Millers Tache

Remember his pitch to Lovell when he was trying to dissuade him from signing for Leicester? You know how Levein's going to play, it'll be high balls to the big man and you'll be feeding off scraps (or something very similar). How can someone with experience "from my time in Holland" not be able to counter that most basic of tactics? I gave the benefit of the doubt after the Tannadice game, but evidently i was very wrong to do so. We obviously were set up to play like that, just as we were set up to play like that again last night.

Tell me about it. And i work in Aberdeen! Where the fuck did they manage to find a whole office-worth of Dundonian engineers from?!?!

He's not a goalscorer though. Never has been, never will be. He's the link between a proper striker and the midfield/defensive punt. And it's a job he was doing very well up until the past few weeks. If he had a decent intelligent partner alongside him for more than a game and a half, we might actually see something productive from our strike force. Mackie's awful. 50 goals in 10 years is just ridiculously poor for someone who can only be a main goalscorer, as he's certainly no linking up player. Maguire is just plain not ready and is looking more and more like taking the Budgie route with every passing month. Which leaves us with Lovell and Jamie Smith. Both have the required abilities. Both have proven they can do it. Neither has ever had a run of games in the position, due to injury, "tactics" and not being liked by Jimmy, to build up any kind of form though. Edit: However, Miller has been asking for a red in each of the last 3 games. Whether that's down to frustration (at tactics, teammates, opposition defenders, aimless high balls etc), or what i do not know.

Bloody Clangers. Knew he'd been too good for too long. Dilemma time - Souter's awful, but didn't really make any mistakes. Langfield's singlehandedly giving wins to United at the moment... Miller's been looking for that red for weeks now and Seve's just completely fucking uninterested at the moment. The one bright spot is that surely even JC can see how shite Mackie is...

Nailed it, tbh. We always seem to be set up to counter the opposition's tactics. While that's quite justifiable when playing the likes of the old firm and some away games, we were the third best team in Scotland last season. The opposition should be worrying about how to handle us more often than not. There have been games where we've started with one formation, and changed within 10 minutes to match up to the opposition. I remember seeing Lovell and Mackie shifted out to the wing in some games against Hibs to stop their full back getting forward. I saw us play with 4 down the left last season, when the hapless Dempsey was put there as our left midfield, Mackie put on the wing to stop a right back getting forward, and Clark man marking the right winger, with our left back crowded out of the game completely. Never worked.

Personally, i'd have had Seve, Barry, JDV, Mackie and Duff ahead of Miller in the shite stakes yesterday. However, Miller seemed to have himself hell bent on getting sent off. Some of his challenges were shocking. The one he got booked for we thought he could have seen red, he blatantly swung a punch at one defender and could have given away numerous penalties at set pieces with his downright amateurish holding of players in the box. Mackie hasn't improved since he got injured and his second touch was (as usual) a tackle - and generally a late one - more often than not. Lovell at least put in the effort when he got on, but suffered (as usual) from our desparate long ball hoofing. Seve's too slow and ponderous. He's not the player he thinks he is and needs to concentrate on finding a player with a simple pass and keeping possession, rather than his usual two moves: a chipped/hoofed ball up to Miller, bypassing the midfield completely or taking it for a walk through midfield, losing it and blaming everyone around him for not asking for passes, when he had no intention of giving it to them anyway. When we signed Duff, Jimmy said he was not a good defender. Debut, in midfield, he gives away a goal. Second game, into defence he goes. Why Jimmy? Why would you do that to someone who needs to build his confidence if he is to have any hope in winning over the fans...? Barry was apparently carrying an injury and was a doubt right up to kick off, so i'll probably let him off with his performance. JDV was pish though. I really like him and think he's got everything he needs (except pace) to be a big success, but he just plain didn't fancy it yesterday, and that's not good enough. Still, at the end of the day, we didn't slip up and got into the hat for the next round. That's the main thing.

I think we'll be fine, but i've been thinking about the example of Denmark in Euro 92. Knocked out in the qualifiers, they were on the beach when Yugoslavia were booted out. Not being under any pressure whatsoever, they won the whole competition... Hamilton won't win the cup, but they've already been knocked out and have absolutely nothing to lose (moreso than would normally be the case) today.

