Welldaft Mk1

For the last 3 games has been despairing at times. In all 3 games we should have been more than 1 goal ahead. Of course the losing team will press hard for the equaliser, but it almost feels as if we have been letting them do this a lot easier than I would like. Yesterday a case in point. Cummins and Lawson on to replace 2 more attack minded players. May be I and we as a support have to come to terms that this season when we are ahead we will be defending more than attacking. The problem is that is fine playing Killie, St Mirren and Thistle. But do it against the better teams in the league and they will take their chances. That plus another game where I hope Faddy can start to influence a game with some magic. He is trying - you can see that, but that is now 6 games where I have come away less than impressed with his contribution. I see Goodwillie was on the bench for DDee United today. Is it time for Faddy to be benched? I am not sure myself - but it merits asking the Q. Delighted to be 4 wins from 6 and on 12 points, but all 4 wins could easily have been draws. Whilst we are marginally better game by game I still came away yesterday thinking we are still to click as a team this season. That is maybe the sign of a really good team

The man was in the past and merits not a mention IMHO.

I taped the game on BT Sport and watched some of it back late last night and this morning. We are struggling for fluency at times and especially in the beginning our passes went astray in the final 3rd. Very frustrating. I thought Sutton, Ramsden, Carswell and Lasely had good games. McManus and Hutchison really should be more solid when dealing with cross balls, but otherwise did OK. Liking Ramsden at right back and his crossing looks better than Hateley's. Pleased for Big Sutty. He absolutely would have been a boo boy target , but 2 goals and real good effort so far means he is showing whu McCall got him to come back to us. As for Hollis. He is never going to be flavour of the month for most including myself. But it is hard to argue with his input so far. Yes he could have done better at a couple of cross balls, but his 2 saves at the end were very good, the second one especially so. I did something I rarely do and that is put a few £ on Motherwell to win. So I have Hollis to thank for that save with his ankle. Absolute belter of a save and if Randy or Ruddy had made the save theye would be lauded, so should Hollis. Until he makes a blunder or two - he is 1st choice and that is the way it should be.. Scratching my head how we are sitting 3rd top after 5 games. As most have mentioned, that is a good effort as we all believe we can play better inc the boss and the players

Each to their own. For me McCall is and has been a better Manager than Terry. I like Butcher and there is no doubting his motivational skills, but I recall that when a game needed changing or tactics reviewed he was left sadly wanting. 2 runners up spots in the league and a Scottish Cup final ends the argument IMHO

A mental breakdown perhaps :-)

Stranraer or Livvy at home or Livvy away. None of those sides look easy.

Jammy bar stewards Hearts and Aberdeen scrape past on penalties. Means we have an outside chance of getting Hearts or Aberdeen? Not sure who is a non seed.

That is the holders out. Danny Lennon must be odds on 1st Manager for the heave ho

No top team has won in 90 minutes. Bizarre Reading that Hayes and Flood injured v Alloa. Flood done in his hamstring. Two good midfielders in Robson and Flood. Both injured. Shows how much luck you need or not in the case of the Dons.

Just our luck they have a midweek league cup tie...... Boyd is a natural goal scorer and whilst not at his peak, I would be a lot more confident taking Killie on without him than with him in their team on Saturday evening.

Well that is me telt. I am not wishing to get into a tit for tat spat. You have your view - I have mine. I can comment on yours and you can comment on mine. Time to move on Dosser 1886

Of course it does. A positive person like me will focus on the 60-70 minutes we were comfortable and the fact we won and kept a clean sheet. A negative person will moan about fucking everything and concentrate on the last 1/3rd of the game when Thistle upped their game and injury and subs allowed them back into the game. Plenty of prozac eaters on here. I recognise we are nowhere near where we were last year, but nor did I I expect us to be after the players we lost in the summer. We are struggling, but IMHO opinion will be better than most teams in the SPL outside Celtic and probably the Dons, ICT and Dundee United.

That is what I like about our support. They think our midfielders should be like Xavi and Iniesta I like ZFA. He is far from the finished article, but if I am right he is only 19 or 20 ffs. He can be a liability but also he offers us an attacking platform and every now and then he reminds me and obviously McCall he will be a decent addition to the 1st team.

So dominating 70 minutes of football does not entitle us to 3 points. Sure we were up against it last 20 minutes when it should have been more comfortable. I prefer to dwell on the positives, when you obviously are a glass half empty kind of person. Probably nothing will change that....

WHY? The 1st 70 minutes there was only one team in it. Thistle were a surprise - only in terms of how poor they were given the media wankfest since the season started. We dominated possession and should have been out of sight. The game changed when Carswell went off injured and McCall subbed Anier and ZFA. It was plain to see that he was intent on protecting a 1 goal lead and that meant Thistle suddenly had the impetus as we were suddenly sitting as deep as they were in the first 70 minutes. I thought the defence did very well and so did Sutton. Faddy still off the boil but offered more glimpses today than in past few games. What is disappointing me is that I had high hopes for both Vigurs and Lawson. So far both have proved somewhat disappointing. Lawson struggled when he came on today. His 1st contribution was to pass to an opposing player. After that he seemd to be on the periphery. Early days, but both have to go some to prove they will be 1st team regulars. Still when all is said and done we have 3 points and a clean sheet

I am looking for a win. Will we get one, we ll that is another matter. But I am surprisingly upbeat and very much looking forward to this game.

