Andy_P

Your thoughts and votes please...

I think the split has been in place long enough that all clubs realise, well that's a lie, all clubs with the exception of two whose post-split fixtures are the starting point for the process and get hand-picked, that but for the grace of God there's the possibility of getting shafted. The statements to my mind are little more than an attempt to a make loud noise so that some form redress is made when the pre-split fixtures for the following season are drawn up or that they get a better deal the following season post split.

I like Cifti and I would be quite happy if we were able to get him on a year contract and see what he can deliver with a full pre-season behind him. I couldn't agree with the "fat" suggestion but he does look like he's towing a caravan at times. There certainly hasn't been the glut of goals that I think most people remember from his time at Tannadice and associate him with then but as he's said himself he's a different player from the one who played with Dundee Utd and is playing with different players in a different formation with very different tactics. And yet no great pace, no glut of goals but when he, Main and Tanner were all involved there was some good and productive link-up play between the three which boded well before both he and Tans succumbed to injury. So aye, I'd be glad to see him back if a deal could be worked out. In terms of the weekend though, that's a different matter and quite a poser for Robinson. If he's available for selection I'd be inclined to start with him and Main and use Bowman's energy later in the contest. I tend to think it would be easier for Ryan to adjust to the pace of the game than for Cifti. If things aren't going too well and we have Bowman on the bench at least there is something there to change the game if needed. I'm afraid I don't yet have the belief in Newell or Petravicius to do that at the current stage of their development.

It's comparing apples and pears of course and a forty-five minute or hour long podcast is a far cry from a three or four hour live broadcast but in much the same way that fanzines and latterly online blogs shattered the illusion that football writing was the preserve of a select few so too has the explosion of some really insightful and interesting podcasts, be they Motherwell, Scottish football, English or European, illustrated how poor some of the mainstream radio debate and discussion is by comparison. I really look forward getting the wee notification through that a new episode of something like James Richardson's Totally Football Show or On The Continent is ready to listen to. Allan Preston getting excited about finding some dugshit on his shoe or Chic Young pointing at planes on Radio Scotland a little less so.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Willie Miller had that typed up and ready to read out before the game kicked-off.

A few different strands to points made thus far post-match. Criticism of the display tonight is most certainly warranted. Very very poor stuff. Ironically just when we seemed to have weathered the storm, spent a few minutes at the end of the first half in and around their box and actually looked reasonably lively in the second half - we concede. But no arguments about the result. Fair reflection over the piece. No real surprise to see who and some of what has been posted immediately after full-time. If you don't particularly like or rate Robinson, have any faith in his signings or like the style of play - which several posters quite clearly don't then a night like tonight is very much an open goal for you. So not a surprise to see who's been lining up for the tap in. For me taking a broader perspective the big question is at what point are we at in our evolution under Robinson? If this is as a good as it gets under him then it wouldn't seem unreasonable to question is the style of play going to be effective over a longer term? Is the the form worthy of greater scrutiny and should we be concerned at the way the points appear to have been harvested at the beginning of the season? However to me there is nothing that suggests to me that this is the end of the cycle just yet. Priority one from last season to avoid the drop - acheived. Squad gutted - achieved. Better league position this season - achieved. Cup runs - achieved. We have not as has been suggested been mostly awful and it is ludicrous to suggest we should be considering the manager's position. That's not to say that Robinson doesn't have a big summer ahead of him. I think there is an expectation that the squad should improve in quality and that having found a generally effective and pragmatic style of play that has got us so far that it should evolve further in a style easier on the eye, perhaps in tandem with a nudging up in quality of the squad. There will also be an expectation level that reaching the latter stages of cup competitions and getting back into the six will be a greater priority, I was intrigued and impressed at how he dealt with the caretaker role. I was intrigued and have been impressed at how he handled the rebuild and how for the most part his first season in charge has gone successfully. I remain intrigued to see how he handles the progression of the squad to the next level.

Your thoughts and votes please...

And me.

I don't know what his contract is with Bury but being fourth choice and wanted at a team that plays three central defenders strikes me as being less of a problem than being at a side just relegated that doesn't want you. So many things can change but I'd echo the suggestion that if there's an opportunuty to get Aldred on board on a permanent basis I'd be exploring the options how we do it.