He can go wherever and whenever he wants as far as i'm concerned...

There's a thing, eh. Still, at least he's a full back. I see on Sky just now that the boy Walker's signed a new deal at Middlesbrough to keep him there another couple of years. Looks like he's definitely a temporary signing then.

There's a thing, eh. Still, at least he's a full back.

Scored in the African Nations the other night. Think he's at Brondby now. Don't think his train (you know, the one that stops at every single football club on the east coast) ever did stop in Aberdeen.

Ah well. Looks like we won't be hailing the Bus then.

Blaming Lovell alone is lazy. He never hoofed it against Hunt for the first. He never let Robson waltz through unchallenged for the second. He didn't bring him down for the free kick at the third. Fuck, he never even missed the penalty. His big crime this weekend appears to be not winning the ball in the air and holding it up for Smith to bother his arse to support him, Aluko to realise we were attacking again or Nicholson to catch up with play - all whilst being marked by Wilkie and Kenneth, who are fairly well known for their aerial abilities. I dunno if the players were told to play high balls all game, as that certainly wasn't the plan when we humped them at home and surely any manager could see that doing the same again would probably work again. we lookd to have been set up the same way anyway, with 2 wide attacking players. Maybe it's just a symptom of shite defenders playing too deep and hoofing it + tired/lazy midfield = awful performance. Bad interview by Jimmy though. Kind of puts the seal on an all round horror show.

Sums it up perfectly IMO. Mair, Byrne, McNamara and Considine are just shite, shite, past it and not ready. That's 2/3 of our defensive unit (including Langfield, and we won't speak about yesterday's return to the bad days until it becomes regular again...).

Just checked my bank, as read over on AFC Mad that they weren't phoning to advise the winners of the ballot, but had just automatically taken the money out. Nothing had come out of my account. Than i remembered i'd put my credit card details down instead.

Maybe he always looks shite against us because he wants us to do well... :strawclutchingsmiley:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football-news/scottish-football/2008/01/17/hearts-could-give-up-tynecastle-name-86908-20288402/ There's a whole world of delusion contained below... So, spending £51 million on this stand will reduce their debt... ;D

I thought i was the only person who thought this. Agree with every single word. Get someone (Miller) to hold the ball up, and stick wee through balls in for Lovell and we'll see goals galore. Worked at Dundee, and it'll work here as well. If Lovell's the preferred starter at the weekend, we'll probably just hoof it up to him though. This will lead to cries of "he's lazy", "he doesn't fancy it", "he's shite". He's none of these things. He's just not much good in the air.

I think we're doing about as much as we need to do to stay in touch in the league, and saving the performances for the cup games just now. Motherwell will either eventually fall away drained or go on a monumental run inspired by the POD effect. United are shite. That leaves us ready to pick up the pieces when our cup runs are over. I think JC's actually playing quite a nice game as far as that goes this season - give the fans something to get excited about in the cups, and we'll go about business as usual in the league.

I'm glad he's chosen now to give up. If he was a season ticket holder, it's one less person to compete with in the Munich ballot...

Went past the ticket office at lunchtime today, thinking "ha ha. I bet all the other season ticket holders have bought their Bayern home tickets by now. I'll waltz in and out in 5 minutes..." Looked for a parking space, saw the queue snaking through the shop and onto Merkland Road and promptly buggered off again. Got the bird to hang about on the phone for 50 minutes to buy for me instead. Incidentally, the guy she spoke to told her there were only "limited spaces" in the RD where we could get 2 seats together. How can seating be so limited, if it's been based on a one ticket per person policy so far? However, i do believe the salesman was possibly a bit dim, from what she was telling me...

Clark's versatile...

I dunno, i was there with 4 of them myself. My mate invited me to "come along with some of my mates". Cue me getting into the car that was to take us down the road, 8 pack in a carrier bag, and found i was the only one drinking in a car full of polis. That was a long day.

I was almost back in Aberdeen before i could feel my fingers after that game. Hailstones coming sideways into the stand, howling wind, the sea right behind you. I'm shivering just thinking about it.

I too think Barry might yet stay. I think he'll decide he's staying in the same week as JC signs his own deal... Edit: Or i could just read what BigAl said and agree.