The good thing is, is this is at home, so i'd really hope that we see some sort of positive response following the embarrassing shambles at Celtic Park before the intl break. how are folk thinking we will line up for this one? Will we see a return to the side for McGarry? Not really sure I want to be soaking up too much pressure against them.

Annoyingly, and as suspected, their manager appears to be competent so it won't be as optimistic as previous trips, but the home advantage (although I have seen who's officiating) should hopefully play in our favour!

Out
Bed
Bed
Bed
2-1 them, Miovski

McGarry isn't fit yet, only just returned to training. 

10 hours ago, RicoS321 said:

McGarry isn't fit yet, only just returned to training. 

Ah had thought he’d been back longer than that. Limits our options then.

Cannot see there being many changes in the team from last game unless anyone comes back injured from international duty other than McGrath coming back into team. I was not impressed with McGarry defensively before the injury so would not have been rushing him back into the team myself. Think first goal will be vital on Sunday. If it goes to them it could be a doing. Stupid kick off time means no train from the Capital to get to Aberdeen before kick off so now to decide between missing game and having to go up on the Saturday and staying over. 
 

Tribute Act seem to be playing better under the new manager which probably means we lose this one. 
 

 

Philippe Clement hasn't been tested yet. Slapping aside Hearts, Hibs, Livingston and St Mirren is to be expected. Lunchtime at Pittodrie is when we see what he's actually about.

Unfortunately I have no idea what Aberdeen will turn up. Will it be the passing version that is organised, defends well and creates good opening for Miovski?

Or will it be the two passes then a punt up the park version?

If Team A turns up we've got a chance. Team B, no.

It's mine, Jim Bett and Xabi Alonso's joint birthday on Saturday so was looking forward to this, but they moved it to the Sunday and the three of us have dinner plans that day now, so won't be going.

On 21/11/2023 at 22:37, RicoS321 said:

McGarry isn't fit yet, only just returned to training. 

According to Steve Agnew he's in contention.

Out - Six hour round trip ahead of Finland trip and shite kick off time

Walking the dog on the beach

TV

Absolutely no idea

5-1 us, causing "Fact" Boyd to suffer a brain aneurysm live on TV.

Scorers - Ruby, Bojan 2, Shinnie and the rarely seen Sokler

Turns out there is a bus that leaves at 0745 that should get in 45 minutes before kick off so decided last minute to head up. Got feeling I am going to regret it. 
 

In

bus then ground

Y

pub then bus. 
 

3-0 no Dons scorer.

Looking forward to this one, a lot of the squad will be pretty well rested and I think their performances since clement have been a bit over praised. Think we will win it 2-1

Even with the break, I can't really be arsed with this one. With European games, I think there's just too much football. It's completely saturated. Can't wait for the winter break! 

I'm going of course. I think we'll lose.

4-4-2 I think. No Barron is disappointing. 

5 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

I'd guess at a 3-4-2-1? With Sokler and McGrath getting close to Miovski. Duncan left wing back.

 

31 minutes ago, Jute said:

4-4-2 I think. No Barron is disappointing. 

Could also be a 5-3-2, which could be long balls into the channels to the two front men, although at least we'd have people to actually chase those punts.

If McGrath and Clarkson aren't too detached from the front two then it could be alright. Good to see McGarry on the bench too. And Milne, who I thought we had loaned out!

This team just continues to mess with us. Are we good or not?

In that first 45 minutes we've been excellent. It has been long balls, but there's been at least some thought behind it rather than aimless punts. The front two are causing the back line problems, and the midfield three are pushing up quickly to get on the second balls.

It's not pretty football, but it's been effective. It's not a case of us just taking the one chance that's fine our way; Solker and McGrath have had big chances either side of the goal.

Only concern is we're inviting Rangers to make crosses too much, and our back three haven't dominated as much. Really, Rangers probably should have one too.

1 minute ago, Panda said:

This team just continues to mess with us. Are we good or not?

In that first 45 minutes we've been excellent. It has been long balls, but there's been at least some thought behind it rather than aimless punts. The front two are causing the back line problems, and the midfield three are pushing up quickly to get on the second balls.

It's not pretty football, but it's been effective. It's not a case of us just taking the one chance that's fine our way; Solker and McGrath have had big chances either side of the goal.

Only concern is we're inviting Rangers to make crosses too much, and our back three haven't dominated as much. Really, Rangers probably should have one too.

