Kmcalpin

I used to think that but not any more. Last season we suffered from a number of good goals being chalked off because the ball was deemed not to have crossed the line and that never balanced itself out. This season we've suffered from a barrowload of poor penalty decisions (most recently 2/3 on Saturday) and that hasn't evened itself out so far. General speaking the big city teams always benefit from refereeing errors at the expense of smaller clubs. Thats the way its always been.

Can't agree with you, on this occasion, Superward. Going back to the Accies game in December, we had a stonewall penalty denied when the Accies defender armed the ball away in the box In the Thistle game Osman ought to have seen red but didn't. Doolan's goal was touch and go offside but was allowed but Kipre's seemingly legit effort was chalked off. In the Dundee game they should have lost 2 players to red cards (and us one) but didn't. Also Aldred's disallowed goal seemed fine. Killie game: we could have 3 penalties (2 clear imho) when Ciftci and Aldred were pulled to the ground. Also Broadfoot's attempterd clearance cannoned off the post. Hearts game I admit some penalty calls went for us. As a caveat I'm not saying that we'd have scored with all the disallowed penalties or that 10 men would have been easier to beat, but chances are that we would have fared better. As far as own goals are concerned I would say that in the Accies and Dundee games it was down to downright poor defending. If you argue it was simply bad luck in respect of our opponents then you should argue that O'Donnell's goal yesterday was bad luck on our part. In conclusion I'd say, although I'm biased but have tried to eliminate that, that our bad luck hasn't been repaid recently.

Yes he did. His main contribution was holding onto the ball or running away with it at our free kicks.

I don't disagree with most of that Iain but I don't class own goals as being lucky. If we're being consistent then Killie got lucky with their goal as it shaved the post on its way in. Our own goals against Accies and Dundee were down to very poor defending. Broadfoot's effort too yesterday was down to poor defending and he got lucky. A measure of our luck yesterday was when two Kille defenders collided with one another and the ball spun away randomly.....landing right at Mulumbu's foot on the edge of the box allowing him to break upfield. We just didn't get that kind of luck yesterday. In all my years of watching football I never believed in bad/good luck but events have changed my mind in the past 3/4 years.

I didn't realise that Cadden was injured. What happened? In any event he's wasted at right back.

The pitch didn't look quite as good yesterday, but compared to other clubs' pitches and our past problems its not too bad at all.

We have plenty of luck but the problem is that most of it bad. In our last two games we've "enjoyed" pretty poor luck but still managed to win one. This has been some season for poor penalty calls though. They just keep coming don't they?

That about sums it up for me. Pretty much my view. The first goal was always going to be crucial and so it turned out. As so often happens in this league there is precious little between the teams and one error decides the outcome. We made 2 and were punished Killie made one and got away with it. Yes, Alan Campbell was a huge loss. Having looked at the highlights, Ciftci was definitely hauled down in the box but when you’re on the kind of run Killie are on you simply don't concede penalties like that. The shot of Main going down, on Well TV, wasn’t clear enough to call. A mixed bag of performances. Tanner flattered to deceive and we struggled to create for a large part of the game, with the exception of the early stages when we missed a few chances. That said, I doubt if Macdonald had a save to make (neither did Carson for that matter). I’m still not convinced of Nadir Ciftci and he didn’t do much yesterday. I don’t get the criticism of Frear. That was the lad’s first full game back for several months. I though he had a reasonable first half in which Killie struggled to contain him. In the second, they parked several buses and he was crowded out by 2 and sometimes 3 defenders. His biggest asset is his speed which is of little or no advantage when playing against a packed deep lying defence. Dunne was my MOTM but Aldred also put in a great shift. Bowman too looked impressive when he came on, dragging defenders about and winning balls in the air. It was one of those days when nothing went right and the best you can hope for is no red cards and no bad injuries. On that form Killie would have beaten every team in the league - they deserved a draw yes, but they got every break going. Steve Clarke has them well organised and is proving to be a lucky manager – a great asset in football.

Dunne for me, followed by Aldred.

Yes, it'll be a difficult game and common sense says that a draw will be a very good result indeed for us against what is Killie's finest team in decades. However if we don't win we can pretty much say goodbye to 6th place. Whilst 6th spot would be nice, 7th place would represent considerable progress over last season for me. So I guess there's mixed messages there.

