Kmcalpin

An interesting development in Edinburgh yesterday, which helps to shed light on double standards within our Society. According to the BBC, 2 men were arrested in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh before the the Hearts Hibs derby for posssession of a pyro. A 3rd man was arrested approximately 440 metres from Tynecastle for igniting a pyro. Neither incident was adjacent to Tynecastle. I have no detailed knowledge of either alleged incident. the report goes on "Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie said fans setting off pyro around football matches was putting other supporters at risk". That may well be the case. The point I've made often before is why football fans are being singled out. We've often seen pyros being lit in the middle of large non football related crowds eg political demonstrations. Police Scotland took no action and presumably no offences took place. Is that not double standards? Surely the pertinent fact should be that pyros are being lit in large crowds; and not, who is in the crowd; who has the pyro or the purpose of the gathering. Pyros can cause breathing or safety problems irrespective of who is holding them. This is a matter for the Scottish Government which has so far turned a blind eye to the issue.

Just watched the Tv "highlights". What a pathetic defensive performance. Ok, we know that Celtic are the best team in the league and would probably win anyway but why do we have to make it so easy for them. Even before they scored we were opened up far too easily. SK really needs to look closely at goals 3 and 4. Yes, by that time time were were tiring (74 minutes in), but had 10/11 men behind the ball and the scorers were still afforded acres of of space and all the time they wanted, on the edge of our box. Midfield were competely AWOL. We were just lucky Celtic weren't at their best. If it was a one off I wouldn't be so concerned but these traits are evident week in week out. Revamp of midfield and defence can't start soon enough. We really are desperately short of character and leadership on the pitch.

Step 1 will be to stiffen the midfield so that the opposition have to work damned hard in order to see the whites of our defenders eyes. A combative strong running midfield wil be a start.

Yes, there will be changes next month. Some players will need to move on but SK knows that. I can foresee us strengthening central defence, midfield and the striking department. Agree about top 6. A step too far for us this season. Personally I'd be very happy with 7th or even 8th place as that would represent progress.

5 yellow cards now and counting.

Crumbling at aerial balls again.

That's 4 yellow cards so far. Poor Celtic; we must be kicking them off the park.

VAR review showed that ball didn't touch Balmer's arm at all. Oh well any excuse will do.

Some odd choices there. Could be down to seasonal illnesses, of which there are a lot going round (cough, cough) or squad rotation.

Merry Christmas to you and yours Grizzly. The same to Steelmen everywhere.

We all make mistakes, especially when making split second decisions. However he was offered a way out by his VAR colleagues but chose to ignore their advice. That's fine if you're right but if you're wrong..........

Quite right too but some damage was done on the night. Having to play a man down for a bit of time. Ridiculous decision on the night.

Dan Casey appeal submitted.

The club has said that it has a contingency plan to bring in a replacement midfielder if Lennon Miller goes next month. When he does depart the team will unquestionably miss him and I'll miss watching him. He'll be a loss. However, I think our tactics and midfield set up are heavily influenced by shoehorning him into the team, playing in a way that otherwise wouldn't be our preferred set up, other things being equal. His departure will allow us to set up differently and perhaps more effectively for our level, if SK takes that on board. My somewhat rudimenatry take would be a physical and mobile defensive midfielder; a No 8 or box to box type like Harry Paton; and a No 10 like Sam Nicholson. More sophisticated derivatives than my basic model would be possible.

Of course there's some truth in what you say, as the ebb and flow of a game is down to the performance and tactics of both teams not just one. However, it was quite clear on Friday that, even when presented with the option of advancing out of our own area, our midfielders quite clearly chose to be cautious and remain in situ. That was both with 10 and 11 men and clearly a conscious decision and nothing to do with Kilmarnock.

Maybe our result on Friday doesn't bode well For Celtic.

