Fearchar

Did you just distract him? 😡

Don't worry: practically everywhere the world over has accepted the whimsical Lloyd George solution to saving daylight time in the extreme south-east of England, and committed to the groupthink of clock changes.

I'm afraid I've opted for a beery game. Enjoy your thirst - prost! 🍻

I'm going against the grain here - but that was a poor performance by a team that could and should be doing much better against such poor opposition. Winning by 1 goal in three isn't nearly good enough, and only by dint of a good save did we not come away with another draw after going 2 up. <rant> This passing along the back line is wasting time that should be spent getting the ball up the park to where it threatens the opposition, among our most effective players, the goal scorers. Instead, our heroes seem to suffer from the delusion that they're displaying the talents of Real Madrid to the yokels and wearing them down: sorry, boys, but you aren't at that level - not even in work rate, and it shows in the huge number of goals you concede. Yet another clean sheet thrown away today. As for throw-ins, we shouldn't complain about the opposition being smarter, but learn from them: why don't we use long throw-ins? Is none of these players capable of throwing a ball into the box or, for that matter, to one of our own players? By all appearances, that is the case. There certainly doesn't seem to be any work on throw-ins during training, let alone thought given to the most common set piece in the game. Fitzgerald is obviously crocked but is still being played although he's slower than usual and in discomfort, if not pain. Why isn't he being given time to recover? We and everyone else in the division knows that this team is suspect when high balls come into the box, but instead of ensuring there's an out ball (!) and breaking quickly to relieve the pressure, which they showed today they're capable of, they cling on to the ball in defence, allowing the opposition to get organised for the oh-so-predictable attack down one wing, followed by the cross in. As for free kicks into the box and corners.... Why bother? No imagination; no speed; only Robinson and Graham seem prepared to pounce on opportunities as they occur. (Since the game against ICT, Robinson has provided much-needed tenacity in the centre.) As for bringing has-been Bannigan on... Well, he conceded a needless free kick and the team conceded a goal after that subsitution: enough said. Our defence is still honking, despite finally arriving at a centre-back pairing that seems effective. Why? Because both full-backs think they're really wingers born in the wrong bodies (or something like that). After all this time, Milne still can't trap for toffee, and McMillan regularly gets stranded upfield while the opposition breaks - leaving Lawless to fill in at right-back. Both full-backs also need to be made aware that they should - must - be able to play with either foot, or be caught out time and time again. </rant>

Graham's goal came from an unexpected long-distance shot. Otherwise, the team has been very predictable and has made many mistakes (e.g. giving away possession) as well as letting scoring opportunities pass.

Good to see Goodwin's gophers crashing tonight. 🙂

We play butter-fingered goalkeepers, but that can't be changed just now - although there have to be questions about their legacy coaching. Our centre backs are soft - one limited older player who can dominate in the air and a young loanee whose main asset is a good touch on the ball. Little understanding off the ball, and no tackling. Soft standins, where we actually need dominant hard men. Then we play "full-backs" who are not fast enough but still insist on overlapping in case they can cover themselves in glory as ersatz wingers. They are one-footed - an invitation to any attacker to cut in and land in the danger area - and seem to look on defending as a sideline, judging by their woeful record at stopping crosses. These are the players that need to make up for the shortcomings of the centre backs, but they don't dominate, they don't defend well and they don't tackle. All in all, the defence is hopeless. Does it not occur to former professional footballers that a team without a functioning defence hasn't been top of any league anywhere since Hitler was defeated?

Awful goalkeeping again. Oh, if we only had Queen's Park's keeper!

Mitchell came out for two high balls and failed to catch them. On the other hand, he shouts to defenders, which is good to see.

Given the straightforward chances that he seems to fluff, does anyone know his conversion rate? (No striker is perfect, after all.)

If we're playing at Firhill, it should be easy to arrange for multiple cameras, at the very least aimed at goalmouths, so that near-instant replays of action are available in the dugout. If they're linked to the tracking used by players, so much the better. After each game, analysis is a must, but reviewing play during the match should be easy to arrange. After all, the view from any dugout is inferior to ours as fans, and fixed cameras (you don't need any fancy tracking) would be the simple solution, possibly with a director to select which clips to send to a monitor in the dugout.

We play fullbacks that are bang average defensively (if that) trying to become extra wingers. Our defence, Neilson apart, is rank rotten. The solution is to replace them all, because all successful teams in football are founded on a secure defence. (The journos are wrong.) Did someone mention a second tranche? A remarkably unsuccessful team like that of Dunfermline Athletic can win convincingly by playing a pressing game (unsettling defenders) and punting high balls into our box. We have no adequate response to these. The training also seems to be making these players regress: many are increasingly favouring their preferred foot, while throw-ins, though they are the most frequent set piece, are left more or less to the whim of whoever is the full-back on that side and whoever else happens to be around. It's embarrassing to see throwers wondering who is going to help. (Contrast this with the corner kicks: regardless of outcome, they have obviously been practised on the training ground.)

If one thing was made clear tonight for the future, it is that goalkeeping needs a complete clearout - players and coach. They aren't up to standard. Will Doolan bite the bullet, or is he just too nice?

Lawless is coming in for some unjustified criticism here. It seemed obvious that ICT had planned to snuff out any danger from him: as soon as he had possession, three of their players pounced on him. Williams, behind him, was generally no help, as he seemed to be in a dwam while on the park. Only when Robinson came on did Lawless get an outball or someone sharp enough to combine with him. Before then, his only outball was across the park to Milne, which slowed any movement forward.

Milne posted missing for their goal. Williams at right back much too slow.