I am a glass half full kind a guy - most of the time. Partick have started well, but do not get the fear on here. We have not played that well, but I still feel that we will click at some point. The defense will cut out the mistakes, or we will not be punished for every other one. Vigurs and Faddy will come on to a game. We are not going to repeat what we have done the past 2 years, but we will get better. We deserved little from either the Dons or ICT game but in both we had a soft penalty given against us and a stonewaller not given. Either way we would only have been a goal behind instead of 2. Probably would have made no difference, but you never know.. Keep the faith - we are still in the top 6 :-) :-)

I am no panicking just yet I predict next week that Vigurs will score a 30 yard screamer and that Faddy will turn it on and the 3 points will be ours... That is assuming of course we do not concede a free kick or corner as it will inevitably result in a free header and a goal for the opposition. Would like to see the penalty claim with Vigurs. Bet it was a better shout than Aberdeens second from last week.

Games a bogey

Looks like we cannot score and are struggling to defend. We are all hoping for a quick turnaround, but so far the signs are this could be a long season. Top 6 could even be a fanciful notion at this rate..... Not normally this negative, but our defence was supposed to keep things tight at the back and we keep giving away goals from free headers..

Just seen highlights on Sport scene. I see a thread already giving Sutton a hard time. Based on those highlights McManus is more worthy of a thread than Sutton. From the sublime against Hibs to the ridiculous today. When Zola hit the bar - he left McManus standing. Then that challenge for the 1st penalty. Every time I see it - I think what the f#ck! It was not as if McGinn or Hayes or whoever it was did anything other than run into the box. No trickery that warranted such a stupid lunge. I know if hammell empties it then McManus has not got to do anything but.... The second penalty mcmanus was pulling at Mcgennis but it still was fairly soft. He got away with a shove last week against hibs, but not today. I really thought it was a coup us signing him. I hope I do not have to re-visit that thought so soon.......

Like most on here - I was not too surprised by the outcome of today's game. Aberdeen, now that they have stopped pinching our Managers, have got a decent Manager and added well to a decent squad. McGinn staying on was a real coup for them. I think what we are seeing is that as much as we hoped, the replacements we have made are not to a similar standard to those players who have left. 2 of the players I had highest hopes for, have been a bit of a let down so far. Faddy again today looked of the pace and well below par. Beating 3 players is one thing, but constantly passing to the opposition is not what I expect from him. McManus strolled through the game at Hibs, but faced with better and pacier opposition like Kuban and Aberdeen he has struggled. Hammell was culpable for the 1st but the challenge from Mcmanus for the penalty was awful, no other word for it. I expected more for somone of his experience. We may have got away with 3 points or even a point - whether we deserved it is another matter. But that is a few games now where amateur errors have cost us dear. I still think ZFA is a good option for us and about the only out ball we have. The choice seems to be play him and have a more offensive option or play Lawson and be more defensive. I would go for ZFA as if we are more pedestrian than today or last week, we will be at a standstill. I cling to the hope that we will click and that McManus and Faddy play to the level they are capable of. Aberdeen on that evidence will finisg top 3 and probably 2nd. For us I think top 6 is still realistic, but better than that seems forlorn unless we gel as a team better. EDIT to add - We have the team we can afford. 1st home league game of the season and I would make it a home crowd of 4300. That to me says it all. I would have expected at least 5000+ given the result last week....but our crowds are too low to afford a better side - SIMPLES

THIS It was a sh1te draw and I said it all along..... Does not take away from the fun had in Nancy, Odense, Athens etc. All great trips and many more... Let us hope the draw is kinder next year

Post of the Year.... Well not quite. But some overreaction on here or what. If we had opened up and gone for it at Fir Park - we could have been done Hibs v Malmo style. All on here who are berating for lack of ambition, would instead have been bleating about how poor we were. Kuban are unbeaten in 16 league games in the Russian top flight - that is code for they are a decent side..Our tactics were spot on and we were hoping for better than 2-0. As for leaving 3 players behind. I have already stated that these three players have not actually started that well and are slow. I am happy that some of the younger players will get this experience and if Levante away is anything to go by - it may just help us.

People may not like it and that is understandable, but I think McCall has made the right decision. He has stated that he has consulted with the team physio and the 3 players left behind appear more prone to stiffness after matches, so to have them sit on a 6 hour plane journey a couple of days before we play a very imortant league game is wise. We may lose both games - we may win both, but realistically we have a better chnace on Sunday than tomorrow evening. You could also argue that Faddy and Sutton and even Vigurs have not started the season that well, so maybe the team we put on the park tomorrow will do as good a job or even better....... Brazilian must have the inside track or it was a very good guess