Lobey_Dosser

In hindsight we probably shouldn't have signed Bowman. Clearly not rated. He might even fall behind Jacob Blyth in the pecking order...

Agree entirely, McGhee seems to have succeeded in driving down expectations. Yes Hearts are a superior outfit but they were far from firing on all cylinders today. McGhee was in the paper this week, disappointed that our home gates are in decline. Obviously there are various contributing factors (e.g. ST price increase) but this obsession with setting up to nullify the opposition as opposed to working on our own play isn't helping. Our attacking players deserve to be playing in a more forward thinking team. As good a pro as Moult is, he must get scunnered from time to time. When's the last time we played really well? Good performances for more than 45 minutes are few and far between this season.

Cadden was my motm while the appearance of Lucas and Pearson left scope for some optimism. Thought Jules' performance was underwhelming and he made a couple of bad mistakes, think he'll take some time to get up to speed.

Pearson and Lucas did have a positive impact. With Tait injured, I'd have been inclined to move Cadden to wing back and brought a midfielder on. McMillan may have a bright future but he doesn't look ready yet. As inept as Dallas may be, he got the biggest decision correct.

McHugh's tackle was a dangerous one. Don't think there is much doubt it's a red card, particularly in the current climate.

Never really got going today as our system was more about stopping Hearts than getting our good players into the game. You would expect McDonald, Pearson, Cadden and Moult to keep us out of trouble but we are carrying a few that are not currently ready for this level.

McGhee has picked the 11 I'd have picked, hopefully Ainsworth or Cadden are asked to play close to Moult.

Clay ahead of McHugh? I assumed Pearson wouldn't be ready?

Pearson is one of the most accomplished midfielders in the league so I'm delighted to have him back. It's just a shame we couldn't have had him back a bit earlier to increase our chances in the Cup but appreciate he had other offers to consider.

It's today.

We were relatively comfortable in the cup tie after Skippy came on and we went 1 up. However, we were poor in the first half and rode our luck thanks to poor refereeing and a powder puff Rangers frontline. After a promising start on Saturday with the one man advantage we put in an abject performance once Skippy was sent off. Many neutral observers commented that we looked beat the minute it went to 10 v 10. Poor tactics imo to leave Moult isolated and play for a draw.

We know we don't have the same budget as Hearts but that doesn't excuse our approach. Rangers are average at best with a terrible defence yet we were too feart to have a go at them.

It was evident in the first half at Ibrox. Even though we put no pressure on them they were jittery as fuck at the back. We beat ourselves that day.

The inexperienced Cathro giving Mark '950 games' McGhee a lesson tonight on how to take on a bang average Rangers.

Thinking similar while watching Hearts here. If Jules impresses in training, I wouldn't be surprised to see us go with a back 3.

Crossed my mind that we'd look to offer him an extension with a minimum release clause. We might be able to offer him a few extra quid if we didn't spend our full budget in Jan.

Clay is on a 2 year deal.

SFA website confirms Laing was released.

Going by BBC Radio, Ciftci's agent was waiting for a call from Motherwell in the last hour of the window and it didn't come. He's a player I'd really like to see at Fir Park but not at the expense of losing McDonald.

Tom Fry out on loan to Annan.

Ah didn't realise that. Did wonder but BBC suggested the windows closed at the same time.

You would hope so but the pre-match quote from Burrows on McDonald left room for manoeuvre.

Much needed three points. Importance of McDonald and Moult underlined; hopefully both are still here tomorrow.

Fine timing.

Suspect this will be a late night waiting to find out if Skippy is away. I thought we might consider Watt as a replacement but Ciftci seems to be the preferred option. Fuck knows why Motherwell agreed to moving the Ross County game forward 24 hours to transfer deadline day...