Tubilay

I'm quite surprised that the TV companies wanted the Celtic game so far in. If they keep winning, and we drop any points between now and then, they'll have won the league already, making it something of a dead rubber.

I think he's been brilliant this year. Only Shinnie has provided more assists from full-back for anyone this season. He was always decent defensively, but his attacking game has come on leaps and bounds, and he's a threat at set-pieces and for a big diagonal into the box. Of our four main defenders, I'd say Considine has been the best of the lot of them. He's played more career games at left-back now than he did at centre-back. That's not to say I'd rather he kept that position and Shinnie was moved to midfield, just that it's a possibility. If you took Jack out of the team, right now, Shinnie in midfield would be our best lineup. If there's a plan to replace him if and when he leaves with a dedicated holding player, then that's great, but as is, I'd like both of them in the XI.

In terms of the vote, I'd vote Rooney, because he's got the most chance of actually winning the whole award. Who have I enjoyed watching most this season? Jonny Hayes, by quite a bit.

The more I think of likely ramifications in the summer, the more I think we'll see Shinnie in the middle. If Jack leaves, as it seems he is likely to, then it's a hell of a job to find someone to cover in that position. Considine has been exceptional at full-back this season, and it might make sense to switch things around like that. If that's *not* the plan, and Jack moves on, then a proper, mean, nasty holding midfield player would be brilliant. A proper brute, who can pick a simple pass. We'll need another central defender. You'd assume Anderson is going to retire, and Daniels will probably go back to West Brom (although I'd certainly be in favour of him coming back next season if that's an option). Just having the two isn't enough. There aren't any obvious candidates from the under-20s ready to go straight into the team, so I'd assume we'll have someone in there. Personally, I'd keep Robson around, but if he moves on then I'd be surprised if there was a direct replacement, given we are quite blessed with midfield players. McInnes has already said he's hoping to find a wide player, whether or not that's Driver or not. I'd be interested to see more of him, but it seems unlikely that he'll get a deal based on a handful of minutes here and there. I'd expect that to be a priority. The goalkeeping position isn't dire. Brown has earned his way back, and I think Langfield was a better goalkeeper than he got credit for, but as others have said, the most obvious area to improve the team would be to sign a good 'keeper. Celtic have been good this season, but Craig Gordon has won them five or six points on his own, especially earlier in the term. Would we be willing to pay a fee if the right guy was available again? The question of who is incredibly difficult. We've tried guys on their way up, guys on their way down, internationalists from two different countries, journeymen, youngsters from other teams in the division and everything in between, and none of them were up to it. Are there better goalkeepers in Scotland right now? Maybe, but it's not obvious. Mannus and McGovern have had good seasons, and I rate the boy McGurn at Raith, but none of them are obvious upgrades. The one goalkeeper in Scotland that I'd want us to keep an eye on is Cammy Bell. If Rangers struggle to raise money this summer, or fail to make the top flight, there'll be a fire sale there. He's 28, has a Scotland cap, and is far better than the situation he finds himself in. Outside of Scotland is probably the better place to look, but where? I'd love to look at an out-of-contract guy like Darren Randolph, but if he leaves Birmingham he'll be going up the way on the pay scale. There's guys like Adam Bogdan, Erwin Mulder, Boaz Myhill and Tomasz Kuszczak out of contract this summer, would we go all-out on someone who would obviously make a difference? I think it'll be a really interesting summer, and we'll learn a lot about our ambitions. Paying money for McLean was quite a turning point. Obviously we're not going to be forking out millions, but it'll be intriguing to see if it'll a case of replacing the outgoing players with younger players, or trying to find upgrades for the here and now. Would we really raise our game by bringing in a top (for us) dollar goalkeeper?

I think that last point is incredibly valid. Just having guys like this around the squad is a huge benefit to the younger players, both on and off the pitch. They're both excellent professionals who have done so much in their careers. Personally, I'd keep Robson around if he's willing. Are there similarly experienced players available this summer who might offer the same backup and nous that Robson and Ando have in the last two seasons?

