Dundee United Away 27/03/10

[siebsbarmyarmy]

Just in from the game. Took just over an hour to get back to Bellshill from Dundee, which is the best point of the day and I am totally scunnered.

 

First 15-20 mins we were excellant, got the ball down and moved it very well, creating a few chances/corners etc. Just unfortunate that the ball didnt break in the box to a Well player. Murphy then missed a very good chance with the head and we had a goal chopped off for offside, I cant comment if it was the correct decision or not mind you.

 

Then the telling point in the game, a clear red card for the lad Dixon, terrible tackle, studs high on O'Brien in what was clearly retribution for a tackle bye JOB a couple of mins before. 2 mins later Dillon went right through the back of JOB in a clear foul and nothing was given and that set the tone for Utd to bully and hassle our players for the rest of the game.

 

From then onwards it was all downhill, we played pish after that. No creativity, no pace. The ball was played from side to side and back to front. Sutton playing wide left and leaving Murphy/Juke to battle against Webster and Lurch(kenneth) in the centre defence for Utd.

 

We struggled to string passes to gether, team looked lethargic, off the pace, uninterested even.

 

Too many times we tried short intricate passes aganst a hard working Utd midfield and we made Bauben, Swanson and Conway look like fucking world beaters.

 

The less said about there 2nd and most important goal the better, Ruddy made a complete fucking howler.

 

In all I would be struggling to give passmarks to anybody in the team today after the 20 min mark, nobody played well. Really really disappointed.

[Orinoco]

typical motherwell today. No suprise Utd's first came from a set piece, and thereafter we are chasing the game against 10 players who upped their work rate, sat back and waited for their next opportunity, which was duly delivered. One of those days that happens to us alot! especially when things are looking up.

 

To say we are out of the race for european football is nonsense. Utd wont be as lucky again, Hibs are as up and down as us. Hearts are terrible against everyone but Hibs. Will hearts gain 8 points more than us to the end of the season. Can't see it.

 

Our players just need to roll up their sleaves and work even harder.

[Welldaft Mk1]

Just back in too. The post above sums it up perfectly. 11 v 11 we looked the better team.

 

Why oh why can we NOT play against 10 men

 

I think we got our answer to whether the break would help or not. Utd were more up for the game and we looked lethargic. We were unlucky with a couple of offside decisions which may well have been correct, but both times the ball ended up in the net.

 

Murphy should have put us 1-0 up and it might have been a different game.

 

Disappointed but not downhearted. I would have jumped at Top 6 after Gannon left and we are there. We still need to play Hibs and Utd again, but in all honesty I think on today's performance 5th is as good as it will get. Let us at least try to say ahead of Hearts.

 

Let's also hope United perform like that against Raith in the Cup.

 

We need to see what the team and Craigie Brown are made of and get back on track against Falkirk.

[DunnyMFC]

We were going to lose at some point. Disappointed with the score but were still in the run for Europe. Roll on Falkirk

[nethertonwellfan]

This is now the big test for the Brown Knox management team. How do we come back from such a crushing defeat? Do we now go on a bad run and finish the season with a wimper in 6th place or do we go on another unbeaten run and steal one of the 2 (maybe 3) europa league places?

 

Let's hope it's the latter but whatever happens I think we have had a very good season considering where we were in June.

[Tweed]

Not sure about the red card decision but it certainly turned the game. United became less expansive as soon as Dixon was off and as such soaked up the pressure we had better and all of a sudden gave themselves and out ball which they didn't have. We did not react to this. We should have been passing the ball from side to side and as high up the pitch as we could manage so they were chasing and wasting energy. This would have tired them out and then we could have had more benefit of Humphrey.

 

By not doing this and allowing them to play it meant that they got a succession of set plays and they are better than us at that and it was no surprise that they scored from one of them. Second goal was a real bit of bad luck. Ruddy seemed in complete control and then the ball seemed to bounce badly in front of them and all of a sudden Bauben had a sitter. To be fair to him he did well in the game of cat and mouse.

 

Of course before the goals we had one disallowed. Crowded box absolutely impossible to tell if it was a good call or not. And then another one right after half time. That goal had it stood would certainly have had them asking questions of themselves. We had a spell then but our atacking just wasn't on it today and from another scuff they broke and scored a game and the game was killed stone dead.

 

With the offside goals and the jammy second one we did not get the breaks today, did not play that badly but to me our tactics were wrong the moment Dixon went off. Houston reacted and Brown did not. And while we were not as bad as 3-0 suggests we were off peak. A good reaction is key now. Don't kid on, next week will be a tough game. In seven games we need to gain fourteen on Hearts - not losing the game between us should be enough!

 

Poor today overall though, after such a good start.

