Plenty positives

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, jr ewing said:

Missing great chances to be top of this league. 

See what next week brings. We’re still in touch. Just need to find that wee extra edge. 

[jr ewing]

17 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

See what next week brings. We’re still in touch. Just need to find that wee extra edge. 

And a better starting XI.

[AlphonseCapone]

18 hours ago, tian447 said:

We just need a bit of work to turn the draws into wins.

 

We should have beaten Aberdeen the other week, but struggled to break them down.

 

We should have beaten Hibs last weekend, but just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net.  GMS had a one-on-one that should have won us that game by at least a goal, but I think the floodgates would have opened after anyone scored.

 

We should have beaten Ross County today, but defensively we were poor.  At one-nil up so early on in the game, we should have cruised it and the pressure would have been on the home side.  Instead, we immediately put the pressure on ourselves and it cost us what should have been a win.

 

Things are looking good, but they should be looking great.  We are still unbeaten in the League, but we really should be sitting higher up the table.  It's a disappointing feeling, but I'd rather that we were still unbeaten than sitting being upset about losing games.  It's easier to turn a team around from the position we're in, than to turn a team around that keeps getting beat.  Going out with an attacking intent this week was nice to see, but we need to start getting the ball in the back of the net more.

 

3 points next week would set us up nicely for the October fixtures.

 

 

Sums it up for me. Feeling better about our potential than I have in a long time but still conscious that it's only potential at this stage. 

[colinmaroon]

1 hour ago, LarrysRightFoot said:

I’ve said this a couple of times already but I really don’t know what some Hearts want for us.  

 

I would have expected Celtic to beat Livingstone, but they didn't. 

 

It doesn't matter what should have happened but, perhaps we'll approach our next game with a little less arrogance and realise the win we expect could be tough, even while anticipating that victory.

[Guest ToqueJambo]

53 minutes ago, jr ewing said:

Missing great chances to be top of this league. 

 

As is every team. That's how leagues usually go, aside from once in a while when a team goes on a missive run. Even then it's possible to be reigned in as we know all too well. Being up there is the important thing.

Edited September 19, 2021 by ToqueJambo

[jr ewing]

16 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

As is every team. That's how leagues usually go, aside from once in a while when a team goes on a missive run. Even then it's possible to be reigned in as we know all too well. Being up there is the important thing.

Opportunities missed. 

[GinRummy]

51 minutes ago, jr ewing said:

And a better starting XI.

I haven’t made many excuses for Robbie in the past but i don’t think he knows his best starting 11 yet or his best formation. If it takes him a few changes and a few games to sus that out then I’m ok with that. If he had stuck to the same tactics and personnel that sees such poor service to the forwards I’d probably be less patient.

[jr ewing]

3 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

I haven’t made many excuses for Robbie in the past but i don’t think he knows his best starting 11 yet or his best formation. If it takes him a few changes and a few games to sus that out then I’m ok with that. If he had stuck to the same tactics and personnel that sees such poor service to the forwards I’d probably be less patient.

He must know his best XI by now. He sees them train every day. 

[GinRummy]

1 minute ago, jr ewing said:

He must know his best XI by now. He sees them train every day. 

I think that only tells you so much. 

Edited September 19, 2021 by GinRummy

[Guest ToqueJambo]

53 minutes ago, jr ewing said:

He must know his best XI by now. He sees them train every day. 

 

He tried something different, possibly in response to accusations of not having enough of a go away. I enjoyed it - happy to see us have another go, but we seem much more solid with a midfield two of Beni and Haring.

[LarrysRightFoot]

2 hours ago, kingantti1874 said:

 

to win more games than our rivals

to always go out to try and win

to play well when possible 

to finish in the places we should be finishing 

and to show continual improvement

I would add win the league. I won’t be satisfied until we do. 

[LarrysRightFoot]

1 hour ago, colinmaroon said:

 

I would have expected Celtic to beat Livingstone, but they didn't. 

 

It doesn't matter what should have happened but, perhaps we'll approach our next game with a little less arrogance and realise the win we expect could be tough, even while anticipating that victory.

