Scottish Cup Holders 2016 v Scottish Cup Winners 2017

[Boostin' Kev]

Ayr goal was a total fluke that ball could have ended up anywhere. 

[itzdrk]

3 minutes ago, Kool Keith said:

Ayr goal was a total fluke that ball could have ended up anywhere. 

[No_Problemo]

So 4-4-2 or a kind of 4-4-1-1 with someone just off a main striker?

I couldn't actually make it yesterday, just going by the radio commentary!

[yorkshirepud]

Same old dirty Ayr.

Ahem...

Red cards

As of matches played on 4 March 2017
Rank Club Cards
1 Dunfermline Athletic 5
2 Ayr United 3

[Mon Dieu]

9 hours ago, itzdrk said:

Was a really good goal from VL McGinn but Craig McGuffie's was a wee bit better

McGinn curled in a well-placed shot after setting himself up with a wonderful touch; McGuffie's strike was sublime.

Marciano only dived to get a closer look at it.

The low/reverse camera angle -

- when the ball drops into the top corner...

edited to add: it looks like Forster flicks a bit more spin onto the ball, sending it closer to the top corner - this voids the strike entirely.

 

 

16 hours ago, Alan Stubbs said:

Liked the look of Ambrose, had the cigar out all game. I rate our four main CBs as defenders at this level but three of them can't pass the ball out to save themselves and it does us no favours in this division. Think he'll add something in the final round of games.

It has become glaringly apparent this season, with long balls being a focal point of our movement forward. It's perhaps another area where Hanlon has been missed, albeit to a much lesser degree. The hoof & hope from McGregor, Fontaine & Forster brings back memories of Michael Nelson's cannonballs and Ryan McGivern's blasts to nowhere. Ambrose looks capable of hitting a decent ball up to a player rather our standard hoofs for Holt to collect and hold up, often out of position. (Holt is a necessity for our current corridor-width setup and driving range passing.)

I would much rather see Ambrose striding forward with the ball than Fontaine - whose touch is so heavy that each one becomes a 'fifty-fifty' with an opposition player.

 

10 hours ago, RiG said:

Weird moment when Cummings received the ball and, for seemingly no reason whatsoever, blootered the ball into the stand which led to a chorus of boos from some parts of Easter Road and a bunch of his team mates looking really confused.

I missed this at the time; Lennon is quite keen when it comes to sticking into Cummings, so I imagine it came after a period of prolonged pronging. Subbing him almost immediately after scoring a brace, on two occasions; digging into him during games then no acknowledgement afterwards; publicly berating his performance... I don't think Lennon's deprecating method of management is working well with Cummings as they both tend to mirror each other's tantrums. Cummings has a habit of disappearing and 'downing tools', but it is clear that he doesn't respond well to a lashing from Lennon during games.

Excellent summary, by the way; I agree with most of it, except the fawning over a former player and having them as your P&B avatar...

[Alan Stubbs]

What a fucking screamer that is. Tik a boo.

Don't really agree with the assessment that we weren't dominant enough. The attacking players were a bit wasteful (not picking out passes for sitters, extra touches etc) once they were in promising positions but we were playing into those situations all day at ease. We should've won by a bigger margin really. The match stats about match how I remembered the game, 61% possession and 17 shots to Ayr's 4. That's not any more impressive than it should be for Hibs vs a ten man for half the game Ayr team but it's pretty one way all the same.

11 minutes ago, Mon Dieu said:

It has become glaringly apparent this season, with long balls being a focal point of our movement forward. It's perhaps another area where Hanlon has been missed, albeit to a much lesser degree. The hoof & hope from McGregor, Fontaine & Forster brings back memories of Michael Nelson's cannonballs and Ryan McGivern's blasts to nowhere. Ambrose looks capable of hitting a decent ball up to a player rather our standard hoofs for Holt to collect and hold up, often out of position. (Holt is a necessity for our current corridor-width setup and driving range passing.)

I like the fact that McGregor knows he isn't a good footballer. Fontaine seems to think he's peak level Rio Ferdiand, which causes a lot more problems.

Ambrose will both make us a better team and have one or two horror show moments in the last round of fixtures I reckon. Completely different type of player obviously but has a bit of the Malonga relaxed look about him.

[Mon Dieu]

15 minutes ago, Alan Stubbs said:

I like the fact that McGregor knows he isn't a good footballer. Fontaine seems to think he's peak level Rio Ferdiand, which causes a lot more problems.

Ambrose will both make us a better team and have one or two horror show moments in the last round of fixtures I reckon. Completely different type of player obviously but has a bit of the Malonga relaxed look about him.

I think his heading could be the most frustrating aspect of all. He gets into great positions, often wins the ball, but he heads with a cuboid skull. The problem with McGregor playing more within his limits is that he needs the other to take responsibility in getting the ball forward. Hanlon and, to a lesser extent, Fontaine complement him; Forster tends to clash a bit more.

The game against St. Mirren was a bit of a concern, with neither McGregor or Ambrose taking the reins and spending large parts of the game unconvincingly passing between themselves. If we're keeping it narrow, I wonder if Ambrose would work well as part of a back three with McGregor & Forster?

[eez-eh]

12 hours ago, pandarilla said:

So 4-4-2 or a kind of 4-4-1-1 with someone just off a main striker?

 

First half was 

Fleming

Devlin Balatoni McKenna Meggatt

McGuffie Gilmour Docherty Boyle

Harkins Moore

Meggatt got caught out a fair bit at left back and Boyle didn't do too much in midfield. It was telling that our defence was much better when they were both playing in their preferred positions after the sending off.

[AyrTroopMajor]

Have to say, I was getting ready to play the victim card when I read AU Media's assessment of McKenna's red card: "Would like to see that one again". Made it sound controversial  It was absolutely disgraceful tbh.

Great goal by McGuffie, definitely a strong contender for goal of the tournament and hopefully a big confidence boost for him going into a vital stage of the season.

Well done to Hibs and absolute best of luck in the next round. Love watching John McGinn play and, regardless of what division he plays in, he's a must for the next Scotland squad.

 

 

[munro7]

To be fair, at the game I just thought it was late and was expecting a booking. It was only when I saw the highlights that I realised just how high it was and that it was quite clearly a sending off.
Thought the referee got most things right to be honest. The penalty's maybe arguable as to whether the foul was inside the box or not but as it's not even clear from the highlights I think it's fair enough that the penalty was awarded.

p.s. Aberdeen were clearly running scared of getting us in the semis and McKenna was acting on instructions!

[Zing.]

John McGinn. What a hero