Scottish Cup QF - St Mirren v Aberdeen - 12 March 2011 - too early KO!

[RDU_64]

Yaaaaaaaaaas! That was the skin of our teeth, St. Mirren should have buried us with 3 or 4 wonderful chances after their goal. Higdon changed the game when he came on. Get out of jail free card used but glad we're still in the cup!

[Edinburghdon]

Thats a get out of jail free if ever I saw it.  After their subs came on, they were raping us.  Langfield kept us in it.

we need to go 4-4-2 on wednesday.

 

McNamee will be out, so guessing it'll be Mcardle at RB again.  Not sure about Hartley in CM, but equally unsure about Jack or Young.

 

4 4 2 with Hartley dropped in favour of jack is a must.

 

Good leader but his legs have quite obviously gone and we cant afford to carry passengers that are 2nd to every single ball

[Kowalski]

That was horrendous, and a lucky escape.

Langfield MOTM.  Considine sleeping for their goal! 

 

Terrible first 60 minutes to watch.

[bland_flabbis]

That was priceless. Poor performance, but you can't beat a scrappy, undeserved equaliser in the 4th minute of injury time to stay in the cup. My flatmate is a St Mirren fan and as soon as the ball hit the net he just quietly got up, walked out the room and is now presumably sobbing under his duvet.

[Cowie]

4 4 2 with Hartley dropped in favour of jack is a must.

 

Good leader but his legs have quite obviously gone and we cant afford to carry passengers that are 2nd to every single ball

 

Yeah - Jack - milsom has a better ring than the other options. 

[El Padre™]

We've looked shite since Hartley came back into the team. I don't know what the problem is at all.

[redordead]

Midfield exposed a lot when he goes forward and can't get back. Piss poor today! P.s blackman's rotten

[BobbyBiscuit]

We looked absolute shite as soon as Vernon went off as there was no link up play at all after that. Also thought consi should have been subbed instead of Smith.  We started well, but for some reason we just stopped the passing after 20 mins or so and it became very scrappy.

 

Considine was woeful for the goal, complete lack of awareness. There is still far too much indecision in the back line and we never seem to dominate opposition attackers.

 

Was it a header we scored with? All we could see was a "stramash" and then the net moving... best bounce for a long, long time!

[Kenny]

Last minute equaliser then?

 

 

[manc_don]

Nah bobby, it was a kick from mccardle. Good awareness to knock it if IMHO. What a relief! Hartley was abysmal today. Definitely langfield as motm.

[Rebus30]

Who's headin to Pittodrie for the replay then? 

[BobbyBiscuit]

Nah bobby, it was a kick from mccardle. Good awareness to knock it if IMHO. What a relief! Hartley was abysmal today. Definitely langfield as motm.

 

Cheers manc. Langfield played well today, even though he was afforded so little protection from those in front of him.

[tom_widdows]

Seemingly it was also a handball from a Saints player (although I didnt see it) hence why 2 of our players (who were in offside positions infront of the keeper) had their hands in the air b4 mcardle hit it.

 

Horrible moment on BBC was it almost sounded like the whistle went just as Mcardle was about to hit it. Then a few seconds later the commentator said 'the goal stands'

 

Perhaps he had blown for a penalty but then gave the goal? 

[Stewart]

Seemingly it was also a handball from a Saints player (although I didnt see it) hence why 2 of our players (who were in offside positions infront of the keeper) had their hands in the are b4 mcardle hit it.

 

Horrible moment on BBC was it almost sounded like the whistle went just as Mcardle was about to hit it. Then a few seconds before the commentator said 'the goal stands'

 

Perhaps he had blown for a penalty but then gave the goal? 

 

Opposite from Alloa a couple of years ago then?

 

Lucky to escape with a replay after that second half but I'll take it.

 

Hartley seemed to find an extra 60 yards after the goal as he raced to our end to join in the bounce.

[mizer]

What a get out of jail card!

 

Have to agree with BB int he following

 

We looked absolute shite as soon as Vernon went off as there was no link up play at all after that.

 

The St M subs made a difference for them but this crippled us. Blackman was utterly useless for his time on the park and very serious questions have to be asked of our management why they constantly try to repeat a tactic which fails on its arse week after week.

 

Langfield has not had a great season and in particular the last few weeks but that boy was IMMENSE today with some great saves and a testicular save of the highest order. Well done Clangfield!!  :clap:

[tlg1903]

This is the utterly frustrating thing about langfield.  One week he's nicky walker on valium next he's pulling of saves theo would have been proud of.  After tannadice he owed us one big time and he paid up today but ultimately i see no signs of his consitency improving.  He was just the same five years ago. 

