Happy Dosser

Given the seethe from Levein re penalty awards (and the one SJ got last night was laughable), it's probably odds-on already a penalty award will be coming Hearts' way. Conversely, our chances of same are probably lengthening. Probably just have to make do with a Johnson double . Team selection should be interesting given our sick list.

Like the League Cup game at FP we pressed the MMs and really took advantage of their mistakes. I was impressed with Mbulu: he looked physically strong and confident. Gillespie and Grimshaw were both excellent too. Great fun seeing and Lewis and McGinn having an extended exchange of views after Turnbull's goal but Johnson's finishing won the game for us. Probably not much traffic on here in the next 24 'cos we won easily.

Astonishing that Hugh was never selected for Scotland when you read his goal statistics. Bit of a theme with gifted MFC players (little national recognition) but this man was a goal machine and proved himself in both countries. A sad story but a fine gentleman.

And to make matters worse, he gave the penalty when he deemed Stephen McManus to have handled the ball deliberately, despite the fact that he missed the ball from a corner or cross (can't remember which) and the ball was headed back against his hand when he was looking in the opposite direction. That was an appalling decision, compounded by his ridiculous encroachment one. But he's just incompetent, of course. On matters Robbo generally, at the beginning of October, St Johnstone were pumped 0-6 11V11 by Sellick at home, as clackscat reminded us. I wonder what their fan forum was saying after that? If we ditch SR, can anyone suggest a masked Steve Clarke replacement to wave a magic wand?

Turnbull's effort was Goal of The Season stuff and he's the guy imo who's gained us six points in two vital games. Bigi was frustrating at times but he can always do something unexpected so I can thole him and even Grimshaw today did some great ball-carrying today. Cadds had some good runs in the first half but "RB" seems a waste of his talents.To a simple soul like me midfield is all about a balance of abilities: we don't need everyone to be a Stakhanovite in order to "win the right to play football". A runner, a sitter and a dinker or combination thereof usually works. Strangely, the improvement in midfield just magnified the lack of guile up front. Main desperately needs a goal, any goal, to give him confidence: even his practice shots rarely hit the net. Ryan is admirably tireless though limited but he could work in a duo with a real goal-scorer. Johnson, sadly, doesn't look that yet. Pat of the problem seems to me to be their running/taking position to make space for themselves. In this they don't look naturals. At least this can be coached to a significant extent. I wish Pettigrew and Graham had bucked the space-time continuum and made a video. Onwards to Castle Grayskull and a coupon buster.

And let's not forget his tremendous "Are you accusing me of mendacity?" to the irate and inarticulate OF frother who once accused him of being economical with the truth. The guy hadn't a clue what he meant and it fair took the wind out his sales. Hard to believe JS died as long ago as 1986. He was a prickly wee bugger but compulsive listening. I hope tomorrow kick starts our home form and Main/Bowman/Johnson can get some goals to boost their confidence. It's an ideal chance. Team selection should be interesting against what I expect to be a blanket defence.

Thanks for that, ubh. Never thought of a friendly match but I should have suspected because they lacked Scottish peely-wally faces. 3-2 to the good guys, I believe. I notice you are prolonging the agony re. naming of 'Well legends...…… I hope you can live with yourself

Pure evil, soanyurr! The guy with the Gregor Fisher comb-over is Willie Rankin. The legend in the old striped shirt may be Willie Telfer and The Third Man may be a very young and innocent-looking Ben Ellis but I await correction. The opposition? J Swinburne's 1985 History of The Steelmen has this photo on pp. 19 but unfortunately doesn't say who our opponents were. I'm struggling and suspect it's their change strip. Not convinced it's St Mirren either 'cos the tone of the stripes isn't the same as the shorts. Do tell and permit restful sleep tonight.....

Come on ya big tease, ubh. Give us some captions!

Agree completely. The usual top class trolling on here from The Predictables, though. Almost as bad as listening to BBC Sportsound telling us how great Hearts were, with Robbie Neilson, of all people, stressing our physicality. Hearts are big, tough and cynical in the Levein mould and know how to defend a slender and undeserved lead. How far that'll take them is debatable.

Thanks for that. So it's even worse than I thought.....

It's well worth remembering that Belgium had been in the footballing wilderness since the 70s until quite recently, when they revolutionised their footballing development with a visionary programme. Before that they had been a spent force, like Hungary, and much worse off even than us. Unfortunately, the words "revolutionised" and "visionary programme" are concepts beyond the ken of the blazers and the Scottish footballing establishment. I was particularly disgruntled today listening to Ian Gordon trying to smooth over last night's humiliation: a circling of the wagons around McLeish, the establishment place-man who certainly won't rock the boat too much. Certainly, the genius who decided that playing the third-best team in the world was a good idea just before an important qualifying game, should be "reassigned" to other duties. If the motive was financial then it clearly failed.

And what makes it all worse is that even his manager said it was "blatant" yet the three referees reviewing it were not of one mind.

Ian C was a fine player who somehow didn't quite hit the heights his skills suggested he would. His relatively frail build may have been a factor.

It's the Firhill Triangle... It was nice to see the footage of Firhill with the old terracing behind the goal in use. I think it looks terrible now it's been closed. Think it was at that end that John McStay scored to ensure our promotion back into the top league in the 80s.

