RicoS321

Aye, Bavidge needs game time. He wasn't good enough to nail down a start for Ayr and unlikely he'd get used here, so hopefully he can develop at ICT. Ambrose being shite doesn't mean Bavidge is the answer. Hopefully he'll get better and better, and we can reassess in the summer.

He used to be good. No idea if that's still the case.

Hopefully. He was shite again. His freekick was also shite, but the keeper was even shiter. Better than Ambrose though, which could be said about any footballer currently playing in Scotland. He definitely needs to change the system, unless he can get new signings in quickly. I'm not convinced - and said so before he joined - we'll ever be able to play the way he wants on our budget. It took teams a round of fixtures to work us out, and injuries and tiredness did the rest. MacDonald and Doohan showed today how unsuited they are to the system, and we've yet to find a number nine that can fathom it. We've basically knackered half the team playing the system for four months. Hopefully he can change to a hybrid of the existing system, where we play percentage football when necessary. McInnes would have won those last few games by grinding them out, and being very tight at the back. Not a great start to the year, but the traffic has improved and it was easy to get a seat in the boozer too.

Are Rubi and Palaversa also suspended for this one? Or is that just internet speculation. I'd check the BBC, but there is no mention of anything on today's game yet, despite a full write up of one other game today (but they're not biased). If so, could be an interesting lineup. In sure Molloy coming off was just precautionary, so I'd expect him and MacDonald. That'd leave Polvara to slot in alongside Shinnie. Although I wouldn't be surprised to see Polvara further forward and Clarkson in behind. If it's only Nilsen suspended then I'd expect it just to be Palaversa in for him.

I believe the club has contingency plans in place for such conditions

Strange, because I didn't read the words: dirty Hun cunt.

On our winning streak we created very few chances either in most games. It's kind of the theme of our play. We look for openings with intricate play, and our chances are usually well worked. We don't play percentage football, essentially. A good example is Clarkson twice trying, and nearly succeeding with, two very difficult flicks in the box against utd that would almost certainly have led to goals had they been played perfectly. Those don't go down as chances simply because they weren't shots on goal. Our form earlier this season shows how the definition of a chance is flawed in that regard, with our xG being low despite us winning all the time. Clarkson's attempted flick to put a player through is really no less of a chance than a speculative effort over the bar from 25 yards or a header from ten yards under pressure, or numerous other chances that other teams get where the keeper has an easy save to make. Basically our opportunities are breaking down one step short of the shot, whereas opponents are taking shots from which they have little chance of scoring, when perhaps if they had retained possession and re-worked they might have had a good chance (or failed at the final pass like us). We don't seem to suffer from the pundit/coaching of "got to work the keeper", which is such a lazy phrase and attitude. Very often you'll see a player just hit a ball straight at a goalkeeper in a safe manner, when "working the keeper" has really done nothing, as it does in most instances. I'd far rather see a player hit a ball inches past the post in an attempt to hit the corner than a safe shot that the keeper easily parries round the post for example. Our guys seem to be working the openings to the extreme and not just settling for a shots on goal stat, which is nice to see. However, I'm certain there's a happy medium to be struck when we're going through the present lean spell.

Sounds about right to be honest. Probably at the higher end of these types of payouts? With the interest charges over the 40 year payment schedule, we'll likely end up making £15M, crossing three versions of the Hun company that owns the club called sevco.

Robson to Raith. Good move. His Dons stint probably hasn't done him any harm. Doubt he'd have got a bigger club before now otherwise.

Just watched it again on the highlights, it was honking from Nilsen. The wind fairly catches the ball in flight, but he totally loses track of it and his man. He ends up nowhere near it. In saying that, I would expect somebody coming from behind the ball to throw themselves in there when it was clear Nilsen had lost his man. Molloy isn't brilliant in the air, but I've a feeling he might have read that situation.