Re Celtic, you can see how their manager wants them to play but I think once teams work out how nullify them they might struggle more than usual. They will still win most of their games but I do think they could come unstuck a few more times. 

[jr ewing]

49 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

He tried something different, possibly in response to accusations of not having enough of a go away. I enjoyed it - happy to see us have another go, but we seem much more solid with a midfield two of Beni and Haring.

Even more with Devlin in there too.

[Guest ToqueJambo]

47 minutes ago, LarrysRightFoot said:

Re Celtic, you can see how their manager wants them to play but I think once teams work out how nullify them they might struggle more than usual. They will still win most of their games but I do think they could come unstuck a few more times. 

 

He might find himself in a bit of a Stendel (and even Cathro) position. Both sold themselves on this philosophy about how football should be played (attacking, good to watch, etc), despite most of their experience being outside Scotland, and were either reluctant to change it or incapable of changing it when it didn't work in our league. However he does have the money to implement exactly what he wants to do plus the other advantages every Celtic manager enjoys so doesn't really have any excuses.

Edited September 19, 2021 by ToqueJambo

[LarrysRightFoot]

9 minutes ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

He might find himself in a bit of a Stendel (and even Cathro) position. Both sold themselves on this philosophy about how football should be played (attacking, good to watch, etc), despite most of their experience being outside Scotland, and were either reluctant to change it or incapable of changing it when it didn't work in our league. However he does have the money to implement exactly what he wants to do plus the other advantages every Celtic manager enjoys so doesn't really have any excuses.

Don’t want to turn this into a Celtic thread but he’s only on a 1 year deal and the little I heard about him before he came was he only plays one way. 

[Thomaso]

I’m not a Neilson fan but credit where credit is due - that was as an attacking formation I have seen from him for an away game in years.

We didn’t sit back and kept pushing for goals.

On another day we win that game 5-2

[gregzy2k7]

33 minutes ago, Thomaso said:

I’m not a Neilson fan but credit where credit is due - that was as an attacking formation I have seen from him for an away game in years.

We didn’t sit back and kept pushing for goals.

On another day we win that game 5-2

Agree, i thought we were good in an attacking sense, just not clinical enough imo, I actually thought we dominated the game and were extremely unlucky not to win, country basically scored from there only 2 real efforts on goal and were just hitting us on the counter the whole game, I must admit though I feel we are more balanced and better defensively with 3 at the back, I would us to go back to that for the livi game, I still think that Cochrane and Kingsleys positions should be switched though, Kingsley offers more of a threat going forward, would love to see us try and get him on an extended deal. 

[Byyy The Light]

7 minutes ago, gregzy2k7 said:

Agree, i thought we were good in an attacking sense, just not clinical enough imo, I actually thought we dominated the game and were extremely unlucky not to win, country basically scored from there only 2 real efforts on goal and were just hitting us on the counter the whole game, I must admit though I feel we are more balanced and better defensively with 3 at the back, I would us to go back to that for the livi game, I still think that Cochrane and Kingsleys positions should be switched though, Kingsley offers more of a threat going forward, would love to see us try and get him on an extended deal. 

Kingsley at CB frees him to bring the ball forward and attack. Forces the opposition to make a decision. If you switch him with Cochrane then he’ll be marked. 

[gregzy2k7]

26 minutes ago, Byyy The Light said:

Kingsley at CB frees him to bring the ball forward and attack. Forces the opposition to make a decision. If you switch him with Cochrane then he’ll be marked. 

Yeah you might be right, maybe just get them to switch positions constantly during the match ?

[tynewater]

Some people get so worked up about one or two disappointing results, as if it means our season is over. In our nearly season of 85-86 we didn't really get going until we won 1-0 at Celtic in mid-October. We had 1 point after 3 games, which included a 6-2 defeat at Love St. We also lost 3-1 away to Rangers, 3-0 at Aberdeen, 2-1 at Motherwell and even 1-0 at Clydebank! Amazing that everyone wasn't sacked before we went on our long winning run, Kickback would have been in meltdown if it had existed.

 

I'm not saying we're going to win the league, but we've signed a lot of players, some of whom haven't had a lot of game time recently, and it's going to take a bit of time for them to get properly match fit and used to their team mates. I think this will be a good season, but there will certainly be more bumps along the road.

