RicoS321

If I could be arsed with the pictures and shite, I could have written that very thing. It illustrates just how easy it would have been to drop fullbacks and the two midfielders back at 0-1 or 1-1 and see things through until half time. The number of times that Sakala and Kent were running directly at Scales and McRorie was criminal. McKenzie doesn't have the pace to play the system and Richardson doesn't appear to have the fitness or desire to both run up and run back (Coulson likely the same). Hayes is pretty much the only player we've got that would manage it.

The issue with 4-2-3-1 is that it doesn't work at home against 8-9 teams. For the first half yesterday we were playing 3-1-4-2, which is fantastic playing killie in front of a home crowd. I'm pretty certain that Goodwin has had it drilled into him by Cormack that we don't change the way we play when against the scum, the fans don't want us to go and sit in at Ibrox etc. Look on this thread pre-match and everyone suggested that we need to go at them because they're shite at defending or whatever. He's trying to juggle two remits of winning games and also entertaining. But it's almost like he's bought into it too much, as even the most rabid dandy could see we were going to be on the end of a skelping from the first minute. We just need to accept that there is more than one way to try and win a game, and that there's no shame in keeping it tight and using Duk to catch them on the break is fine. Use Watkins in behind him as part of the three would be a decent compromise (it's very noticeable that when Ramirez has been introduced recently, he's been asked to play behind Duk rather than alongside like Miovski does). However, we do have glaring personnel issues. Stewart and Richardson both require us to play a certain way due to their deficiencies. Ramadani very much suits being the 1 in front and has struggled as part of a 2 (we really miss Ferguson, as expected). McRorie has no fathomable position on a football pitch, whilst offering useful attributes in several positions. Miovski is like Kris Boyd in that he'll score goals but offer little else and should probably be dropped against the good teams. Clarkson and Barron are both good with someone good alongside them who isn't either Clarkson or Barron. McKenzie is a solid left back who doesn't have the pace to play wingback, whereas Coulson is a fantastic footballer who is very slack in defence (he was torn to shreds by Sakala when he came on). We need a midfielder in January, definitely, but we also need a plan to play against better teams and an acceptance within the club that it's okay to be organised and difficult to beat at times. Goodwin needs to approach games with a clear idea of what happens within games when things aren't going our way and explain it to the players too so that they won't be pissed off if we remove Miovski for example after 25 minutes. The players looked clueless after the change to a four yesterday in the second half. As you point out, most of this is basic stuff. We have to assume that there is pressure from within the club from the outset of his appointment that means he's not seeing things, or heavily biased in a certain style. Fourteen of the twenty goals we've let in have come in four games. It's clear that we've got issues with making changes when chasing a game.

Lembas retired a few weeks ago and I've not decided on a new supplier yet. Replenish in Stonehaven and Chapelton will deliver and the veg seems pretty decent. Bridgefoot mentioned that they might serve out this way if they get enough folk on board (I used them for years when in toon and were always good). I'm trying out buying veg for a couple of months to see if it's better, but I'm basically going into shops and just staring at the produce with nae idea what to go far. Twenty years of having my hand forced by a delivery does that. The shop in Newtonhill does decent stuff too on a small scale (tatties, carrots, pumpkins, eggs etc). I'm leaning towards replenish at the moment, but I'll give it a few more weeks to see if I enjoy the shopping experience.

We were punting it early (quite often to one of our fullbacks) and then charging after it - the very definition of cavalier. Nearly every time they had the ball, Barron, Clarkson and the fullbacks were way up the park. One pass round Ramadani and we were 3 on 3 for the hundredth time I'm the game. There was no organised defensive banks of five and three or even three and three. Livingston could certainly have taught us a thing or two in how to defend as a team. Goodwin backed himself into a corner with the two attackers again, showing he's learned nothing from the Hibs game. Duk showed today, unlike that game, that he could lead the line on his own. Sacrificing Miovski after we went ahead, and it was clear were never holding it, would have been the best way to go. Either switch to a 4-2-3-1 or 4-5-1 (preferably ditching Richardson at that point too). Keep the midfield close to the defence and keep things tight. We're not great at defending but I simply don't believe that we don't have it in us to be organised and disciplined in two lines. The arrogance and stupidity of thinking we can go away to any team and play the way did is ludicrous, bit especially not the Huns at Ibrox.

