team football. Still not at all sure about Bair but no one expected him to be a first pick striker.

Good post Denny. Each to their own. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

McGinn is also suspended.

Not unexpected but the timing is strange. Maybe its clears the deck for a free agent to join up with us?

Amongst middle ranking clubs such as ourselves, St Mirren and Partick hold more sway with the media than most. Perhaps because of proximity to major media premises.

Agree 100%. They can also unduly influence governing bodies and put pressure on match officlals.

I agree with your overall point but you're wrong about this. Journalists most certainly do influence "news". For a start they decide, and therefore censor, what articles are reported and how they are reported. There are several reasons for that, including commercial ones. Anything that doesn't suit their agenda is ignored at worst or pushed down the agenda at best. The English premier League is a classic case in point. Despite the BBC claiming to be strong on diversity and fairness, that certainly doesn't extend to Scottish football. The newspapers and TV can and do influence viewers' and readers' knowledge and preception of games by cutting out incidents they don't want shown or by highlighting those that they do. That influence also extends to general football coverage. Deep down, I don't have any objection to most of it especially by private organisations, as I don't have to pay for it if I don't want to do so; don't have to read or view it; and as long as they don't say its unbiased and factual. I do however have issue with the BBC as its funded by taxpayers' money and I have no choice but to pay for it. Apologies for the rant.

I know nothing about Tommy Robinson and the EDL and it may be a very minor factor I have no idea whatosever, but a section of the Hearts support have always had this reputation for threatening behaviour for oh maybe 40 years - nothing at all to do with politics. That said, I know plenty of very reasonable Hearts fans. A section of the Hibs support also have a very bad reputation as mentioned above. All clubs have their nasty element but being bigger clubs, albeit in a Scots context, they have more than their fair share of troublemakers.

Agreed, but a lot might depend on the extent of Blaney's injury, which we know nothing about. Just to add to the mix, can Gent play in central defence?

I think there was about 27,000 at the game. Maybe the Hearts Texaco Cup clash just shaded it though with about 28,000. Very uncomfortable.

For our younger members I was being a bit facetious. It's a harp back to that cup game many years ago when they claimed to have brought about 17,000 fans as Smiddy says.

St Mirren fans will fill the South Stand and might be given part of the POD Stand. They'll also buy up tickets for the East and Cooper Stands. A massive away support.

Having lived and worked in Edinburgh you're right Allan. Bigotry, although not on the same scale as in the west of Scotland, is alive and well in Edinburgh and always has been.

Must admit Tynecastle is one of my least favourite grounds. Prices are steep as is the gradient of the stands. A death trap in wet weather. Add to that, parking is an absolute nightmare.

Ditto Grizzly. I thought McGinn's 2nd yellow was very harsh. To me, both players were fouling and a yellow card was not justiifed. It was hard to separate both players even after replays, so how the referee could come to a split second decision I don't know. Pity we can't appeal yellows.

Great result today in what was the first in a tough run of fixtures. Done without the help of the officials as well. Well done!

No. STV news reported that we're on the same points as league leaders Celtic, who struck the first blow of the title race today by beating Rangers (Sevco).