[maggieb]

12 hours ago, tynewater said:

Some people get so worked up about one or two disappointing results, as if it means our season is over. In our nearly season of 85-86 we didn't really get going until we won 1-0 at Celtic in mid-October. We had 1 point after 3 games, which included a 6-2 defeat at Love St. We also lost 3-1 away to Rangers, 3-0 at Aberdeen, 2-1 at Motherwell and even 1-0 at Clydebank! Amazing that everyone wasn't sacked before we went on our long winning run, Kickback would have been in meltdown if it had existed.

 

I'm not saying we're going to win the league, but we've signed a lot of players, some of whom haven't had a lot of game time recently, and it's going to take a bit of time for them to get properly match fit and used to their team mates. I think this will be a good season, but there will certainly be more bumps along the road.

Excellent summary tynewater ,bad ending but some brilliant memories,I thank you 🙏🏼 

[Hmfc1965]

23 hours ago, gregzy2k7 said:

Agree, i thought we were good in an attacking sense, just not clinical enough imo, I actually thought we dominated the game and were extremely unlucky not to win, country basically scored from there only 2 real efforts on goal and were just hitting us on the counter the whole game, I must admit though I feel we are more balanced and better defensively with 3 at the back, I would us to go back to that for the livi game, I still think that Cochrane and Kingsleys positions should be switched though, Kingsley offers more of a threat going forward, would love to see us try and get him on an extended deal. 

You mean apart from Callachan free in the 6 yard box?

I liked the attacking formation too but the defence was awful. 

[Guest ToqueJambo]

58 minutes ago, Hmfc1965 said:

You mean apart from Callachan free in the 6 yard box?

I liked the attacking formation too but the defence was awful. 

 

Meh. Gordon would of saved anything he got on target. We forced more decent saves from their goalie and missed even easier chances than that Callachan one. We very easily could have won by a few on another day.

[Arthur Morgan]

How on earth did Mackay Steven miss his chance? Absolutely awful finishing, it nearly hit the corner flag ffs! That's 3 sitters he's now missed, 1 vs Ross County, the one against Aberdeen (open goal) and the 1 on 1 vs Hibs (good save but should be scoring). Thing is, you can't say he's not contributed this season so far, he's won us 2 penalties, set up Boyce on Saturday, and scored against Celtic in the 1st game of the season. 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Arthur Morgan

[J.T.F.Robertson]

33 minutes ago, Arthur Morgan said:

How on earth did Mackay Steven miss his chance? Absolutely awful finishing, it nearly hit the corner flag ffs! That's 3 sitters he's now missed, 1 vs Ross County, the one against Aberdeen (open goal) and the 1 on 1 vs Hibs (good save but should be scoring). Thing is, you can't say he's not contributed this season so far, he's won us 2 penalties, set up Boyce on Saturday, and scored against Celtic in the 1st game of the 

 

His right foot is purely for balance and couldn't hit a coo's erse with a banjo.

I like some of the things he brings, but ffs!

 

[TheBigO]

On 18/09/2021 at 20:57, 1971fozzy said:

Let’s see how hibs and Aberdeen get on the next 5 games 

 

hibs play

v St Johnstone (h)

v Rangers (a)

v Dundee Utd (h)

v Aberdeen (a)

v Celtic (h)

 

Aberdeen play

v St Mirren (a)

v Celtic (h)

v Dundee (a)

v Hibs (h)

v Rangers (a)

 

we play

v Livingston (h)

v Motherwell (h)

V Rangers (a)

v Dundee (h)

v St Johnstone (a)

 

looking at the above the vermin and the sheep (aside from playing each other) have very difficult fixtures.  From our point of course no games easy but certainly 3 winnable at home and I’d be looking at a win in Perth (due one surely).

next 5 games will be very interesting for all 3 sides

Exactly - this is very pertinent.  We've had a pretty tough start and come through it well while bedding new players in and bringing some others back or through injuries and niggles (as other clubs are doing too tbf)

 

The way I look at these things is by comparison to our "rivals" (Hibs and Aberdeen this season I'd suggest) results in same fixtures.  At the weekend, Hibs drew against St M at home - we beat them away.  Neither Hibs nor Aberdeen have had a better result than us this season so far.  I think Hibs beat Ross Co, but at home, so a draw away tallies to an extent.