Re hartley i would like to see him stop trying to be a box to box midfielder.  I think he would a lot more effective playing a holding role in the centre of the park breaking up play and movi g the ball ontothose who can run 20 yards in under 15 seconds. 

[tsr]

We were fkn hopeless, glad we got a replay, minds me a bit of Raith Rovers last year though.

[glasgow sheep]

Highlights: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/9423260.stm

 

Terrible performance again but still in the cup and many of would have predicted a draw before the match.

Biggest problem other than Zander and Vuja having absolute nightmares in the second half was the lack of full backs with Smith in midfield and McNamee injured, again.  Substitutions were a disater for us.  Losing Vernon as our target man and Smith who was providing some protection on the left, while Higdon for them transformed their attacking play.

 

Fingers crossed for the replay, doesn't look like it'll be broadcast on TV so hopefully a reasonable crowd come out and of course we'll know our potential semi final opponents before the match as the draw is on Monday.

[Guest ally s]

What a get out of jail card!

 

Have to agree with BB int he following

 

The St M subs made a difference for them but this crippled us. Blackman was utterly useless for his time on the park and very serious questions have to be asked of our management why they constantly try to repeat a tactic which fails on its arse week after week.

 

Langfield has not had a great season and in particular the last few weeks but that boy was IMMENSE today with some great saves and a testicular save of the highest order. Well done Clangfield!!  :clap:

 

I think folk are being a bit harsh on Blackman.  He hasn't had many starts and didn't do an awful lot wrong when he came on.

 

Glad we got a replay, St Mirren must be gutted.

 

I thought we were going to take the initiative at the start of the 2nd half but we faded badly and were lucky not to be 3 down by the time McArdle scored.

[Graeme_S]

I thought Saturday's game was Langfield's Dons career in a microcosm.

pulled off a blinding double save, then shortly afterwards sliced the ball out of play when trying to pass to a team mate barely ten yards away.

pulled off another 2 one on one saves, before falling on his arse trying to clear up field, almost gifting a goal to the opp.

 

I don't know if it was a fitness thing, or tactical change. but in the early stage of the game we pressed them, particulary in midfield, rushing them into mistakes, but in the 2nd half we were constantly 2 yards of each man and they had time and space to play through us.

 

Also, Blackman seemed to be sitting very deep when he came on. I didn't think Vernon played particularly well, but at least he was around their box when we looked to play it up to him.

 

Liked Brown's interview afterwards. I hope he was even more forceful with his views in the dressing room, because we'll be out come 10pm on Wednesday if there's a repeat of that performance.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Liked Brown's interview afterwards. I hope he was even more forceful with his views in the dressing room, because we'll be out come 10pm on Wednesday if there's a repeat of that performance.

 

Apparently he was and Archie Knox supposedly tore strips off them, so to speak.

[bland_flabbis]

This is the utterly frustrating thing about langfield.  One week he's nicky walker on valium next he's pulling of saves theo would have been proud of.  After tannadice he owed us one big time and he paid up today but ultimately i see no signs of his consitency improving.  He was just the same five years ago. 

 

I agree that he's still inconsistent, but I'd also say there are some things that he's improved a bit. His distribution is actually a bit better now in my opinion - it's not good because it was almost ridiculously bad to start off with, but it is better (his slip against St Mirren excepted).

 

You could say the same about taking crosses - it's still a weakness, but do we remember how bad it used to be (e.g. flapping at a cross in the last minute against Caley Thistle a few years ago and leaving Barry Wilson with a tap in)? I think the efforts of the coaching staff in those areas have paid off to an extent, but the one thing you can't coach out of someone is random lapses in concentration.

[BobbyBiscuit]

I agree that he's still inconsistent

 

There is no way this should still be an issue given his age and experience.

[bland_flabbis]

There is no way this should still be an issue given his age and experience.

 

You would have thought so, but then look at the likes of David James (still starting for England at last year's World Cup at 39) or Jens Lehman (seemingly going back to Arsenal at 41). Both known for making gaffes and mistakes, but they've still had successful careers. Reckon Lehman will be due at least one horrendous title ruining error if he plays for Arsenal.

[BobbyBiscuit]

You would have thought so, but then look at the likes of David James (still starting for England at last year's World Cup at 39) or Jens Lehman (seemingly going back to Arsenal at 41). Both known for making gaffes and mistakes, but they've still had successful careers. Reckon Lehman will be due at least one horrendous title ruining error if he plays for Arsenal.

 

so we should just stick with Langfield then? I can accept players making mistakes, i think we all can, but there comes a point where it is rather obvious that certain players will just never iron out the idiotic mistakes, Langfield is one of them, seemingly.  There are more subtle parts of his game which need improving drastically as well, it's not just about the odd obvious mistake.