It's not shitting the pants though, it's the opposite. Being far too cavalier. I don't know what Goodwin is seeing.

Yep, pretty much. It's an insane approach to playing the scum at Ibrox. I'd expect this shape against a championship side or an off form SPFL team. As redordead pointed out, Ramadani (who's playing quite well) is playing in front of the back three with the two in front. We're going man for man against them in attack and defence. That had left gaping holes all over the place as soon as one player breaks through a challenge. Our defence is nowhere near quick enough to play this way and it appears we've learned nothing from utd and Hibs games. I understand we have no midfielders or defenders on the bench but an organised flat line of three would at least stem some of the flow. Clarkson and Barron are both tanking back in to help the defence, but they're sort of piling in and then sorting their shape. It's last ditch and ugly. Now that we're down a goal too, it's difficult to change things as we should really be tightening things up.

Is it maybe Lee Mair? He said he scored one for the Dons, so would maybe be him. Aberdonian too.

Yassss. Duk, top diving decoy.

3-5-2 then. As expected to be honest. Hopefully should be enough to keep us in the lead before the inevitable 112th minute var pen.

Not wholly irrelevant. Is it safe to say he might have been a bigger star this side of the pond if he'd not married his thirteen year old relative? He's no Michael Jackson of course. Fantastic singer though.

Great cousin to his wife.

I think you're right, but you have to factor personnel into that too. Utd had 14 attempts against us and scored 4 when we played 4 at the back. If we're playing a four then we either have to sacrifice attacking fullbacks or play two holding midfielders as Stewart simply can't cope with the gap between midfield and defence. We'd basically have to do what Livi did against the Huns the previous week and sit in. I'd be okay with that, but most Dons fans are suggesting that they're weak at the back (the BBC has some good stats showing this to be true) and that we need to be attacking them. We can't have it both ways and Stewart (like Gallagher last season) is a penalty box defender.

Pretty much every error I've seen Stewart make is from his own doing. The gap between him and Richardson is often huge as Stewart wants to drop into the box to intercept the cross. In fact, I don't think I've seen him offer Richardson any support whatsoever, either positionally or vocally. I'd expect a guy of his experience to be dragging Richardson through a game, constantly talking to him and dictating to him. Richardson is pish in his own right and Stewart his. Obviously Stewart would be better with a better fullback, but it doesn't solve his own obvious flaws. If Goodwin wants to play a back four then he either has to sacrifice an attacking fullback, play two deep lying midfielders to reduce the gap between midfield and defence or get a right sided defender that isn't slower than Liz Truss (remember her?).

Banks o' dee deducted a thousand points for secretarial errors. Shouldn't be possible in the modern game.

Agree with that, apart from getting another right back in January (not that we shouldn't, just that it wouldn't solve the problem). I think we've got a decent sized squad at the minute, so I'd be looking at a midfielder as the priority. Moving McRorie into midfield doesn't solve Stewart's glaring deficiencies (which moving him into defence have certainly helped with), nor does it address McRorie's glaring deficiencies in midfield - he's simply nowhere near good enough at passing. Bursting runs are nice to watch, but there is almost never an end product and often a giant hole left behind. Richardson is an issue in his own right, but replacing him will only solve that issue. We're only likely to sign a fullback that can push forward, so that would leave Stewart facing exactly the same issue. He's probably never going to be a back four defender in a team that wants to get forward a lot. Midfielder would be top priority for me, especially with Clarkson leaving and Barron too if he's not signing a new deal. With a view to getting a good right sided centre half in the summer, or giving Milne a lot more minutes if he's good enough. I think we'll struggle against the Huns at the weekend. We're not good enough at defending to do what Livi did at the weekend and whilst I think we're more than capable of causing them problems, they're still a very good team that will score some of the numerous chances that we've afforded all our other opponents this season. Our pressing and work rate has been excellent recently, but our organisation is still a bit away from where it should be (not a criticism, we're an entirely new team), and I think that'll be our downfall. They're confidence will grow if they get a goal, and I don't see us stopping that goal. I'd take a draw in this fixture and with a bit more work on the training ground we should be ready to horse them in the semi, whilst pipping them to second on the final day at Ibrox with an easy 0-6 win.

Says who? Would be absolutely fucking ridiculous if true.

