Kmcalpin

I think what Stevie is saying , and no doubt he'll correct me if I'm wrong, is that we do nothing and say nothing until the end of the season and then we simply don't renew his contract. That way the players know no more than we do. In short, they can't react to something which hasn't happened.

My view as well Grizzly.

No problem at all with that Texas. We should move on to worry more about the Well!

I simply don't know although there could be a few candidates. It's a very hard label to determine. To simply state that a player is unquestionably the best striker in a league is very difficult to justify. Obviously the number of goals scored is one crude indicator, but no more than that.

I didn't say he wasn't simply that I'm far from convinced that he is. These labels are often academic and hard to prove one way or the other. How many goals would the likes of Bair, Vale or other strikers score if they played for Hearts? You might disagree with my conclusion and that's perfectly fine but I hope you agree that there is some merit in my argument.

Our best back 3, as a unit, and I stress as a unit, is probably McGinn, Casey and Blaney. SOD and McGinn shouldn't be in the same back 3 except in a dire emergency. Now I'm not saying that it's a good back 3 but only that it's our best and that's a different thing.

I'm far from convinced he's the best striker in the league, although he may be the top scorer. Would he score as many if he played with Livingston, Ross County or St Johnstone?

If there is a shadow of doubt about his fitness I'd rest him next weekend, as I would with any player who has a niggle or burnt out. To all intents and purpose Livingston is the crucial game. Today was always going to be difficult against Hearts who will finish 3rd, despite what Killie might think. One or two inexperienced "wobbles" from SK, though. Fortunately they didn't make any difference at all to the result and little difference to the scoreline.

We'd ship goals to both sides of course, but after speaking to a friend who was at Starks Park last neither side could hit a barn door from 2 feet. Brown's goal was the effort of lifetime, never to be repeated.

Yes, he was injured; touch and go with a knee injury. A huge loss to our midfield which severely dented our attacking potential. A lot to ask of Paton. I assume that Buyabu wasn't trusted today? Given the circumstances, not the worst result in the world today. With our defence, a 2 goal loss at Tynecastle isn't worth losing sleep over. For us, this weekend's results were all about other teams and not us. More importantly, Ross County lost, although it would have been nice to see St Mirren win for once. A big game for us tomorrow in Perth. We'll have to fulfill next weekend's fixture of course but the next big game is at Livingston. I never like losing but today's defeat is of little consequence in the great scheme of things.

We now have some half decent midfielders and choices will have to made once, or more probably if, they are all fit. I like Paton as he adds energy to midfield, something we badly need. Davor isn't bad, although like Clackscat, I think he's a bit lightweight and struggles a bit in midfield battles. I think we still lack a leader in there - I haven't seen enough of Halliday to really assess him. If we have a weakness, its that we still lack someone there with a real bit of fight and backbone. That deficiency is most evident when we're being attacked and the midfield seemingly sits too deep providing, little cover for our much maligned defence. In recent games we've seen opponents swarm in and around our own box just a little too easily. I maybe being unfair though. Is that down to individual players or tactics/instructions from management?

I can't speak for anyone else but I never suggested that substitutions should be made at the 30 minute mark precisely. Changes could have been made at half time or slightly after, when we were 3 0 up and cruising. In any event it would depend on how it was communicated to those taken off ie "saving you for Friday."

Agree that our defence needs changes and that McGinn hasn't been as effective on the left. At the moment though I'd say both Butcher and Mugabi have been poor. Who do we drop? McGinn didn't look clever with the goals that Morton and Aberdeen scored but he wasn't solely responsible by any means.

I don't either. I wonder if the powers that be review refereeing decisions that should have been subject to VAR but were not.

Happy to correct my error. I misread the BBC statistics. I do wonder though that if the panel had reviewed last night's events what they would have made of them.

Of course the BBC is very selective as to which examples they print.

English football, at least at the higher levels, has always been more physical than ours. Bigger, faster, heavier and more athletic players. The last time I watched an English Premier League game, admittedly some 2 or 3 years ago, I winced at some of the challenges. Not particularly dirty, but just like two 800kg Spanish fighting bulls colliding at full speed.

Double post - please remove.

I get that in the lead up to goals and red cards footage is checked for infringements. I suppose the question is which infringements count and which don't. Is an illegally taken corner like last night relevant or isn't it? What about a foul throw? What if a player scores with a free kick that was taken yards away from where it should have been?

Pretty much agree with that. We need a full range of opinions on these forums, from happy clappers to perpetual pessimists. The important thing is to respect others' views and not get personal. We all want the team to do well but we express that support or frustration, at times, in different ways. If posters are driven out then thats a real cause for concern. If posters leave because the forum is too negative thats their choice. I've begun to read, but not post on, P & B again. Its an perhaps extreme version of this site; its different. The best is better and the worst is worse. There's room for both sites and I hope they both thrive. For folk who think this site is OTT or overly negative you do get some extremely negative posts on P & B that put some posters on here in the shade. I've no problem with Steelboy, Yodo & MJC being challenged for their views but sometimes it gets personal and a bit OTT. There's nothing wrong with posting the odd provocative message to stimulate discussion, providing its not offensive or personal. Live and let live / each to their own.

Good post. Whilst I hope Halliday is fit he won't be playing on Saturday as he is still Hearts' player.

Pretty much agreed. Post split, and even just before it we start to see odd results as mid table teams lose to or draw against the bottom feeders. Post split can throw up freak results too - a lot will depend on how the fixtures are arranged. In short, we want to go into the post split fixtures with a real cushion over the 11th placed team.

Just watched the highlights, with the sound turned off. Much better that way. We do look good going forward and cut open Aberdeen. Its good to watch. Bair is certainly a find and now looks confident. He took his penalty very well and was in the right place at the right time for his second. Devine took his goal very well - a difficult finish. Defensively we were shambolic and the first was one we could have lost against Ross County - opponents with time and space in and around our box. VAR did us no favours last night and the authorities need to decide how it should be used. Aberdeen's second should have been chalked off as even I could see the infringement, and thats saying something. I'm surprised that no-one has mentioend that at the corner, the ball was outside and not touching the arc. Or, has that rule been dispensed with now? Aberdeen's disallowed effort was rightly chalked off as Miovski was marginally off, not by very much though. Paton was unlucky to have his goal disallowed though as there was a fair bit of wrsetling going on from both sides. Fair play to Aberdeen though as I think the defender who went down, as if poleaxed, probaly saved them. Gamesmanship? Its not often we get a fair hearing from referees at Pittodrie and last night didn't break that mould. A rare penalty there though!

Yes, I think he is a project. I can't explain his signing in any other way. Its a huge step up from antipodean football and as we all know, he hasn't played for months. So, with the best will in the world, he's not going to get gametime for a good few weeks, if not a month or two. He's only signed until the summer, so he doesn't have much time to make an impact and impress. I guess if he does make the first team before season's end and is not up to scratch then we haven't lost much. However, if he does seem like the real deal then he'll be off elsewhere like Dundee, Kilmarnock or Paisley. The only win win situation that I can foresee is if he's a notch above ok - in other words he's not bad but not good enough to be snapped up by circling predators. Its possible though that he impresses in training and is kept under wraps but even then others will know all about him. An........interesting signing shall we say.

I'll rephrase my original post. Are they being coached properly? Now a poor defensive display is nothing new; it's been evident for months. In the words of none other than Alex McLeish "if the players are being coached properly and they continue to make the same mistakes, then they need moved on".