Millers Tache

But he is reliable. You can always depend on him to be either injured or pish. Incidentally, if wages allowed, i'd probably take Gow and Thompson. But as they probably won't, i'd rather have Gow than another Miller clone.

Hmmm... Thompson... Hmmm... Not sure i'd be overly keen. He'd be taken in, played on his own up front (with Miller back to the bench again), and we'd be ranting that he's pish. We need someone like Mackie, but with a bit of striker's nous, or someone like Lovell, but who's fit/a better laugh in the dressing room. Then we need to play them both together. Right now, that is not happening. Miller's winning a lot of high balls and holding things up quite well since Brewster left (much like he was before Brewster arrived), but he's had next to no support up beside him, and as a result many attacks break down. Hence the need for a partner for Miller rather than waste wages on another Miller clone.

Bird flu. Mark my words, it'll get us all in the end.

Blimey! I always did chuckle at his determination to bring gourmet food to Clatt (or Foggie, wherever it was). RIP BGH.

Ithink it's been announced as being Tynecastle. Suppose it's better than Hampden, but do Hearts not get money both for hosting one and being in the other semi...

I'm confused. How could they get a 4 team draw wrong? Did we actually win last night? Are we still in the cup, or did they get that wrong as well? Seriously though, i'd quite like a midweek cup game at Dens. The games against United there always had something about them.

Missed 2 games last season. 3-1 on Boxing Day vs Killie and 3-0 vs Dunfermline in February... There's a trend developing here that i don't much like. Like i say, i'm away on Saturday, so won't make the game. So there's something for the gamblers amongst you.

Bloody typical. The one cocking time there's literally no funds in my account to afford to go and watch the game, and we go two up after 20 minutes. but also I can't manage on Saturday either. If we go on to win that easily as well, does anyone want my season ticket? As i'm obviously some kind of jinx and frankly i'd prefer if we won games due to me staying away.

Have you EVER seen a ref do that though? No, of course not, cos it's always players from "big" clubs from the "big" nations that do it and....well....UEFA doesn't want to upset them now. In the main, that's very true. I did see it happen in a Champion's League game once, and i think Mr Rooney copped a yellow for sarcastically applauding the ref (something that i think comes under the same "undermining the ref's authority" idea). Doesn't happen enough though. It's like diving - until it gets dealt with on the pitch, it'll continue. And that's a shame.

What do i think of today? I think you're wrong, for a start. Miller had a good game and looks like he's finding the form he was on before Brewster came along. What didn't help him was our lone front man approach. The midfield were fucking knackered after Thursday, and couldn't do the running needed to make that work. Young looks like he's had pre-season at some two bit first division team (hang about...), Clark looks like the useless fanny he's been in the majority of his 8 years here and Jackie McNamara needs to get into the reserves for a couple of games to find his fitness. Hart offered nothing going forward, but again, he couldn't have been anywhere near fit. Aluko, however, when he finally did get on, showed why he should have started. Some of the most dangerous crossing i've seen in years, fast, always available for a pass, beats a man and not afraid to have a go. Obviously, Clark will start on Wednesday night, as Aluko's too attacking. Pass marks to Foster, Diamond (MOTM), Barry Nich, Maguire, Miller, Aluko and Langfield (just. Watch your kicking when forwards are about Clangers and we'll get on just fine...).

The diving did annoy me, but i expected it to be honest. After all, Takis Fyssas only left Hearts in the close season... Seriously though, i think it's just an unfortunate side effect of having a weak referee. If he was to have booked even one of them for it, then that would have nipped it in the bud straight away. This asking for a yellow card thing annoys me more to be honest, mainly because (as far as i know) refs are supposed to automatically book players who do that. Again, the lack of yellow cards indicated a weak ref for me.

I've been having problems accessing the site via www.donstalk.co.uk since yesterday. Keeps coming up with the "Service Unavailable" screen. I can get in fine using www.zakynthos.me.uk though.

You wouldn't think it to hear the ramblings of JC... You're right though, let the papers and opposition talk about how weak we are. We'll carry on quietly (for the most part) going about our business, and we'll see who's able to shout their mouths off in the knock out rounds. At home, i definitely think we can beat Copenhagen. Lokomotiv will be a trickier prospect, but Garry O'Connor's talk in the press last week about how their manager's leaving and they've stopped playing for him etc etc has encouraged me more.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. But he has put in some good performances in the games he's played, and so he probably deserves it. He's unlikely to get a game, but you would hope the experience of being in the squad helps him improve even more.

