fat_tony

Carswell was immense today. Broke up attacks, got in their faces, and also looked a real attacking threat. Great performance. Also thought Sutton had a great game, best I've seen of him since he came back, and in tough circumstances, with the ref giving him nothing. Great instinct for his goal, and unlucky not to get a second at one of our many penalty claims.

It was only really the first season while O'Brien was still around that Humphrey played off the bench. After O'Brien left, Humphrey was first choice down the right in our "regular" game plan. According to wikipedia at least, 132 league appearances in 4 years, so that means only missing 20 league games, the majority of which will have been in his first season (assuming it's accurate). To claim teams stopped double-covering Humphrey is just plain wrong though, if anything, as they became more aware of his pace, and he improved his delivery and decision making, the coverage increased. The problem opposing teams had in the last season and a half though, was that as well as Humphrey, they had to deal with Ojamaa as well, and couldn't cover both. That's why we were so effective last term, as teams just couldn't cover all our pacy attackers. Don't underestimate the effect that Humphrey's presence alone had on opposing teams' tactics. Sure, it's different this year. We've lost a lot of pace and are very static beyond the half-way line. Is Ainsworth going to single-handedly solve all our problems? No. But he does fill an important role that we have been crying out for. We've been far too slow in attack so far, and this addition should allow us to counter more quickly and deliver balls into the box for our strikers, both of whom are capable of doing damage.

I think we'll see something like the following: Hollis Ramsden - Hutch - McManus - Hammell Lasley - Lawson/Carswell Ainsworth - Faddy - Vigurs Sutton I know Anier's got the benefit of pace/movement over Sutton, but I think it's worth keeping Sutton up top to win high balls and knock them down for Faddy. Plus, with Sutton scoring last weekend, and the memory of him being a rather streaky player from his last spell here, it might be worth keeping his momentum going. Having Angol, Anier and one of Lawson/Carswell on the bench gives us some decent options as well if we need to change the system. Whatever McCall goes with, I'm looking forward to this one, and hopefully our new boy will give us the movement we've been sorely lacking.

Loving the #whereistomhateley chat on Twitter, some absolute belters!

I'm not necessarily saying it shouldn't be penalised, just that if it is going to be, referees could take their pick of incidents in any match. I don't believe for a second that this was the only occasion that a referee has noticed that going on. Again, all I'm asking for is consistency in decisions. Either it's a penalty, in which case there should be multiple penalties in each game, or it's not.

Plus, as good as Law was, I think in Lawson/Vigurs we have a couple of players with a much better range of passing, more capable of quickly switching the direction of play to the wings. Unfortunately we haven't had anyone using that space effectively yet, but if McCall can add a bit of pace, and work on ZFA's confidence, then we've definitely got the ability to exploit it quickly.

I don't think there was anything different to every other game. The incident mentioned was a pull by McManus, which you can just briefly make out on the highlights (I think), but if refs are going to start giving penalties for that, there should be 7 or 8 per match. Just down to inconsistency in refereeing decisions again.

I don't really see what Wee Higgy would add that we don't already have. The one thing we're crying out for is pace and width. He definitely doesn't have the pace, and I don't think that he would really give us any more than Faddy or Angol, with our current system. Different way of doing things at Partick, where I think they'll be able to make use of what he can offer.

I think Andy P's post summed it up perfectly. It's just pretty galling that again it's all come down to a couple of individual mistakes by experienced players. Hammell/McManus at the first, McManus (I think) losing his man at the second, and according to the radio, McManus pulling a jersey for the third. The boy's had a howler of a week. Aberdeen looked much better than they have in previous years, although that's not saying much. Definitely more like a top six side this year, if they can keep the run going, which has been their downfall the past few seasons. I still don't like them though, their fans are arrogant pricks who still think they're a force in European football. I hope that Motherwell will be sending the repair bill for the South Stand to Aberdeen FC. Fucking animals. On a more positive note, aside from his early blunder, Hollis looked decent today, couple of great saves and no chance with the goals.

Anier - took his goal well, worked hard, and harried the Aberdeen defence at every opportunity. With better service, he could be a big player for us, as he brings some much needed movement. Not as tricky as Ojamaa, but more direct and stronger for sure.