I think we have gone long too much but at the same time it has not been aimless punts, it’s clear we’re trying to get in behind, much like where the goal came from. It’s exposing their weakness so you have to try to do so. I would like us to vary it a bit more and play more through McGrath infront of the back 4 too.

you’re right about sitting off them more but as the half went on you can’t keep up that tempo. First 10 mins of the second half are huge, can not lose a goal you’d see a momentum shift, and to go 2 up would be a real punch to the gut.

COYR

 

Brutal second half so far. Won’t win this at this rate.

Why do we bother. 

S{FL 23/24 season

#	Club		Penalties received
1		Celtic FC	8
2		Rangers FC	7
3		Motherwell FC	3
4		St. Mirren FC	3
5		Kilmarnock FC	2
6		Dundee FC	2
7		Livingston FC	2
8		Aberdeen FC	1
9		Hibernian FC	1

38 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

Brutal second half so far. Won’t win this at this rate.

....and didnt deserve to.That was a painful watch,why couldnt we string 2 passes together,....so frustrating

Awful second half, very mcinnes like. Must have been a belter of a half time team talk. Get a goal then try to hang on way too early in the game. So disappointed, rangers were there to be beaten. Credit to them for upping their game but a big part of that is due to us. Lucky for a point in the end. Re the penalty, we’d have been crying if we didn’t get it, but at the same time you see that type of holding for every single corner from every team.

positives, we didn’t lose, plus Mcgarry got some minutes. Plus win today, tough to go into a final and beat rangers three times in 4 months. Today showed we have to play like the first half in the final. We’ve conceded way too many goals, and late goals, that trying to sit in is not something we’re good at. Go at them and win a final.

Well, from what had been a good first half, that second half was really poor.

We had 27% possession in that second half. Can't remember any period where we've held onto the ball. I don't think we defended well either - we head away a few crosses but really all we've done is fill the box with red shirts, we've been cut apart a lot, Rangers have hit the bar twice, and there's a lot of poor finishing from Rangers.

I said at half-time I was concerned with how narrow our back five was meaning we just let their two full backs have all the time in the world to put crosses on.

Looked like despite all that we'd survive. The penalty - he's dived, but this is VAR now where they don't look at whether he's dived, they look at the shirt pull. Because technically it's a pull then it's a penalty, even though it's ridiculously soft.

But we're fortunate to have a point after that second half performance.

18 minutes ago, OxfordDon said:

Why do we bother. 

S{FL 23/24 season

#	Club		Penalties received
1		Celtic FC	8
2		Rangers FC	7
3		Motherwell FC	3
4		St. Mirren FC	3
5		Kilmarnock FC	2
6		Dundee FC	2
7		Livingston FC	2
8		Aberdeen FC	1
9		Hibernian FC	1

The table I meant to post:

#	Club		Penalties received (games)			Games per penalty
1		Celtic FC	8 (14)			1.75
2		Rangers FC	7 (13)			1.85
3		Motherwell FC	3 (14)			4.6
4		St. Mirren FC	3 (13)			4.33
5		Kilmarnock FC	2 (14)			7
6		Dundee FC	2 (13)			6.5
7		Livingston FC	2 (14)			7
8		Aberdeen FC	1 (12)			12
9		Hibernian FC	1 (14)

SPFL 23/24 season: Penalties conceded

#	Club			Conceded penalties
1		St. Mirren FC		5
2		Motherwell FC		4
3		Heart of Midlothian FC		4
4		Aberdeen FC		3
5		Dundee FC		3
6		Ross County FC		3
7		Livingston FC		3
8		Hibernian FC		2
9		St. Johnstone FC		1
10		Kilmarnock FC		1

11		Celtic		0
12		Rangers		0

Just back, not a bad game. First half performance was very good. It was a 3-4-2-1, which worked really well. Sokler and Miovski worked perfectly together, with McGrath excellent in behind. They couldn't deal with the ball over the top at all. Second half we dropped McGrath and Sokler back before the subs into a flat four. McGrath struggled a bit wide left. McGarry looked like an amateur player when he came on, hopefully just lack of match time. Duncan wasn't great of course but at least held position. As Panda says, we played narrow at the back and allowed the crosses in and also allowed them to wander about our box. That said, Sokler's early chance was easily as good as anything we produced. The last five minutes of the ninety we began to hold our shape and looked like seeing it out comfortably.