[Brazilian]

Very dissapointed with that performance today

 

Just watched the Red card decision again and reckon he had to go, clear retribution for J'OBs earlier high boot,

 

We started quite brightly as well, looked to be on top, although you could see a lot of stray passes and sluggish performers

 

even after the sending off we had a few chances to get in front, Jamie will be gutted he missed a clear chance with the header

 

the first one that was chopped off was never offside but it might have been given for handball

 

After that Houston earned his money as did the Utd players, reading back in the thread Shaka was closest with his views only thing he had worng was that Utd were treating it like a training match, more like we were, Utd chased and harried for everything never treated anythting as a lost cause.

 

We however hand more than a handful that had a terrible hour, loose passes and no tracking back or wanting far to much time on the ball or in Jims case always trying to beat one more man then losing it.

 

Broony never reacted to the warning signs, The Duke and Sutton in particular looked miles off the pace (not really sure what Suttons role was today?)

 

their first was a classic Motherwell defensive blunder from Sutton sleeping and letting his man away for the setpiece

 

the second was atrocious from where we were, (just about to be shown on Alba)

EDIT: Oh Dear! just watched it on Alba, howling mistake and far too casual, his best saves at tannadice and now his worst mistake, still he's a top class young keeper and Bauban was clever and showed good footwork to rob and finish it.

 

and after that too many of out players were blowing out their arses when we should have had all the energy

 

third was a sucker, although at the game I reckoned there had been four or five players had the chance to break down their attack from us losing the ball in their box

[Yabba's Turd]

How do we come back from such a crushing defeat?

crushing?

 

Shit happens. You deal with it.

[Pepper]

started well

 

united had a man sent off

 

we stopped playing and they started to work twice as hard

 

they scored from a set piece, then from a howler by our player of the season - which you can't legislate for.

 

we had plenty of possession but never looked like scoring or even troubling their keeper

 

they scored on the break as we let someone wander through the middle of the park unchallenged.

 

Very poor performance all round.

[Neil]

Terrible performance to a man no body looked interested or up for it in any way whatsoever- think that week off may have been a huge mistake as it's sapped all our momentum.

 

Can't really pick anyone for pass marks which is very poor considering we did have a good opeing 15 mins then they went down to 10 and instead of taking the game by the throat we went into our shell and didn't ever look like re-emerging.

 

Dundee United were very physical today, that baldy unevolved twat Kenneth got away with murder, as did Webster who had 3 off the ball swipes at 'Well players and got away with each of them, how the United fans could be up in arms about that red card is beyond me, clear as day he went in studs in the stomach with no intent to play the ball, a disgraceful challenge and one which I hope will result in a lengthy ban.

 

Here's hoping this was just a blip in our great run but I worry that we've lost our momentum and are going to gradually slip back in the chase for 3rd/4th.

[steelboy]

a lot of folk with strong opinions on this thread based on fuck all. the team got clapped off from most who were there at the end (quite alot) today, those who want to point fingers should put money where their mouth is.

 

we started well had two or three or good chances to score and were well on top. after dixon got sent off it became a bit more even but we had the chance to take control with murph's header and he missed it. we had two goals chopped off the first one i'll have to see but the second one looked like it could have been a pen to us. need to see them again but i hope the refs were right or i'll be gutted.

 

their goals were a set piece, ruddy fucking up and a breakaway where all our defenders went to the left and because hateley was the only one back at the corner no one was covering our right. there were half a dozen incident's that decided the game and we were on the wrong end of all of them, apart from that i thought we played pretty well. we could have done with subs sooner and two wingers when they went to ten men but after this run there's no way we can complain. it also looked like the juke fucked his groin after 30 mins but tried to play on which didn't help us.

 

my main impression of the game is that i hate united, i hate andy webster (he punched murphy in the baws away from play) and i hate levein. they are a bunch of hacking, dirty bastards with nothing going for them except for the fact they've got 20 big strong players and they leave they boot in from the start and try to set a physical tone. they're shite to watch, they cheat from start to finish, they're six million pounds in debt, they made a loss this year and we'll pump them at fir park. your average inbred dundonian might be impressed but anyone with half a brain can see they're a sham.

[Yir Elder]

A bad day at the office, that is what I'm hoping it will be. One bad result shouldn't detract from the excellent run we've been on, a defeat was always due. In fairness to MJC he got this one spot on!!

 

Today saw some unusually bad defending from us, and the less said about Ruddy's involvement in their second goal the better!

 

Its all the more difficult to explain after the very decent start we made, we passed the ball well and spread the play nicely. A bit of luck and we'd have been in front, but the red card changed everything, and our record against ten men is shocking!

 

We simply didn't utilise the extra man at all, and United bullied us and worked their socks off to their credit. We gave them their first two goals which put us on the back foot, and to be fair we never looked like recovering.

 

It was a bad yin but I'm confident we can recover next week.

