Scottydog

The former I'm resigned to, of the latter I'm massively doubtful. ........and to prove the point

A truly brilliant result for us if not the smoothest of performances, gritty but certainly not great, but hey at the end of the day I'll take a win no matter how ugly. On the plus side we defended well after a very shaky 20 min spell where we were all over the place, defenders and midfielders chasing shadows allowing the Jags to simply pass and cut right through us. Our defending at this stage was chaotic and Murray in particular was caught out of position and generally looked like a headless chicken. Thankfully things improved drastically, we scored and it seemed to throw Partick into disarray. Hamilton should have found the net at least once (the header should have been lobbed in), but it was funny when their keeper collided with him, the BBC pics showed that Mitchel swung his left leg into Hammy but only seemed to do far more damage to himself than the striker. Easton didn't exactly have a shocker but he wasn't great, much the same for Connolly and Stants who couldn't seem to get a foot on the ball. Broony and Dicko were the pick of our backline defensively but at the opposite end Murray did at long last what we've seen him do before, his header was O'Riellyesque (v Pars), more of the same please son. The other Brown (James) had his best game for us so far, yet why am I still not 100% convinced in him? Big Kev had a good game making several good stops, catching a cross and generally looking quite solid, that said I think he misjudged the header at the end thinking it was sliding past. Turner had his best game for us tonight too imo, the ball for the header was sweet as a nut. My MotM was Ross Matthews, he looked back to his old self tonight always seeming to be in the right place at the time and making the right passes. If that blue card idea ever comes to pass I'd wager that the rugby tackle that McBeth made would be the sort of challenge that would likely merit one. I've seen the Firhill surface worse in the past, much worse but that was when Clyde or Hamilton were sharing or possibly even when Glasgow Warriors were there. Tonight it looked lumpy as f**k, several times the as the ball bounced it jumped or inexplicably died, it looked a nightmare to play on. Largely Rovers snuffed out their danger men and as said earlier if Lawless isn't on it they look a wee bit toothless, Brian Graham is still a right good player but his talents are fading some. Rovers were at sixes and sevens, Jags only at fives and sixes on a scale out of ten.

At six foot five inches there shouldn't be a ball flies through the 6 yard box that Dabrowski doesn't claim, and by that I mean catch not slap or punch. If Robbie Thomson can't teach him to come off his line and command his area then we'd be better to have O'Neill in goal. I had him as guilty for the Ayr equaliser last week, but that was nothing compared to Friday night. Shape up or ship out. Also not absolved from blame is Ian Murray, his signing of defenders has been absolutely woeful and his use of substitutes in the last few games highly questionable.

Right. Both teams pretty pish! Rovers need to keep the ball on the deck more, long and high balls ain't it! It's not quite anti-football but it's horrid to watch. Now teams that repeatedly foul to break down opposition attacks and employ a similar long ball game, then trump it by again, again and again having a long throw expert taking his own sweet time to stroll the width of the park to deliver his (very good) shy is not fun to watch. A poor advert for football all round. I don't blame Imrie (it'd be like blaming a dog for being a dog) nor do I blame the Morton team, they are effective in what they do, you play to your strengths even if it is awful to watch. Who I do blame Ian Murray, both for his set up and selection, we were poor and deserved no more than we got, a draw flattered both sides if it was possible to award no points at all for a game this would have been a nae pointer! I talked to a Morton supporter post game who told me that was Mortons worst performance in weeks if not all season, I was glad for him as it'd be soul destroying if it wasn't.

Dowds should have been carded for the challenge on Ashcroft, it was a shocker.

Millen was training by himself when I was at SP at 1.30pm, he had 2 coaches with him, neither of whom were Murray or Mickey. I don't see him playing for Rovers again.

Their Scott Brown still has nightmares about Ross Matthews.

Well, either that or he really is a donkey!

While I take your points onboard I felt defensively we were still a bit shaky, we still lack height (all over the park where we still get bullied) and every set piece around the box was a heart in mouth moment for me, as was every time they came down our right, Brown couldn't stop them coming through, but hopefully he'll come good. I can't recall Rudden winning much in the air against the Utd center backs, as such I actually though Hamilton did a bit better in tat respect. It was a night with no real failures though if anyone could be singled out as slightly disappointing it would IMO be Mullin who really should have put at least one of his chances away. Goodwin can bleat about Ruddens goal all he likes, there was no definitive camera angle, the linesman had the best view and he never saw it as an offside, nor I think did any of the Utd players as not one appealed for offside. The Bold Jimmy G also conveniently didn't give an opinion of United's goal, Dick and Holt are grappling with each other but the main difference is Holt's hand in Dick's face, that's a foul 9 times out of 10.

Yet Hamilton have Tumilty. I see RT got subbed at halftime on Saturday, has he fallen out with his manager too?

I don't miss the dust. That grey ash that was on the ground between the railwat sleepers used to be a pain, I'd get a row for kicking it up and going home with trainers and the bottom of my jeans mawkit. If you were behind the goals and a goal was scored you'd see clouds of dust coming out from under the roof like smoke........maybe it was fag reek!

Sounds about right for the Rovers, a club with limited defensive options sending an experienced defender out on loan just to get rid of him. Maybe it's the Manager of the Month curse, but since Murray got his contract extended we've been poor, maybe it's Murray that handle the pressure not the team. Tonight I'd go: Big Kev Millen, Watson, Murray, Dick Brown, Byrne Connolly, Vaughan, Stanton Hamilton. Leaves you with a lot of good attacking options off the bench, Rudden, Easton, Smith, Turner, McGill, Matthews, and defensive cover in Brown, Corr, Masson & Hannah. By the time you factor in a goalkeeper two of theses guys are gonna miss out entirely. My bet is Hannah and Masson, although I'd prefer it to be Corr that misses out.