The point is, obviously, if you try and buy a freekick by diving, you don't always get one. Their guy had a similar one in the opposite corner of the pitch where Beaton waved play on and we got a throw. Polvara grabbed the ball with his hands to try and sway the ref further so gets a yellow and freekick for them, which is the correct decision if you think it's a dive. It's a fifty fifty call, and if you chance your luck, you have to be prepared to take the consequences. Personally, I think Polvara made an arse of the dive. I'd rather we make use of the ball in those situations rather than try to buy freekicks. They happen all over the park, it's almost impossible for a ref to be consistent when every single player is at it. In terms of Devlin's arms, height is a position. I don't have the ref's view, if he thought they were higher than they were or slightly further out from his body then it's a penalty. It's no different to parallax in an offside call, things look different from different angles. That's why the rule is so fucking stupid. It was clear to everyone in the world that it wasn't a deliberate handball, but when you introduce stupid shite like "unnatural position". The ref also is told to make the call he believes is correct and not leave it to VAR, so they can't really win. I think it was a shite decision, but I think that the rules make it a lottery for the refs, handball decisions have been unilaterally shite since VAR existed. Anyway VAR came to the rescue of its own creation.

Good enough game, could have gone either way. The biggest difference is that we play to try and pass the ball into the net, where they play the percentage throwing of balls into the box, with the wind being the difference between the halves. We can't defend set pieces, and I'm not sure it's the players as much as the instruction. We have a tactic of leaving one on two at all corners that regularly leads to a shot on goal and often a rebound and more often another corner. We seem to be zonal too, and the players don't seem to know what one another is doing. The commentator blamed Mitov for the goal, but the throw was going ten yards out until the wind caught it and took it towards the six yard box. There was a rake of players in that area and no chance a keeper should be going into that. What shouldn't ever happen is a player given space for a free run and momentum into that area. It was Nilsen this time, but we've done it numerous times this season. United are a decent side, and a draw wouldn't have been a terrible result. I don't blame Beaton for the original penalty decision, the rule is an absolute abomination. It would never have been a pen under the old rules, and so easy for the ref to call. Now he's making a split second decision on how high Devlin's hands are. It's a fucking awful rule these days, which is pot luck guessing in real time. Also, Polvara dived like a fanny. Shinnie would have been given the foul, but you're always chancing it. It didn't lead directly to the goal anyway.

Decent lineup. Keeps the lads who should be subs as subs for their impact. For some strange reason, Ambrose appears not to be floating in the North sea.

No Shinnie.

MacKenzie?

United must be favourites for second now.

Think that's a bit of a myth to be honest. They'll be training on plastic everyday. The pitch actually looked like it played well today. Obviously not for our lads.

I thought Polvara looked decent when he was given game time. Surprised he didn't feature today. Maybe just getting back to fitness. Easily as good as Palaversa to date.

Why? There are hundreds of players that don't sign new contracts with us. You can't just stop playing them. That'd be wild. Especially when both have been excellent this season.

Reverting to the mean now. Worst performance of the season so far, completely lost all confidence. Thelin needs to work out his best eleven, who can play together as a unit and then who makes the biggest impact from the bench. Changing it every week isn't working, give the eleven a few games to prove themselves. Give McGrath a rest too, he's had a great season but is in danger of losing the goodwill with the manager not taking him off when he's struggling. Think we missed Molloy today. He has his issues, but he knows instinctively to come across when Rubi moves out the way, like for their third, and just moves the ball to the forward far quicker and more accurately. Anyway, the score summed up the game perfectly. Got exactly as we deserved.

Wales excellent for them. Looks a player.

Keskinen off? Wow. McGrath must be looking better at the ground?

That was coming. What fucking game is Thelin watching? Those subs needed to happen five minutes ago. Fucking waiting again.

He's not been the worst player, but he is a waste of a jersey. Every touch he's had has been awful, he doesn't look like he's played before. The service has been poor, but his movement has been terrible (although I accept the telly may be deceiving).

Another poor half, with players all over the shop. Molloy has been poor for a couple of games, but MacDonald on his wrong foot is never the answer. His body shape is always wrong, and his passing is always biased to the wrong side (he either plays one down the line that curves out, or plays it into the area of the centre halves. MacKenzie hasn't helped him much and has been poor too. We seem to be struggling with their shape, they have a couple of wing backs, and our fullbacks are a good bit off them as they've also got Wales and Vassell up front to be aware of. Duk isn't tracking, and when he does it's completely unpredictable. This surface, away from home, cries out for someone like Sokler to run into the channels and chase things down whilst making space for others. Shinnie not been great, but McGrath seems to want to make it impossible for him to get the ball through to by hiding behind the midfielders. Keskinen been about the only bright spark today. Ambrose obviously a waste of a jersey.