pretzel

Exercising the demons, as it was over a year ago that our red card woes started at Dingwall.

GOAL 2-0 VV

Lamie on for Slattery

Red Card for County

Penalty to County then VAR says no, thankfully.

BBC suggesting Dan Casey got a vital touch. First time listening to Open all mics in years. Torture.

Sadly I do. I remember thinking that we had won a watch with that one as he had scored for Spurs against the likes of Man Utd and Arsenal, I think most felt that getting consistent football would help him realise his potential. When he joined us he netted a double not long after arriving against Hibs at Easter Road as we got beat 4-2 and it took a few years for him to score again, in fact his next goal would be his last. It's honestly hard to believe that Alex McLeish spent over 2 mill on players.

Hopefully we can continue the good form, if we want to get out of this mess then we need to be beating the teams below us. We were generous to both Killie and County in the Fir Park fixtures recently which were a sore one. Kettlewell has picked the same team for three games in a row, after the first half at Rugby Park (albeit a much better second) I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of changes for this one. Lamie and Mandron should be back in the squad for this and Efford is also nearing a comeback. I'm sure Casey and Butcher will be able to nullify the long ball that they do to White. They got a great result against United last weekend but by all accounts it looked like they had downed tools.

Stephen Frail the new assistant manager.

According to Corriere Dello Sport in Italy, Max Johnston apparently has an agreement in place to join Bologna.

I know we have won at Almondvale, Rugby Park, NDP, etc in the past but does anyone actually remember seeing a decent game being played on one of those pitches? It is honestly not a surprise why Killie has managed to get 91% of their points on that. Thoroughly enjoyed that Slattery free kick right in the postage stamp, I thought it was the least we deserved, how many times in the past have we been stung by a late Killie goal. The first half was poor, admittedly I don't what the rules are these days but I thought there were suspicions of offside for the Killie goal as one of their players is well off the field, their attacker strikes the ball which is blocked, and lands to Van Veen and when he goes to clear it that Killie player is back on the pitch to block the clearance. Furlong and Obika passed up some great opportunities but I felt a point was the least we deserved when it was all said and done. It's actually laughable that some Killie vloggers have titled videos daylight robbery and such.

I'm happy to see that his loan spell is going well at Queen's Park but tbf he has played as a striker on numerous occasions for us, it might sound harsh but I think he lacks the quality to play in the top flight. I don't know if it was a confidence thing or that but some of his efforts on goal i.e. in games versus Dundee United, Killie and Livingston were absolutely wild. I think Shankland was only a teenager when he joined them and was constantly farmed out on loan, I think he had a great spell with St Mirren but when he rejoined them for a second spell he struggled. Before this season kicked off I think he only had 7 or 8 top-flight goals. I didn't realise Shields is two years younger than him so there might be hope yet.

Liam Fox has left Dundee United, hopefully they don't get to enjoy that new manager bounce. Looking forward to the game, a win would be most welcome. Killie face Rangers and United face Aberdeen this weekend so a great opportunity to open the gap further.

I would probably go with Gillespie but I'm sure they will plump for Loris Karius to play, despite his champions league horror show a few years back.

The game at Tynecastle was frustrating, they played with ten men for such a long spell but managed to go two goals in front, they were fortunate with the first goal as Halliday had headed it out and they got a corner (obv should still defend better) not to mention Gordon should have received a second yellow when he brought down Moult for the pen. They got a 90th min pen which was harsh as Solholms arms were down by his side, if Clancy gives that then he should be giving the one Sibbick blocked ten mins earlier. It feels like we have had a fairly decent record against them at Fir Park the last few years, it'll no doubt be a tough fixture and we will probably need to go beyond Wednesday's efforts to secure the three points. Hard to believe it's going back slightly over 20 years, but I remember we had gone on a winless league run of 12 games (1 draw in that rub) and we met high-flying Hearts in 3rd place and blew them away 6-1. We have been blowing away great chances of points in recent weeks against sides that were on equally bad runs as us, it would be refreshing to get a win when it's not expected and I think we will. 2-1 to the Steelmen.

Great day at the office, Killie got beat 2-0 and one of their forwards got sent off as well a week before we play them. Dundee United got beat 2-1, scored a late equaliser but that pish keeper they have literally dithered with the ball at his feet 60 seconds later and St J scored again. St Well beat Ross County as well. A win would be most welcome tomorrow.

Results in the County, United, and Killie games going our way atm. Long way to go though.

I thought both contributed well enough. Obika seemed to do better with balls that were around chest height evidenced by the first goal where he takes it then hits a nice layoff to Spittal who sent Van Veen through on goal. Furlong did well getting forward, left Marcus Fraser on his arse at one point, and sent in a delightful cross which was just a touch too high. Thoroughly enjoyed the first half, and while the second half wasn't as exciting it was nice to see the fight which has been sadly lacking this season.

Personally I didn't mind that formation earlier in the season, I think it was the lack of options or the fact we had to play Shields regularly was the main frustration but now we have a few options to select from. I always thought we were a few quality editions away from having a decent enough squad. I think getting Butcher in midfield will make a massive difference but who knows the duration of the injured guys at the back.

I enjoyed listening to Kettlewell's interview, sometimes it's nice to be told how it is. I found it interesting as he was hinting about wee cliques developing and he spoke about players making mistakes, it was the fact he was saying he can accept honest mistakes it makes you wonder what he was getting at. Sean Goss must be due to miss a game as he has recieved eight league cautions but not yet served a ban. KVV enjoyed playing against Declan Gallagher last season and on opening day this season, hopefully that continues tomorrow. A win would be massive as it would pop us back up beyond County and Killie with games against them in the very near future.

I remember when Billy Davies got his jotters we got some mad CV's sent in that included Marius Lacatus and Walter Zenga, both of whom went on to manage loads of clubs. I honestly don't know who I'd plump for the role but some of the names being banded about are depressing.

Saturday was a watershed moment, I was gutted by how things turned out for Hammell but in all honesty, I couldn't see him recovering after the losses to St Mirren, St Johnstone, and Aberdeen who were all on stinking runs & we never laid a glove on them never mind the cup upset. I walked out of Stark's Park on Saturday not actually caring about the loss which is a sad state of affairs. I don't know why maybe it's just wishful thinking but I feel quite confident we will get a positive result on Wednesday night.

It was interesting reading a newspaper article there of Trevor Carson. Promoting the Sellick Midden SC tie he was just talking about his proposed move to Parkhead in 2018, apparently we had agreed a fee and he was essentially oot the door. We had agreed to get Freddie Woodman in on loan from Newcastle United but Aberdeen hijacked that move as the guy was on his way up the M74.

Ironically enough before the St Mirren game last week outwith games against the Old Firm in the LC Cup match and one around Xmas we were scoring just fine but chucking them in. You kinda hoped a solid defensive signing or two would have plugged the gaps and helped us on our way. It seems like this is Hammells, Mark McGhee watershed moment when his side got pumped against Dundee. It's unacceptable to have lost without laying a glove on Hibs, St Mirren, St Johnstone and Aberdeen who were all on horrible form.

Not even had a sniff at goal yet.