MelvinBragg

I'd go 352 tomorrow with Efford and Van Veen up front but both playing wide looking for space behind the full backs. Give their centre halfs the choice of whether to come out wide leaving gaps for a midfielder to break through or expect their full backs to deal with it. I'd have Goss and Slattery trying to put the ball in behind their full backs all day. Both of them certainly have the passing range to do it...

"To be fair, we all know what Porteous is like.." Does that get me an eight week ban from here?

Apparently Fir Park open 10-12 tomorrow...

We still might...

Not so sure. If the funeral isn't the day of the match, I reckon it might be on. Given the Royal Family have given the "do as you please except the day of the funeral" instructions and the general reaction that football maybe overreacted, I wouldn't be stunned to see games on next weekend. Given the rugby, cricket and horse racing are continuing. football then looks out of step. Champions League games going ahead in the UK (which they will) will make it look even stranger. .

It's the fact that rugby and cricket are going ahead this weekend and horse racing is resuming on Sunday that galls a bit. I think the football authorities have misjudged the mood more than the other sports...

Not sure if they'll close the theatres of the West End for the next two weeks. And I'd bet any concerts in the O2 aren't postponed or cancelled. If I'm wrong and they do that, fair enough...

Without wishing to be that guy, I'm assuming all pubs, nightclubs, theatres and cinemas will be closed for the next two weeks then? All concerts postponed? If not then the question would have to be why are only fans of live sport being asked to show respect?

Have you seen Hibs and Aberdeen this season? And Dundee United didn't exactly look up to much on Saturday.. Hearts will be playing us between two European games. There's plenty of points to be had in that run of games if we perform as we can...

Tierney for me. Manages to find pockets of space to pick the ball up in and his decision making is improving. To be fair, only two players I thought played below their level today were McGinn and Van Veen. Don't think McGinn had a bad game, just a bit shakier than the other defenders on occasions...

Aye, if you can pay your third choice goalkeeper £40k a week...

I know, was responding to the comments that someone made after the Doidge chat mentioning Clark had been available. I wouldn't have taken either of them...

Of course none of us wanted Celtic in the next round but let's just enjoy the fact we dealt with what could have been a banana skin with ease. Four players made their debut, Tierney and Efford contributed, all good stuff...

Indeed. And I don't think Nicky Clark is the answer either...

Randolph, Gillespie and Carson were all better than Kelly. And again he's a very good keeper. Just not as good as those three...

A couple of things. No one is saying Kelly is a bad keeper. But... If we hadn't got Kelly, we would have signed someone else. No way Chapman was staying as number 1. Maybe Kelly gets overpraised on the basis of who he replaced? And got overpraised on the basis he was only one of two or three performing anywhere near adequately at that time. He's a very good keeper. But I'd argue he's not even in our top three in the last 15 years...

Stephen Cosgrove and Liam Grimshaw were highly rated prospects at Manchester United. John Hendry was well thought of at Spurs. Who was the winger we got from West Ham that never saw the light of day, Belic? Not to mention Stephen Hendrie... Point I'm making is that it doesn't matter which club you sign players from, it doesn't guarantee success. Where did we sign Moult and Aldred from..?

Not a fan of bringing on Morris for Cornelius. You're replacing energy and work rate with someone who offers neither. Morris can take the sting out of a game and slow it down, what you're after at 1-0 up. So bring him on for Shields. Stupid substitution to make...

Listen, if Stevie Hammell can't pick out a good left back, there's no hope...

I thought the money acquired via other clubs' performances in Europe had to be spent on youth development..? Is it just a case of creative accounting to move £200k from your current academy budget to first team budget to use the cash appropriately..?

Spittal..

Hearing rumours of Mikey Johnston on loan from Celtic. My Tic supporting mate states "a five a side player, wouldn't bother"..

Harri Kampman's tractor..?

Probably helped but doesn't change the fact that his decision making leaves a lot to be desired on his good days and those good days are once a month. Again is he the best attacker we have? Probably but that says a lot about our squad. Alexander had Van Veen as his plan A, B and C for goals. He's maybe good enough for plan C most of the time. A Dutch Curtis Main... EDIT Had a quick check. 4 league goals in 2022, including two penalties. So the same number of non penalty league goals as Joe Efford and indeed Rickie Lamie. Since you earlier told me to check the stats and stop talking crap...

How many goals did he score in the second half of the season? More than everyone else doesn't mean it's enough. He shows up in 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 games at best. Is he the best option we have up front? Probably. Does it mean he's good enough? Not really. You said he and Kelly were the two players worth a place in the team. I'm saying Van Veen is no better than much of the squad, occasional flashes of skill aside... And don't make me dig up the old Ebbe Skovdahl quote about statistics.