RicoS321

Eh? Are you serious? Why would someone looking at a picture taken by a camera out of line with the incident be better than a linesman (who has been trained for years to be in line with the play) in real time? That's probably the most bizarre take I've heard about VAR. At the risk of sticking up for it, you clearly have zero understanding of how it works. Nobody is "drawing lines", they are merely there to give a graphical representation for people. The VAR officials select a frame at which the ball was played (the final lines are of a thickness that allows for the difference in frame rate, always favouring the attacker), they also select the furthest forward part of the attacker and defender, excluding hands/arms and the computer will verify. The cameras are calibrated from the goal line (or perhaps other fixed point) and a decision is calculated based on those points. The lines give a visual representation of that calculation. Fixed camera positions will give a massively distorted view of reality (I thought everyone knew this instinctively, I'm getting into the realms of father Ted here: "the smaller ones are far away"). You have to imagine the image rotated until it's in line with the blue line. Look at the image in question to illustrate this. On the far side you have Bevis Mugabi (next to McGrath). You can see the relatively straight line of the grass passing outside him on the near side, going right through him and exiting on his opposite side, but nobody argue that he is straddling the line there, he's clearly closer to our goal than the line, but the optical illusion presents him half over the line. The linesman gave offside in real time, which was enough for me, and enough for everyone for 100 years. In my opinion you just ditch VAR. Your suggestion doesn't work, because it very obviously doesn't work, and would be less accurate than the linesman (Douglas Ross excepted). They could just stop showing the illustrations of course and simply present the computer calculations and algorithm to ensure it was the same for both sides (which it very obviously is). However, it is the one area in which software developments will catch up fairly quickly I expect. They should be able to develop a simulation that rotates the fixed camera around the centre of the lengthwise pitch (for example) to the point of the offside line (always the furthest point back on the defender), so that people could view the image without the parallax. This should have been a prerequisite to using VAR for offside in my opinion. Secondly, they will likely get to the point where software can be used to determine both the point of leaving the player's foot and the furthest point on the defender and attacker. I would also expect the time it takes to make that decision to be massively sped up. Again, that should have been a prerequisite.

Not convinced by this one. Don't remember us ever having an out of contract player come in and perform well, generally they're out of contract for a reason. Reeks of Warnock not being able to guage the standard required for the Scottish game, like so many before him. I assumed that was why we had the recruitment team in place, to avoid this type of signing. Nevertheless, it's a punt that might work out. I'm guessing we won't be paying over the odds for an ageing winger. As @BigAl suggests, he can't be worse than Morris. Welcome aboard loon.

His name rhymes with toilet. He has the potential to be the next Nicky Maynard. Edit: that wasn't me trying to pen the lyrics to a new chant.

He'll be ready for the cup final.

There's actually nothing wrong with a back three, so I hope not. We've had some good performances this season in a three. There are good ways and bad ways to play a back three of course, and we repeatedly choose the bad ways, none more so than last night. Robson's bollocks was playing Clarkson in front of the three, Warnock's is playing every player out of position and throwing in a Morris wing back for a laugh. A four gives us the most options for changing things up and suits the most number of players in our squad. I would think that every game at pittodrie should see us playing a four, but perhaps away at the Tims or something might see us shift to a three. The best approach we've had to a three this season has been in a 3-4-2-1, cramming the midfield and getting McGrath and Polvara high up whilst leaving two sitting to cover the fullbacks and keep things very tight. I could see that still being a very useful option, especially in games if we need to hold a lead. I don't think last night gave us any indication of what a back three was supposed to do.

You were doing well until that last bit! I don't think it's sycophantic to be wanting the manager to do well and want to "give him a chance". However, I do think the phrase "you've got to give him a chance" is ridiculously overused in lieu of actual intelligent, worthwhile criticism and is often quite damaging (to adopt a little hyperbole!). He's an experienced manager who has just made a ridiculous error that even a young manager in his first role wouldn't make (compare with Leven's only game in charge, for example). He was slow to rectify it, not even attempting to reshuffle before the subs, and was lucky not to be four down (the one Roos tipped onto post/bar could have gone anywhere). Experience means being held to a higher standard, and if you can't be strongly critical of a guy, when merited, then you add nothing. If anything, he got incredibly lucky that Duk scored with his second touch, as had we been held for a further ten minutes, we'd have gone back into our shell. In Warnock's defence, I'm not sure we are/were getting Europe this season anyway, nor a cup win, I don't think we're nearly good enough as a squad. I don't think he'll have been worth the extra money between now and summer ahead of someone like Leven. We actually weren't struggling with man management under Robson, it was tactical ineptitude. If that tactical ineptitude is going to continue, I don't believe that the minor uplift in man management is going to be enough.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the ref gave their goal in real time? The linesman have Miovski offside in real time too, and so we'd have lost 3-4 if VAR hadn't been there. I'd have taken the loss over the soul destroying ten minutes additional time. For our third goal (might have been our second), the VAR display actually said that they were checking for both a foul and offside. Nobody knew if that was a mistake by the operator, or what was happening.