I think the criticism around the youth is largely unjustified. When Calderwood came in, it wasn't like we were producing great kids, or that we've subsequently seen these youngsters go elsewhere and prove him wrong. He was brought in to change things around quickly, and the kids weren't up to scratch. Regardless of whether it's true that he never gave a youngster a debut, I'd say the faith he had in the likes of Maguire, Aluko and (a good 20-year-old) Diamond suggests it's nothing to do with suspicions around playing younger players. Rightly or wrongly, one of the reasons for Calderwood's continued lack of employment is that he's got a reputation for spending money, and for making fairly big demands of the board. That's not necessarily at Aberdeen, but it's certainly the case at both Kilmarnock and Ross County, who managed to do alright. For the most part, his cash signings at Aberdeen were pivotal. Nicholson, Lovell, even Mulgrew were good moves, but his subsequent reputation is of someone who needed money to succeed. Rightly or wrongly. In the years of cost-cutting in the division, it's easy to see why that reputation counts against him.

The problem is, we don't seem to know what "full strength" constitutes at the moment. Presumably McGinn was rested, but Pawlett certainly looked brighter than most when he came on. I'd agree we've looked lethargic in the last two games, but I'm not convinced it's time to throw loads of kids in when there's eight games to go.

I'm not sure it was the right game for him. I'm glad he's worked his way into estimations, but we had to change the system and effectively sacrifice Rooney out wide to make it work. As a result, I don't think we saw the best from either man. Shankland did show some good touches, and worked himself some space here and there. He certainly didn't look overawed or out-of-his-depth at any point, but I think (retrospectively) he'd have been better coming on later. The crowd would have got a lift, he'd have been up against weary defenders, and we might not have had to start with such a lopsided formation.

The worry is that with the challenge to Celtic gone, we'll get complacent. It's a bit early to say that, but we've been off the boil in both of the last two games, and we'll be up against better attacking sides in Inverness and Killie next. Let's close out the season, consolidate second place, and then decide what next. I do think you need to credit Thistle, who were very good, but we were lethargic throughout. For Caley, I'd certainly have Pawlett and McGinn straight back into the side.

While I'd agree that it's a measure of how far we've come that we can be openly frustrated by a game like that, we were seriously off the pace. Too many good players didn't turn up, or got frustrated, and we didn't seem to be able to change things. I'd agree that we were unlucky that the ref didn't play advantage in the first half, and with the Hayes challenge, but we were seriously fortunate to even get a point. Taylor had two incredible chances, and seriously unsettled the defence. It's clichéd, but fans will forgive most things other than a perceived lack of effort. While I don't believe that was the case, there were too many players misplacing easy passes, not making runs and relying on smashing it long to Rooney. We've been better than that. It was the most un-McInnes I've seen us. I've long supported Langfield, but we again saw the best and worst of him. He's the best in the league at one-vs-one's, but his distribution was seriously poor and he had two rushes of blood that could have been costly. How this is Leighton's fault, I'll never know, but the goalkeeper issue is pressing. A poor show, in which we were lucky to get away with a point. Caley will comfortably beat us if we play like that midweek. Against the perspective of the whole season, it's small fry, but it'd be a shame if the last months of the season petered out.

We go full strength until the league is out of the question. The last thing we'd want is Celtic to drop points and think what might have been. Again. If they drop points, we have to be there to put pressure on them, especially as we've got another game against them to play. They've got five games in 15 days, Brown is suspended for one, Bitton is probably injured. Keep them honest. There'll be a time to play the kids, but it's not yet.

In and out of the team at mid-table, League 2 also-rans, Northampton Town.

I thought he was a good centre back, who was a lot more adventurous and intelligent than the vast majority of the division. Horrendous full-back, but that was probably a learning process for him too.

The Diamond of 04/05 was also a far better player than the burnt out, lazy husk who eventually left us.