Then VAR intervened. Once again, nobody in the crowd or on the pitch spotted anything, and the Huns got their opportunity and missed it. The ref saw exactly what happened, and - in context - decided it was a nothing incident that didn't merit a penalty, with the play continuing until their miss. Three minutes later, and with all context stripped out, a penalty is given. Every pundit then reviews the incident without context and agrees that there is a tug so it must be a pen, completely oblivious to context as always. Richard Gordon mentions on the radio that he's surprised that Walsh didn't give the pen in real time as he was looking right at it, completely missing the point that Walsh did clearly see the incident and chose not to give a penalty because it wasn't one. Again, VAR not fit for purpose. Anti football bollocks that needs to be fired into the sun. I wish Robson was a little more articulate in moments like these. I'd like to see someone from the club take all footage from the game and produce a montage of tugs on shirts in the box throughout the ninety minutes. For both sides, no partisan shite, simply to show how ridiculous the decision was. 

Anyway, great to see Sokler adding something and another option in setup. We're very light on options from the bench to see out games like this one. Like Duncan, Polvara held a position well, but offered little else. McKenzie will be a miss for the final in this setup. 

14 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

Just back, not a bad game. First half performance was very good. It was a 3-4-2-1, which worked really well. Sokler and Miovski worked perfectly together, with McGrath excellent in behind. They couldn't deal with the ball over the top at all. Second half we dropped McGrath and Sokler back before the subs into a flat four. McGrath struggled a bit wide left. McGarry looked like an amateur player when he came on, hopefully just lack of match time. Duncan wasn't great of course but at least held position. As Panda says, we played narrow at the back and allowed the crosses in and also allowed them to wander about our box. That said, Sokler's early chance was easily as good as anything we produced. The last five minutes of the ninety we began to hold our shape and looked like seeing it out comfortably.

Then VAR intervened. Once again, nobody in the crowd or on the pitch spotted anything, and the Huns got their opportunity and missed it. The ref saw exactly what happened, and - in context - decided it was a nothing incident that didn't merit a penalty, with the play continuing until their miss. Three minutes later, and with all context stripped out, a penalty is given. Every pundit then reviews the incident without context and agrees that there is a tug so it must be a pen, completely oblivious to context as always. Richard Gordon mentions on the radio that he's surprised that Walsh didn't give the pen in real time as he was looking right at it, completely missing the point that Walsh did clearly see the incident and chose not to give a penalty because it wasn't one. Again, VAR not fit for purpose. Anti football bollocks that needs to be fired into the sun. I wish Robson was a little more articulate in moments like these. I'd like to see someone from the club take all footage from the game and produce a montage of tugs on shirts in the box throughout the ninety minutes. For both sides, no partisan shite, simply to show how ridiculous the decision was. 

Anyway, great to see Sokler adding something and another option in setup. We're very light on options from the bench to see out games like this one. Like Duncan, Polvara held a position well, but offered little else. McKenzie will be a miss for the final in this setup. 

I was thinking about Mackenzie today, think this season he has earned the spot as a solid squad player. But the timing of mcgarry’s return helps and I think with 3-4 weeks of fitness work he’ll be up to speed. Mcgarry has an engine and should force not only tavernier to defend, but has the lungs to track his runs.

43 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

I was thinking about Mackenzie today, think this season he has earned the spot as a solid squad player. But the timing of mcgarry’s return helps and I think with 3-4 weeks of fitness work he’ll be up to speed. Mcgarry has an engine and should force not only tavernier to defend, but has the lungs to track his runs.

I've not seen anything of McGarry so far to suggest he's better than Jack Gurr, but I hope you're right!

4 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

I've not seen anything of McGarry so far to suggest he's better than Jack Gurr, but I hope you're right!

Bit harsh. I think it’s manc who rates him? He came here with a good record and had been capped/looking to get more caps for New Zealand. Was thrown in a little at the deep end, hopefully despite the injury he’s more settled now. I think that all means something. There was nothing to suggest from his past that Gurr was ever a player.

anyway, between Hayes and mcgarry left wing back is not a concern of mine. Think sokler showed today he’s worth a few games, I’d argue duk is no longer an unknown and opponents know more how to play him. Give sokler a run to get confidence and sharpness pre cup final and I’d run the two of them, he and miovski, at hampden.

I don’t know, I reckon if Jack Gurr was a Kiwi he’d probably get chucked at least one cap by the age of 25 to cement his allegiance in case he turned good.