Well vs Dons

[Jute]

Not sure Rubi even touches Watt with his head but still stupid to react. McDonald on left side has been a joke again. Assume Molloy must be injured as not even on the bench. Have to say Palaversa has been poor again and there is no way we should be taking on option him. Nilsen was fine until the Jinx Rico turned on and been shit since or maybe ran out of steam about then. Going to be long 2nd half. 

[OrlandoDon]

9 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

Aye. That wasn't a red, and should have been overturned. Rubi stood up when Watt was bent over him. Nobody headbutts with the top of their head on the underside of someone's chin, it's just poor technique.

Anyway, I turned it on at 30 minutes and we've only been gash from that point. Not even sure where Nisbet is playing, Nielsen given the ball away several times and MacDonald and MacKenzie beaten by simple balls over the top. 

First 30 we were the better team and had chances, but Motherwell did have chances too and very good ones at that. Its very clear Motherwell are going after Macdonald, and the second goal is what they’ve done all game.

ill add that while we were the better team with more possession we looked god awful at the back and with the chances Motherwell had it was only a matter of time.

Edited Sunday at 15:38 by OrlandoDon

[Jute]

Leven red carded in the tunnel at half time.

[Jute]

McDonald and Nisbet off for Polvara and Clarkson. I genuinely have no idea what we are doing. 

[RicoS321]

Aye, MacDonald - our only centre half available - subbed for a midfielder, says it all.

[OrlandoDon]

Pretty much same as the first half started, were the better team creating chances. But means nothing when you don’t take them. 
wouldn’t be surprised if polvara became a center defender until we make signings.

[redordead]

Shinnies passing is fucking abysmal 

[Jute]

Another two very odd substitutions. Keskinen especially looked our best player. 

[OrlandoDon]

At the point (again) where I’d be happy if I never saw ruby, Macdonald, mcgarry, duk, Ambrose to ever play for us again. Maybe even McGrath given his head has apparently been turned and he’s off. Duk did put in a shift today but he’s just not a committed team player.

great start to the season but reminded we were gash for much of two years and we don’t have many good players. Long term squad rebuild needed as we all know.

[RicoS321]

Not a bad half. We're much better playing midfielders at the back. We can play out reasonably safely. I'd consider Polvara and Molloy for the next game. I'm assuming the subs were all down to fresh legs rather than tactical. You can see why Morris isn't preferred to Keskinen, he does nothing going back the way, and never pressures his man. Palaversa did okay in the second half, and we don't need Clarkson that deep, he was very effective up the park a bit. Shinnie looked knackered at 60 minutes, and that showed in his abysmal passing. Devlin similar. 

Hopefully Thelin has learned a bit today, he should now know the guys that can't be relied on. 

[redordead]

25 minutes ago, Jute said:

Another two very odd substitutions. Keskinen especially looked our best player. 

Can't agree. All fart no poo. Though just having some endeavour made him better than most.

[redordead]

Thought Polvara did really well at CB. Also thought Clarkson did well and seems to be hitting form. Maybe we should be playing around him.

[OrlandoDon]

Second half performance means little when you’re already 2 down. Motherwell didn’t push on as much and didn’t force the issue. At the same time we didn’t fold which was good to see. Duk and kenskinen worked hard too and those are two I do question commitment.
we badly need reinforcements, devlin shinnie and sivert can’t keep this up. certainly also happy to try a polvara molloy partnership moving forward.

[RicoS321]

4 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

Second half performance means little when you’re already 2 down. Motherwell didn’t push on as much and didn’t force the issue. At the same time we didn’t fold which was good to see. Duk and kenskinen worked hard too and those are two I do question commitment.
we badly need reinforcements, devlin shinnie and sivert can’t keep this up. certainly also happy to try a polvara molloy partnership moving forward.

Motherwell didn't push on, but they were lucky not to lose a goal and we pressed them and they couldn't hold onto the ball, regularly punting it straight back to us. 

[Kowalski]

25 minutes ago, redordead said:

Also thought Clarkson did well and seems to be hitting form. Maybe we should be playing around him.

Agreed, I’ve thought this for a while. Baffling decision from Jimmy to take him off during the Hibs game; we need to start Clarkson every game IMHO. 
 

Also thought Duk had a decent game today. 
 

However ATM top 6 might be a struggle. 

[manc_don]

Fuck me, this waking up to a loss every single time is a fucking downer to start a day even my boys were asking why I was grumpy. We need to build around our own players, not ones that are halfway out the door.

[OrlandoDon]

1 hour ago, manc_don said:

Fuck me, this waking up to a loss every single time is a fucking downer to start a day even my boys were asking why I was grumpy. We need to build around our own players, not ones that are halfway out the door.

No shit! 9:30 kickoff here and I was a miserable fucker on my birthday. Never grown out of this, dons results impact my mood/sanity big time.

