tlg1903

The one thing I will say in the teams defence tonight is this pitch is well narrow. 61 metres. For context Tynecastle pre new main stand was 64 (its 68 now), Pittodrie is 66, hampden (renowned for being very wide) is 70. This was always going to be a stodgy game for us, Goodwin likes his wingers.

They are well over rated

I disagree. We are 9 in with an entirely new back 5. They ain't gonna really know each other on the pitch for a few months yet imo.

You are literally admitting yourself that away goals are worth more than home goals. How could you award the tie to a team if they were not? Saying worth double is just easy language to use and to all intents and purposes it's true.

I don't agree with dropping Roos purely on the grounds the defence is still getting to know each other. None of the back 5 should be getting swapped unless absolutely necessary for the time being imo. Have to say, fwiw my feeling at the moment is that Lewis is a better shot stopper, 1 on 1er etc.

Have to say Jute, I doff my cap to the amount of football you watch. How many games a week do you reckon you go through on average?

Paterson left the club in the boot of a car to be fair.

I must admit I did have to watch them both few times to be sure but, nah, nothing soft about either of them. With the first I was more not sure about the red as it took a few rewatches before I could make my mind up if vinny was going to be able to get a shot away after he nicked the ball. Defo pen, defo red. Overall the ref had a really good game, never looked lost or out of control.

How would you have treated ramirez? He wasn't even expected to return after bugging out early, has a year left on his deal and a significant investment has been made to bring in Miovski and Duk. They both have 4 years on their deals and both are young and improving. Given Goodwin doesn't tinker with the team much (which you have as a positive) how do you get ramirez into the team? Even without the above Miovski is clearly a far better solo frontman and player in general. Don't get me wrong, I like ramirez and if he wasn't one of the highest earners I would probably advocate trying to keep him. He is though and it's better we get that off the bill to my eye. Brown had to go, no question. One of the worries I had about the glass appointment was that the assistant had a bigger profile than the manager. If he had been kept as a coach the same problem existed which is why I reckon Goodwin was only prepared to keep him as a player. He was also on a big wedge too so that's another wage that has been better deployed.

Strange one on the face of it, Sunderland look a bigger club but they have been a basket case for a while. No idea what stokes basket case status currently is.

Ramirez is on a big wedge though, that wage could be better deployed if he's gonna be on the bench most of the season

Just because a result doesn't end in a draw doesn't mean the rule wouldn't have had an effect on how the game was played. Quite frankly I just think one goal being worth more than another is incredibly stupid. It kinda reminds me of arguing with fucking rugby fans after the Ghana Uruguay game where Gyan bottles the last minute penalty from the suarez handball. Ghana should be put through. No they shouldn't they lost. Suarez handled on the line He was penalised and Ghana bottled the penalty. It should just have been awarded as a goal. ........ You want to award a goal when you know the ball hasn't crossed the line? No wonder your favourite sport is so shit. An away goal counting as double in the event of a draw is just as imaginary a goal.

Got any stats on that SeeBass?

Depends how you look at it. When they played malmo for the CL last season they were 2-1 down after the first leg. Away goals rule is in place they would only need a 1-0 win to go through instead of a 2-0. I know they didn't go through anyway but it didn't work to their advantage that time.

I remember hearing this at the time and I just think it's nonsense 2bh. How does removing the away goals rule make it less likely? You're stating it like it only diddy teams could score an away goal.

Ronan didn't make wolves 25 man squad for the league so I would say he's likely to move on. At 24 he needs to play. Agree re defence, one more would just make all the difference.. When you think about it there's no actual real competition for scales and Stewart.

I'm really starting to utterly adore Miovski.

Here's an idea. You could just not post, your account isn't going to take on a life of it's own if you don't log in and post something.

I remember when this was announced quite a few on here seemed annoyed. How are you feeling about it now?

This conversation got me thinking about how a non ugly sister could get into the CL. Other than one of them having a meltdown season and a team managing to split them it would have to be by Scotland getting a 3rd CL spot. Not likely, currently Portugal have the lowest co-efficient to have 3. To get close to them I would guess you need at least 4 Scottish teams in Europe after Xmas a few seasons running. I did end up on the eufa website though and this is quite interesting. There's going to be 4 extra group stage places from 2024 onward and here's how they are going to be allocated. The four additional places created by the increase from 32 to 36 teams in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League will be allocated as follows: • One place will go to the club ranked third in the championship of the association in fifth position in the UEFA national association ranking. • One place will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the so-called “Champions Path”. • The final two places will go to the associations with the best collective performance by their clubs in the previous season (total number of points obtained divided by the number of participating clubs). Those two associations will earn one place for the club best ranked in the domestic league behind the UEFA Champions League positions. For example, at the end of the current season the two associations adding one club to the Champions League, based on the collective performance of their clubs would be England and the Netherlands. It would seem to me that one of those final 2 spots is not out of the question for Scotland to be awarded. If you got 4 Scottish teams in Europe after Xmas that could well be enough to get that extra spot. It's an ask, sure, but not an unfeasible one with the advent of the conference league. I would be surprised to see Scottish clubs manage it consistently enough to get the coefficient up but in a one off season it's doable.

The only benefit for the rest is in a reduced number of qualifying rounds to get into the league stage of the europa/conference league for those that finish in the euro places. Look at hearts this season compared to what we had to go through in prior seasons. 1 qualifier and even if the lose they make the conference league. The money between the 2 is minimal and with gate receipts etc hearts will take in about 6 Mill from that.

Livi have been very livi this season. I do have a grudging admiration for Martindale, he organises well and his players really play for him. Regardless of a worldy being required for the points I did think the players understanding of each other looked improved against St J and hopefully that continues. This will be a tough game but if we show up I think we should have enough to open them up. Out Work Red tv Work 2-0 Aberdeen Miovski and duk

Goodwin favours Roos as he wants to pass out for the back and it is fair to say he's better than Lewis at that. Time will tell on Roos. Very much agree on the latter point. CR99 will be on a pretty big wage too.

The Miovski one is really good. But meh on the other 2.

Maybe a wee bit but I don't think he's being harsh on Roos. Jury is still well put on him for me