fat_tony

Not surprised at that to be honest. Despite having the appearance of a lazy player (Higdon, anyone?), he does seem to work hard and is the most creative player we have. Unfortunately, some of the others in the squad don't do enough to take advantage of the kind of openings that he creates. Hopefully he's back to fitness soon, and I really think that with the way a fit Ojamaa plays, moving across the line and always looking for space, we could see even more from Vigurs in future.

Higginbotham was subbed at half time yesterday and returned on crutches. If he's out next week we've got a great opportunity to pick up a result. Hopefully at least yesterday's horror show will give the players a point to prove.

Maybe, although to be honest, I don't remember us really complaining much about decisions at any point over the last few years. Could be it's a question of leadership on the park, or maybe McCall just doesn't like his players getting stupid bookings for dissent. But, some carefully timed comments about poor refereeing decisions served us well against Aberdeen last season, and with some less honest play from some people, perhaps we might get more going our way? Just to be clear, I'm not for a minute suggesting this would have gained us a win we didn't deserve today, but decisions can change games, and the last couple of seasons we have been on the end of some shockers. That's 3-4 penalties in our last three games, for example, that we perhaps should have received.

Twardzik made some great saves today and couldn't be blamed for the goals. He even had a cracking Neuer-esque moment, although quickly followed it up with a poor kick-out. I've gone for Erwin by a nose though, as he and Sutton did everything they could to drag us back into the game in the second half, and he was unlucky not to score at least once, but possibly more in our best spell after the break.

I disagree a bit with this. The way we started the second half, it looked like it was only a matter of time until we scored, as we had Accies under the cosh. At around the 55-60 minute mark I actually felt confident that we would be able to rescue a point. Bringing on Sutton and Reid, and changing the system, gave us the shot in the arm that was needed after an inept first half. Sod's law that just as Sutton's about to take his most clear-cut chance, he's fouled in the box (no penalty), Accies clear, and burst down the other end where they get a dodgy penalty decision. As soon as that happened, our fragile confidence was shattered and the writing was on the wall. I have no idea what the hell McManus was thinking early on. It was a stupid booking, and he was deservedly hooked at half time. The two first half goals though were just shocking individual mistakes. First, McManus misjudging his header and ZFA's poor attempted clearance, and then Lawson failing to track the man and nobody covering in behind for the second. We simply can't gift goals like that. The third was a combination of pish refereeing, and Ramsden dropping Kerr in the shit by failing to track the man. He turned, saw the runner, and decided to leave him to Kerr, who was always struggling to make up the ground. I'm normally a big fan of Ramsden, but not making the effort to try and help out there was unacceptable. The fourth, just an inevitable consequence of pushing up late on. While it didn't necessarily decide the outcome of the match, Willie Collum's performance today was horrendous. The bookings for Lawson and Francis-Angol were pathetic, and he let Accies away with more without punishment. The less said about the "penalty", the better. Just out of interested, I did notice a number of times in the box where there were pushes on Sutton, Erwin or McHugh. Given what Scott Brown got a penalty for last week, maybe we need to start forcing the issue a bit more, and being more savvy when fouled. Accies were certainly more streetwise than us today. On a positive note though, not that there were many today, but Twardzik made some great saves and couldn't do too much about the first three goals (I couldn't really make out the fourth). Once he got on the ball in the second half after McCall switched the system around, Ojamaa looked like he's getting closer to his old self, and made some decent runs/opportunities. Erwin also came into the game in the second half and looked lively. If we can get a settled defence and midfield then just maybe these guys can start carving out the chances we desperately need to create. Thankfully our next match is against Partick, who are on the same points as us and may have lost Higginbotham, who was on crutches after the match today. It took a heavy defeat (Celtic) to really turn us around last season after a stuttering start. Maybe this is the shot in the arm we needed? I certainly hope so, as it'll be a long season if we don't improve. EDIT: Just seen McCall's post-match interview. Good to see he's at least angry this time...

