fat_tony

That article's basically just a word-for-word retread of what she said on "Off the Ball" on Saturday. Must be a slow news day.

I certainly don't think there's anything more that the club could have done to improve the pitch. They spent the money, relaid the pitch and put considerable effort into sorting out the drainage problems. We certainly haven't had any problems with the pitch flooding, have we? I'm sure there was an article at the time the work was carried out that said the first winter would be difficult as the pitch wouldn't be properly bedded in. Unfortunately, the extreme cold we've had, so much worse than usual, has forced the club to run the undersoil heating virtually non-stop which has churned up the pitch and turned it into a complete mess. It's very unfortunate but I fail to see what else could have been done. On top of that, the referees have the power to call off a match if they feel the surface is unsafe and there has been no mention of that happening at all.

Thought the ref was terrible today. The east stand linesman too. So many baffling decisions and missed a number of incidents. I thought the red card was correct at the time but had second thoughts on it afterwards. Thought the passback was correct though, don't know why Ruddy didn't kick it out. Should have been a penalty for Murph too, stonewaller.

It's video evidence for me. It only takes a matter of seconds for the 4th official to watch a video and say to ref over the radio either "yes", "no", or "inconclusive". Players spend longer than that complaining about decisions so it's not like it's going to disrupt play any more than is already happening. Plus, if there's video support, hopefully the number of baffling decisions drops and there's no need to explain decisions via the media.

I was just about to climb on my high horse and argue our corner before I looked at the pic. Classic!

Forbes got it spot on to follow it in. From where he was there was no way of knowing if it was definitely going in or going to hit the post. And to say that Forbes shouldn't have gambled if there was any doubt....there was no doubt. He was several yards onside so why would he spare a second thought about being called offside? It's absolutely terrible that a referee can say that about a player but should the player say the same about a ref, they'd be dragged in for a disciplinary. Stuart Dougal owes Forbes an apology. I was very happy at the time when Gannon spoke out about referees as he was completely spot on. Unfortunately, if no-one speaks out about them, this head in the sand mentality is just going to continue.

So really what we're saying is that it's the SPL's requirements for USH that are causing the problem with our pitch and others in the league. Good on Jack Ross to come out and defend the pitch, finally nice to get some common sense instead of the usual tripe. Several other pitches in the SPL play just as badly with the ball bouncing all over, they just happen to have a bit more green on them. And don't get me started on Hampden a few years back.

Well said. All too often even the slightest mistake is followed by a torrent of abuse from some "fans" and especially with so many young players in the team, it simply doesn't help at all. I was very proud of the entire team last night and it's a great thing to be able to say that we went 500-600 minutes without conceding a goal and even then it was only ended against the league champions when they were gifted a goal by an uncharacteristic mistake. The team's playing really well at the moment and although some players can be slightly exasperating to watch at times, we're playing some decent football and beginning to score goals.

No chance. He was well onside and did exactly the right thing. Anything could have happened to that ball and from right behind the goals in the Cooper I couldn't say it was definitely going in before Forbes poked it in. He did the right thing and bar a preposterous and completely unpredictable decision by the linesman, it would have been 2-0.

A crazy decision again but not surprising from that wee linesman. The oompa-loompa is one of the worst officials in the country. Every time we have him for a game I'm expecting some ridiculous decision. Poor one tonight and all the more gutting considering we didn't win the game after such a good performance.

Difficult one tonight for all the right reasons. Thought Jennings was superb in the first half but faded a bit late on. Lasley was immense and really rattled Novo and McCulloch tonight. O'Brien was excellent with the ball at his feet and really took the pressure off when we needed it but I felt he made a lot of bad decisions and could have given us another goal or two by passing rather than going himself. A bit hyper-critical on my part but otherwise he did very well. MOTM for me though was the Captain. I thought Craigan was absolutely superb tonight. He kept Miller and Boyd in his pocket, read the game superbly, passed well and played a lot of intelligent passes. Very cool under pressure and really showed why he's such an important part of our team. 5 clean sheets and a low-scoring draw since his return to the team really illustrates how important he is.

Cooper's ours again, they won't be in there! I thought that we weren't allowed to have a segregated section in a stand for Category A games? Was that not some police rule in the last year or two?

