crazylegsjoe_mfc

Conceding a cheap goal from a set piece. Equalising to draw at home. Only one of the defence finishing the game in the position he started it. I think I've seen this film before. As has been mentioned, Gent played some fantastic crosses all afternoon. I'm loathe to criticise Bair when he's been so good for us, especially on an afternoon where he's scored another vital goal, but surely we should be working on him (and others) being in the right place to capitalise on these. The one where Gogic kicked fresh air was particularly frustrating. All in all I was pleased to escape that game with a draw if I'm honest. Even game but our slackness gifted them the better chances.

I wasn't a massive fan of Woolery, but it seemed to me like we waited on him coming good and then dropped him, but that was prime Alexander for you.

Mega bust is very harsh. I wasn't disappointed to see him go, but he never got a run of starts and scored three very crucial league goals which all won us points. However, I do concede that any good was undone by wearing number 99 and taking corners (badly) despite being 6ft plus.

It's easy for us to say now that Bair has hit a bit of form, that we identified him as a player who we could transform into the player has become. It could be that we did actually sign him as a squad player and he's been given the platform to flourish due to the fact he's remained fit and available for selection when all of our other striking options haven't. The truth is probably somewhere in between. On his worst day this season, I still thought his graft and attitude brought something to the team. It is quite funny to see everyone associated with St. Johnstone Football Club tying themselves in knots at the suggestion his performances last season may have been something to do with them and not only him. As for Mandron, I know last season he perhaps wasn't the most graceful striker we've ever seen, but he did a decent job as foil for KVV. I said in the summer that for availability's sake alone, I would have kept him instead of Obika. Had we done so, we probably wouldn't have needed to sign Oli Shaw either. I wouldn't have expected him to get double figures right enough, so fair play to him. However, I wouldn't say it's strictly comparing apples for apples with his 10 to Bair's 11. I think the League Cup group section can certainly inflate a player's goal return for a season these days, see Elliott Frear for us as an example. Of course, we all use all competitions when it suits our narrative and league only when it suits our narrative, but I think these days the latter is a more accurate marker.

Tell me something good, tell me that you love me. That guy.

I'd be delighted if we managed to sign an attacking midfielder this summer on a two-year deal, if they could produce those numbers and then leave for free at the end of it. He's definitely done his bit for it.

Football has become so numbers and data focused that the chances of us keeping an out of contract attacking midfielder with 11 goals and 9 assists are pretty much nil. Hearts is a perfect move for both parties. He gets a decent hike in wages without having to move a young family. Hearts get a low risk singing or a proven player in the division who won't cost the earth, when they don't have many players otter than Shankland scoring or assisting frequently. He was good enough last season, that he didn't need to commit to a new deal in the summer. When we sign players of his age on two year deals, a player generally isn't good enough to be offered an extension half way through, or too good to need to sign the deal he's offered.

Whilst theoretically I may agree with you, if the on field ref is agreeing with the omnipotent in well over 99% of cases, isn't the time spent making the decision more of a drain on the game than who is making it?

I honestly don't speak to anyone who still thinks VAR is a good idea. I don't watch enough of any other league to know how bad VAR is there. But poor decisions we saw one referee make on the spot prior to VAR, we still see regularly made after the live review, a subsequent review in an office and a further review on the field, killing time, momentum and enjoyment. The only things it has benefited are absolutes - offside, goal line technology etc. If I was offering any suggestions on how to improve it - why don't they cut out the on field review by the referee? I know there have been a few since, but weren't we stuck on one instance of Willie Collum sticking to his guns for ages? I don't know why they're so hung up on the match referee being the one making the decision. Sadly, I can't see it disappearing from Scottish football. Now it has been implemented across most of the top leagues, if Scotland was the first to reverse it due to our inability to run it properly, it would be a major riddy for those in power. To add insult to injury, it has also turned my leisurely stroll for the 17:26 train home into a powerwalk.

I've been baffled by his substitutions on multiple occasions myself, but bizarrely we would be 10 points worse off if it wasn't for goals and assists from substitutes he's made. That obviously requires lots of context and it's harder to capture data from subs which haven't worked, but I bet if ever questioned on his subs, he would have a 20 minute screed prepared on that. Incase anyone is interested the 10 points are: Hibernian 2-1 (H) - Mika scores and assists from bench (3 points) Kilmarnock 2-1 (H) - Paton scores winner from bench (2 points) Ross County 3-3 (H) - All three goals scored by subs - Mika, Wilkinson, Ross (1 point) St. Johnstone 2-2 (A) - Gent assists equaliser from bench (1 point) Celtic 1-1 (A) - Obika scores equaliser from bench (1 point) Dundee 3-3 (H) - Wilkinson scores from bench (1 point) St. Johnstone 1-1 (H) - Bair assists Mika from bench (1 point)

They only way they could ever achieve consistency with the handball rule would be to make it a handball, regardless of where and how it hits anyone's hand. At least you'd know where you stand. Any improvement they attempt to make to the laws just make them more ambiguous.

To play devil's advocate to your points, if Miller had ran his race on Saturday, I would have sooner brought Davor on for him in a straight swap. I'd rather have had the league's player of the month higher up the pitch in attacking positions, than a rookie. I'd also then sooner have a player used to playing as a sitting midfielder there, rather than one whose best attributes certainly don't lie there. It's quite clear we are never going to change our shape, so I'm an advocate of replacing a sitting midfielder with a sitting midfielder, a wing back with a wing back, etc etc.

Against Celtic, I think he got the substitutions wrong. Against Aberdeen, I think it was mainly the starting lineup. If you ever have to sub two of your centre backs without injury or change of formation, you have to take a long hard look at why you selected that team in the first place. Blaney had to play at Ibrox because Gent was ill and Devine was ineligible. If him playing on Saturday had us arguably with five centre backs in a row against Aberdeen at home, then Ketts should have had the balls to bring him in and say "well done at Ibrox, but you're on the bench today".

