OrlandoDon

1 hour ago, RicoS321 said:

Any chance of getting Mitov from St Johnstone? A year left on his contract. The keeper situation worries me, and I'd like for us to have a known quantity, and he's been very good any time I've seen him. Kicking maybe not brilliant, but not terrible either.

I’d assume if we help get them relegated he’d be available!

9 hours ago, Panda said:

He wasn't losing possession that much though (I'll check the stats properly later). Usually he was either getting shots off (granted, should have been more clinical), winning corners (we had 16, we scored from one of them) or was drawing defenders out of position then passing to Devlin in space to put in a cross unmarked (although Devlin wasted many of them). 

All this playing in an unfamiliar position as he's not really been played on the right much.

 

I also watched the highlights after posting, I will say he had one of his better games. But it’s end product that ultimately matters and he and others were overly wasteful. I’m not really a duk fan but yesterday showed he’s a good player to have on the bench as he can have an impact (granted he can also be awful.)

6 hours ago, Panda said:

Very harsh. Red certainly helped us, but think the switch of Duk on for Barron was a big factor too. Gave us good width, Hoilett & Duk terrorised them in the second half, and we should have finished off far more than the one chance that we did. A 4-0 win wouldn't have flattered us.

I don’t think so, a half decent team smashes 10 man Motherwell today. I’d argue Motherwell looked the better team up until the red. They collapsed a little after that but we showed a real lack of quality. You say duk terrorized them, I say he was typical duk, dribble until he loses it and waste possession. He had a couple of decent runs but it’s the end product that matters. It could easily have been 4 or 5 but we did an excellent job of royally fucking up chances, plus I still thought we gave Motherwell too much time and space. Right up until the end I was worried our inability to get a second would cost us and they’d equalize.

still, a win is a win and 3 points closer to guaranteed safety.

Red won us the game but we still looked pretty shit. Dominated when they went to 10 but we pretty much fucked up some really good chances to add to our lead, plus gave Motherwell more of the ball than we should. Still, three points and another shutout.

Shit so far. Zero attacking threat. Horrible team for miovski to play in. Hoillet has no pace and McGrath is no right mid, both poor which really hurts the attack. Duk at least gives more attacking threat, he’ll bring something second half. Zero shots on or off target. No sure their keeper has touched the ball so far.

very little from clarkson and Barron, I really think it needs to be one of them with shinnie and a Rama type. Polvara is the best of the center mids so far, tidy touches.

4 hours ago, Jute said:

Pretty sure Shinnie will be suspended for this one which means Polvara in the middle. Think he struggles in games where teams don’t give him time and space in midfield. Motherwell definitely won’t do that. Not sure who else we can play there as not a fan of Phillips either and Duncan is not a central midfielder. Just need to win this and get season over with so I can concentrate on build up to Euros.

In

Bus then pub

Y

Bus back to capital

2-0 Miovski and Sokler 

I disagree regarding the space comment, although there’s a very good chance you’ll have seen him play more than me. Polvara is very skilled, has lovely touches, think he’s good in limited space. He’s not physical enough though, I’d agree if that’s what you mean. Not combative/a battler. He’s a lightweight Rama (more skilled) but playing in the heavy weight division. As has been mentioned, if he was more physical/aggressive and more imposing he could be very good, but he’s a typical American player, lacks the ‘Scottish’ qualities.

think we’ll play well tomorrow….ha…..

3-1 us, bojan, clarkson, McGrath

44 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Jimmy out

4-2 down

 

Told you John Hughes was a better option despite poorer English.