I agree, you can't force a manager not to pick players, but there are only two possible scenarios here. The first is that Warnock hasn't done any homework on the Dons at all, or he'd have known that his setup of players out of position (Morris massively, MacKenzie also and I'd argue Devlin) wouldn't work. That lineup was a sign of someone absolutely ignorant to our entire season, there is no other explanation. He strikes me as the type that would be obnoxious enough to suggest that everything up until now was the other guy's failings, and nothing to be learned. If he has done his homework, then he's just not very good at reading games of football. The second is that Warnock hasn't done his homework, because he's not been in the door long enough (or he doesn't feel it's a worthwhile exercise like above). In that case, it takes a spectacularly ignorant human not to ask the people around you at the club what has worked and failed and exactly why. My opinion is that he'll have asked Leven for a good overview of what works. He's either not listened to any of that and done his own thing, or Leven and others at the club are absolutely clueless, or frightened to give an opinion. Either way, it lacked professionalism and they certainly got the message from the fans last night. I think this sums up what my issue was with signing Warnock until the end of season. He's here for a really short time with zero experience of the game. Nobody who has been watching Scottish football this season would have made those errors last night. Similarly @tlg1903's point about Warnock being here on a jolly absolutely rang true. He's clearly either not done the work required, or deferred that authority to someone else until he gets up to speed. It was a completely unprofessional performance. There is absolutely no credit due for the early changes either (Robson wouldn't have had us three down, we'd have to go back to Goodwin versus Hibs for anything like last night). It maybe wasn't clear on red TV, but the hostility at the ground was immense (there was fighting in the RDS, but that was down to a Motherwell fan in corporate). It was probably the most toxic I've seen it since losing to the Hun in that game under Goodwin. The fourth goal was coming too, and I think Morris would have subbed himself, given how frightened he looked when he accidentally got the ball once after coming out of hiding from behind his marker. There was literally no choice but make a sub. It did bring a great light hearted moment though. I thought it was fairly obvious we were making a double change, but clearly most of the ground were unaware, so when the board went up with Polvara's number and not Morris' the crowd went mental thinking he might be staying on. I don't know how they choose the order when making a double sub (maybe it was the fourth official having a laugh), but they should perhaps take note for future to make sure that you always take the horrendously shite player off first. I'm certain a couple of heart attacks could be avoided in future.

Obviously, the correct answer is "who gives a fuck?" but is not the same as the rule for the attacker: It has to be a part of the body that you can play the ball with? The defender can't defend the ball with his elbow. Or some shite. Offside is now a rule for childish dickheads anyway, it no longer exists as a functional part of the game of football, it's actually an independent game in and of itself, just like handball.

Well that was a interesting game, that VAR did its best to suck all life out of. Seriously though, who the fuck is working at our club and not having a word with Warnock before that pish? More importantly, has he done zero research between arriving here and today? I heard part of his interview after the bonnyrigg game where he praised Morris' workrate, and I knew straight away he'd be starting him tonight. What I didn't expect was him playing fucking wing back. I think he's a fucking awful player, but for a manager to hang him out to dry like that is unforgivable, and to have nobody at the club with the balls to tell Warnock he was making a massive fucking mistake just reeks. Just shows you that his "95% man management" is utter horse shite, as there wasn't five percent difference before and after formation changes, and you'd need 400% man management in order to justify including Morris on the bench. Anyway, I was surprised by the number of folk having a direct go at Warnock (it was deserved, I'm just surprised that so many folk were placing the blame at his door so early in his stint). He made the obvious changes though, deciding that playing every fucking player out of position was probably not best and reverting back to what has worked - and it did, for the most part. People might say that it was good management to make changes early in the game, but the crowd were literally screaming at him and basically booing Morris' every touch. He had absolutely no choice, and actually took too long to make the subs. They were fucking awful and once we started playing we completely dominated and they spent the entire second half time wasting, with a weak as fuck ref watching on. Ten minutes of VARing about was just soul destroying. It's got to go. Great to see Duk get a couple, but he must be so frustrating to play with. He offered zero out ball to MacKenzie all night and dicks about with it so often in places where if he loses it, we're fucked. He probably gets man of the match though, just for coming on for Morris. One further notable point is that everything was very direct again. That could have been because we were chasing it, but even at 3-3 we were lumping every free kick in from every angle and the long throw was in constant use. It's not going to be pretty under Warnock that's for sure.

Morris at centre half I'm guessing.

I wonder if there's ever been a satisfactory response to that question? If he said "yes, at the age of six months, my mother - who had been suffering from deep depression, after finding out my dad had been seeing someone else, and had turned to alcohol - accidentally (although it could never be proven) knocked me off the table, where she'd been changing my nappy, onto a stone floor. I spent six weeks in a coma and a further year in intensive care, before finally being released into foster care.", you'd look and feel like a right dick. If he says "no, shut your cunting face" then you're also no further forward. It's just a very poor line of questioning.