The same sheer ineptitude that has seen us finish 2nd in the league in consecutive years, and better our points total with each passing season? Our cup results have been pathetic the last couple of seasons, and I'm as frustrated as the next person, but stuff like the smoke bombs, knowing that it will cost the club money, is just total bawbaggery of the highest order.

No idea what the person who wrote the BBC match report is smoking: BBC

There was a foul outside the box, then a "coming together" in the box. Celtic player went down, penalty. Disgraceful decision.

Two superb goals, and an excellent three points. First half was pretty unspectacular but we played some really nice stuff in the second around our goals. Vigurs and Law in particular were looking good, and Sutton and Erwin were fighting well against a big back line. Our arses collapsed following their goal, but all good in the end with the three points. Also only had to spend £10 to get me, my dad and my two young nephews in thanks to Alan Burrows giving out the leftover comps outside the stadium, coupled with County allowing any adult a free ticket if they have a child with them. Made £64 (2 adults, 2 kids) into £10 for me. Great stuff. Not expecting anything from Celtic bit hopefully we can continue to improve and carry some semblance of form over into the Accies match.

Pleased about the United match as I wouldn't have been able to make the Saturday due to the NFL at Wembley. Friday night suits me just great in this case.

No, but we should be a bit more solid defensively, meaning the players in front of them can focus more on attacking than their defensive duties. I don't think anyone's claiming that either Ramsden or Hammell are the answer to all our problems, just that their absence is detrimental to the team as a whole. We created some decent chances against St Johnstone (at least 4 stick out in my mind), more than we did pretty much all the other matches combined. If we can continue this improvement then we should be able to score against County.

There were signs of improvement on Saturday, and we created a few chances which, on another day may have gone in (thinking Sutton's header, or the tame efforts from Sutton/Ojamaa). If we can take advantage of the break to get players back to fitness (Hammell, Vigurs, Ojamaa the key ones for me), then I think we may just have enough to get past a County side who seem to be even more lacking in confidence than we are. Not sure why, as we haven't shown anything to indicate it, but I fancy us to bounce back in some style in this one: 3-1 Well.

How are the club supposed to have provided a platform to sustain the future though? We've been unlucky in terms of European draws in that we've drawn a combination of hard to reach (Albania, Russia, Iceland), unglamorous and/or quality sides (Pana, Levante, Kuban), meaning that we don't get the benefit of a glamour tie, and more than often end up having to pay well over the odds in travelling costs. Combine that with the fact that whenever we do put a good team together they've been picked apart at the end of the season and we have to start again. There's a law of diminishing returns in terms of what we can afford to bring in - the amount of money being ploughed in to the game down south means we can afford a poorer quality of player year after year, and this is only likely to continue. Teams like Utd and Aberdeen can afford to secure players on longer-term contracts as they have the financial backing to be able to soak up the outlay in the hopes of getting a large transfer fee where as we simply can't gamble on handing out long term contracts because we don't have the income. I, like many, think that the only way to provide sustainability is through the youth system, but again, this is difficult when we are surrounded by bigger clubs with more pull, and have to balance bringing on youngsters with the more immediate need to perform as well as possible on the park. Tough one indeed. A shiny penny to anyone who can come up with a genuine solution.

The two old guys next to me actually laughed when Lawson was announced as the sponsor's man of the match - people see what they want to see I guess. I thought Lawson deserved it. Close call between him, O'Brien, and before he was switched to the left, Reid. The latter seemed to be playing every position in the back four at one point in the first half.

I'd say compared to their standard from the middle to end of last season. We were just as rank in August last year.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Lawson make an appearance today and it'll be interesting to see how McCall handles the left-back conundrum this week. For some reason we often struggle against Killie, but I expect we'll see a bit more from the team today as they try and make amends for last week. Ojamaa and Vigurs to make the difference today I think, narrow win for the good guys.

