joewarkfanclub

Not sure I agree that you cant play attacking football if you cant afford technical players. With that argument, on our budget, SK would be fully entitled to play negative football all the time. I think the frustration for a lot of our fans is that we have had glimpses of more expansive attacking football when we get our better players in their right positions and let them play. Of course that all depends on how the opposition sets up and how they effect your gameplan. Last night was a good example of that. I didnt disagree with the starting 11 last night because we know what kind of game you are getting against a McInnes team. My beef with SK this week is that once again his subs were reactive instead of pro-active. At 1-0 we should have been trying to change it up and reinforce our lead rather than just waiting and hoping Killie wouldnt score. Halliday and Paton were always going to tire. We should have got on the front foot at that point and gave them something to think about at the back rather than giving them free reign to change their attacking options. Davor was such a negative substitution and he was one of those involved in the lead up to Polworths goal. I wouldnt have started Maswanhise. But he should have been on at 60 minutes.

You can be tactically astute and still employ negative tactics. Not all managers have the first part. The second part is just a choice.

Thankfully I have to take my daughter to the airport in Edinburgh so this will be over before I know the score! Probably the best result possible for me.

Didnt think anyone had a brilkiant game tonight. Not for 90 minutes anyway. Maswanhise lit it up at the end but was only on a short time. Seddon was playing very well until he got injured and was our best player up to that point. He was very cross when he had to go off as if he felt he had been targetted by the Killie players. Had a right go at a couple of them. I went for Miller as I felt he sttod up to the physical test offered to him. He is starting to turn from a boy into a man.

I have to say I have no complaints re VAR from last night. 2 big decisions, the red card and the penalty claim, and imho they get them both right. They send the ref to the monitor to reverse the red card (not their fault he doesnt) and I dont think there is much Gordon can do with the handball as its blasted right at him (probably woulda been given last season). Last nights problem was an officious referee out of his depth.

Not too bothered about the quality of the performance as games against McInnes teams usually end up in a shitfest. He is a very tactically astute manager and once again he set his team up to counter our line up and it worked. The fact that we managed to sneak a goal and looked reasonably solid defending it until half time was pleasing. But we were always going to run out of legs and the subs needed to be the correct ones. Ultimately SK got it wrong again by waiting too long and trying to hold what we had. The first 2 subs should have been Sparrow and Maswanhise for Halliday and Paton. Had we done that and pushed Killie back, their goal maybe doesnt happen. The fact that we then get the red card and look better with 10 men is proof in point. The last 10/15 minutes were actually quite exciting. As for the referee? Probably one of the worst in the league. His handling of the game was terrible. Letting Killie away with some pretty roughouse tactics and then blowing for silly inocuous fouls elsewhere. To give a red card to Casey when he lets his frustration boil over just encapsulated how poorly he was reading the game. To get the chance to overturn such a poor decision and then stick with it in an effort to show you are a strong referee shows a lot about his character. Overall a point was about right, and feels ok given the circumstances surrounding the red card, but it shoulda been 3. The manager needs to be braver with his selections and substitutions in key moments.

Im hoping Liam Donnelly not featuring tonight isnt a sign! On the other hand Mohammed Sylla would do just fine!

To be honest. I wouldnt be unhappy at that. He is a decent player who brings something different to the squad which, once everyone is fit, is going to be a bit on the bloated side. I dont expect us to do a lot of business this window. A tweak here and there with some excess baggage loaned out is about as far as I expect it to go. Main thing would be holding onto Miller until the end of the season, or at least cut a deal to have him loaned back. We should be able to manage up top with Stama, Watt, Ebiye and Vale, unless there is a cheeky loan available. Be interesting to see if the rumoured defensive mid comes to fruition.......

I think saying it cost them a cup win is stretching it. There is no guarantee that they would have scored the penalty and even if they did, Celtic still had time to rectify the situation. Its a poor decision. But football has seen much worse and survived. As far as accountability goes, Collum has stated there is a system in place to reward/punish the performances of officials. They just dont advertise it to protect their colleagues the same way managers protect their players. Given the limited pool we already have to choose from, Im not sure firing them altogether is a good idea let alone legal due to employment law. Bottom line is, VAR is very frustrating. Id rather we hadnt introduced it, but its here and never going away. It has improved a bit this season, but it still has a long way to go.

Im in Irvine. Met 2 guys on the train from Ayr going to the League Cup semi. There was a boy from Troon I used to see on the train about 20 years ago. Im sure there must be others.

12 points from that run of fixtures would be a fantastic return. 9 points would be pretty decent if it included draws with Killie Hearts and Hibs away. Anything we can do at this stage to maintain the gap between ourselves and the clubs below us will leave us in a strong position on the run in.

😆😆😆 Right enuf!

I didnt think Killie would match us up as they normally play 4-3-3 with Armstrong and Kennedy wide but I see they played 3-5-2 today against Hearts. Be interesting to see how McInnes decides to go on Friday night. Having the ability to change it up is certainly and handy attribute to have.

As an Ayrshire Steelman, this is as close to a local derby as it gets for me. Will undoubtedly be another tough game. McInnes teams are hard to beat. But with players all flooding back and getting minutes in, we are finally starting to look like a functional outfit. Looking forward to another Friday night under the lights. Hopefully we can come out on top again!

Well what a day! Left Nürnberg at 5.30am this morning. Got into Fir Park at 10 past 3 to find it was 1-1 already! What a great game of football! Really entertaining from both teams and amazing what you can do when you play players in their right positions and put the ball in the box for your main striker! Thought we played really well first half. Seddon, Halliday, Miller, TJ and Stama all great! Second half not so dominant as Goodwin thru the kitchen sink at us, but our subs steadied the ship up to a point. Great 3 points against a team flying high with one of the best defensive records in the league. Still not home due to the absolute carnage on the west coast line from Central tonight. Gonna enjoy my red wine and domino's watching Sportscene when I eventually get home! 3 points for The Steelmen. Today is a good day!