He continued to speak his mind on the radio as a pundit, though. I remember when the "Off The Ball" discussion was on referees and their "decision-making", hem, hem and he said that in his long career of watching football (he was born in 1930) there was simply no doubt that the Old Firm had routinely benefited from getting decisions against the rest. Nowadays we get the likes of Daryl Broadfoot on Sportsound much too often, telling us how great the SFA is and defending the status quo to the hilt.

I was buzzing by the end of the match, which felt like a victory. I think it's safe to say we have our mojo back since you could see what the equalizer meant to the team. Both Hartley and Main look back to match fitness, Bigi seems part of the manager's plans and the latter seems more flexible in his tactics. Had to laugh at BBC Shortbread's on-line compilation package: the permanently hysterical Liam McLeod said our third was "bundled in" by Hartley. Strange description for a side-footed goal but I suppose the meeja just can't help themselves. Is it just me or were some of the pundits rather disappointed that The 'Well spoiled their "Gerrard Golden Path" narrative? Faddy's comments on radio were particularly disappointing but maybe he's just trying to establish his neutral credentials.

An effective midfield is all about balance and Bigi should be at the creative heart of it. We have other players with the strength, drive and disruptive ability to complement him. FWIW, I thought Frear played well when he came on and did his bit to unsettle the Rangers defence. A better cut-back to Main before our equaliser and who knows what would have happened? Hope we continue in the same vein against Dundee. Nice to see Gerrard's disruptive substitution before the corner blew up in his face. The Curse of The Slip seems to have followed him above the border.....

I thought it was pointless to return it for a relatively small fault which probably couldn't be easily rectified. Besides, I liked wearing a PROPER MOTHERWELL SHIRT. Sorry: I feel better now. Ooh, where's me washboard?

The Toffs 1960s shirt I bought originally looked all fab 'n' groovy but then I noticed the claret on the cuffs was a different shade from the claret on the collar. Hope they've rectified that. Can't they get Tyrian purple (q.v.) right ?

In the original incident, I didn't see the Bowman elbowing as being deliberate at all and I've watched it several times. Ryan is watching the ball and is levering himself to get airborne. However, the elbowing of Moult in the first half, which no-one seems to talk about in the media, was deliberate. To his credit, Barry Ferguson said he couldn't believe people were still talking about the Bowman incident after a week. "It's a man's game," he said, implying these things happen without malice in a physical game like football. Hartley, in his off the cuff and clumsy way, was saying he was laughing at the "grieving and wailing" of the SoW and meeja, as fat_tony, Richie and others have said, but he really needs to be reminded about the kind of churnalists and presstitutes we have in Scotland. He failed to see the yawning man-trap they had constructed in front of him and he fell right in. His manager is usually excellent at sensing the dangers of the loaded question or anticipating where an apparently innocent question is going. PH badly needs some media training. Being a thrawn type, after originally thinking his remark was embarrassingly crass, I feel we have nothing to apologise for and I have an even greater desire for victory on Sunday, if that's possible. I suspect Craig Thomson will be practising his smirk for the inevitable, though, and we will see more diving than the European Championships from our visitors. I really hate being in the same stadium as them and look back fondly to the years of their banishment to the lower leagues.

And it's not just the SPFL, weeyin. I listened to Sportsound on Radio Shortbread on Monday and, sure enough, the SFA's Daryl Broadfoot was defending plastic, citing a Scandinavian report that there was virtually no difference in number of injuries between grass and synthetic. Significantly, all the former players on the programme (and Fraser Wishart too ) were opposed to artificial pitches, saying they did not feel confident performing sudden movements or turns on it and that if affected their movements and thus the quality of the game. I'm sure the authorities, with their almost instinctive ability to make the Scottish game worse, will plough ahead regardless. Really sorry for Jamie: a nice guy who didn't bother celebrating his goal against us last year.

Agreed. I hope I'm wrong but a neighbour in the POD told me he is suffering from a form of dementia now. Your other photo with Henry Hall brought back memories of a fine SJ side with John Connolly on the wing.

That's surely Willie McCallum and not Joe Wark, ubh. It seems they got the caption wrong.

Your comments and Andy P's on another thread are well considered. I don't like our style at the moment and Robinson has a decision to make. Up to now he obviously thinks on our budget that kick and rush is the percentage answer. He doesn't fully trust Bigi and Gorrin seems to fall into this category too at this stage. I too remember McLean having to rely on Andy Harrow/John Reilly and a young Andy Walker chasing lost causes and slim pickings. I also remember most of the Ancell Babes who were great to watch and won diddly squat. I think we got to a cup SF in 65 and that was about it. Robinson sees all the players in training and presumably knows their attitudes and abilities. We have little to spend now and the window is closing. I suspect the board will back his judgment for the first quarter before making a final decision. The question is: can the manager change and does he think the team can play in a passing style? Thistle got relegated playing that way and not scoring goals and Dundee came perilously close to that fate too. I think this has the potential to be a long, hard season but I doubt Livingston or St Mirren will be setting the heather on fire and we have DFC and Panathonaccies to consider. The Tractor Boys seem weak at the mo too. Sadly we have only 3500-4000 fans and a budget to match and it has almost always been thus, so get behind the team, Poindexters or make a conscious decision to wander round Asda with the missus on a Saturday afternoon.