Kmcalpin

Yes, a very good result and a great performance especially in view of the youngsters we fielded. The team played some excellent flowing football that excited us all. Jimbo has certainly turned things around. Especially impressed with O'Brien, Hutchison, Coke and Forbes, but no real failures in the side. Craigan and Hutchison coped reasonably well with Killie's aerial threat. One thing which did impress me was that we did not concede as many needless corners and free kicks as we did last season. That in itself limited Killie's threat. Work has also been done on the training ground on set pieces. A cracking goal from Hutchison and what a an effort from Forbes when he cracked a tremenous shot off the woodwork - he obviously practises that in training. On the debit side we still need to bolster our defence. There were still too many spaces appearing at times and it was no surprise that Killie scored, although one was all they deserved. In the second half we defended too deeply or tired, and we paid the penalty for that. If the scoreline had reflected the game in general we'd have won by 5 or 6-1. We didn't quite show the killer instinct in the box. JG is right to pursue another defender and striker. Despite us playing well what is so encouraging is that he is still looking to address our weaknesses. It would seem he's a bit of a perfectionist. All in all a good day at the office.

Ditto. I won't be able to make it for other reasons but I don't really see why MFC & local Councils are honouring Sir Matt Busby. What is his connection with MFC? I'm also underwhelmed by the prospect of playing a reserve side. If Man Utd want to honour Sir Matt Busby properly then they should send a full squad. Having said that I suppose its a marketing exercise thats too good to be missed - a chance to increase their fanbase if you will. We already have enough youngsters in Lanarkshire brainwashed into following the various Premiership giants.

and full whack is steep for 60-64 year olds. Well got pilloried for introducing this. Not a peep on here so far about it though.

I made this point weeks ago Weeyin and no-one knew the answer or at least didn't reply. My understanding is the the new deal is no worse than the current one.

We need an intelligent mobile player who can play well outside the box.

Far too early to tell yet. Jennings, Humphreys and Coke haven't yet played 2 full games and their fitness will be well behind the rest of the squad. They haven't even been matched aginst SPL opposition yet. They're also adjusting to a new team. Give them time. John Ruddy looks as if he'll be a very useful addition.

A striker and right back are absolutely essential. From what I've seen so far, Steven Saunders isn't up to first team football just yet. Up front.... what if John Sutton/Jamie Murphy get injured/suspended? A big centre back too would be essentail in my book.

My thoughts exactly Haggis. Was he not given the Captain's armband temporarily last seson for a game or two? At the time we were playing pretty dire and performances were flat. (by no means all down to Keith's incidentally). During that spell I recall thinking that he didn't really exhibit any leadership qualities.

A fair summing up that I can't disagree with. It seems that JG has his own very clear ideas about the kind of team he wants and thats football as they say.

Can't believe other folk are saying this Malky!! Astoundingly quite a few folk have been saying the same thing over the past month or so, after years of a Keith Lasley Cult. I've been saying much the same thing for years and been roundly criticised for it and on occasion given dogs abuse. Keith is a decent squad player for us but no more. He's probably due a regular start for a top first division outfit. Good luck to the guy - he's an honest hard working pro. Much the same thing happened with Brian Kerr (there the comparison ends). After a month or two a handful of us were questioning what he was actually doing and got heavily criticised for saying that. Then look what happened.

I've absolutely no problem with any player wanting to move on and better themselves but thats not the point here. In numerous interviews he was non commital about his future (again no problem with that). But why come out and say publicly now he was always going to leave? However if he knew all along that he was going to move all he had to do was be open and say that he intended to move on at the end of his contract but until that time came he would be giving MFC 100%.

Not impressed by his comments. So he always intended to leave but chose to tell the fans something different ie nothing? Also what advice exactly did Mark McGhee give him?

There will be 5 of us travelling through from Fife- bought our tickets today. Thats 9 down on our number from the Llanelli game - purely down to holidays.

That assumes that MMcG or the powers that be saw Mclean as an adequate replacement, which clearly they did not. For my part whatever he was, he was never a right back.

Falkirk are down to their last 11/12 players. Who would Killie sell? The Hammies are £1.3 m in debt and will have to cash in on their assets shortly. Hibs are cashing in on Fletcher. St Mirren will flog Dorman. Wait until mid/late August and then you'll see some real activity - with some SPL clubs scrambling to replace players as deadline day approaches.

We probably will do. However, a fair proportion of our close season income of circa £1.1m will be used to balance the books. Quality players also expect quality salaries. I'd guess JG will be given considerably less than half this figure to use.

Fair comment. Despite seeing the danger posed by long throws on Thursday evening Steve Hammell conceded 2 avoidable throw ins in dangerous positions. Keith Lasley? You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. He's not a stand out in any one aspect of his game. If anything he's an excellent man marker playing in a specialist role. A decent squad player as back up. Someone once referred to him on these boards as "the Housewives' choice" and thats an accurate description. Given that I've been taken aback at the criticism he's taken since Thursday. I've seen him play worse and been given almost universal plaudits! Fans are fickle!

No lose situation for him though. If some players do take the huff and don't perform, the fans will turn on them and not on JG. He's like a breath of fresh air though - open and honest.

You've taken the words right off my keyboard. The faults we displayed last night have been evident for quite some time.

"There was poor athleticism, poor quality on the ball, poor penetration and not enough stature in the team to have any effect on the young bucks. I look across that pitch and see players we need to replace.Everyone is talking about who we are going to bring in but there are players out there who need to be replaced. We have an experienced centre-half who doesn't compete for the ball and they get a free header at the goal. Players have a responsibility on the pitch and they must live up to it to the best of their ability. I'll judge them on that. We are fortunate this is a two-legged tie." Spot on Jim. He simply echoed our thoughts from last night and not a word of that I'd argue with. Poor penetration? Our problem in a nutshell.

Thats my great fear Finlay. If they do play like that the best we can hope for is a 0-0 draw. That said, if they had played the same way against our side of last season the outcome would be exactly the same. Our one hope is that being at home they'll try to open the game up and allow us to outplay them. Over the past few years big physical sides like this have caused us no end of problems. I sincerely hope JG brings in some height and muscle to squad.

A bit harsh Dodge. Now Keith Lasley isn't my favourite player (no disrespect intended BTW) as many will know and yes he had a poor game tonight, but I'd like to defend him on this occasion. He was simply up against far bigger and more robust opponents and couldn't compete. That said its typical of his normal game. He's as brave as a lion but struggles when opponents put themselves about.

Good post and my feelings exactly. Lets look at the bigger picture here. This was Jim Gannon's first game in charge with a depleted squad and he asked the players to show him what they could do. They did precisely that. Too many of the players, with the exception of the younger ones, may well have played themselves out of his thinking. That can only be a good thing. I suspect that many of them will be replaced and rightly so. This was a great test for the players and in that sense it was a success. Once again a big physical side who put themselves about prove to be a match for us.

Spot on Greg. Jamie Murphy is perhaps the most experienced of the emerging crop of youngsters but was a big disappointment tonight - he too often made the wrong decision. That said he prefers playing more open football.

Not sure about that Al. It simply wasn't Clarky's type of game. He thrives playing open football and tonight was all about unpicking a massed defence. Porter however may well have made a difference. I doubt very much if any of the palyers leaving us over the summer would have made the slightest difference this evening.