I think if the home end of the R/W stand was open it'd be full of season ticket holders, it's where mine used to be. Perfect solution would be to re-open that section (won't happen) and set up a rear corner/quarter as the standing / singing section.

Interesting! Cringeworthy as it definitely is, I I were you I'd be far, far more concerned with what is happening within the bowels and outhouses of power in thon stand on the Halbeath Rd.

t'is true, our new CEO Elmer said it's too Whisky..........and he should know, he's a Fudd.

Whiskey is only spelt that way in Ireland and the USA. The Scot's, Japanese, Indians, Canadians, Welsh, English and everywhere else spells it the right way. Scotch is an entirely American description of Whisky or an ignorant Englishman's description of a Scot'sman.

While each of them were with us? Yes. Which one would I want back tomorrow? Different story entirely.

Interesting (if unsurprising) that there's so many different takes on our fullbacks/defenders. Here's mine IMO the best defender we've had in recent years is MacDonald, a great LB and a decent centreback if required, after that it's all centre backs, O'Riordan, then Anderson and possibly O'Rielly, and before that you're heading way back to the early days of Bene and Toshney. I'd agree that neither Dick nor Millen are great at defending but then again as I recall neither was Tumilty! He was great going forward but got ripped a new one too frequently. Watson has zero pace and is caught out over short distances, Corr is vastly inexperienced, Masson inexperienced and never gets a look in (despite some excellent performances), Hannah still an unknown quantity as is Jimmy Broon. In case you're wondering Euan Murray is and always has been imo 1 notch up from useless as far as I'm concerned. Promotion or not I'd say it's 4 slots that need better quality than what we've already got, not that any of the current lot should be in possession of that information at this time. If the defence isn't galvanised quickly and this inability to keep a clean sheet continues I can see big Kev losing more of his confidence too, now there's a scary thought. Cat amongst the pigeons time. Far all that the crowd seem to think the sun shines out of Easton's arse I'm not the worlds biggest fan of DE, admittedly he's occasionally unstoppable, absolutely red hot, but far too often he's tepid and has been colder than a witches tit since before Christmas (Tannadice), add to the fact he's frequently petulant and although he has the undoubted ability to score worldies seems to have too many days where he wants to beat the world but can't, and then when he realises he isn't Messi he disappears as his confidence nose dives. We need a bit more physicality in the side. Battling wise Vaughan is decent but having him, Easton and Connolly in the same side is meat and drink to teams like Airdrie and ICT with big physical players. Over all it's a team game and we have some really really good players though admittedly a few not quite so good, and that's fine as long as they all fight for everything and each other, nothing much has changed team wise since before Christmas other than we've not got the same fight and we're not winning.

Your 8 days too late, that line's already been quoted. Let's face it, anyone who's name is on such a list will be history regardless of the league we're in.

Depressingly this rumour is probably true, the other rumour being that our manager is becoming more and more distant from the players (and other staff). Both rumours if true would certainly lead to serious unrest in the dressing room. You'd like to think this all new and improved RRFC is now too savvy, too slick an operation to commit what would potentially be promotion seeking Hari Kari. Sadly I think the dramatic difference in the level of commitment on the field since the Tannadice game lends weight to the rumours. Just how pathetically amateur would you have to be to accidentally inform a bunch of the very guys on whom you're relying to do the business for you, that they wont be here even if we do go up? The sliding tackle Millen put in against Moult typified the mentality of the Rovers teams pre-christmas, other than a O'Rielly's willingness to get stuck in against the Pars and one very good defensive block by Dick against Airdrie there's not exactly been too much of that determination on show since. In an acknowledged tight knit squad if something has come out to rock the boat you can see how it'd affect not just the ones who would now know they're gonners but also their mates who probably thought their employers were better than that. I hope not, but I wouldn't be surprised if: Matthews, Masson, McGill Corr, Arnott, Dick, Watson, Millen and Ross are all end of season contract casualties. In my opinion it's too many to loose and I'd like to see some given more of a chance, I just fear that wont happen.

I heard you'd had this changed this to a Popcorn fund, no?

The stark change from the team displays of willingness and fight in and leading up to the win in Dundee in mid December, to the displays of the last few games (no bodies being thrown at the ball etc) makes you wonder if there's something happened that's upset the dressingroom. I missed the Airdrie game and had to settle for BBC's showing, I've since heard that after Murray brought on our 4th sub (Byrne for Easton) with 15 mins still to go, Matthews got up out the dugout and marched to the dressing room, did this really happen the way it sounds? The whole vibe doesn't exactly seem to scream harmony.

That's you opinion not everyones. Byrne has been off it for a few weeks and sold the 3rd goal last weekend. Brown was excellent up until Christmas but has been poor since, both are good players but Matthews whilst still a CDM adds a more attacking threat. Just possibly you could have played all 3 tonight and he midfield would have had a platform to build from instead of hopeful balls down the channels and flicks.

Not even sure Stanton returning can turn the tide. Not enough desire in that lot and not enough quality / ability to defend. Too many of our guys are lightweights, which make you wonder why we don't keep the ball on the deck and play a more passing game, perhaps they've forgotten how to. As Renton said we had no foothold in midfield and as a result were resorting to long balls into the channels and flick ons neither of which worked. Ian Murray has to hold his hand up and not peddle the same pish as last week. If I hear "we were much better but it didn't fall for us" he can GTF.

Oh dear. Disappointing? Hugely Surprising? Not so much. I reckon the difference between the team before Xmas and now is desire. At Tannadice guys were throwing themselves at everything, something we've not seen since. Tonight's defence again didn't have the fight, want, desire whatever. The midfield was too attack minded. 12 shots at goal only 2 on target and neither troubling the keeper. Meh!