Like most I suppose, it was an outcome that I'd have been quite happy with beforehand but as it is you're left with feelings of regret of what might have been. It was a wonderful first half with only that killer third goal missing. There was no doubt in my mind it was a clear cut penalty award for us and it was well tucked away by Main. I thought he was terrific in the build up to the second also and having seen a brief re-run of the goal the finish from Allan Campbell was much tidier and well placed that it initially looked at the time. Who knows what the final scoreline would have been had Main replicated Moult's dipping volley or Cadds shot had been a few inches lower. Rangers had only really brought one good save out of Trevor Carson and had been reduced to appealing for penalties every time a ball went into the box. The helping hand of a penalty would of course come a little later. I wouldn't attempt to disagree that we had started the second half extremely poorly for whatever reason but come on, your "goals change games" cliche didn't become a cliche for no good reason and Rangers capitalised on it to the full grabbing an equaliser when we were at our most vulnerable. It became watching through your fingers stuff for the next few minutes but pleasingly we regained our compsure and slowly as the half wore on became a bit more involved at the other end of the park. Once more fortune did not go our way with a second effort hitting the woodwork and the quite laughable decision to pretend that Alves hadn't attempted to remove Main's shirt from his back. It takes a very very brave official to award two penalties against one of the Old Firm in the same game, and there aren't too many brave officials about in Scottish football so whilst hugely frustrating it was hardly surprsing that Walsh wasn't prepared to put himself in that awkward position. For all there's a lingering feeling of disappointment there's much we can take from our last two home displays. Whilst we often write these games off and point to our important matches being against those in our immediate vicinity in the table there's no question that our ability to go toe-to-toe with both Rangers and Celtic in difficult circumstances, and got through them without defeat, can only be beneficial in terms of confidence and belief when we (hopefully) next come to play these teams in the latter stages of the Cup comptitions or games where it is important we get something against them.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Woah... hold up. Who said anything about chucking in the towel? There's a bit of a differece between having reservations and chucking in the towel. Happily I've no doubt whatsoever that, as he has stated, Robinson and the team will indeed endeavour to finish as high up the table as they possibly can. But that doesn't necessarily preclude the use of one or two of the younger players in a game who to see how they handle the situation with a view to greater use next season. As already inferred I don't see that happening tomorow anyway with Rose out, Campbell and McHugh doubts and to add to that the U20's game today but I stick by the thought that if as is being speculated by some that Grimshaw, Rose and perhaps Bigi might not be around next season that there is an opportunity between now and the end of the season to learn a little more about those bubbling under.

You give the impression at times you're disappointed with most things of course but I do agree with you in this instance that Liam hasn't really shown too much since he came back to the club. What I would say is that if Campbell is out and your other favourite midfielder Andy Rose is injured then he's probably the most like-for-like option for the midfield that Robinson generally likes to set up with. Despite Robinson's claims that we'll go for the top six until it's mathematically impossible to make it I tend to think its done and dusted and in principle between now and the end of the season would prefer to see us try to give players a run out who will be here next season to play a part. In terms of tomorrow though I tend to think it will come down to either Bigi or Grimshaw and would suspect he's more likely to opt with the latter to start.

I've seen the "requires to play a number of games" clause referred to in terms of the second year for Dunne a few times but can't actually find any reference to that kind of stipulation. The report on the official site simply says... Given previous injury concerns - and the fact he was proving his fitness as much as ability in his trial - such a stipulation wouldn't seem unreasonable to put in a contract. That all said there may well be an argument given his increasingly impressive performances that a new longer term contract reflecting his displays would be more appropriate than any second year follow on.

I don't disagree. Despite not actually believing our U20's should be in it (different argument for a different day) I enjoyed watching them at Fir Park in the Challenge Cup games last season and given the attendances there was clearly an interest from the 'Well support at large. I'm sure a SFA Youth Cup tie at Fir Park would also be pretty well attended. Having regularly played "home games" at Airdrie or Stirling or wherever for so long now I'm sure it doesn't even register about thinking of attending for most, which is unfortunate when there are games like this with something at stake. Arguably more of concern however is the recent spate of games we appear to have had squeezed in, in recent weeks. I wonder how fresh the team will be having just played against St Johnstone a couple of days ago.

