RicoS321

Wow, people arrive fifteen minutes before kick off?

Strong team out..... Stayed at home.

Hopefully we'll keep him wrapped in cotton wool ahead of Wednesday's crucial relegation battle against Livingston.

You do realise it's at pittodrie?

I think we should look to bring Duff and Young out of retirement for this one. Duff was an underrated centre half.

Fair play to the club for getting idiots like me to buy tickets for this pish way in advance.

Thon Kennedy lad at Killie looks decent.

Yes, I was agreeing with you, I'm not sure if he meant to pass it. The consensus on sportscene just now was that he was trying to lift it over the keeper, and I think they're probably right. I'm not sure he could even see Clarkson to be honest. Still great play and deserved his luck.

That was a fun one. Other than the weird setup with Milne and Devlin (I'm assuming Devlin was there to mark Lowry?), the lineup was good. McGrath ahead of Shinnie and Clarkson as things should be. Sokler and Miovski trying to form a partnership. But we were absolutely honking in that first half. Second to everything, McGrath nowhere near the front two, who were chasing shadows and Hayes having a nightmare, with nobody tackling at the back. The second was hugely better, and the only thing that changed was application. Jensen started attacking the ball, Hayes and Shinnie chased down everything and turned the ball over constantly and McGrath was excellent behind the front two. Everyone just worked harder, basically, and that's all that it takes to win these types of games. I'd stick with Duk on the bench for the final, he's a great option to bring on. Once he gets his arse in front of a defender, he's virtually unstoppable. Interesting that @Panda thought he didn't mean the pass to Clarkson. I said to my mate that he didn't once glance in that direction and I was shocked when he squared it, it was very well disguised. I think it was deliberate though, it's just that everything he does looks accidental.

There are minutes and there are minutes though. Duk has been given starts, and in his preferred position every time. Sokler has been played out wide, behind the front one or two, part of a front three (with Gueye) and so on. Often after we'd taken off all our best players too. His first start in what I'd call his proper role would have been the Huns game. Duk has had starts and played 60+ minutes several times and had multiple chances. Sokler's chances are coming once or twice at most in 15-20 minute spells on the park. Like Duk (less so) and Miovski, Sokler strikes me as the type who might need a couple of chances before he converts one. But positionally he's very good and makes intelligent runs.

We could offer him a job for Christmas, if that helps.

The hype isn't really about Sokler. It's about having a striker who makes intelligent runs, watches what the other guy is doing and adjusts his game accordingly. Duk is a far better individual player and more likely to score, you're right. The issue is that he often doesn't score, and when he doesn't he's effectively a drag on the side. I have no doubt he'll come tanking back 80 yards to make a tackle on the edge of his own box, to shouts of DUKKK!!, then two minutes later he'll let an opponent wander away from him as he stares at the ball. He's unreliable as a team player. Barron and Clarkson could start together if Robson is willing to go with the 4-2-3-1 again. Clarkson in front of Barron and Shinnie. I'd be very skeptical of McGrath maintaining his position on the left of a three, I think he'd get drawn towards Clarkson, but it would be interesting at least. The only other option to start them both is to drop McGrath, which would be harsh. Either way, it wouldn't fucking matter, as Robson would insist on playing one of them as a number six with Shinnie in front. I think he'll simply switch Barron in for Clarkson and play the same shite as Wednesday and be surprised it doesn't work. Probably take Rubezic back in too, for reasons.

I think it's been absolutely gash, and has ruined our season. We were nowhere near ready for it, it's taught us nothing and it's unlikely we'll ever have the money to build a squad good enough to compete in league and European competition. It's a farce of a setup, that takes away from football, rather than enhancing. Knockout football is what Europe should be about, leagues are for dicks.

