Kmcalpin

I'm a bit loathe to judge Hetherington and Francis Angol too early on limited first team game time, but the latter looks good on the ball but a trifle dodgy in defence when he is off the ball. Still we may find out more next Saturday. We may be able to take a leaf out of Hearts' book when they played an untried 18 year old and an untried 17 year old as full backs and they never gave their St Johnstone opponents a kick of the ball. Time will tell. Agree about Vines' tackle on Hutchy by the way. He had no intention whatsoever of going for the ball and I thought it a stick on straight red card at the time - but no.

The problem for us is that he is a very talented player who could go far in the game but looks very poor at the moment - any English club worth their salt will recognise that, take him off our hands for a pathetic fee and then develop him properly into the player he is.

I wouldn't worry too much about that big man. Many folk were on holiday and had the game been played at the end of August/Early September then we would have hit the 10,500 mark.

It was always going to be a hard game after the trip to Athens and it showed. We won a point through sheer grit and determination. Very few pass marks today and the referee completely spoiled the game picking on Higdon from the first minute. Also blundered in giving Saints the corner from which they scored. Very inconsistent as illustrated when he ticked off Davidson for diving but failed to show him a yellow card. Vine was lucky not to have received another card in the first half for diving and not to receive a straight red for his horrific tackle. Anyway enough of Ian Brines. It was quite clear that Daley was carrying an injury and unfit. He should not have started. Our failing this season were plain for all see - an overly generous defence; plenty of possession football with no cutting edge, and a slow a laborious build up which suited Saints to a T. We also badly missed Chris Humphrey. Hopefully we can sign one or two players, even through loans before the end of the month, but in any event changes will have to be made. Even with our limited squad some are possible: * give McHugh a run and provide Higdon with much need support * move Law forward into his correct position. * move Ramsden into midfield to give us some bite there * give Cummins or Kerr a place in defence. * give Jamie Murphy a spell on the bench and some one to one coaching - he looks totally devoid of confidence. I'm a bit concerned about left back - who do we play there next week?

Fraser Kerr to partner Hutchy at the back with Ramsden moving into midfield releasing Law for his best role further upfield. Give Bob McHugh a run up front playing off Higgy's shoulder. Keep Henrik in reserve for the last 30 mins if needs be. Certainly Saints aren't a side I'd fancy playing against after a hard midweek expedition to Athens. As we know they're a very big hard physical side and win, lose or draw, the lads will know all about it at 5pm this afternoon. At the risk of upsetting the football purists on this site, I'd be tempted to needle Steven Anderson (if he's playing). He's a bombscare on a short fuse.

True, but he was offered a deal at the end of last season but wanted a bit more cash from what I hear.

I'm really surprised that there's been so much discussion about re-signing Faddy on these Boards. Its all been a complete red herring. According to what I was hearing at the Everton game, there was never at any point any possibility of him re-signing. A nice thought perhaps but thats about it.

Don't forget folks tomorrow is the first home league game of the season.

Shareholders meeting arranged next week to agree Society shareholding.

Very strange. Hearts couldn't afford him.

From a footballing perspective I hope its anyone but Liverpool - we see more than enough of them on the box. Lets meet a team we haven't seen before. From a financial perspective I suspect the club would like Liverpool. .

No I suspect he'll be out for another couple of weeks or so.

Yes, that will be revealing. I really expected United to be on the wrong end of a drubbing at Tannadice. As to ourselves were undone by a mixture of naivety and heat last night. OK we were probably never going to progress but to lose 4 soft goals was very disappointing. Thats something we'll need to address. The other concerning aspect is our tendency to play sterile unproductive possession football. We do require a cutting edge. In the short term I'd move Simon Ramsden into midfield, Jamie Murphy into a left wing role and Nicky Law further forward, with Adam Cummins slotting in at the back. Lets learn lessons from our CL foray and first trip to Dingwall. Keep the heid though folks. Safe journey home for our travelling colleagues.

I've been saying that for a week or two now Haggis. We're badly missing Nicky law further upfield to support Higgy. He might just have made the difference last Saturday.

Its been in decline since way before that.....since John Park left in fact. Chris McCart's success or otherwise will only be known in perhaps 2/3 years from now - so far his tenure isn't looking overly impressive.

There is a meeting of shareholders scheduled for Thursday 15 August to approve transfer of shares to the Society. Its all a bit legalistic but we'll find out more on the night. Things now seem to be moving.

You should be ok ,but as the ticket office is usually busy before games, I wouldn't turn up at 2.55. Give yourself plenty of time.

Presumably too UEFA will be investigating Dundee United as a result of their fans pelting their Russian guests with coins from above.

Not the most riveting game I've ever attended but thats another new ground visited. We secured an away point in very difficult circumstances and thats about it. The team lacked creativity and simply couldn't match Ross County's amazing work rate. Certainly they made it very difficult for us and showed us a lot of respect. At set pieces their height was a real threat but fortunately we managed to hold them out. The central midfield just isn't right in that it failed to compete at times and did not support Michael Higdon. In general he suffered from lack of support. Maybe I'm in a minority of one here but I don't think Jamie Murphy is firing on all cylinders - his roving midfield role just isn't working and is baffling his colleagues. As with last Tuesday he promised a lot but failed to deliver. After doing the hard bit he failed to take the last defender on as we all know he can do. Is it lack of confidence or a fear that he may lose the ball? Hopefully the TV agreement will allow us to sign another combative midfielder. Anyway it was a great day out in good company. Ross County treated us well.

Yes. I rang Ross County during the week. Tickets will be on sale at the ground. The capacity of the away stand is about 1,780 - that should just about accommodate us. --):

A very difficult game and certainly not the one I'd have chosen to open the league campaign. This will be something of a cup final for Ross County, who are my red hot tips for relegation. Even with our very limited squad, I'd hope that Stuart McCall will be able to shuffle the pack slightly.

A bit unfair to single out Ramsden in my view. OK he didn't play well but there were a few others in the same category. Lets focus on the ones who did like Higgy, Lasley and Hutchy. The lads who didn't perform to their own standards last night will be the first to know that and have a great opportunity to redeem themselves on Saturday and next week in Athens.

Maybe you're being a tad unfair. I don't think he played well tonight - he lost his opponent just too often for my liking but he is not a centre back and wouldn't pretend to be. Probably better suited to playing at RB or in midfield. He is doing his best to help out in an emergency.

Certainly the players gave of their best but as can happen in these situations we just blew it. OK Panathanaikos were perhaps a class above us but they didn't have to work very hard for their goals, although their second was well taken. I thought Lasley, Hutchinson and Higdon were the pick of the bunch and didn't look out of place in this game. At the back, too many unforced errors and poor marking cost us. In midfield and up front we lacked penetration and a killer touch. Some poor decision making too. At times our build up was painfully slow when we had the players to hurt them. Felt a bit sorry for Chris Humphrey - he looked to be in the mood early on but poor service limited his involvement. Still on the plus side our lads will have learnt a lot. You don't always have to produce glittering exciting football to win games sometimes being solid and reliable is quite adequate. A great night and the fans turned out in big numbers . A 9,000+ crowd in late July is quite an achievement. The club will have made about £190k from the gate and that can't be bad. If we can just tighten up in defence we can achieve a better result in Athens.

Good news indeed. Well done to all concerned and most of all you, Andy.