I’d agree, it’s ruby that is pollock’s replacement. Don’t think ruby and pollock are our perfect partnership. I think in an ideal world we have devlin at right back, Mackenzie and Jensen to compete for left back, and ruby and one other in left central defense. A scales type but affordable, perhaps thelin has lined up the Swedish scales? Macdonald is the odd one out unfortunately but I think it’s he or ruby and ruby has the bigger upside.

id certainly take scales back, but I’d compare him to Ryan Christie. Solid loan with us, game time at Celtic as a result, and now we can’t afford him. (If we ever take a Celtic player on loan again a fee has to be agreed prior to the loan even happening.) 

id like to see us find the next Kenny McLean, Lewis Ferguson, Johnny Hayes, mcginn, shinnie etc, quality talent from the rest of the league. Plus Scottish players. Anyone rate Glenn Middleton? Armstrong from killie? Or is he the next Matty Kennedy? Baccus was linked before…

5 hours ago, BigAl said:

Incredibly this is the most recent thread with his name in the title 

Hopefully this is a crock of shite and given the source it potentially is, but this is something I think we could do without

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfer-news/peter-leven-barnsley-next-manager-32653435

Perhaps the return of warnock needed as intern until Jimmy gets here?

Lost 2-1. Hopefully they hire their new guy asap and send jimmy to us early. Makes sense to both parties.

26 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Tim suggested to me (and yes he was being completely serious) yesterday that in the summer they will give us Scales and £1m for Miovski and that of course we would take it.

Deluded fuckwit doesn't even come close to summing that up

Scales and 10 mill and I’d pay attention. FWIW, hasn’t scales been one of their better players this year? 

The one I don’t like, much like yesterday, is the foul in the build up. Either call it in the moment or don’t. Call the foul before the goal or play on and allow the goal. Case and point the miovski goal (against Celtic I think, maybe hearts??) where there was the accidental contact with miovski and defender and play continues and he scores. Call it there and then or let the play go. Undermining a ref and picking up on things he missed isn’t the ideal way to work with refs. Let the games flow in the moment.
VAR also takes everything so literal that it manufactures fouls rather than letting the game flow in a natural manner. A number of penalties this year where I just don’t think are really fouls.

Major change needed for the good of the game.

I think VAR and refereeing in general is now totally out of control. It used to be the case that in good games you didn’t see the ref, or weren’t at least that aware of his presence, and we’d always say we didn’t want the referee to have a heavy influence in the game. VAR ultimately has completely reversed this where every week VAR/the on field ref play a significant part in the outcome. I think that’s what’s so frustrating to fans is that every game has a long stop where VAR/the ref influences a game. How often do we have games now where VAR and the ref don’t influence a game?

I’m speculating but I say a lot, how often is post match pub chat now about VAR and calls versus quality play and players? It dominates the game which cannot be good.

there has to be a sensible step back from the powers that be. Reflect and evaluate priorities. Football is a product for fans and I dont know how many fans say VAR has positively impacted their enjoyment of the game. Many/any?? The beautiful game was not about refs and calls, but it’s now a significant and determining factor.

28 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

The idea is that you allow the attacking team to finish their move in case the original call is incorrect. It makes sense (sort of) for offside, as that is an exact yes/no call. It makes zero sense in a subjective call for a foul. You're basically then VARing for a subjective foul and then any other subsequent subjective events afterwards. If the referee sees a foul, then he should always blow for it. I've not seen an incident like ours before, and I'm not sure if the ref's approach was correct.

The reason that you should just blow for a freekick, is otherwise there are two potential ways that exactly the same incident can be refereed. The referee could have let the incident play out and called the penalty (it was a penalty, apparently, that wasn't in question), thus VAR is making the decision on whether there was a foul in the build up. The referee's approach meant he was going to VAR saying: I have given a foul, is that a clear and obvious error. I have no doubt that in this instance, the two approaches would have garnered different results. Quite simply, if the referee thinks something is a freekick, then he gives a freekick. If he isn't sure, then it isn't a freekick. VAR offers nothing with his approach, and all he has done is sought to sway VAR's more accurate decision. Remember, in the case of offside being allowed to continue, the decision made by the onfield linesman has (and can have) no bearing on VARs decision, which is the important distinction. The linesman only actually raises his flag if a goal is scored in order to signal to the crowd, and also to make his decision in case of an issue with the technology. 

I'm glad you took this into the VAR thread, as I don't think the decision necessarily had an impact on the match, and it's not a case of partisan sore loserness, it's just a comment on the technology itself and how it was used.

