David

If they put as much effort into it as they did delaying Jorge Cadete's registration then yes

That's exactly how I feel. Once the rest of the guys have had another season of playing together I'd be more comfortable with Craigan going. I take your views on board Melvin, and there isn't anything I disagree with to be honest, but I just have a gut feeling that another season with Craggs in the squad will be of benefit to the younger lads coming through. This will prove especially true if we see one or two of our more influential players sold off, such as Randolph in the summer.

Why? Well, for starters they're one club in an area with a decent population. Aberdeen isn't really affected by the west of Scotland Old Firm shite, so they could (and have in the past) draw a decent crowd to most games. Their match attendance many times doubles what we get at Fir Park, and that's at a time when Aberdeen aren't doing well and we're fighting for 2nd place & the Champions League! Their budget for players surpasses anything we can offer as well.Whether we like it or not, they're a bigger club than we are. You're right in saying that the board haven't allowed their managers time to create a decent side in recent times, and their youth system maybe isn't the best, but to say that a club the size of Aberdeen shouldn't be shooting for the top four most seasons is ridiculous.

If Craigan wants another year playing football with us then he'll have to sit down with McCall and come to some sort of understanding that he simply cannot expect the same level of money he got when he was a regular starter every week. If he's happy enough to accept his role within the squad, and the wage that reflects that then I'm more than happy to see him sign on for another year. Cummins, Page, Halsman etc can't be expected to simply pick up the mantle and compete at the level we surely will be next season. They need to come through gradually, and in order to do that we could do worse than have an experienced head like Craggs there to help them.

Craigan is a useful player to bring off the bench when we're looking to defend a lead late in the game, or if we need cover.

Indeed. Seeing performances from our youngsters like that give us a bit of hope for when some players are moved on over the next few years. I was also impressed by McHugh, even if he didn't get much time to impress.

Your gimmick is becoming rather tedious Dewell. Higdon wasn't outstanding today by any means, but he was far from "crap". He was no better or worse than the majority of our team today, and he played his part in securing the three points.

He's right in one respect though, a club like Aberdeen should be finshing in the top four most seasons.

I thought he tried non-stop throughout the game to be honest. He did look to have tired towards the end though, which is to be expected.

I recall a St Mirren fan commenting when we signed Higdon that we'd see him conceding a lot of fouls and getting virtually none. I see exactly what he meant now. How many times has Higdon been fouled by opposition defenders and got absolutely f*ck all from the referee? It seems to happen virtually every home game. Is it simply a case of claret & amber glasses on my part?

Jennings all the way for me today. He was all over the midfield, making crucial tackles, urging his team mates on, and very few of his passes went astray. I went into this game thinking we'd miss Lasley, but thanks to Jenno's performance today we didn't. Hammell deserves an honourable mention for a very good performance, and both Carswell & especially young Cummins also deserve a mention for their showings today but Jenno was the man.

Right, we're now sitting level with Rangers in the SPL, and this weekend sees us visit Kilmarnock, whilst Rangers play Celtic in the old firm game. I'm not sure if us winning means that Celtic win the league at Ibrox, and I don't really care if does to be honest. It means we'll go three clear of Rangers before they visit Fir Park the following weekend. I may be getting head of myself here, but could you imagine going into the split with a six point lead over Rangers? Wishful thinking, eh? Anyway, with the various suspensions we've suffered, who exactly do we have back for this game? By my reckoning we have Hutchinson & Clancy back, don't we? We'll hopefully have Craigan back from injury as well.

A good result for us today, although if Aberdeen had got an equaliser in the 2nd half I don't think we could have complained too much. Humphrey for Murphy was a good move by McCall. I've said in the past that we can't change a winning team, and as some have said, Murphy has been a little off-colour recently. A good time for a change, especially with Humphrey doing well from the bench. Let's see how Murphy does trying to work his way back into the team. Both Carswell and young Adam Cummins did well today. Cummins especially seemed pretty solid, and did a good job for someone who apparently has only played five games for the under 19's side! Is that right enough? Regardless, both of them have given McCall some tough choices to make next week, which can only be a good thing.

A decent win over Dundee United in some terrible weather by the looks of it. The highlights are up on MFCTV for anyone interested.

Excellent post!

Did he score twelve last season? I thought he'd scored eleven

Cheers mate, I have a form filled in but my financial situation has just changed over the past few days. Will fire off an email.

Awful? He's hit twelve goals thus far this season, beating his season best of eleven last year. He's currently sitting on four goals in our past seven games. I find it hilarious that the two players who take the most flak from certain sections of our support are the clubs two top goalscorers. I agree with this to be honest. I think Murphy is held to a higher standard than a lot of our other players simply because of the promise he's shown over the years. I'm guilty of getting frustrated with him on occasion if I'm being honest, but suggest that he's "shite" is simply nonsense.

What exactly is the script for getting all of the money in if I signed up? Is there a final deadline for the full £300?

A draw from this game will do me, but if Rangers win I'll be hoping we can match that.

With all due respect mate, you can fuck right off with your "happy clappies" pish. I'm not sure how many games you've been to this season, or even if you've been watching the same games I have, because nine times out of ten Lasley has been an integral part of our midfield, and has played a major part in getting the team to where we are today in the SPL. You're right, he is an honest, hard working player of limited ability, but so is the majority of non-old firm players who ply their trade in the SPL. No one is claiming that Lasley is a slightly greying Xabi or Iniesta. He does his part though, and has had a pretty excellent season for the most part. I feel that he went in heavy yesterday and deserved his card for it. He's probably more disappointed with himself than anything else. As for him being clapped off the park? I suppose you'd rather he was booed like fuck? Aye, that's the way to treat one of our hardest working and in my opinion better players when he makes a mistake. I'm not saying that if any of those other players made the tackle they wouldn't have been booed, but they certainly wouldn't have been booed by me. For the most part the team have done a very good job to get us to a Scottish Cup quarter final and pushing for 2nd in the SPL.

No one is making excuses, but the fact is he's a tough player. If we want the positives of his playing style we need to take the negatives as well.

Lasley isn't the best tackler in the world, but when he's managing to take the ball once every three times or so you can't really blame him for trying. Tackles like that one today are always going to happen. I don't condone it, but he's not a dirty player. He got done by a faster, younger player today and was late to the tackle. Simple as that.

I'm sure he'll be the first to admit that it was warranted. Still, he's been pretty fucking excellent for us this season in midfield.