RicoS321

I disagree with this

Hopefully Anthony Stewart left him the recipe for nailing a Hun in the last minute of the ninety. It'd have been so perfect had the cheating SFA not insisted on extra time instead of the replay Stewart had planned for when he went careering into the challenge. That won't be an issue in a league match, and there's a strong chance that Wright will have taken to the field by that point too.

As agreed, could we keep all league cup correspondence to one thread. Can't go glory hunting with separate threads just because we made it to a quarter final.

Shite time, as always. Oh well.

Hibs. Take that like.

Good win. Some good performances and an all round comfortable victory..... until Rubezic decided to Rubezic. Really bad defending, completely inexcusable. It was backs to the wall from that point, and it's very difficult to change from cruising to then trying to hold onto the ball for dear life. We got there though. Shinnie motm. Good setup and plenty of changes to keep things fresh, which was good to see. Rubezic is a problem though, we really can't afford that type of error in games. I don't think MacDonald is a like for like replacement and is probably too similar to the two next to him. I'm assuming Williams is just pish? Oh well, get stuck into the Hun.

Aye, maybe leave Rubezic on the bus.

Sokler!!!! Lovely goal. Game was starting to get scrappy, they'd thrown on the subs and we had literally just changed back to the 3-5-2. Hampden bound.

Think it's a 4-3-3, with Hayes on the right, Duk on the left.

Seem to have changed the setup a bit in the last few minutes. Difficult to see what to. Almost like a 4-4-2, but Duk out wide.

What a change of pace from Duk.

What a hit. Hold on while I find the comments questioning Shinnie's technical abilities.

Why is Helsinki important? I don't disagree about the Hun, but our European games are basically a free hit against teams that are probably better than us. I'd say that staying in the race for third is as important than the cash for a win in Europe.

That'd be great news. For me, he's the equivalent of someone like Jack (better passer) or Ferguson. I think he'll get to a level above us, but it'll take a hundred games or so. I'm not ridiculously partisan, but I don't see a better place than pittodrie for him to get those games. A move sideways to Hearts or Hibs would be pointless, a move to Huns or Tims would see him benched or loaned to a lower club than us. A move down south would be a physical challenge that, in my opinion, he's not ready for (a high end championship team wouldn't take a punt on him without loaning out to someone worse than us). Of course, there may be family reasons for wanting to move, or maybe he just fancies a trip somewhere abroad or something. He's not owe us anything, he'll have watched us ruthlessly ditch many a player on his way through the system and he'll know that he'd have been treated similarly if he was gash. If him and his agent are looking out for him properly, then from a footballing perspective it's difficult to see a better option than here.

1-2 to the Jambo scum. Would probably take them or Livingston at Hampden in the semi.

They can, and I agree with the overall point. However, they can't manage two games a week for half a season with European travel too, and we'll likely see injuries if we try to. It's probably always a question of identifying the positions that do less running (centre backs, fullbacks in a flat five like we played against Frankfurt and perhaps might against the Hun and the number ten are probably the lightest load) and the positions where the cover is not a huge drop off in level (or a well protected position). It'll also be a case of perhaps restricting minutes too. I'd say Hayes could come in tomorrow with a view to playing McKenzie at the weekend. Controversially, I think we could take Duncan in for McGrath with little drop off too (I really think he'll suit playing behind the strikers). Clarkson for Duncan if things aren't going well at halftime. If things are going well then look to swap Polvara for Barron and Sokler for Miovski on sixty minutes, with Gueye for Duk a bit later (to give Sokler the chance to play with Duk). I'd say that Clarkson, McGrath, Hayes are probably players that you want to be cautious with and that our squad allows us to be. I think the rest of the squad are too big a drop off to risk in a cup game.

I'd have thought that would be less reason to have a soft spot, given the merger debacle. Or was it just the Thistle fans that were against that?

Did he rotate? Or did he just drop Clarkson and McKenzie for a mix of poor performance and tactics? I'd have said it was the latter. I'd be inclined to keep the same team with Hayes (if fit) in for McGarry. I guess that could be classed as rotation, but it's not really. I'd say that changing out three or four players for non tactical reasons would be rotation. Say Sokler and Gueye starting. I'd agree with OD, that that level of change would be undesirable.

Why would anyone have had a soft spot for the Inverness Huns?

You're not right! Any decision can be changed. It was Collum on VAR (I think) and I think he tends toward the onfield decision, which I actually think is the way it should be. He appears to have the correct interpretation of clear and obvious. The ref had a good view of the incident and thought a yellow was good enough and he obviously thinks there wasn't enough to overturn it. The replays make it look a little worse than it was in real time in my opinion. I'd rather we saw less VAR intervention. The ref let quite a lot go today, and it made for a better game. There have been lesser tackles given red, but that shouldn't be reason to intervene here.

The best fans in the world? Surely not?

Enjoyed that today. Great to sit through a game where we're set up properly from the start, and we're not watching multiple players in roles that they can't play. Shinnie and Barron as a two with McGrath in front. Rubezic a few yards ahead of Jensen and Gartenmann. The rest takes care of itself. Even better to see that when Clarkson came on, Robson didn't revert to playing him deep and pushing the others forward, he stuck with what was working and played Clarkson where McGrath was. He just needs to stick with that for a few games. If he thinks he needs more defensive protection then Polvara in for Duk. Sorted. Only minor criticism is that I'd like to see Sokler get some minutes alongside Duk, or Gueye some minutes alongside Miovski. Those are the guys that we'll be turning to when chasing a game, but I doubt we'd throw them both on together, so it'd be nice to see if one or other could form a partnership with the main strikers. They both looked a bit knackered though, so probably not possible. Difficult to pick out the top performers today, they all did well. Miovski was probably motm ahead of Shinnie and Barron.

Aye, he looks like Gary MacDonald.

Because he's been asked to do the job of at least one and a half midfielders in those games. We're lucky he didn't pick up an injury to be honest. Ironic that when he got the most support he's had all season last night, he was taken off early. As you say, the international break would have helped, and hopefully we'll see an end to the ridiculous strategy of pretending that we have more than one box to box midfielder.

James and Alan? Sounds brutal. Yep, I mentioned going for a 3-4-2-1 last night. Shinnie and Barron sitting with Polvara and Clarkson supporting Miovski. That can change to a 3-4-1-2 to allow Duk on if we're chasing it. Clarkson regularly struggles when he's not either sitting behind or in front (see Gilmour for Scotland a few years back), because he likes the space for his side to side movement. I think that if we're experimenting then having him further up the pitch is a good idea, he's played well there before, although as a 10, behind the striker(s). It's still a little bit shoehorning like. Barron is comfortable in a two, so is fine alongside Shinnie and that would give Shinnie a well deserved break. Agree about McGrath, he's not been great. A good squad player to have, nothing more. His position is probably similar to Clarkson's more forward position and I think he should be used as cover for that role. He's not a bad signing in himself, just that he doesn't fill the role we needed. Thought McKenzie did okay despite the penalty, but maybe McGarry (who I've not been particularly impressed by either) back in for his pace going forward versus County. Duncan did okay when he came on, but I still think his best position will be through the middle when he comes of age.