 

3 hours ago, Slim said:

Biggest signing of this summer will be Miovski’s new contract!

Ha, would be something. I just think of how he’d perform if he had the players around him Adam Rooney had. An in their prime hayes mcginn and McLean, he’d score a ton!

2 hours ago, RicoS321 said:

Both calls were as they were if VAR hadn't been there. The Hoilett one saw Robertson blow for a freekick near the spot, making it look like he had given a penalty. He allowed play to continue (in a first for me) to see if we'd score, which caused all the confusion. That is VAR protocol and wouldn't exist without it.

The allowing play to continue does not add to the game either, just leads to confusion. Besides blowing late for a free kick because we didn’t gain an advantage/keep possession, how does allowing play to continue help our game??

13 minutes ago, Panda said:

What a prediction. I knew it would go to penalties and that we would concede three goals.

The thing to note about the penalties - Brendan Rodgers said Celtic practiced them that week in training, I don't think (or at least it didn't look like) we did.

Maybe it's just a standard thing Celtic do before a cup tie, but was interesting they considered the prospect of spot kicks while we didn't. They certainly all looked more confident from the spot than we did.

I’d say we did. But as I said before, look at who we had take them, 2 kids and a loaner. I compare to scotland for example, we’ve been very good in shootouts, all experienced regular penalty takers. We had 2 guys who probably take penalties, McGrath and sokler, then Macdonald is pretty solid, but the rest are inexperienced kids or, to be honest, not very good players. Surprised we maybe didn’t see gartenmann but I wouldnt really want Morris or roos on one, and that leaves youngster Mackenzie. 
as proud as I was of the performance in the end, today we saw a poor Aberdeen squad. Did the best we could but yet another big summer ahead.
 

Agree with you mostly except left mid. Don’t think hoilett has the legs, and duk doesn’t have the brain. I can also see duk leaving this summer, we’ll get offers.
For the first 11 we definitely need a starting keeper, central defender (although I’m not certain ruby, Mackenzie, or Jensen should be a starter either), center mid, left mid, right mid. Wouldn’t mind seeing sokler given his chance, I think he’s more suited to Scottish football than miovski, not a knock on bojan.

that’s 4 strong quality signings needed, 5 if it’s not sokler at 9. We also need depth, as I said the other day, I can see around 10 signings this summer.

Another game, a semi final, where we’re left scratching our heads with VAR. I guess we’d be scratching our heads with referee calls but I just don’t see how VAR has made the game better. Certainly hasn’t added clarity. It definitely doesn’t add enjoyment, and it’s been a year where VAR seems to have impacts games and results. 
what were the real time referee calls for both incidents today? Didn’t see the scales one, certainly though with the hoilett one a penalty had been awarded??

A world without VAR. we can hope. I can honestly say I dont celebrate goals now, didn’t today, instead waiting for the ref/VAR to get involved. Definitely changes the game for the worse.

Didn’t see the first two goals but Macdonald is certainly a likable guy. Made a mistake but more than made up for it. Good captain for the day!

Rico, agreed, tough to say they were soft today. But in general we dont have a lot of strong personalities so that needs fixed this summer.

didnt see the scales incident and the second one has questions, but both no doubt go in the old firms favor.

And I am bitter. If it was rangers or Celtic the attacking team they get one or both of those penalties. 

2 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

Aye, and we still had Morris to take too. Thought Gartenmann and McKenzie would have been ahead of Phillips. Phillips isn't really the ball kicking type.

Yeah, my dig is more at the character. McGrath and Macdonald set the tone, we’re a bit of a soft bunch. Huge credit for 3-3 but you need the experienced guys to step up at penalties, although other than gartenmann all we had left were kids.

Yes it’s a loss but ton of credit, great battling, some baffling decisions that went against us. 5 wins to finish the season please!

the fact that we had 2 kids and a loaner taking penalties says a lot about our squad.

4 hours ago, RicoS321 said:

What I'm reading from this is that you're very happy with Jayden Richardson, and would maybe even like us to build our team around him. 

Like a new signing! Forgot about him. Unfortunately Anthony Stewart is out of contract.