Well, this is a big one.  Hopefully parkhead will be well out of the minds of ours whilst utd will still be stewing over their goal being disallowed.  

A win here would set us up so nicely for the run in to the split and all those games are very winnable. 

 

Expect Mitov to be back, would quite like to see Gueye back in the side but wide left. It is where he has played best for us and Okkels is very hit and miss at the moment. 

3-1 dons, Nisbet, Keskinen and Dabbagh 

Ffs, 2 down, although 3 goals all from crosses. we are so fucking bad defending crosses. Brutal. Up top zero shots on goal. Not the way to win games.

Absolutely powder puff stuff.

Michael Stewart is right with his analysis. No urgency, no connection from defence to attack.

We have spent a fucking fortune and not seeing a return on it.

Our season is in real danger of just slipping away into total mediocrity.

Actually on reflection, mediocrity would potentially be an improvement on what we are currently being subjected to.

Thelin has a massive job on his hands here, and for the first time I am seriously beginning to wonder if he is capable of it 🤔

Two new centre backs but still cannot defend crosses into box. Okkels should be returned to Preston now. Gueye almost like being a man down. 
 

Got to move the ball quicker in midfield and cut this inverted winger shite. Not sure we have players to do it though.

P S European football fast becoming nothing more than a pipe dream 🙄

4 minutes ago, BigAl said:

P S European football fast becoming nothing more than a pipe dream 🙄

Getting that by winning cup

8 minutes ago, Jute said:

Getting that by winning cup

Bevvied on the Sabbath 😲

Part of me doesn’t care if we don’t make Europe. A couple of seasons to completely gut the squad and start again. Obviously we have financially invested in the squad and need the European return, but Europe will really challenge a squad.

im ok giving gueye and okkels time to show they most likely aren’t good enough, much like Morris has been given time to show he can’t start, helps us gut the squad and there’s currently no better player to start for them. 
the run early season gave us hope/expectation, but we’re a team in the middle of a squad overhaul, far from complete.

I’m disappointed in clarkson, though he’d be our main man at 10 and he hasn’t kicked on.

 

Edited March 2, 20251 yr by OrlandoDon

4 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Bevvied on the Sabbath 😲

Pain killers for the shoulder are belters. 

Get Morris on.  We need pace

Edited March 2, 20251 yr by OxfordDon

This is brutally awful.

5 subs made after an hour. Says it all.

Did we ever replace our attacking coach that left in Juanuary for family reasons?  We seem to have forgotten how to attack since then.

Well well, that might just prove to be a very big point for us at the end of the season.

Certainly didn't see that coming with fifteen minutes or so to go 

Was a great point to get well done Nisbet 👏 

God putting a very positive spin on the game on beeb at the moment, but from what I saw I thought we were eye-bleedingly blunt in attack and devoid of any kind of invention throughout the game - we salvaged a point more by attrition than anything else.  

The sheer fact that Morris made such a seismic impact was an indication of how ponderous we had been up to that point.

Needs to be much, much better if we make it into the right half post-split, or we are going to get ripped to shreds by the likes of a resurgent Hibs.

Edited March 2, 20251 yr by OxfordDon

That was some escape there. What United get for sitting in at 2-0. We looked a better team once Okkels and Gueye were off. 

On 28/02/2025 at 02:33, Panda said:

Do you bench the captain for the fourth time in five games? 

 

The emphatic answer to this is "No". We're a better team with Graeme Shinnie in it, and that's two good games at left back he's played now.

Kevin Nisbet, four goals in five games. He's beginning to look like someone we should be trying to sign permanently in summer.

Morris should have started over Okkels. 

Even though he was so close to winning the game, I'm glad Jim Goodwin is no longer our manager. Sat back and invited Aberdeen pressure for 45 minutes. And that's the real positive I take from today.

22 minutes ago, Jute said:

That was some escape there. What United get for sitting in at 2-0. We looked a better team once Okkels and Gueye were off. 

...and Shinnie made a big difference when he replaced McKenzie(who seems to have lost any attacking instinct or bravery)

  Good to see Nisbet get a couple,not sure its enough to think about a permanent move yet,but played well in general,looked interested.As far as the rest of the season goes,if Thelin thinks he needs more time to work with formations/partnerships at the expense of Euro fitba for the rest of the season,i'd give him it

Edited March 2, 20251 yr by Elgindon

Ps,United are stinkin'.Most away sides have been easier on the eye than them

1 hour ago, OrlandoDon said:

Part of me doesn’t care if we don’t make Europe. 

 

 

19 minutes ago, Elgindon said:

If Thelin thinks he needs more time to work with formations/partnerships at the expense of Euro fitba for the rest of the season,i'd give him it

Or, take the £5m windfall, and if that affects some league performances then so be it, considering that guaranteed group stage football might not be back for a few years after next season.

