wellfan

If only UEFA were as pedantic about the standard of pitches as they appear to be about stadium seating.

Moorman. An excellent signing.

Probably the worst performance I’ve seen at Fir Park in over a year, both from us and the ref. We look completely knackered, ponderous and with absolutely nothing up top. Maswanhise looks to be not only playing himself out of a big move but also onto the bench. We desperately need to sign a striker and a Slattery/Just replacement.

Paulsen. Credit where it’s due, especially in such an important game where he helped us come away with a much-needed draw at the very least.

I’ve got a feeling his sell-on clause could finally be the one that materially benefits us in a year or two.

I doubt Falkirk will be our ‘nemesis’ again this season. We should absolutely be giving them a doing tomorrow.

Job done. Time to hump them at Fir Park now.

Crap ref and an even worse pitch. We’re also struggling to get the ball up the park without Said. That said, Helsinki are pressing us well and making it much harder than we’ve faced in recent games.

We should fully expect more of the same this season from the SFA and its referees, if not worse. Even less accountability, more incompetence, and the same old arrogance. They’ve got away with it in front of the footballing world and simply doubled down. They’re beyond redemption now. It’s only a matter of time before one club, or a group of clubs, takes collective legal action against them.

Our settled midfield double pivot is Priestman and Fadinger. However, if we move to a 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1, then maybe Girdwood-Reich comes in to play that defensive midfield role.

I was quick to criticise Vogt after his Fir Park debut because he was utterly shite. Since then, though, he’s started to show flashes of real quality. He’s still rusty and can look a bit off the pace or, at times, like he’s never played football before, but I’m happy to see him proving me wrong.

If we beat Helsinki, the draw order means we would play Freiburg: 20 Aug - Fir Park 27 Aug - Away

Ibrahim Said was MOTM before he scored the winner. What a footballer.

I’d put Longelo to LB and Williams further forward. The latter plays better in the spaces and will create problems for Hibs.

Today will be a tough test, but Hibs will probably be thinking the same. The key will be to keep the ball, stay patient, and stick to our game plan. Hopefully Longelo and Maswanhise get plenty of minutes too.

I don’t think we need another striker from the A-League.

Priestman, again.

We’ve been much better since getting the first goal. It has the feel of those early JBA days against Clyde, with the continual slack passes and brain farts, but you can already see the difference in approach between JBA and AJ.

Third time lucky for RCC.

Good work from Willy to get into the box and win the penalty, then a fantastic hit from Fadinger.

Can’t figure out our midfield and attacking shape, and I’m not convinced the players can either. It’s looked a bit all over the place and is the complete antithesis of JBA ball so far.

Be careful if you’re in the UK. Premier Sports hold the UK broadcasting rights for the game, so while that link itself may be legit, it could still be blocked for UK viewers.

A satisfying collection of the usual gormless cultist gimps.

I’ve said here before that loans should be the exception rather than the rule. The injuries might be forcing us down that road at the moment, but I do worry we’re starting to head down the Kettlewell route. Injuries aside, we’ve got the finances and the model to sign permanent players for the key roles we need. Loans should supplement that, not become the solution.

Eythor, if he is injured and all the forum speculation to the contrary is just that, deserves time once the season properly gets underway. He looks like the type of player who could do well in AJ’s system.