Kmcalpin

Unfortunately plenty of refereeing issues tonight. I'll add another. I thought it was a yellow card offence to boot the ball away after a free kick was awarded. Rarely implemented these days. Tonight a Killie player booted the ball over the East Stand and out of the ground. Never seen that before. No action taken by ref!

I can understand why he wouldn't change his mind. He wanted to show he was in charge and had to save face. What about our penalty claim when Stama's shirt was almost ripped off his back as he tried to run onto a pass?

I can't agree. He gave us red and yellow cards.

If that incident had occurred in the centre circle, would it have been deemed to be a foul? I think not.

Your wish is my command. "Let’s be clear, United lost this game because of how they defended, not because of decisions made by the officials. But VAR is really starting to infuriate me. United games have seen VAR intervene on penalty decisions in each of the last three games. Each decision has been argued over plenty. Kevin Holt indicates a pull on his shirt to referee Nick Walsh at the end of Saturday’s clash. Image: Craig Foy/SNS My main gripe with it is how the new technology affects the way defenders defend inside the area. I noticed this quite clearly in Saturday’s game. Incidents where a few years ago a defender would have no hesitation in sticking a foot in to win the ball now see defenders sit off. It does impact the way teams defend because players aren’t thinking so much about how to defend but more about not giving away a spot-kick. I dread to think if I was playing how I’d be treated these days! It doesn’t take much for a penalty to be given. And I do feel sorry for defenders, sometimes there really isn’t much they can do. That goes for the penalty United won on Saturday. It can be difficult to say in the moment but I’m not convinced Liam Gordon did enough to send Louis Moult to the ground. Moult is clever in these situations and has shown that in recent weeks. Then there’s the one Motherwell didn’t get from a Luca Stephenson challenge on the edge of the area. And United were adamant there was a handball by Apostolos Stamatelopoulos before Motherwell’s fourth goal. Add that to the decisions against Kilmarnock and St Mirren and it feels like Dundee United are becoming a magnet for debatable VAR calls." (source Courier) Clearly there is confusion about the handball rule even with in the game. Not sure I agree with him about Louis Moult and the penalty though.

Lee Wilkie's take, in the Dundee Courier, of last weekend's VAR controversies. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-united/5146219/dundee-united-var-lee-wilkie-magnet-questionable-calls/

I wonder if they'll be charged for setting off flares in Glasgow City Centre? Its not in a football stadium certainly.

O'Donnell to start?

Great work by Harry Paton.

Easily in the top 3 worst strips I've seen in decades of going to Fir Park.

An enjoyable and entertaining game yesterday with a vital result. Our attacking play was great to watch at times, having cut out much of our long ball game and playing more on the deck. The encouraging thing for me was that despite scoring 4 goals, much of it didn’t quite come off! I’ve no doubt the return of players like Paton and Sparrow hase given the midfield a lift and provided a better link between the defence and striker. Paton really has been missed for his energy. Encouraging also to see O’Donnell and Nicholson join the fray. Things are picking up injury wise. I thought that Paton, Halliday and Stama were our best players with the latter starting to show what he’s capable of, if given decent service. Lennon Miller too had a good game although he took a helluva battering. He survived to see the full game out though. The goals from Stama’s header and Sparrow were well crafted and finished. The fact that United treated us as enemies, not opponents, added to the occasion. If they were hurting after 2 successive defeats yesterday, what will they be like after 3? Respect to Louis Moult though – out of place in that team. An argument can made that they deserved a point but, they certainly enjoyed the rub of the green. Plenty of positives but also a few negatives, that should not be overlooked. Our defence has regressed and we gave United far too much unhindered access to our goal (26 efforts on goal, with 9 on target). We do need to harden up physically to avoid being bullied. We needed to find a way to deal with the 6-3 Sam Dalby. Its quite ok to cede possession but not in the final 3rd. I don’t mind us allowing teams to come at us, if we have 5 at the back who snuff out everything and the Ox is made redundant, but that certainly wasn’t the case yesterday. Arguably, if we play 3/5 at the back we don’t need an out and out defensive player midfielder but I just don’t think we’re that secure at the back to do without one. Jim Goodwin’s second half changes worked to a point and it was interesting to see the Kaleta – Middleton battle. Both are great going forward but can’t defend. We did react to that though by bringing on SOD. Credit to the management and players. A good day at the office. Enjoy Copenhagen guys but be careful with the Paske Bryg. Its lethal.

