stumigoo

I think that Harkes would be a very good player to work with for a manager. He seems like a very professional player in terms of his physical conditioning and his fitness level. I think the College system will have moulded him into that kind of all rounder and someone who is probably always keen to learn and causes absolutely no bother in the squad/dressing room. My fear is that he will not develop beyond his current ability levels and the truth, sadly, is that he isn’t someone we can rely on in the top-flight over the long term. A squad player in a strong team? I wouldn’t have an issue with that, but he isn’t the quality we need as a regular starter if we are to push into the top six and want to challenge. We absolutely need a ball carrier/possession retainer in the middle of the park (Fyvie-esque as has been mentioned). After that my priority would be a forward who can genuinely hold the ball up and do a lot of the physical work off the ball to allow Shankland a bit of freedom (a Safranko type player, although not necessarily him). We probably have enough to be in and around 8th or 9th, which given the current uncertainty isn’t a disaster. My wish is that by next August I can be sitting in my seat, watching Premiership football and for us to have a club that has been able to navigate through this crisis without too much damage. Beyond that I don’t really care where we finish or how we do it, as long as it is above 11th.

My first reaction when reading the headlines about the possible/inevitable cancellation of the Nat 5 exams were that the Gov’t are planning for either some more nationwide school closures (my gut instinct is that this will be highly unlikely) or the moving to a blended model, if and when it is needed regionally. Must admit, working in a school has felt incredibly ‘normal’ these last six weeks. Other than a few non-attenders, maybe slightly more than usual, we have been just getting on with things, which makes me feel like school closures are highly unlikely.

2 points off 4th. It’s coming.

Whilst I’m known as a Dillon fan, it does have to be said that for about 5 years he was as a dependable a fullback as you could hope for at this level. People’s judgement of him tends to be clouded by the form and performances from 2013/14 onwards. Can see why folk didn’t rate Dillon, he never really excelled at anything in particular, but he was a reliable performer during his first 5 or 6 seasons, which is a significant amount of time.

It’s maybe more that I went to every game home and away, and that has been the case for a number of years. Suddenly having all this time at the weekend has been a pleasant surprise!

They might still give Season Ticket holders first refusal as part of a ticket ballot. The more I think about things the more I realise I’ve maybe not missed attending games in the same way I thought I might. Don’t get me wrong I’d love to get back to games and miss away day trips, but to be honest it’s the first time in years I’ve ever felt very relaxed at the weekends in terms of having time to do things and spend time with the family. Being able to watch the games at 3pm and still be in your house, rather than spending time travelling to and from matches is actually a bit of a novelty right now. Personally, I’d prefer to just go back once we can have a really high percentage of fans back and I could sit near the people I normally go to games with. I thought I would miss going to games more than I actually am.

The chat on Twitter seems to be that United have either sent info to their hospitality season ticket holders or published something online (not sure where, have only seen a screenshot) suggesting that they believe less than 1000 is the current plan for limited fan entry. The message mentions that hospitality ST holders have priority with the remainder going to a general season ticket ballot.

I went back to the David Lloyd in Dundee tonight. They had promised no booking system needed, lots of space, sanitiser, signage etc, etc. Staff were welcoming and the changes they have made look okay but once I started I realised I would then have to leave. Every bench busy, every cardio machine being used, lots of gym floor traffic and people doing laps looking for equipment (also lots of pairs and people in small groups wandering about together). I'm not too wary of the safety stuff but after being so excited to go back and being promised so much by the club, the experience was absolutely dreadful and I am already drafting a strongly worded complaint!

He mentioned this during the RNC - “We will produce a vaccine before the end of the year.....maybe even sooner” I’m not sure if this was before or after he claimed he had supported and helped the African American population more than any other president since Lincoln. What a guy.

I hope there is a bit of that to our plan for this season and beyond. I don’t mind Mellon and the club giving the current group some games prove themselves, they deserve that opportunity given last season and the change of manager. Some have shown improvement and a few look like they can be of use in this league but we are desperately needing some real difference makers in this team. Yesterday was a performance that may have yielded a more positive result if we had a quality wide player, a genuine playmaker and/or a proper finisher on the field. We just seem quite naive on the ball at times and there are not really any players we can rely on for giving us a cutting edge. Having a chunk of the ball and generally getting into reasonable areas is something we have shown in these past few weeks and the players are definitely working their socks off, but we absolutely need reinforcements.

After a small rise in cases connected to the school, Kingspark in Dundee now closed for two weeks. With the level of physical support needed for the pupils (and with the Courier now reporting that a young person has tested positive) it is the right call. All staff and families connected to the school asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

Freeman was a bit lost in the first-half and looked nervous. The unfortunate thing for him, in comparison to Neilson, is that he is 20 and has spent years within an elite academy down south, I maybe expected a bit more from him based on that. Neilson comes on, is, I think, three years younger than him and the first thing he does is beat a man by walking the ball out of defence and then switches play without looking flustered in the slightest. Anyway, great win and even better considering we have Celtic, Killie and Rangers over the next few weeks.

Clark will deservedly get plaudits for his appearance but I thought we looked much more composed when Neilson came on. Shows what a team that keeps working hard can do. These types of games can swing in your favour if you just keep the energy levels high. Thought the first half was the poorest we’ve been but like the Motherwell game we didn’t stop working and just like Motherwell, County started poorly in the second half and never really got going. Given how thin our squad is looking this has been a great start to the season. Mellon and the players deserve a huge amount of credit.

United commentary team. Although last week their audio was out of sync so hopefully it is okay today.