Has he actually said it since coming here? I quite like it. It's better than Robson's catchphrase: "frustrated".

Aye, this one will be the proper test of his wits, albeit pissing with the cock he's got. Gartenmann has to start if fit. Interestingly, MacDonald was moved into left centre half when Jensen went off, despite probably being poorer with the ball and Gartenmann playing there previously, I wonder if he'll stick with that if Jensen isn't fit. I would expect McGrath to be back in, Clarkson further forward, Barron in (despite being poor) and maybe Hayes in for Duk. That means Polvara, Duk and Morris out, which would be no significant loss. To be honest, the team pretty much picks itself at the moment, with the only uncertainty being whether Doohan keeps his spot.

I think we'll get a hefty fee regardless of what Warnock says. There's no way the sort of club who are looking at Miovski are relying on what a manager says. In fact, I don't actually know what "Warnock raising his profile" actually involves or means. I think that takes away from the excellent job the club have done to date on scouting the player, hugely improving him and signing him on a lengthy contract. Plus the obvious work the player has done himself. Those are the things that will have already put him on the radar of many clubs. That's not to say Warnock won't get even more out of him before the summer of course. I wouldn't be surprised if he does.

Nope, you've misunderstood. I was responding to a post asking why people might be aggrieved at Warnock signing. I was giving those reasons. My own thinking is that I'm okay with Warnock himself (I actually quite like him), just disappointed in the club who sold us a strategy for the last three years.

You've read anger in my comment where none exists.

That about sums it up. Really shite game. One of the biggest disappointments was the lack of urgency in that second half. I felt a bit sorry for Duncan and Phillips who came on and seemed like they might want to play a game and go on and score, while the guys that had been on from the start like MacDonald, Jensen, Devlin and McKenzie just kept slowing the game down, taking fucking ages over throw ins and the like. We got that a lot under McInnes. When Warnock came here talking about fun, I assumed he'd deal with shite like that. It's an entertainment game, and we had won the game, he should have been screaming at that back line to play the fucking game and not attempt game fucking management against a fourth tier team. Nobody who watched that pish will be returning in a hurry. As you say, Polvara is a squad player. It baffles me that people were suggesting he was some sort of midfield genius after a meaningless friendly against Frankfurt. He doesn't do the yards, take chances or make tackles, he's just an average squad player. Morris is dogshit and Duk has given up the game of football. Jensen and MacDonald are a terrible pairing. Laboured as fuck. Gartenmann came on and immediately took the ball into the opposition half and looked for a pass, showing at least a small slither of urgency (although he did slice it out of play too!). Sokler was poor, and too interested in playing his man and not the ball. Duncan tried things but was just a bit too rushed in everything. Anyway, Warnock cannot afford to fuck about with these guys, he doesn't have the time. He needs to pick a couple that he might be able to work with and bring something to their game and sideline the rest. I'd probably persist with Polvara and Duncan (only cause he came through the youth), ditch Morris, Duk and MacDonald and only play when injury requires it. I think Jensen needs replaced in the summer too. Special mention to Phillips for running around like a mentalist, but he needs to play furthest from defence possible, as he's not really a footballer.

He has banned phones from the dressing room though.

He's a joke figure down South, a John Hughes. However, because we're in pathetic thrall to everything English fitba, he's massive celebrity news up here, it's cringey as fuck. He's deemed old school and obnoxious. There's a lot not to like about the guy. I specifically don't like the fact that he goes against everything we strategised (supposedly) for the last three years and is a huge step backwards in that regard, possibly even risking alienating players and staff that we might want here next year. However, I realised that with the consultant bollocks, our strategy wasn't actually a strategy at all, simply a bunch of words on a presentation, so I don't think Warnock will be upsetting much. I liked his opening interview and his thoughts about the game. I wasn't particularly enamoured by the time it took to make changes and the changes made against the Hun. I can completely see why people don't like him, but I'm happy enough for the short time that remains. I find his appointment shows a complete lack of competence by our board. It reminds me of the scene in Elf (the overplayed Christmas film) where the publisher asks his crack team of writers for new ideas and they suggest hiring another writer, who'll have better ideas. That is, of course, nothing to do with Warnock.

Motherwell out to Morton in the first upset of the weekend. Would take Morton in the final.

Why is that not a frivolous appeal?

The biggest surprise of the season as Adams is punted.

Doubt it. They'll all have big data systems that govern their signing policies. If there was a Warnock style manager there that based their signing on gut feel and word of mouth, then possibly, but I suspect that there are few of those left. I'm certain that there are a few sides down there who are already keeping a close eye on him. The only way Warnock will influence things, is if he makes him a better player. Although given that Bojan seems to be improving himself on a continuing basis, it might be a little unfair to credit Warnock.

I agreed It's alright to pretend to be a Morton fan when you're really a Hun, but don't actually support them.