United came to Fir Park with an axe to grind and it showed. Plenty of needle and bad blood throughout the game. The ref was very lenient with a succession of their aerial challenges. Just glad their nasty attitude resulted in 0 points. With the exception of Louis Moult rattling the bar, they rode their luck throughout and benefitted from the rub of the green. Ref should have paid a visit to their dressing room at half time to have a wee word in their captain's ear.

I'm with you on that Weeyin. Neither were penalties. United got lucky with that one. Likewise Stama's booking. A United player committed exactly the same foul in the same area of the pitch but wasn't carded.

Who were "they"?

The jury is still out for me. At our level, we'll never be successful, however you measure that, by playing open, attractive football. We have to be pragmatic to achieve anything and if that means being boring and physical then so be it. What I don't like, is playing unexciting football which isn't successful. That said, I do like to watch attractive football. Times have changed and what was considered as being entertaining say 60 years ago is certainly not now. TV has brought the big boys into our living rooms. A staple diet of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United/City et al has changed perceptions forever. The bar is set at that level. For my part, I'd rather go and watch a local amateur game than any of that lot on TV or in person. SK is still at an early stage in his MFC career. We've not had a lot of time to assess him. He's only had one summer to recruit his team. He kept us up after Steve Hammell's car crash reign and taken us to a League Cup semi final. He also brought in a fair bit of transfer income. He's not the most adventurous of managers and presided over a horrendous winless last season. Drilling down a level, I agree that he's stubborn, seems reluctant to make changes and isn't the best tactician in the world. He's not been to quick to learn from his mistakes. I agree about not replacing Spittal or Bair, given his tactical preferences. That genuinely puzzles me. In Spittal's case, perhaps Nicholson (with an injury record) was earmarked for that role. Had he recruited 2 similar types of players for those 2 roles, but they didn't work out then I could have understood his thinking. Should we achieve some combination of achievable targets this year - make top 6, reach another semi final and/or reap a huge transfer fee (Lennon Miller?) then my opinion will change for the better. However should we drop out of the cup without a whimper or finish in the bottom 2 or go on an another horrendous winless run my opinion might change for the worse.

The January window is fast approaching and we will no doubt be fine tuning the squad. Quantity wise, we are fine, but maybe an opportunity to improve the quality? Given that, we'll probably need to ship one or two players out. Who would you move on to clear the decks a wee bit? Johnny Koutroumbis, who appears to be out of favour; Davor likewise; Stuparevic; Tavares send back to Easter Road?

Good to see Harry Paton and Sam Nicholson get some game time yesterday. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but I think we've missed HP, especially for his drive, energy and ball retention. Presumably we're managing his time on the pitch to build him up to full fitness. Its a positive too that Nicholson got 10 minutes or so and his return should give us more creativity and help our strikers. SOD appearing on the bench is also a boost. Maybe things are changing for the better on the injury front. A big IF though.

Ally Mauchlen?

Yes. He made a "controversial" comment about veterans and was suspended, temporarily, I think.

Loan update. Dylan Wells scores for Edinburgh City today.

Great news. We badly need a decent one. .

The media does have a soft spot for the Buddies though. STV evening news read out 4 of the 5 Premiership results but simply couldn't bring themselves to announce we had beaten Saints. We'll be on the naughty step now

Great result. Well done Tony Watt, a useful guy to have around. Karma for St Mirren's ticketing shambles. A clean sheet - who'd have thunk it.

Still 0 -0

Koutroumbis not on bench? Are his days numbered?