Hamburg. Hmmm... Bit too round about for me in Aberdeen, methinks. Ah well.

Where from? I looked it up, and found a proper round about way of doing it from Prestwick via Barcelona. £10 return from Prestwick to Girona on the 28th, Girona to Madrid on the Thursday lunchtime (20 cents returning on Friday lunchtime!) and back from madrid to Girona int ime for the return flight home. Then found out i only have one day's holiday left with absolutely no prospects of getting even a second. >

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/seeduc2007.html Assuming we're E (being in pot 5 as we are), i think this means we get 1st and 3rd seeds at home, 2nd and 4th seeds away...

Anderlecht at home as i think they could be beatable. Prague/Bolton/Spurs away for a trip. Fiorentina/Atletico for a glamour game. Panionios away, again because i think they'd be beatable.

By the by, i'm coming round to thinking that his limitations are what makes him a useful player for us. Domestically, we play a long ball game that's pretty poor to watch, and for that to work, you need runners up front, working their arses off - that's what Mackie does. Players with more "natural ability" (take note Messrs Lovell and Miller) are less inclined to do this running for the team, as they don't want to have to hunt the ball down.

Still a very limited player with the control of an incontinent pensioner. Great goal on Thursday though.

Must say, i was thinking about this yesterday, and i think that it's the difference between expectation levels that makes all the difference here. In Europe, nobody expects us to do anything - we're the team with 10 men behind the ball, the minnows (sadly). In Scotland, we're expected to win the majority of our games, but lack the imagination/skills/tactics to break down the minnows with 10 men behind the ball. Therefore, when we start to struggle/run out of ideas, the fans get frustrated (i know i do). And when these smaller teams go and sneak a win against us, that frustration pours out. If St Mirren sneak a result against us using those tactics tomorrow, we'll all be immensely pissed off (probably even more so after Thursday), so imagine how Dnipro fans are feeling about us. Personally, i still think Calderwood needs to just calm down the needless team/tactical changes domestically - it's the SPL, not Serie A. I also think that Langfield's situation, whilst entirely vindicated now, was handled incredibly badly and Langfield himself needs to cut out the howlers (so far he's managed) to show he can be that keeper JC says he is. Fuck it, even Derek Young showed he can have a future at AFC. That arrogant wee shite attitude he had first time around seems to have gone. Maybe his time at a lower level taught him not to take things for granted, and he must also know just how low his rating is amongst many fans. Finally - sorry for rambling so much, this was meant to be a one line reply... - the players have shown us what they can do when they put their minds to it now. I don't expect them to win every single week, but i expect 100% effort in every single game, something that has been lacking a few times this season.

Man of the match being that crossbar, incidentally...

Every single man on the pitch stood up and showed what they could do tonight. Langfield had his best game in red (green to be fair) by a long long way tonight, and went some way to dispelling my numerous concerns about him. That last save onto the bar was absolutely top class. I didn't like the way we lined up, but my two bugbears (Foster and Mackie) did the business. What a night. Such bad luck to Considine for their goal though. By fuck those last 20 minutes were hairy though.

That comment about Smith, Seve and Clark sums everything up for me about Calderwood. You've got 3 players there who have made their names as a wide right player, central midfielder and wide left player. Why not just keep them there for a run of games, allow them to get some consistency of position, hell, maybe even allow the team to gel and get an understanding? I was away on Saturday, but i believe he used Seve in defence again (when Mair AND Touzani were on the bench!) whilst using yet another defensive line up. How many times have the same set of defenders + keeper lined up 2 games in a row this season..? Performances are shite because of his pointless tinkering, not because he's a tactical genius, who "finds" new positions for players at will. I would be surprised if we kept the same line up/formation for Thursday night, but why can't he just allow players to form understandings together, ESPECIALLY in defence, the most important area of the pitch. I think it was Gordon Strachan who said "football's a simple game, which some people make over complicated". Sounds a bit of a random rant there, but i hope you get the gist of what i'm saying.

Goals on Sunday today was much better. Eric Black and Alex McLeish in the studio meant they had a good old reminisce about the old days and showed the highlights of Gothenberg and the Scottish Cup win a week later. THAT was quality stuff.