Craig Reid's biggest crime was tapping the ball in, John Sutton done the assaulting.

I posted similar after the Celtic game, but the tinkering of personnel whilst remaining stubbornly loyal to the system does baffle me. Yesterday, only Bair and Kelly started the game in the position they finished it. I honestly struggle to think of a game where there are nine positional changes that wasn't a pre season friendly, or this Motherwell team.

Agreed. One of the things that really annoys me in football is this notion that you can't change a winning team. I know that Davor dropped out, but a back five to play Rangers at Ibrox, isn't always going to be your most appropriate back five to play a struggling Aberdeen at home. Especially when all your width comes from full backs, I'd say today's wing backs are more centre backs at this stage of their careers too.

The takes on this thread are laughable. McGregor has been outstanding in a Scotland shirt in the past few years. We have a shape / formula that works, there's no need to be pigeon holing anyone into the team. Having Ferguson as a sub is a nice problem to have. The talk of moving McGinn or McTominay to accommodate him is crazy. Both have been pivotal for us behind the striker - so much so it's prompted McGinn's club manager to play him further forward. The suggestion of moving McTominay to striker is outrageous. His late midfield runs were great last campaign - you lose all of that when you put his back to goal. Our starting XI at the moment is balanced, settled and has players largely playing in their favoured positions. Let's keep it like that.

I remember that shop well. I remember getting a diadora trackie with lumi and purple tints from there Wishy market was another haunt for me. I got a Lazio (if I knew then what I knew now etc), Ajax and that turquoise quarter Liverpool away top from there. Went on holiday that summer (about 7) and a woman saw me wearing my Ajax top at the park and spoke to me in Dutch. Absolutely shat myself.

Thanks mate - just checked it out. I'm a lanky guy and no longer in my prime fitness years so I think a small is out for length and width. A wee bit tempted to still just buy it and put it in a drawer

This one for me. My aunt bought me it as a third birthday present. Infant kits weren't really a thing then I don't think - it was a small boys kit with very carefully cut sleeves and bottom to fit a three year old. The next to I had afterwards were the claret and amber pinstripe away and the black away kit which had two white bands - for some reason I've got a mad attachment to that kit. It wasn't worn by a particularly good team, it's not that nice a kit and by the time I'd got it cheap in Sports Division in Brandon Parade we'd even stopped using it, yet I'm desperate for an adult size one to come up online somewhere. Bizarrely, here is me pictured with Jose Quitongo in it.

One of my early channel five memories is seeing Mikko Kaven playing for Valerenga (I think) against Chelsea, shortly after he left us. I also remember shortly afterwards the Liverpool v Barcelona UEFA cup semi being delayed by 15 minutes to accommodate the longer "who shot Phil Mitchell" episode of EastEnders. European football used to be great back then. Both the UEFA cup and the Cup Winners' Cup had their USPs and winning the cup held more importance back then. Watching a game in September or October where the teams were going for it was class, compared to now where we have the Champions League and two lesser versions of it.

I guess it gives us nine games to suss him out and one more season isn't too much of a travesty on top of that if it doesn't work out. There is probably an option taking him to year 2026 if we don't get relegated, of course.

I had some time to kill so I worked all of this out. In terms of league goals scored, we are actually significantly ahead on this stage last season and ever so marginally ahead on how we finished. I was pleasantly surprised also to discover we are two points better off than we were at this stage last season. However, there is the massive caveat that I really do not see this team, as much as we may be improving, winning 6 and drawing 2 of the final 9 games, scoring 17 goals in the process. To answer your question about assisting your own goal, some places considering being fouled for a penalty an assist - so under those rules, Mika assisted himself against Ross County. They're never awarded with both though. This season: 29 games 41 goals - 1.41 goals per game. Last season: 38 games 53 goals - 1.39 goals. Last season (at this point): 29 games 36 goals - 1.24 goals. This season: 1. Bair (11 / 41) - 26.8% 2. Spittal (7 / 41) - 17.1% 3. Biereth (6 / 41) - 14.6% 4. Wilkinson (3 / 41) - 7.3% 5. Vale (2 / 41) - 4.9% 6. Mugabi (2 / 41) 7. Casey (2 / 41) 8. Slattery (1 / 41) - 2.4% 9. Obika (1 / 41) 10. Halliday (1 / 41) 11. Paton (1 / 41) 12. Nicholson (1 / 41) 13. Blaney (1 / 41) 14. Devine (1 / 41) 15. Ross (1 / 41) Last season: 1. Van Veen (25 / 53) - 47.2% 2. Spittal (6 / 53) - 11.3% 3. McKinstry (4 / 53) - 7.5% 4. Slattery (4 / 53) 5. Johnston (3 / 53) - 5.7% 6. Tierney (2 / 53) - 3.8% 7. Efford (1 / 53) - 1.9% 8. Solholm (1 / 53) 9. Moult (1 / 53) 10. Mandron (1 / 53) 11. Goss (1 / 53) 12. Obika (1 / 53) 13. Mugabi (1 / 53)

He's on 11 goals and 9 assists in all competitions this season. One more assist makes him the first player to get double figures in both since Lionel in 2013/14. If he'd got the same "numbers" as last season (6 goals / 7 assists) I'd have been more than happy with that return. Him being just as good lately you can probably attribute to him not having to play wing back or as a deep lying midfielder.

I stand to be corrected if necessary, but can anyone point me in the direction of a challenge involving a Scottish team other than Celtic or Rangers that Sue Smith and Stephen Warnock have analysed?