Fraser Kerr is the obvious choice for me. Not only did he win the ball well for the most part and make some crucial blocks, but he was, from centre-back, our main attacking threat at times. Hopefully he's beginning to get the benefit of a run of games in his favoured position and can continue to improve. Assuming O'Brien doesn't automatically replace him, that is.

Agree with the opinion on Ainsworth, at times he's like an empty jersey, when he decides that he's not up for it. At least with Humphrey, when he wasn't having a good day he would still work the line and provide an option for an out-ball. I lost count of the number of times today that Reid had to go bombing past him down the right to try and get into space. Disagree about Sutton though. I don't think it's disinterest as he worked his socks off again today but had zero service. He needs some creativity around him if he's going to get chances, which is where, hopefully Ojamaa's movement will help once he's up to speed. Very poor today, and McCall hit the nail on the head on the radio when he said that it wasn't good enough. We had a dodgy start last season, narrowly beating a poor Hibs side and then being convincingly beaten by Aberdeen and then ICT (In a similar manner to today), but we started to pick up after that. All is not lost, but definite improvement is needed for next week if we want to avoid this becoming a bad habit.

I've had similar comments from some of my ICT-supporting mates, too. They're really not confident in Yogi's ability as a manage (shock).

A bit harsh in my opinion. He did okay and seemed to be a decent shot stopper, if not confident at dealing with crosses. Before Ruddy and then Randolph, when was the last time we had a keeper who was good at commanding the box? Michael Fraser wasn't, Graeme Smith definitely wasn't. To be fair to Hollis, he struggled to get on the bench due to injuries, rather than form. If he could stay fit, and had things been different and we didn't have Neilsen, I wouldn't have been averse to keeping him on as a backup. I've certainly seen much worse keepers playing in the SPL.

Absolutely delighted at this news. Just what we need in the team, a bit of energy and directness. Such an exciting player to watch, hopefully he's able to come in and pick up where he left off. He's also the type of player that could help make the most of the creativity of Law and Vigurs. Excellent.

Not sure what's going on exactly, sbcmfc. McCall mentioned that he was dealing with some personal issues, but that's all I've seen.

Delighted with that result, even if it wasn't a classic performance. We've struggled against St Mirren a fair bit the last few years so I'm happy with any result against them. And given that we're playing with most of the defence that shipped so many goals last season, any clean sheet is a plus. Some of our fans are right dour-faced characters though. The two old guys next to me did nothing but moan for the entire 90 minutes, and that prick up the back of the Cooper who sounds like he's about a twenty-deck away from a throat microphone was in fine voice today. I just don't get how going to the football is any fun if all you're going to do is moan like fuck for the whole match? On a more positive note, Lee Erwin looks like a right cracking prospect. Hopefully we'll see a lot more of him this season. Josh Law looks like he has a touch of class, too. Not sure how exactly to set the team up to accommodate both Law and Vigurs, but if McCall can find a way it could be exciting to watch.

Erwin for me. Worked hard up front to try and create chances and react well to the rebound to grab the goal. Looks nice and mobile alongside Sutton. Not quite the McFadden/Ojamaa replacement we're looking for, but he looks like a decent prospect and didn't look out of place at all. Also thought Law looked good on the ball and full of ideas. Good to see the two of them being direct and trying to make things happen. Kerr had a shaky start but actually made some important interceptions. I'd like to see if he can benefit from a run of games and really get his confidence up. Thought Twardzik was very good, too. A few shaky kick outs, but some excellent saves to keep us in the game.

If this is the state of these boards now, a time usually reserved for blind early season optimism, I hate to see how it'll be when we hit our November slump. Last season I was expecting to see banner ads for the Samaritans on every page, who knows what it'll be this season. There seems to be a real negative spiral amongst some of our support, which gets worse each season despite continued on-field success (at least in the league). Have people become too accustomed to it? Or are some people really just happiest when they're moaning about something? This is the first season in a long while where I'm not absolutely champing at the bit for the first SPL match, and I think it's because I just can't be arsed with all the negativity.