I get most of that and I agree. However we don't have the squad to shitfest games, especially at home. We don't have physical, trench warfare type players that the likes of Killie, St Mirren, Dundee United or Ross County do. Don't get me wrong, you can overdo that quality. As with many things its getting the balance right. My ambition in football is simple and modest just go out and win games, by whatever legal means. Yes, I like expansive football too, but its not achievable at our level whilst picking up points. SK's overly cautious defensive tactics were a talking point amongst those around us on Friday evening. Not for the first time we take a slender single goal lead in the first half then sit in and invite the opposition to do their worst. Thats fine if you're 2 or preferrably 3 goals up. We've seen the pattern played out on Friday night oft before. The midfielders sit deep on the edge of our box or even in it. The 2 wing backs are left exposed - Killie hit the by line with alarming ease; they rained in crosses from only 30 yards out. Our keeper is going through a bad spell with aerial balls, and the central defence isn't exactly watertight in the air. When we managed to clear the ball to the 30/40 yard mark our lightweight midfield was clearly instructed to remain in situ and not move out with the inevitable result. Even when we randomly pack the box with 9/10/11 players the opposition still find plenty of space to test the exposed Oxborough (forced into the highest number of saves in the Premiership). Just look at Polwarth's goal on Friday - all the time and space in the world to pick his spot. I get that injuries and tiredness eg Paton and Halliday play a factor but we really do need to up our game considerably during spells when defending and not in possession. I do wonder if 2 banks of 4 midfielders & defenders, with instructions to halt the attackers at the 40 yard mark would be more effective. Either way, if we must persist with defensive shitfest tactics during games then we need to bring in players with more physical/abrasive attributes; adjust our formation accordingly and be more proactive with substitutions

Wunderwell is quite right to withhold the identity of our possible signing. I understand his/her reasoning and would do exactly the same. Checking out some of the obvious possible sources, I've come up with 2 names Craig Sibbald and Joe Newell. Sibbald is relatively small at 5-7 and so I'll plump for Newell. The news that SK is is looking to strengthen this position is very encouraging. We need at least 2 new signings next month.

I think you're right. However, I think clubs do make contact with players "tapping them up" well before they're allowed to do so. I suppose there's various ways to work round the rules.

It was clear long before Killie scored that they had the upper hand that we were defending deeper and deeper and withdrawing into our box. Our midfield had disappeared. We had no width and no leadership on the pitch. No problem with Paton and Halliday being taken off for the reasons that you say, but it was too late and the wrong changes made. They should have been retired at about the 55/60 minute mark and Sparrow and Manwhanise introduced to the fray. That was a huge error of judgement. When Davor appeared Killie would have been given a huge psychological boost. That signalled to them that we were quite happy to sit back and soak up any pressure.

I've got a lot of time for St Johnstone fans. A generalisation I know, but they tend to be more modest and pragmatic than us. All they want is success on the field. They're not overly fussed how that's achieved. They're delighted to sit through shitfests as long as the team wins by a single goal.

Just watched the TV highlights of the game. Our defending at Killie's goal was criminal. Attacking players only 6 yards from goal in plenty of space! The red card? No way. Casey grabs Armstong's shirt at chest level. Not the first time Armstrong's been involved in trouble. Why was he booked? Having reviewed the footage, he seems to catch Casey's foot badly enough for him to react angrily. Was that why he was booked? It seems to me he could well have have received 2 yellow cards and was fortunate not to.

Just to add to the refereeing discussion. Killie should have picked up 3 yellow cards in the first 15 minutes. They set out their stall early on and tested a weak referee. The first was a deliberate very late tackle on Lennon Miller. No card. Harry Paton committed an identical offence late on and was rightly booked for it. Another was a deliberate elbow to Lennon Miller's head; again no action taken. Total inconsistency. As an aside, teams are now starting to target Lennon Miller. He'll need to learn to deal with this kind of treatment as he'll face much worse if he moves south to a big team. I think the SFA will indeed take the referee's performance in to account when making allocations for future games. Just to make a point they will give us him again very soon. Criticism of referees won't be tolerated.

Rest easy as he was injured against Hearts. We desperately need a big target man up front and a big nasty defensive midfielder. A few candidates to be shipped out to make way for them.

VAR is not the problem. Its down to the officials administering it.