 

All that says is that we've come through 6 tough games pretty unscathed and with a 2pt/game average.  We now have 4 out of 5 fixtures which are on the easier side.  Maintain the 2pt average, so 3 wins, a draw and a defeat, and we're doing better than OK.  But I could see us bettering that.

 

A funny word banded around this mental board a lot is "acceptable" (or unacceptable).  I know that exact measure will be different for everyone, but it's important to big picture the thing.  How I look at it tends to be number of points over a season (and using your avg pts to gauge the course)

 

75+ amazing, very very rare

70-75 very very good - would like this to be where hit each season, but would buck history in doing so

65-70 good season, probably gets us 3rd

60-65 average, would need cup runs or some memorable moments to be deemed a good season

-60 below where we should be

 

At this moment in time, albeit very early in the season, but then having played some of our toughest fixtures, we're in that top bracket.  If we get through the first round of games and are still there, there is little to complain about.

 

I personally think Robbie got his team wrong on Saturday - just replace Smith with McKay, which instantly gives us more threat but also allows our defensive and midfield unit to keep solidifying as a unit - but when you think Woodburn, McKay and Devlin haven't in any real way impacted us positively as yet, you can easily say this team will only improve.

 

Pissing and moaning about us coming away from Dingwall with a point.  All a bit precious, really.

 

Long way of saying let's see where we are in a few weeks.  Until then, and at this moment, there is very little to moan about.  Nitpick, yes, I'm at it myself.  Groan and moan and get in to "unacceptable" territory.  Perhaps you need to look at our history as far as points attained each season and decide what acceptable means to you.

 

Last thing, in saying Hibs and Aberdeen are our rivals, I'm not ruling out the OF being our rivals.  Not at all - I hate that "let's go for third" attitude in Scottish football.  I want us to aim for 1st every year.  As far as expectations though - you can't use the OF as a fair metric of performance.

[marcus]

3 minutes ago, TheBigO said:

Exactly - this is very pertinent.  We've had a pretty tough start and come through it well while bedding new players in and bringing some others back or through injuries and niggles (as other clubs are doing too tbf)

 

The way I look at these things is by comparison to our "rivals" (Hibs and Aberdeen this season I'd suggest) results in same fixtures.  At the weekend, Hibs drew against St M at home - we beat them away.  Neither Hibs nor Aberdeen have had a better result than us this season so far.  I think Hibs beat Ross Co, but at home, so a draw away tallies to an extent.

 

All that says is that we've come through 6 tough games pretty unscathed and with a 2pt/game average.  We now have 4 out of 5 fixtures which are on the easier side.  Maintain the 2pt average, so 3 wins, a draw and a defeat, and we're doing better than OK.  But I could see us bettering that.

 

A funny word banded around this mental board a lot is "acceptable" (or unacceptable).  I know that exact measure will be different for everyone, but it's important to big picture the thing.  How I look at it tends to be number of points over a season (and using your avg pts to gauge the course)

 

75+ amazing, very very rare

70-75 very very good - would like this to be where hit each season, but would buck history in doing so

65-70 good season, probably gets us 3rd

60-65 average, would need cup runs or some memorable moments to be deemed a good season

-60 below where we should be

 

At this moment in time, albeit very early in the season, but then having played some of our toughest fixtures, we're in that top bracket.  If we get through the first round of games and are still there, there is little to complain about.

 

I personally think Robbie got his team wrong on Saturday - just replace Smith with McKay, which instantly gives us more threat but also allows our defensive and midfield unit to keep solidifying as a unit - but when you think Woodburn, McKay and Devlin haven't in any real way impacted us positively as yet, you can easily say this team will only improve.

 

Pissing and moaning about us coming away from Dingwall with a point.  All a bit precious, really.

 

Long way of saying let's see where we are in a few weeks.  Until then, and at this moment, there is very little to moan about.  Nitpick, yes, I'm at it myself.  Groan and moan and get in to "unacceptable" territory.  Perhaps you need to look at our history as far as points attained each season and decide what acceptable means to you.

