Alibi

It was a pretty violent challenge, and one that seemed out of character for Murdoch, who is not a dirty player. It put Quitongo out of action for a few weeks, but Murdoch himself came off worse with ligament damage that has kept him out for the whole season.

Boyd left some time ago. Do keep up...

This "brutal" Morton thing is a load of nonsense. In reality we are not a team of tall, strong players and on more than one occasion this season we've been kicked off the park by opponents (Airdrie at Cappielow being one prime example). Part of our problem this season has been the number of injuries we have sustained - from Jai Quitongo being assaulted by the usually mild mannered Andy Murdoch to George Oakley being targeted by some double barrelled mutant from Monklands. I think Raith are more than capable of giving as good as they get in that respect. No idea what we'll be like on Saturday, whether we are trying as hard as possible to hang on to 5th and the extra prize money that means, or more likely with thoughts on a wee break in the sun before next season. Would be nice to beat Raith although in truth there isn't really anything vital to play for with this one as we're now safe and Raith are safe in second place. We will have Strapp and Wilson out which weakens our team considerably. I'm guessing a dull 1-1 draw but it's Morton so you never know.

That maybe says more about you than about VT...

Macdonald was leaking soft goals earlier in the season - against Raith and Dunfermline at Cappielow for example. As soon as Mullen got the jersey, we stopped conceding soft goals. Mullen has hardly made a mistake all season and his distribution has been pretty good - can kick some distance and with accuracy too. I'd rather have Mullen than Macdonald.

Couple? I don't think you've taken anything from us at Cappielow (in the league at least) since 1962. That's 62 years.

A target of top 16 doesn't mean we want to be 16th. It means we want to be 1st or close to it but recognise that world domination takes time. The statement could maybe have been finessed by saying that 1st or 2nd were not regarded as realistic due to the financial advantages clubs get from basing their appeal on bigotry, with the media largely going along with it, but it did at least make clear that relegation scraps every season are not acceptable. we are aiming upwards not downwards.

Have to say I can’t see the need to towel dry the ball with a damp towel for every throw in. Surprised referees haven’t shown any interest in keeping the game flowing.

If the rules stipulate a minimum of 5m clearance from touchline to hoarding, is that not sufficient for a run up to a throw in? How much room do you need? Especially as could presumably get a good start by pushing against the hoarding. I doubt the clearance from the Cowshed perimeter wall at Cappielow is any more than 5m, if it’s even that. if Partick didn’t have the required clearance from the touchline, presumably the referee should not have accepted the pitch as satisfactory for the game to start. Would be a laugh if they were penalised or told to play the game again…

On Oakley, I’m getting the impression he’s going to make a surprise appearance. The wording of the denials of any chance of him playing are a bit unconvincing. Could Imrie and Oakley be trying to mislead Hearts? I really hope so.

It's a pretty good summing up though. Hyphen boy should have had two reds; the rest of your team were content to play football in a reasonable manner. Had the ref done the right thing with the first assault, nobody would be complaining and Oakley wouldn't be injured.

I’m hoping Oakley is back in time for our next visit to Airdrie. I’d like to see him put that hyphenated p***k in hospital. Apart from assaulting Oakley, Taylor-Sinclair also should have seen red for his aerial assault on Crawford.

Good to have Jai back - as long as he is fully fit. The rest might have done him good. Mullen back is a huge boost with Macdonald not fully fit either.

Please stop digging. You clearly have a problem with Dougie for some reason. The rest of us don't. You are implying that Dougie wanted us to lose that game. That and your sycophantic love-in with Brian Graham are beyond the pale. Maybe best to take a few days off before you spontaneously combust.

I think the answer to that might be never if cup games are included. If they aren't, we certainly won 23 league games in a row at the start of the 1963-4 season (continuing on from winning the last three games the previous season) although that run was split by our loss in the league cup final if cup games are included, and also a loss to Celtic in the cup in about January 64. So in league games we can claim a 26 game winning run (no draws) but this current run seems to be the best ever when all competitions are included. It's certainly some achievement and I can see it continuing if our injured players are not out for the long term. Hearts on the horizon though, and it will be interesting to see how we get on against what looks like a very good team.