Great points you make. I slightly disagree with the above though. You're correct in that that's what people wanted. The point though, is that it could never be as you describe. That instant feedback would always lead to a VAR type situation. As soon as the first pen is incorrectly given against the Huns (or the English Hun equivalent), the system needs looked at because he didn't spend enough time assessing it, or he didn't check it from the sixteenth camera angle available on Sky TV (the sheer number of camera angles means it's going to take longer). If we've got those sixteen cameras, then we have to be using them for offside, don't we? Any introduction of video replays will always lead to what we've got. There is no good system of video replays, it's just a failed experiment. If we could automate offside decisions in the same way that they do goalline technology (correctly deemed too expensive in Scotland) then that would acceptable, but it would need a change to the rules (interfering with play could likely only be a human decision). Anything else doesn't work, and never will, it just changes the point of controversy to: "was the foul on Lamie not clear and obvious?". It's failed in its first weekend in Scotland, just as it has failed since its introduction. There will never be a situation where we can have a quick check, or only the correct the clear and obvious errors, because those things are mutable (and the point at which you only correct the really clear and obvious means that the system is too expensive to bother with like goalline tech has proven). Even a system of X number of challenges would only get greater over time, like subs have. What really surprises me though, is the inability for anyone, anywhere, to recognise that it's a failed experiment and that football fans (I mean actual fans) have allowed it to happen. It's like everyone is giving it just one more chance - in perpetuity - to work. It's like a fear of not having the latest thing.

I don't think it's necessarily a bank balance thing. It's about happiness and a bit of adventure, just the same as it is with any of us in our normal jobs. Maguire was never at the pinnacle of the game, he was just an average (maybe slightly above) SPFL player. I'd equate him to someone like Mark Reynolds, Lee Miller, Zander Diamond, that ilk. He never had the pace that would get him into the Scotland team for example, and he was always going to be limited in that regard. I think he's done as well as could be expected, no better, no worse. He's made a career in fitba, that's pretty good I'd say. That's probably a lot harder for a young lad than we give credit for.

One minute? Fucking hell. Even a sport that takes days to complete a single game has a faster turnaround.

I know that, that's why I said "it does nothing" to help. It's those little decisions - fair chance Lamie wouldn't have lasted the ninety - that have a big effect on the way the games goes. There was another missed booking when two Motherwell players should have been in the book for taking out Duk in the same run, but only the second player was cautioned. Anyway, I'm not asking VAR to intervene for yellows, it's horrendous enough as is.

It's taken two minutes at every goal, it's horrendous. They weren't just checking for offside at Miovski's goal, they were checking for no fouls in the build up too. I'd like to think that the tech guy sorts the framing for the offside while the ref checks for fouls and then verifies the offside. But maybe they're going through some sort of checklist, ticking stuff off (no handball, no fouls etc). The obvious criticism of Miovski's goal is that the flag was raised at all. If VAR is checking everything then why does the linesman raise his flag after the ball is in the net? If the move had come to nothing (or a pen like in the Hibs game) then fair enough, raise your flag. When the ball goes in the back of the net, at least let the celebration happen and let VAR pickup the offside if it's close (which it wasn't). In my opinion, the refs and linesmen are acting differently in the knowledge that they have VAR to bail them out, it's rank. The stoppage after every single goal and the pathetic "VAR check" on the big screen or over the tannoy is just a complete game ruining experience. I've sat through the worst of Miller, Aitken, Miller, Patterson and McGhee, but I've never been so close to giving up my season ticket as I am now that these bureaucratic, "technology" cunts have seeped into our game in the pursuit of "accuracy" at the altar of the English fitba pundit. It's the worst thing that has ever entered the game of fitba. Worse than the champions league shite, which I can at least avoid. The fuckers that sit and watch the English premiership on the TV who don't attend games of fitba, that have been prioritised over the game going fans, should be taped to a chair and have "VAR check" burned into their retinas.

Good result. A decent away performance given our record. We did just enough. Duk the stand out, but hardworking all round. McKenzie and Barron looked knackered by the end. Third at this stage is good going given the personnel turnaround. Impressive stuff.

Fuck VAR. Fuck are we waiting for? Pathetic.

Great play McKenzie. Lovely ball, great header.

Decent half (I turned on just after the goal - an awesome finish). Duk looking good and we're pressing hard in attack and midfield. Stewart and Richardson playing well. Ramadani letting his man ghost past him on a couple of occasions a bit worrying. Otherwise, keep it up and we'll be fine.