According to the BBC, Alan Campbell will be fit, if required.

I don't think its quite so clear cut as that. There's also the option of moving Dunne into the middle and playing either Hendrie or Frear at left wing back. Given Robbo's comments about McHugh's importance in central midfield I can't see him moving the skipper back, moreso if Campbell is unavailable. I think most folk would agree that Killie seem to possess an absolutely outstanding midfield just now, maybe even the best in Scotland, and so we'll need to be very combative in that area.

I'm sure they will be. A lot will depend on who is fit and available on both sides. Cedric will be a big loss as will Peter Hartley. We don't know about Alan Campbell but he too could be a big loss, if not fit. Hopefully everyone else will be fit. All that said Charles Dunne is a decent central defender. Again the mix of players in midfield will be crucial and we have to get the balance right between being competitive and creative. Its a huge game for us and one I'd ideally want to win comfortably. Killie are close rivals, and whilst I have a soft spot for them, on this occasion, I want us to win, but not only that rub their noses in the Fir Park turf to help convince them we are the better team and will finish above them. Psychology has a big role to play in competitive sport. In reality though a narrow win is much more likely.

I very much doubt that Hearts will bring anything like 4,000 to the game.

Agree thats the least worse of the TV slots Iain. Its debatable whether we'll be any worse off or not; a finely balanced calculation if you like. On top of gate money we'll lose additional catering/programme/hospitality/half time draw cash. Our own crowd will be down by about 1,000/1,500 and Hearts will bring maybe 2,000/2,500 less. A lot depends on how much we make from TV - perhaps £30,000? From sporting perpsective, maybe the Aberdeen V Kilmarnock game is marginally the game of the round, but commercially our game is more attractive to TV "companies". Its the away supports that will be hit most and the BBC has rightly calculated that more Hearts fans will watch the game on TV than Killie fans. In such calculations, might is always right.

Media's tie of the round surely?

I think you can forget Russell Griffiths for next season.

Depending on prices and TV the tie might attract 8k - 8.5k fans

Aberdeen V Kilmarnock will be the media's tie of the round.

We have a hard home game against Aberdeen on the Wednesday before the tie. Hearts play on the Tuesday. Not good.

I can't agree with that. The 2 balls are usually put in a fridge or freezer.

Pretty much yes. Not shown on any publicly available footage. As an aside, I was pleased for young Davie Turnbull making his senior debut.

I think today's game proved why such statistics are totally meaningless. We picked up 2 yellow cards and Dundee picked up 1. In point of fact we should have picked up 1 red and 1 yellow and Dundee 2 yellows and 2 reds. There's lies, damned lies and statistics as the saying goes.

We thoroughly deserved our win and odd as it may seem we got few breaks. The lads put in a competent no frills shift and our finishing was marginally better than Dundee's. Although the defence looked solid, Robbo will be a trifle concerned at the chances we gave Dundee, and they passed up. Carson produced a great save; Dunne was terrific and I though Cadden, Tait and Main played well. Although Tanner gave us a bit extra in an attacking sense, we missed Campbell's competitiveness a little in midfield where Dundee just shaded it. Its proving a very good decision though to repel Celtic's unwanted advance for Carson isn't it? Despite media plaudits for playing good football Dundee were very physical and cynical and happy to resort to the high ball when it suited them. They tried to play from the back at times but just don't have the players to do it. Bobby Madden in the middle had an horrific game. Whilst Dundee fans and players alike were incensed that Ciftci wasn't red carded we can point to his failure to issue cards to Kusunga and Moussa. The former in particular lived a charmed life. Madden also incensed many of our more volatile fans for failing to send off the Dundee player who blatantly elbowed one of our players in the face off the ball and right in front of the dugouts. Possibly one of the worst decisions I've witnessed this season. That could have been a game changing call. It was also ludicrous to see Aurtenexte Borde fall to the deck, grab the ball with both hands and still not concede a foul. Overall a good away day and whilst Robbo and Keef will want a word with a few players they'll be happy with the outcome. To beat another Premiership side 2-0 away from home is not a bad result.

Given that the away team takes 33% of the gate does anyone audit the attendance figure?