[mfc]

poor showing all round apart from the first 15 minutes when we looked pretty dangerous but after utd went down to 10 men we fell away badly.the players looked flat as there was no urgency or pace about our play maybe no having a game last weekend knocked the players out there stride.i think ive utd beat hibs during the week then 3rd place will be beyond us so a draw there would be a good result with both of them having tricky games next weekend and if we can beat falkirk we could be right in the mix again.we never seemed to turn up for this game giving the importance of it is really diasappointing but giving the run weve been on we canny be to critical of the team

[Neil]

What exactly happened at their second goal?

 

I saw Ruddy seem to try and take a touch to himself, it rolled by him then the rest of it was blocked by some fanny in an orange jacket who refused to move, anyone clarify?

[Motherwell Football Club]

Can't be arsed looking but i'm assuming someone has defended Ruddy.

[Brazilian]

Ruddy was casual on his near post and tried to take a touch with his left foot to bring it across himself moving it away from Buaben

 

but his touch lifted the ball in the air slightly and back towards Buaben and he never recovered

 

Buaben then took it across the goal Ruddy chasing him, then as Buaben shaped to knock it towards goal, Ruddy threw himself to ground in an attempt to block, Buaben showed much more composure however and pulled it back across knocking it into the unguarded net

[Brazilian]

doesn't really show just how bad it was moments before his full set of studs were planted in J'OBs lower stomach area

[el-pidge]

Im just gonna view todays game this way... One more game down and hearts havent eaten into our lead. But Im a bit more anxious to see a Smellic v u-shited final than I was at the start of the game.

[Motherwell Football Club]

doesn't really show just how bad it was moments before his full set of studs were planted in J'OBs lower stomach area

 

Didn't realise that he penetrated O'Brien.

[that hat]

At least we're not Villa supporters tonight.

[Neil]

At least we're not Villa supporters tonight.

 

Speak for yourself

[Finlay]

Nope that only happens if the winner of the cup qualifies for the Champions League.

 

If the team that wins the Scottish Cup qualifies for the Europa League via the league as well, they will take the cup place (as it has a higher standing according to UEFA - in other words a later entry date) the next team in the league takes their league placement. If they end third, it would be 4th place which would leave 4th places position open to 5th. If they end 4th, it sill leaves it open to 5th place.

 

Saldy so do I Gaag but the main thing is the cup Semi Finals are before the first round of Post-Split Fixtures which means we'll know exactly where we need to end to reach Europe.

 

 

Can't add anymore than what has already been said about today. Instead, I'll turn my attention to the above quote? This true......just haven't seen this anywhere other than on this site. Hope it is. Celtic or Dun Utd cup win/we finish 5th......Europe here we come!!

[Wellfan1984]

Post 2, 5 and 14 - please be warned it is the Hearts forum but the guy also knows his stuff.

[Finlay]

Thought this was an interesting bit from the site Wellfan1984 linked to;

 

It's a different rule for the Cup winner being a Champions League entrant and a Europa League entrant;

-if the Cup Winner has qualified for the Champions League, it's the runner up that qualifies (unless they have already qualified through their league position),

-if the Cup Winner has qualified for the Europa League, the runner up does NOT enter the Europa League, the final place goes to the 5th place finisher.

 

So, from this, if Celtic beat Dun Utd in the Cup Final then a 5th place finish will get us into Europe. Also the same if Dun Utd beat Celtic. If Celtic beat Raith in the final, Rovers would qualify at the expense of the 5th placed team. If Dun Utd beat Ross County then we are in.

 

I imagine then the reasons that Dunfermline, Gretna, QOS, and Falirk have all made it in to Europe as Cup runners up recently, was due to the winning side having qualified for the Champions League. (Celtic, Hearts, Rangers X 2).

 

EDIT:

 

Noticed this post at the bottom of their thread;

 

The Scottish Cup winner will qualify for the UEFA Europa League Play Off Round.

The remaining teams are Celtic, Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Ross County.

If Celtic win their Semi Final against Ross County, the winner of the second Semi Final between Raith Rovers and Dundee United will be guaranteed to qualify for the Europa League providing Celtic qualify for the Champions League. If Dundee United win the Semi Final, 5th place in the SPL will enter the UEFA Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round providing Dundee United have qualified for Europe through the league, as it stands both Motherwell and Dundee United will each enter one round later - Motherwell QR3, Dundee United QR4.

If Ross County win their Semi Final, 5th place in the SPL will only qualify for the Europa League if Dundee United win the Scottish Cup and do NOT finish runner-up in the SPL. If Dundee United win the Scottish Cup and finish runner up in the SPL, Ross County will enter into QR2, with the SPL 4th placed team entering QR3 and Celtic entering QR4. If both Ross County and Raith Rovers win their Semi Finals, the Scottish Cup Winner will enter QR4.

[Psycho1991]

Are you and MJC the same person. Always so bloody negative.

Maybe negative but both spot on. 3-0 isn't such a shitty prediction now is it?