To be honest, I thought Imrie only did 3 things repeatedly for the entire game yesterday: Fall over Kick people Belt the ball high and wide into the stand Sure he got in our players faces but did he really do much more than that?

Tricky one. Not a glamorous game by any means but one in which a few players put in hard shifts and import performances. Thought Craigan had a solid game and marshalled the defence well. O'Brien ran his socks off and really tried hard to make something happen. Went for Jennings though. Thought he gave our midfield the dig it needed. Broke up play well, put himself about and played the simple pass, often setting up the next attack. Looks like exactly the type of player we need in the middle of the park.

I'd be tempted to give Jutkiewicz a break, just to make sure his leg's healed properly. Keep him on the bench and if we're struggling, bring him on. With that in mind, I'd go for: Ruddy Hateley - Craigan - Reynolds - Hammell O'Brien - Lasley - Coke - Forbes Murphy - Sutton Bring on Humphrey in the 2nd half (possibly for Forbes if struggling to get into the game) for impact. 2-0 Well, Murph and Sutton again.

Don't see it being Celtic either. The amount of wide players they have he'd never get a game. If he goes and those are the teams that are interested, he'll be off down to Bristol or Norwich. EDIT: Good to see Hammell chasing after a new deal on the 'fishal

Lasley for me. A nose ahead of Murphy and Sutton, both of whom I thought were superb. Thought the rest of the lads did pretty well too. Not a great team performance but dealt with the conditions as well as could be expected and played some nice football where possible. Cracking work for both goals and Sutton was so unlucky with that strike.

Think we're likely to be pressing harder under Brown so I don't think it will be as easy for Saints as the last couple of games were. Think the team will be: Ruddy Saunders - Craigan - Reynolds - Hammell Humphrey - Lasley - Coke - O'Brien Sutton - Jutkiewicz I'm going to go for a 2-1 win for the good guys on this. Think we're due a bit of payback and a home win. Can't wait to get back the footy as I've not been since Tynecastle!

Plus, I'd argue that the difference is, Humphrey is at a level already where he'll make a contribution to the first team and play games. Slane (if he goes to Celtic) is likely to have a spot on the bench at best.

Reading through this thread with people saying that players should suck it up and get on with it reminds me of a situation in the not too distant past that had everyone on here frothing at the arse. A slightly different situation in that we were battling against relegation under Malpas but does anyone remember the uproar on here at the way Hegarty treated players? He bullied players, treated them like crap and had their confidence at rock bottom. Why should one person be allowed to treat the players like something he stepped in and not another? For the record, I felt that Gannon was doing a decent job (at least with where he was trying to go) but the lack of confidence, fitness and organisation on the pitch was pretty apparent, something that obviously stems from more than players not trying hard enough. The likes of Craigan, Lasley and McGarry are hard-working players (yes even McGarry - he may not be the fittest but he always busted a gut) who seem like the sort to give it everything in training as well as on the pitch.

Sounds a bit like last season doesn't it? We lost most of our first team and bounced back, there's no reason why we won't do it again next year if it comes to it. As for players running down their contracts, how many first team regulars are actually doing that?

Slane has every right to see out his contract and move to Celtic if he wants. Unfortunately, the most likely scenario is that if he were to go he would languish in their U19s for a couple of years before either being released or warming the bench. There's no way he would be straight onto a first team contract there so he's likely to not be getting that much more than he would by signing a first team deal with us. We all know that if he were to sign a 1st team deal with us and turn in some great performances then he could get a bumper move down south, however the lure to join Celtic may be too much for him/his advisor to resist. But, at this point it's all smoke and mirrors. Hopefully he's not signed as I'd like to see what he can do in a Well shirt. If he has, then we'll maybe see you in a few years Paul. The only people who really know at the moment are Paul Slane and Chris McCart.

Can't believe he's still playing! All the best to McGarry though, hope he makes it. He may not have been the most talented or athletic player but always gave his all in every game which is all you can ask.

Yeah nothing on our site yet. Sky Sports News site has this however: So is it SSN that have their information wrong? EDIT: Totally gutted as well, was really looking forward to this!

Just watched the highlights on the BBC. Conveniently skips over the free kick debacle on the half way line and doesn't show any of the shocking tackles flying in from the jambos that should have resulted in free kicks/bookings.