That was Goodwin levels of honking again. Persisting with the same shite formation again. We had it completely sussed in that first half against the Hun. Play Clarkson or Barron sitting with Shinnie and McGrath high up the park supporting Sokler and Miovski. What was fucking wrong with that? Why does Shinnie have to do the work of two players every fucking game? What is Robson watching that he thinks it's a success? Does he just sit in his room watching reruns of last season? Kudos for the eventual change to a 4-2-3-1, but do it at half time and give us time to hook Hayes. Obviously we don't have the personnel to play two wide, as Morris has proven admirably with his continued gashness. Duk offers nothing as a partner for anyone up front, we shouldn't be dicking about trying to play him until he hits form, he's a reactive mess of a player, that makes no runs and doesn't bring others into it. We really should have taken the Miovski and Sokler partnership and given it ten games to work. With McGrath or Clarkson in behind. Anyway, they deserved their win, and a lovely goal. The traffic was great on the way home.

Rubi oot. Right call. Hayes in, probably right call. Duk for Sokler also.

"He's the worst player in the league" @redordead ™

That's disgusting. Where did that come from? The BBC graphics department? Have they just indented the numbers instead of centering? It's eye-burning stuff. Thank goodness you put that joke lineup in there to highlight its ridiculousness. Anyway, the correct team is the one that we played in the first half against the Huns, with options of MacDonald and Barron over Rubezic and Clarkson. Absolutely no fucking about with having Shinnie playing advanced and number sixes, and we'll be absolutely fine.

Surely this story could have waited until the day before we played them? Either way, they'll lowball us with a derisory offer, as always, and we'll tell them to go and fuck themselves.

I'm guessing they're hoping for a similar result to the last one.

It's impossible for Shinnie not to be aggressive. Aggression is his identity, you might as well rip out his heart. Also, that would leave the weakest midfield in the history of football.

The Euros and World Cup are just corporate money spinners these days. "Fans first" is a completely weird concept. You simply can't have "fans first" if that's how you treat people who are not deemed fans. That a stadium should have anything but a minority of seats available (maybe this is the case) to those who are not fans is fucked up. Good to see Germany's fan-owned, egalitarian model is thrown out the window at international level, ensuring that ordinary German fans can't afford to watch their side. That's what the game's about. I went to the World Cup in Germany in 2006, and I'm sure the prices were expensive but reasonable (maybe €40?).

There's probably a bit of that, but there's also the fact that Rubezic offers something different to the other two, in that he's aggressive and strong in the air*. MacDonald is very similar to the other two in that he'll be comfortable sitting and watching the play in front of him and mop up behind. There's a lot of value in having the mix of both (McLeish and Miller). In theory, Rubezic should be slightly advanced of the other two, and be the one aggressively attacking the ball, closing the gap between midfield and defence. That means that he should be allowed more mistakes than the other two as he's the proactive one. It also means Jensen and Gartenmann should be constantly on their toes for slip-ups. It's a little bit easier to make no mistakes when you're not throwing your body in the mix nearly as often, so Rubezic probably deserves a little slack at times. Gartenmann is clearly a class player, but I'm not as convinced by Jensen. He's not a poor player, but he's a downgrade on Scales. Last season, Robson could play with just MacDonald sweeping behind two players playing aggressively in Scales and Pollock, whereas we're a bit lopsided this season with a distinct lack of aggression on that left (which is probably why McKenzie adding that at left back has returned our best performances). That's why I think, for now, it's still best to persist with Rubezic and have MacDonald as cover for all three roles. *Whilst being great in the air, he does seem to have got under the ball a lot this season, which is fairly basic for a guy like him.

I don't know if you know, but the spurs manager used to manage Celtic.

Really? I didn't see the game, but he didn't go for a 3-1-4-2 with Clarkson as number six again did he? How many times is he going to try that nonsense before he realises that McGrath is not Ramadani? It's not just Shinnie not being able to cross, it's expecting him to do twice the work when we've got a fixture every three days and no alternative midfield. It's like he's trying to break the guy. It's zero use having a high xG, if they can run a bus through our midfield.

Agreed, that's the lineup I'd have gone with. Only really question marks over McGarry in that, but hopefully another week to get fit has helped. I assume it's a 3-4-1-2, with McGrath pressing high almost in-between Miovski and Sokler in defence.