The ONLY team that worries me are Hibs, and even then they are average and their run will come to a halt soon (much like it did for us).

Think after this we generally only have one game a week until the split, which will make a big difference. Plenty of time on the training ground for Thelin.

23 minutes ago, Panda said:

The emphatic answer to this is "No". We're a better team with Graeme Shinnie in it, and that's two good games at left back he's played now.

Kevin Nisbet, four goals in five games. He's beginning to look like someone we should be trying to sign permanently in summer.

Morris should have started over Okkels. 

Even though he was so close to winning the game, I'm glad Jim Goodwin is no longer our manager. Sat back and invited Aberdeen pressure for 45 minutes. And that's the real positive I take from today.

Morris cannot start, he’s been awful every time he does. He’s only effective when he’s fresh and opponents are tiring. He’s a bench player at best for us.

Okkels and gueye proving they don’t have the stones for Scottish football. Don’t think either think fast enough and the intensity of them doesn’t suit. Not saying topi is strong, but you see the intensity from him and he suits Scottish football. 

we’re crying out for an attacking central midfielder. They suck players in which give our wide guys time and space to get out and up. A forward dropping isn’t the same thing. Thought gueye could be that guy but he’s not. 

agree re shinnie, we appear to be a better team with him in our 11.

37 minutes ago, Panda said:

 

Or, take the £5m windfall, and if that affects some league performances then so be it, considering that guaranteed group stage football might not be back for a few years after next season.

The ONLY team that worries me are Hibs, and even then they are average and their run will come to a halt soon (much like it did for us).

Think after this we generally only have one game a week until the split, which will make a big difference. Plenty of time on the training ground for Thelin.

It’s not just some league performances. It wrecked our entire season last time and we’re in the middle of a squad overhaul. Like I said, it’s ’part Of me,’ don’t know which is better but having the time to work on things and implement players rather than playing 3 games a week for the first 3-4 months isn’t bad, tough call.

I would rather be in Europe next season and not get third, as it’s unlikely we get guaranteed European group stage football after this season, as has been said above. I do think if we want the guaranteed euro place in future it’s up to the representatives outwith the old firm to start getting through qualifiers. I know it’s hit or miss based on who you draw how realistic that is. I hope that our current defensive woes will resolve themselves as the new guys get more time together. I know some are hopeful Hibs form will drop off but their confidence will be high at the moment, so I’m not so sure. 

3 hours ago, OrlandoDon said:

Part of me doesn’t care if we don’t make Europe. A couple of seasons to completely gut the squad and start again. Obviously we have financially invested in the squad and need the European return, but Europe will really challenge a squad.

im ok giving gueye and okkels time to show they most likely aren’t good enough, much like Morris has been given time to show he can’t start, helps us gut the squad and there’s currently no better player to start for them. 
the run early season gave us hope/expectation, but we’re a team in the middle of a squad overhaul, far from complete.

I’m disappointed in clarkson, though he’d be our main man at 10 and he hasn’t kicked on.

 

That can’t always be the answer though, it’s just not sustainable to be spending £3-4M on players every year. What happened to actually making players better? You can’t just be buying a player, giving him 20 games then chucking him aside saying he’s not good enough.

Thelin (presumably) was brought in for his tactical knowledge/coaching ability. We should be improving these guys, working on the training ground  to make them better. He took over a team who did well in the last 10 games of last season and the first 20 of this season yet now he has had time to work with them, the results are worse! Has Thelin actually improved one player since he came in the door?

Aside from Shinnie, Clarkson and maybe Morris, the others who will be here at the end of the season were only signed in the last year or so. We shouldn’t be gutting the squad and if we really need to, the people that recruited all these guys should be going too.

 

European group stages were a bore, fuck them. Unearned pish. 

Today's game was hard going at times, thought the first half would never end. Nisbet excellent today, Clarkson very good when he came on, as were Morris and Shinnie. Okkels must have something on Thelin, he's done absolutely nothing to deserve to start in any of the games he's played so far. He's just a nothing player, I'd rather have Matty Kennedy back. Gueye was pish too. I'm assuming MacKenzie was injured, because there were at least five players requiring subbed before him. It was a strange sub that left us playing Keskinen through cramp for the last half hour. The only other reason I can think for it was the big argument he had with Nilsen in the first half. Nilsen did his trademark: shite pass, followed by shouting at the player who had no chance of getting it, and MacKenzie correctly shouted back at him. Anyway, Shinnie was good when he came on. Palaversa poor for the second start in a row, and started the second half like he'd never seen a football before. Clarkson has to be ahead of him now, he ran the show when he came on. The back two were fine. Knoester looks good. Losing goals to crosses and set pieces is a tactical thing, we're clearly setting up wrong. Although Mitov should have saved the first quite easily. He was otherwise good, building quickly from the back.