Thank you. Disappointed to be left with "what ifs" again, but once again it just highlights the difference between the level of football. Going up against teams like Kuban, Pana, Levante, Steaua etc, the individual mistakes that we get away with in the SPL will be punished severely. It's gutting that we were essentially undone by the same thing as Pana and Levante last year, but there's not an awful lot the manager can do about that. It would be good to get a run of games in Europe, but to do that we either need a kind draw, or to go in at an earlier stage by finishing lower. As galling as it may be, I'd rather we finish as high up the league as possible, challenge in the domestic cups, and treat European football, when it's here, as a bonus.

Saturday afternoon at 3pm for me 99/100 times. Gives me time to do what I need to on Saturday morning, get through to Motherwell, visit family, then head up to the Cooper for a pre-match pint. Any earlier and I'm struggling. Any later and I'm pottering about waiting to head through. The 1 out of 100 case is the odd Friday night, simply if I happen to have something on that weekend, it's handy if the game's on a Friday to save missing it (Hibs last October as an example). Anything earlier than 3pm is just plain wrong in my book. I'll still go to the games, I have a season ticket after all, but it's inconvenient.

Got to agree with the crowd here and go for McManus. Strolled through the game and looked unstoppable. Also thought Lawson was superb in the first half, but faded a bit in the second and got a little sloppy with his tackling, hence the booking. Hammell solid as ever as well. I get the feeling that this season may be a bit like under Craig Brown, at least in terms of results. Building on a solid defence and winning by the odd goal or two. I don't expect a lot of 3-2 or 4-1 affairs this season. The difference between then and now though, is that we're a lot more capable of playing the ball through the middle than we were then. With Lawson instead of Jennings, we have a real ability to spray the ball about and build on possession that we didn't have back then. Not to mention Vigurs, Lasley/Carswell and Faddy in and around there as well.

I actually quite enjoyed it. Some nice passing on display, and pretty solid defensively. Okay, not much goalmouth action, but other than that it wasn't bad. Mind you, I don't mind this "tippy-tappy pish".

Any opportunity to involve themselves in the affairs of Premier League clubs...

Is it just me, or does that look photoshopped?

6pm (BST) kick off for the away leg according to MFC Twitter.

Exactly. Remember that a lot of teams down south will still be making moves and perhaps not wanting to loan out players until they have their transfer targets in place. Once a lot of them finish up their business during August, we might find ourselves with a few more options of players being farmed out on loan to get game time. It's a shame this would mean we're missing potential signings for our Euro tie, but the focus, as always, has to be the SPL (or whatever the fuck it's called these days).

Aye, that was the wee guy Sissoko was it? The one that got dogs abuse the entire 90 in Athens, spent the entire game throwing himself to the ground, then scored. I think even the ref was fed up with it, as I remember Hammell absolutely doing him, cynical as you like, and the ref told him to get up.

Yeah, I agree it was a shame we didn't score any at all. Like you say, the experience of Faddy (and McManus), plus the fact we'll have someone other than Hateley taking set pieces might make a difference!

To be fair, I thought we put in a great performance against Pana at home, just they were a little more streetwise and took their chances whereas we didn't. Game in Athens was a non-contest though. Didn't make it to the Levante games.

Only one Brazilian to worry about according to their site: http://www.fckuban.ru/team/primary Easy!

Will keep an eye on the Russian League the next couple of weeks as you never know. Looking at their new manager's history, he's not exactly the best. Being a few games into their season will give them an edge, but if McCall gets the team in good shape and working well together before then, coupled with a decent result at Fir Park, you just never know.

Going by Wikipedia, it looks like Kuban had the highest average attendance in the league last season, and the 3rd best goal difference (+20), behind only CSKA and Zenit. Looks like they have a couple of internationals (Belarus, Armenia etc.) and quite a few under-21 internationals. Sacked their manager half way through last season as well! Looks like they've only played one match so far this season, a 1-1 draw with Rubin Kazan. They also changed manager again for the new season, after the guy who got them to 5th went to Lokomotiv Moscow. But to finish 5th in the Russian league with all the money floating about, they certainly won't be mugs.

Likewise, but nevermind. YAAAAASSSSSSS!!!!