 

Last thing, in saying Hibs and Aberdeen are our rivals, I'm not ruling out the OF being our rivals.  Not at all - I hate that "let's go for third" attitude in Scottish football.  I want us to aim for 1st every year.  As far as expectations though - you can't use the OF as a fair metric of performance.

Great post.

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

People - understandably - have gone on about the GMS miss but I am surprised that nobody has really mentioned Boyce’s absolute sitter in the second half on the edge of the six yard box. 
 

He was completely free, should have headed it but bicycle kicked it back out away from goal. He was only about 8 yards out.

[jambonian]

On 19/09/2021 at 22:59, Thomaso said:

I’m not a Neilson fan but credit where credit is due - that was as an attacking formation I have seen from him for an away game in years.

We didn’t sit back and kept pushing for goals.

On another day we win that game 5-2

 

I'd said at the start of the season we need to shore up the defence and find a replacement for Berra. It hasn't been done and he's had to play fullbacks there instead. Now that one was missing the other day, which was always a possibility at some point, it had proved to me that this was a must as we knew Berra was leaving last season. He had to switch Souttar to there on Saturday (which set alarm bells ringing to me from the off) and, like a lot of attacks we've been up against this season, that's where the main threat from teams is coming from if you look at some goals we've lost or saves Gordon's had to make. That is where we're weakest and opponents know that. Both goals we lost to County were very avoidable, particularly the first, the second was slightly unlucky with the deflection. The sooner we find a defender to play alongside Souttar the better. A natural striker would be good as well as there's always a chance that Boyce will get injured or suspended at some point and we only really have Gnanduillet, who could struggle with match fitness in games due to lack of involvement by sitting on the bench most weeks. Sort these two areas of the team out and we're good to go. It also takes pressure off other players and they can concentrate on their own game instead of having to keep stepping in or dropping back covering others.

[Thomaso]

9 hours ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

People - understandably - have gone on about the GMS miss but I am surprised that nobody has really mentioned Boyce’s absolute sitter in the second half on the edge of the six yard box. 
 

He was completely free, should have headed it but bicycle kicked it back out away from goal. He was only about 8 yards out.

Yes not for the first time Boyce has bottled out going in with his head.

[Hansel]

Only basing this on what I'm reading on here really, but I'm getting a good feeling about Devlin. Boy sounds like he's got a bit of dig and a winning mentality. Something we've missed in our midfield, and in our team in general, for quite some time.

 

Something I thought Perry Kitchen would be but he turned out to be a bit shit

[gregzy2k7]

2 hours ago, Thomaso said:

Yes not for the first time Boyce has bottled out going in with his head.

Yep boyce has missed a few chances tbf, difference is though he has 7 goals already this season, thats none to shabby imo, he's well on track to hit 20 this season (touch wood if he stays injury free) my issue with gms is that he always seems to get into the right areas and pretty much has had our best chances in the last 3 or 4 matches and hasn't taken any of them, it frustrates me more because I know he is a top player, just needs to show more composure in front of goal.

[Nookie Bear]

8 hours ago, Ted (Theodore) Logan said:

Only basing this on what I'm reading on here really, but I'm getting a good feeling about Devlin. Boy sounds like he's got a bit of dig and a winning mentality. Something we've missed in our midfield, and in our team in general, for quite some time.

 

Something I thought Perry Kitchen would be but he turned out to be a bit shit

We have dig in there with Haring, Halliday and Beni. Even McEneff. 

We’ve missed a creative midfielder more, and have done for years. 

 

[Thomaso]

11 hours ago, gregzy2k7 said:

Yep boyce has missed a few chances tbf, difference is though he has 7 goals already this season, thats none to shabby imo, he's well on track to hit 20 this season (touch wood if he stays injury free) my issue with gms is that he always seems to get into the right areas and pretty much has had our best chances in the last 3 or 4 matches and hasn't taken any of them, it frustrates me more because I know he is a top player, just needs to show more composure in front of goal.

No complaints with the number of goals Boyce has scored however my point was that occasionally he needs to stick his head on the ball.