Kmcalpin

Max Johnston on loan to Cove Rangers.

An appalling kick off time, but you're right. Apart from advertising though from where do these TV companies derive their footballing income? I feel especially aggrieved. Out of principle, I do not subscribe to TV company sports channels, yet have to put up with their will being forced upon me.

Yes, Goss played very well. I felt a bit sorry for Tierney. As on Wednesday he came in for some stick, which was no surprise. Hopefully he'll beef up a bit and toughen up.

Absolutely. I haven't seen so many happy smiling faces leaving Fir Park for a year or two. More please! That first half was amazing and we played some excellent football, a real delight to watch and chalk and cheese from the GA days. The second half was a bit of an anti climax, but thats no surprise after what we saw in the first 45. I thought Stevie Hammell picked the wrong team but I was proved wrong. Maybe in the second half he didn't quite get one of the subs right but thats small beer. The only negative, apart from being totally impotent up front, was a sloppy last 10/15 with some needless errors and defending too deeply. Still we held out to claim a draw, although 3 would have been more apt. A typical Dundee United game. I thought Efford did pretty well and we lost a bit when Aarons came on. However, is he being played in the right position? Am I right in thinking he's a left winger? The referee had a poor game with a string of inconsistent decisions and what about his play the advantage/no don't decision late in the game? Totally ludicrous. At that point he lost the plot. Ross Graham's dive in the second half was just...embarassing, but he won the foul. United players and fans, as per usual moaned and complained from start to finish......oh it must be grim being a season ticket holder at Tannadice. Our big failing was sterility in front of goal.....as was the case on Wednesday. Final balls and passing were lacking. Maybe Louis will be the answer maybe not...time will tell. Still thats a game we could easily have lost and more than a few were relieved to hear the final whistle. We've been there before, many times.

Just echoing the comments of many others. Great to see Louis back but is he too injury prone? If on form, it will be interesting to see how he works with KVV. Unrealistic though to expect him to be the Louis of old.

I agree but many fans are quite happy to subsidise his, and other EPL players' wages through TV subscriptions. Cost of living crisis???

There was a press conference scheduled for 9.30 this morning or thereabouts. Its now been postponed until 1pm. It might be significant or it might not. Its possible to have signed player(s) before the deadline but not announce it until later. We'll see. Its also still possible that we can sign a free agent. Your bottom line is 100% on the nail though. If we continue with one main striker, in Van Veen, he'll be a marked man. Wannabee Alex Fergusons, Matt Busbys and Alex MacDonalds will have their charges target him for special treatment.

I'm not saying that McGinley will, at all. I'm simply saying that he can play in central defence and according to him, has played primarily as a central defender. McGinn is primarily a full back who has played in a back 3 on occasion. FWIW I agree about our shape not helping the defence.

We need a striker and a central defender. The striking position has been discussed, but we're very light at the back, unless SH knows something we don't. We need 2 first pick central defenders, but I'd be happy with one just now. As back up we have Bevis and , McGinley, but he's currently out long term. Sam Campbell - I don't know much about him, but surely he's a risk just now. McGinn will never be a central defender, although he has played there. Given the goals we've lost this season we need to sort out central defence and quickly.

Plenty of positives last night. I haven't enjoyed a game as much for a long time. Plenty of intensity, energy and good, exciting, football on the deck. Such a change from GA's reign. Good to see young lads like Lennon Miller get their chance and Stuart McKinstry coming home and performing well. A good all round team effort. I was impressesd with McGinn and especially Penney. Midfield created plenty of chances, Van Veen was in the mood, Tierney really caught the eye (needs to improve his finishing though), and Efford was a revelation on the wing. The caveat is, of course, that we were playing an out of form Championship side. Still you can only beat the team in front of you. Penney looks to be a particularly good acquisition and Stuart McKinstry caught the eye with some really nice play. Not sure about the second penalty but our general style and standard of play last night brought them about. In any event, ICT were a shade fortunate not to pick up more yellow cards and possibly a red, so they can't complain too much. I have to agree wth El Grew though. We should have scored 7 or 8, but lacked a killer touch in the box, which was concerning and Stevie Hammell picked up on this in his post match comments. It wasn't costly against ICT last night but it could be against better quality opposition. This deficiency though should be put in the context of an otherwise very good performance last night.

I think United's result at Livingston tonight tells you a lot about their players.

Kelly is a very good keeper, but yes you're right, he's poor in the air and always has been. Therefore the manager has to adapt his defensive tactics to compensate for him. If he was good in the air then he wouldn't be with us.

I might be wrong but I thought Morris was a midfielder being played out of position up front. That said, he hasn't impressed me so far.

Pretty much my take. Barry Maguire is a hard working honest lad and thats all you can ask. However, I think he's more suited to the Championship or League 1.

On checking back you're right. He appeared 8 times for us, starting in all of them but only played the full 90 minutes on 3 occasions.

I can't remember much about him except that he was fast and injured or unfit for a fair chunk of his loan.

I don't doubt Inverness will come and park the bus. If so, it'll be a real test of this team. We find it hard to break down sides who visit Fir Park and defend in depth. Score first though and its a different game.

Absolutely. No point in ruminating over old fat and getting bogged down in blame games. Lets concentrate on the here & now and on the future. We need to ship some players out and acquire new signings. Yesterday and the St Johnstone game are evidence of that. The coming week will be big for us. FWIW, I think the directors were already thinking of parting company with GA after the Sligo game and the fans' unrest simply added fuel to an already burning fire.

I'd say right now we're 3 maybe 4 players short of a decent first team and several short in the 12-18 category. We need another striker, possibly winger, and 2 central defenders as first picks. an experienced midfielder would not go amiss either. That of course would necessitate some leaving. The likes of Efford, Shields, Morris, Maguire, and Ojala, are simply not up to it for various reasons. Whilst we're undoubtedly light up front and require reinforcements there, its our central defence thats causing me most worry. Whilst Lamie, Mugabi and Johansen may be ok as back ups we really do need two first pick defenders there, one of whom should be a leader. Yesterday, like the St Johnstone game before only served to highlight our weaknesses. Stevie Hammell made some errors yesterday and thats only to be expected of a rookie manager - it comes with the territory, but lets hope he learns from them and doesn't repeat.

Very true. We've won some tight games but also lost some. Over the course of the season, our defence is going to cost us unless some changes, however unlikely they may be, are made. Hammy made some mistakes today, and being a rookie manager he'll make a lot more, but we knew that. As others have said the substitutions killed us. I get what he's trying to do - bring on fresh legs and energy but we currently don't have the players to do allow us to do that. I just don't see how Maguire and Morris would have provided that. Today also showed the pressing need to bring in some fresh faces in all departments, especially up front and in defence, although the latter is unlikely.

I was very surprised and saddened to hear of John's passing today. I'll miss him and his balanced take on things at matches. Always had a friendly word for me. Condolences to his family. Our club has lost a great fan today. RIP John.

We don't know what is going on behind the scenes. Whilst he has every right to secure the best deal for himself, the club has to look after its own interests and maybe look at other targets, given the window will be closing next week.

No further news unfortunately. Family are naturally very concerned. Hopefully Andy will be found safe and well.

On balance I didn't think it was a penalty but none of the camera angles were particularly good and I wouldn't rule out the ref being right. The best camera angle would have been near the corner flag.

Yes, as long as it was a cynical foul and not a Louis Laing accidental stumble.