Kmcalpin

Don't forget Gavin Gunning taking out Iain Vigurs off the ball (no penalty) and Gunning's deflected free kick.

I see our club's women's team run through the Community Trust seems be very ambitious and is signing some decent players in an effort to climb up the leagues. Good luck to them I say. I'll support any MFC related team in C & A!

Just a warning folks - age concessions for Tannadice are 65 not 60.

A lot will depend on the referee, as United are currently a pretty physical and cynical outfit. If he's strong and gives us a fair hearing then we have a good chance of picking up a point or 3.

Agree 100%. Until our final league position is known we will not know the playing budget for next year and therefore how far we can push the boat out for individual players.

Nothing wrong with what we're doing. These are discussion boards and there's nought wrong with that, as long as debate is kept is kept courteous and respectful. Yes there's gossip and rumours with some facts thrown in, but that's what most football fans do. We often hear players' points of view, usually from agents or third parties, but rarely the club's on contract / transfer negotiations. Thats the way it should be unless a player's agent starts stirring it in which case the club has been to slow in the past to come forward to counter any spurious claims - not quite so bad these days. A few controversial / economical with the truth comments from a third party was usually sufficient to egg on many fans to start slagging off the club. However many fans are a wee bit wiser these days when an agent states the club hasn't been in contact or made a derisory offer to their client. We've all heard "reliable" rumours about transfer targets, some as recently as last Saturday, but a few are best kept quiet until the club and player conclude business.

We play the strongest team we can field until the end of the season. Very few players are going to be open or daft enough to come out and say I'm moving on. The club will pretty much know who wants to stay and who wants to move on. The trouble is that some players will want to hang off until they see what other offers are coming in. In such circumstances Stuart McCall has said recently that MFC will adopt a harder line this year. Offers will be made to the players the club wishes to retain and deadlines set. If they don't sign by the set date then replacements will be sourced. Fair enough in my book.

Sadly not. We all know its not going to happen. Even if a strong individual match commander was to take a more proactive approach it would not be supported by his / her superiors. Even if Police Scotland was to take a more robust approach that would be "frowned upon" by the Scottish establishment.

I don't know about that. United are possibly the most physical team in the SPFL and have been since Craig Levein's days. One thing is for sure, John Porteous will be a busy man after Saturday irrespective of the scoreline. They're not an easy side to play against and know just how to work referees. We should go out to give 100% and nothing less but if we go out to be physical it'll be a bloodbath and we'll come off second best. Those who like their football physical will really savour this season's cup final as St Johnstone can also be very "robust".

In my book he's done a great job. No world beater but I'd pull out all the stops to sign him (but not breaking the bank to do so). He's looked good in virtually in all the games in which he's participated and displayed strength of character. He can play right back, centre midfield and centre back - just the kind of versatility we require with our small squad. He can show a fair turn of speed on the overlap. My early impressions have been confirmed in that he's a better right back than Tom Hately. On the debit side he's a bit raw in some regards despite his age but that can be worked on. I'd rate him above Simon Ramsden in terms of reliability. Whilst I've a lot of time for Ramsden he came to us with a poor injury record and has missed a fair games both last season and this. Played very well against Celtic and helped set up the 3rd goal as well as doing a lot to snuff out Celtic's attacking midfield threat. By no means perfect but fine at our level - currently upper half of SPFL.

That's been the case ever since I can remember and I'm going back decades. I reckon our home support was down by about 1,000 - 1,500 on Saturday. If we introduced stronger policing and banned live TV cameras or unsubscribed from the greedy TV companies then our attendances would rise considerably. That's not the full story though. As for the media they know perfectly well what goes on but choose to ignore it as it pays them financially to do so.

I'll tell you what - that was quite a pass by Craig Reid in the build up to our third goal. Real class.

Televised football?

Celtic's penalty was very soft indeed. Its annoying when you look back at the stonewall claims we've had turned down this season.

Does anyone know where I can pick up a copy of today's edition?

A good result and performance given our makeshift side. Dundee United's defeat at Perth also gave us a boost. Good all round team performance. Just a pity that Kris Boyd doesn't play for us - what a difference he'd have made.

Jack Leitch for me although it was a real team effort. I thought Neilsen, Reid, ZFA, Sutton and of course Leitch were slightly above the others. Well done to all the lads and SM though.

I'd guess Kerr will be right back with Reid playing in the centre of midfield. One of Ainsworth or ZFA will start unless we go with Sutton on his own up front in which case both will start.

You've quoted the worst case scenario, which of course could occur. The best case scenario which would be no home cup draws, would represent an increase of £30 or 10.7%. Even if we did have a home cup draw the price may be as low as £15. I suppose we also have to take into account the price rise last year...can't recall offhand what that was if indeed there was one.

I think the club's proposals are reasonable in the circumstances. No complaint from me.

If previous posters' information is correct his suspension will be announced by the SFA tomorrow. If it isn't correct then I assume he's injured or will be fit.

For those who haven't seen it there's an excellent article on Fir Park Corner about our groundsman and his views on the pitch.

A fair summing up. My guess is 5 or 6 points. Its a pity though that we're not playing United in the last game, I'd feel far more confident if we were. In recent years they've been a pretty ruthless lot and have benefitted greatly from weak refereeing.

If you were at the game I have to respect your opinion but 12 corners against 4 is a telling statistic. We're doing well this season but that doesn't mean that we should overlook or conceal our persistent weaknesses. An inability to defend is very worrying and that isn't all down to our defence. Much of it is down to a midfield that cannot defend or shield its back four. If we cannot defend crosses/corners (and we can't) then we should look to defend higher up the park and cut out such threats but we seem to take to the view that if we lose 2 or 3 goals so what we'll score 3 or 4. Some days that may work but today some, not me, might blame our strikers for not scoring enough. Irrespective of where we finish the goalkeeping position and defensive midfield need to be addressed in some shape or form over the summer.

I'm more inclined to blame our midfield and full backs Jim, although I haven't seen the game yet. St Mirren seem to have had so much pressure, so many crosses into our box, so many corners. If we persist in defending so deeply we'll always ship goals. It might be freak efforts, deflections, defensive errors, or refereeing blunders, but they all count. I much prefer to see us defend higher up the park, harrying and closing down players, preventing crosses etc. If the opposition can't get the ball into the box the chances are they won't score. Today it seems that St Mirren were all over us and dominated midfield. If that is indeed the case then we shouldn't be surprised if we got beaten. You have to feel sorry for our central defence - under constant pressure with little or no protection. Maybe our win bonuses simply weren't big enough to motivate the team.