Millers Tache

I think there's definitely something in that theory. When he was played at the back last year, Touzani looked a bit of a liability in some games. Undoubtedly talented, but just wasn't used to the pace of the game. I thought he did well again today, certainly wouldn't be looking to drop him, but i don't think Hibs forced him to play as quickly as a Motherwell/Hearts would. Having said that, his passing of the ball today was generally very good even when he was under pressure, and his tackling was, barring a couple of late ones, very good indeed.

I think Clark gave an exemplary display in how to react after being dropped and deserved his "goal", no matter how bad the deflection was. When Seve came on, his first thought was always to either shoot or play that maddening first time chipped pass down either wing. Thought we lost our way a bit (and a bit of possession) when he came on. But that could in part be down to tiredness. Touzani allowed Barry to play a bit higher up the pitch. Also, good to see Maguire up front. Miller needs a partner for him to be more effective for us, and i think they showed signs that they could do well together. Incidentally, surely Byrne and Diamond should be given a run at centre back together? Mair's very shaky imo. If Byrne just has to defend and get rid of the ball, he could be better than he is as a full back.

I thought Miller, Touzani, Byrne ( ) and Diamond were huge tonight. Thought Smith played well until he decided he was injured as well. Ok, Miller missed an absolutely golden chance, but he's not exactly Romario, so i'm not going to get hung up on it - it doesn't make him any better or worse than he is, a half decent SPL level striker. Severin finally got the boot in the arse he's deserved for a long time and the "how very dare you" look on his face when he was taken off made me think he's going to have a sulk about it now. I hope not, because if he was to discover the fighting spirit he has shown in the past consistently, he could be inspirational. It's all ifs and coulds though. Second goal, bad luck Clangers. When your luck's out, your luck's really out.

I know, we could have had East Stirling or Stirling Albion at home...

I can see the sense in playing Seve up front. After all, we never pass it through the midfield anyway, so why not just play 8 at the back and 2 up front...? I'm very afraid. I hope this is just Jimmy at the mind games in some vain attempt to gain some kind of advantage, and not that infamous tactical tombola returning with a vengeance....

Well fuck me. That's awfully similar to the line up/tactics for the Celtic game. Ok, Atletico have shown they're maybe weak at the back, but they've also scored a heap of goals themselves there. Byrne's probably still in Glasgow looking for McGeady, such is the woefulness of his positional sense. Clark's like a fucking cockroach - a nuclear holocaust couldn't shift him from the team. And MacNamara? Jesus Hercules Christ. Hope he proves me wrong, but i just cannot see him being anything other than a liability tonight.

What?!?!?! Surely you jest?!

I'm shamefully looking for affordable flights so i can phone into work "sick"... I think i can see the boat i've missed disappearing over the horizon.

Better.

"Shouldn't" is advice. "Can't" is an inability to do... You'll be fine.

You're not wrong. His touch, passing, control, finishing are all generally atrocious, but he'll make sure their back 3/4 don't have a minute on the ball to build things up and play the way they want. Miller'll chase about a bit and hold the ball up relatively well, but he just cannot run the way Mackie can. All they'll have to do is knock it from one full back to the other, and his lack of any pace means he's out of the chase altogether.

That's you? I'll be rolling up some Ultra display paper and launching it your way, instead of towards the baldy guy 8 rows in front of us next time i see that top going about.

I'd like that. Touzani sitting in between midfield and defence, Seve and Barry in the midfield, with Sone and JDV running at the full backs. Nice mix of holding and creative players there. Miller's going to be on his own up front anyway, so we need to have someone in midfield to sit beside Seve and let Barry get forward to help him (i've long since given up on seeing Seve commit himself to getting forward quickly in support of an attack). Never going to happen though. Far too sensible a plan.

Ah, but how's his patter though? Is he a comedy genius who has them in stitches all week? Can he play a multitude of different positions (not saying that Clark can play anywhere other than one place - Inverurie - but JC thinks he can)?

Know the worrying thing? I think that was a dress rehearsal for how we're going to line up/play in Madrid. It could be horrific.

I'm heading to Glasgow tomorrow. And coming back on Saturday lunchtime. I'd have ended up behind a pillar anyway.

Brandon Flowers from The Killers. Never seen them together, have you...

What about Jamie Smith..? I'd forgotten all about him. I get the feeling he might well end up going the way of Lovell (half fit and never likely to get beyond that level), but he's got a footballing brain, is reasonably quick, bit of skill about him, decent shooting, scored goals at his previous employers when played up front...

I agree with you to an extent. Goals wise Miller's really not done the business, but i think he's in the team to do a lot more linking up and create chances for others and i think he would probably look a lot better if he had either someone up alongside him or people helping out from midfield. Too often he's isolated up front and really doesn't have any kind of pace to hurt teams with. In short, i think he suffers a lot from our style of play. A fully fit Brewster would have definitely been an asset. But he was plainly nowhere near that last season and i don't think he should have started most of the games he did.

I'm going to say something many will most definitely not agree with here. Before i do, let me say my piece and understand this is just my opinion, and everyone's entitled to one. Right, here goes... I thought Brewster was largely pish for us. I don't think he was anything like as fit as he needed to be, he was too old to be a viable long term option, only had about 4 decent games for us in all his time here and set Miller's career with us back to the extent that he's only rediscovering some kind of form 2 months after he left. One good thing Brewster was though was a communicator. He would talk players through games in a way that nobody on the pitch currently does. I'll give him that. Now, i'm coming across as some kind of massive bummer of Lee Miller right now - and in general today, come to think of it. I'm not, i think he's really rather limited in what he can do, but i think he does it quite well. Anyway, he's reputedly one of our highest paid players. Why disrupt his progress by bringing in the man who all but sacked him from his last club and branded him unprofessional and a bad influence as he did so? There, i've said it. I've dug out my flak jacket in anticipation...

I was about to post that in the Today's EE thread. Is the face i made when i saw that.

There's a fair elemant of truth in that, but i just don't think you can replicate a proper matchday situation in training to know for sure.

I firmly believe that if Lovell and Miller got more than 3 games in a row up front together, we'd see goals. Lovell's pish as a lone striker. He doesn't work like Mackie and doesn't have the aerial ability/strength of Miller. He can't play alongside Mackie, as Mackie's passing/control/running with the ball is inversely linked to his willingness to run about like a headless chicken. At Dundee, (i thought) he looked good because he was alongside/in front of someone who could hold onto the ball and give him something to run onto and finish. Having said that, he's never been fit and i can't see that changing for us now. I do think it's time he moved on. Not to any other SPL teams though. If (and it's a big if...) he ever got himself fit, i think he could haunt us.

I would argue that you can only really form a partnership and link up with someone if you're familiar with each other's way of playing, which is something that only really comes with time and games together. But there's certainly nothing like the support from midfield that there should be. If we're playing one up front, and hoofing it up to him, then the likes of Barry and Seve need to be getting their arses up to and beyond whoever we've got playing up there (be it Miller, Lovell, Mackie, Maguire...) to provide the support and ensure any potential chances aren't lost. Too often, the ball gets flicked on to no runners or taken down, and our lone striker's left trying to hold it up for our lethargic midfield to bother themselves with the task of actually making a run/space for a pass.

Although by signing another striker it might actually put a rocket up Miller's arse. I still think Lovell's offski though. Either way, it must be ringing alarm bells in Maguire's head. Hadn't thought of that. I'm kind of resigned to losing Lovell without us ever seeing what most of us knew he was really capable of, but Maguire could well have a decent future in the game - if his development's handled in the right way.