One of the performances of the season all things considered I think. A terrific response to the disappointment of last weekend and we looked a much better balanced team with another striker alongside Main and a lot more width than was evident at Hamilton. I thought we were unfortunate not to be ahead by the time Kipre was red-carded. Main was unlucky with the header, and it was interesting to see the power generated in his free-kick too. Bowman was also unfortunate with his volley. Add in the amount of times we were getting crosses in, forcing errors deep inside their own half and the few chances they had been limited to it was a very encouraging start to the game for us. And then the sending off. From my perspective it looked retaliation at the time as you could see Kipre's foot in the air but having seen clips since it seems incredibly harsh, though hardly surprising. The evidence speaks for itself over an increasing number of game that we need not do very much at all to coax Mr Thomson into action. The second half was just a wonderful example of what can be achieved when you have organisation, determination, good players who are on it, and of course a wee bit of luck. Early on it seemed like it was going to be only a matter of time but we grew into the game more and more as the half wore on. For a minute or two I even had a wee feeling it was going to be one of those special afternoons but whilst that never quite materialised I think all concerned can be proud of their efforts. I must admit it for all the chat about new scoreboards and screens I was pretty happy I was in blissful ignorance as to how long was left as that second half wore on. It was only when the injury time was announced it dawned on me how little time was left and the nerves really kicked in, albeit we'd a few close shaves before that. In truth I think the result means little in terms of top six, if not perhaps league position, but it sends out lots of signals to McInnes who was there and to Celtic themselves should we have a further encounter with them at Hampden in May. We've had two draws against them this season but I think it says much about our performances against them that I still don't quite think we've had the rewards our displays against them have meritted. It would be so so sweet were we to make good on that in the Cup Final.

Your thoughts and votes please...

Top trolling by the SFA! Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Tapatalk

The thought struck me as we began to look ahead to this game if the Accies line-up was not some kind of preparation of sorts for the game against Celtic this weekend, given that we knew Cifti would be unavailable. Would it be that implausible there might have been the thought amongst the coaching staff that we could take care of a depleted Hamilton whilst seeing how Main might perform leading the line on his own? I suspect not in truth but it would go someway to explain the single forward choice and the seeming unnecessary delay in bringing on further support for Main when It was obvious to all sundry it just wasn't working last Saturday. Like most I think the team pretty much picks itself for Sunday. I hope to see a reaction to the Accies disappointment and that, what surely will be a feeling of unfinished business against Celtic, is channeled in the right manner. It almost feels like a free hit giving that were almost safe and almost certainly bottom six. Either way there's little pressure or expectation on us so just get fucked in about them really.

Abolutely no idea what you're on about....

I've been critical of the performance and the team selection myself but I can't honestly say that any of those three things happened yesterday. Despite being far from our best we never at any time being outplayed. They scored from a break of the ball after a scramble in the box and a cock-up in midfield that allowed a free run in on goal. They had considerably less possession. Our keeper did not have a save to make. It was indeed a very poor performance lacking in creativity, imagination and threat. Outfought, outbattled and outplayed however we were not.

There has been much to complement about our team and management this season, but this isn't one of those times. I thought we were way off it on and off the park today. I understand the thinking that you win the battle and you then impose your game on the opposition but we set ourselves up for a midfield battle that simply never happened and as a consequence the minute they went ahead we were chasing the game with a setup and formation that did not give us the best chance of remedying the situation. It was all the more curious a decision when you consider that the formation and line up of recent games was sufficient to win games where we've been on the back foot and the front foot. Why the lack of faith that it could take care of a depleted Hamilton side? What I would say is that I couldn't fault the team for effort and they kept going until the end. Nor were exactly under the cosh at any point, they have beaten us through getting a break off the ball and a defensive balls up. But in terms of us actually attacking we were so lacking in quality, nous and imagination and when openings did come we blew them, such as Cadds dancing along the touchline only to put his cross straight out and Main standing unmarked waiting for a pass from Cadden that never reached him. That second opportunity was particularly galling given the fuck up that came a couple of minutes that gave Accies their second. Oddly I find myself not that upset at losing because it was Hamilton and a derby, nor the fact that it kills off any lingering top six hopes, but with St Johnstone and Hamilton gaining ground and some difficult fixtures ahead of the split it leaves that annoying lingering whiff still hanging around that we might get dragged back in. Over the season this team have accumulated a lot of credit in the bank but that was such a disappointing and lacking display today. Some reflection from the management team and a harsh word or two required I think.

Your thoughts and votes please...

When Robinson said Cadden I thought yeah possibly. When he said Campbell I thought yeah possibly. When he said Tait though.... I'd be very very surprised. Even if he was deemed good enough for inclusion in the squad which I'm not 100% sure of I rather fear he'd be experiencing the "Joe Wark scenario" where one of Robertson or Tierney will be switched across to the other wing so that both can be included.