[manc_don]

6 hours ago, OrlandoDon said:

No shit! 9:30 kickoff here and I was a miserable fucker on my birthday. Never grown out of this, dons results impact my mood/sanity big time.

Belated happy birthday, hope you still managed to have a good day regardless!

[wokinginashearerwonderland]

22 hours ago, OrlandoDon said:

devlin shinnie and sivert can’t keep this up. 

Not disagreeing with this statement but would question why it's the case?  We don't have European football and very few international players.  So we have played 21 league games in five months plus one meaningful game in the cup (I'm not counting the other games against the diddy teams which were nothing more than glorified friendlies).  Add to that, the players had international breaks in September, October and November..............and yes, Devlin was called up but didn't really play.  Why the hell are our players tired?  These guys are not 36 and 37, they are 31 and 33.

For arguments sake I just googled the name of 30 year old Andy Robertson and already this season he has played 25 games for Liverpool and 5 games for Scotland and he runs about a hell of a lot more during a game than any of the above three.  

   

[OrlandoDon]

2 hours ago, wokinginashearerwonderland said:

Not disagreeing with this statement but would question why it's the case?  We don't have European football and very few international players.  So we have played 21 league games in five months plus one meaningful game in the cup (I'm not counting the other games against the diddy teams which were nothing more than glorified friendlies).  Add to that, the players had international breaks in September, October and November..............and yes, Devlin was called up but didn't really play.  Why the hell are our players tired?  These guys are not 36 and 37, they are 31 and 33.

For arguments sake I just googled the name of 30 year old Andy Robertson and already this season he has played 25 games for Liverpool and 5 games for Scotland and he runs about a hell of a lot more during a game than any of the above three.  

   

I’ve thought about this a lot, because I had the same questions. I would say age is a factor, both are 33, sivert hasn’t had a summer break, shinnie is an all out type player who goes non stop all game, plus both are midfielders who do run more than defenders or attackers. Plus we tend to play a high press and don’t really sit off teams.

yes, we haven’t had Europe but our season started in July and we have still had a number of weeks with midweek games, throw in travel to/from Aberdeen, heavy pitches etc. I do think early season we saw a fresh team but the lack of quality depth is hurting us now.

i said it at the start of the season when I felt we should go for allan Campbell, we’re asking a lot of particular players. We signed palaversa and I certainly think polvara would help, but now I see him potentially playing central defender. 

interesting you reference Robertson who I though had a good few games for Scotland where we rarely saw him push on and attack, one of his main strengths. I suggested he get subbed for Mackenzie at one point. Perhaps he paces himself and tries to coast in some Scotland games to conserve energy.

 

[wokinginashearerwonderland]

I don't know.  Yes, the season started in July but those early league cup games really just replaced the normal pre season friendlies in all but name.  This is the easiest start to a season we could have possibly had in terms of intensity.  Piss easy fixtures in the cup plus the easiest possible run of league fixtures you could want over the first 7 or 8 games and no european football.  God help this team if we have to play in Europe next season and we have a few tough away games in the league early on.

If you have a look at Killie's run of fixtures for example, they have played 22 in the league plus 6 european games (3 involving foreign travel obviously) and a league cup game away to Motherwell including extra time.  Add to that 2 of their opening 3 games were away at Parkhead and Pittodrie and their budget I'm guessing will be a fraction of what ours is.  We have had it easy.  

[RicoS321]

4 hours ago, wokinginashearerwonderland said:

I don't know.  Yes, the season started in July but those early league cup games really just replaced the normal pre season friendlies in all but name.  This is the easiest start to a season we could have possibly had in terms of intensity.  Piss easy fixtures in the cup plus the easiest possible run of league fixtures you could want over the first 7 or 8 games and no european football.  God help this team if we have to play in Europe next season and we have a few tough away games in the league early on.

If you have a look at Killie's run of fixtures for example, they have played 22 in the league plus 6 european games (3 involving foreign travel obviously) and a league cup game away to Motherwell including extra time.  Add to that 2 of their opening 3 games were away at Parkhead and Pittodrie and their budget I'm guessing will be a fraction of what ours is.  We have had it easy.  

Yep, but it's about style of play and personnel. Devlin and Mackenzie were constantly in the opponents box, the midfield were bursting a gut to get there too, we played high intensity and pressing and regularly ran ourselves into the ground during games. That's what won us the games, basically. It's not that we're completely spent, just that we're not playing with the same intensity, the fullbacks aren't getting forward and we're not getting players in the box as often. The lack of good options in the key areas and the picking up of niggling injuries just compounds it. It won't be then done for the season, with a couple of additions, I wouldn't be surprised if we went on another good run in a bit when they get a second wind. It's fairly fine margins in this league, and if we're not prepared to sacrifice our style to grind out wins then we'll need more players in to do that. We're a good couple of seasons, at least, from having a team that can compete in both league and Europe, I suspect it'll be one or the other for the foreseeable.