lady-isobel-barnett

That's not too uncommon at lower level football when conditions are poor. no excuse tho' for him not anticipating getting in the road. Think a neutral today would have said that was a most comfortable one goal win. I don't believe we were in much danger of losing a second goal but then again we played very well at Almondvale and lost. Thought the midfield diamond was excellent (four guys who knew what they were doing). I guess Cairney was kinda playing the role Jackie had designated for Erskine in his 4-3-3 plans months ago. Perhaps when called on again Cairney can drop into Hutton's position and Erskine (or someone else) play behind the strikers? I realise this'll go down as yet another game when a striker didn't score but I thought both Elliot & Dargo (especially the latter) played in the midfield very well. I don't tho' remember any occasion when Elliot or Dargo wasted goal scoring chances. All in a good performance especially in the first half with only really the continual question about lacking a sufficient cutting edge still not resolved.

I actually assumed the minutes silence was some sort of standard procedure due to Gary Speed being a current British international manager. Personally I've absolutely no objection to a Jags team manager asking for respects to be made for a football person's passing. That takes the difficult decisions of just who we do and who we don't mark similarly further away from the Club. I remember a fairly polarised debate on a previous Jags fans website on whether Dom McVicar's passing should be marked by a moment's respect. Tho' I disagreed with the Club's decision on that instance I fully understood their dilemma. I'm glad therefore to hear that today's decision was at the request of the manager as opposed to some sort of boardroom edict.

Know very little about premiership football but Sunderland are one of those clubs that have usually under performed in relation to the size of their support base. If football wasn't so utterly dependent on TV & sponsorships deals Sunderland would be the epitome of a club that no league would want to lose.

and if we don't start bringing in extra revenue we'll end up going part time, love.

You're right. Think it was about three year ago as I had to get a bottle of Cardhu for a Xmas present and it was difficult to get hold of a bottle. *Getting Bunnahabhain 12yo (46.3 alc vol) for £20 at the moment. Not too peaty for Islay. *football related as having driven 150 miles last night to see that pish the thought of a few drams of Bunna was about the only thing keeping me almost sane. Oh, and it's certainly got a better finish than a 25yo Stewart.

No Aunt Grace, I eager

Certainly finished the stronger side. Too often when a Jags player got sight of goal he took another touch or passed the buck. Not singling Paton out but I thought he of all players would have shot when running in late on. Shouldn't be too despondent with a point away from home but by sheer percentages alone we really should have managed a goal. As Mr Cheesecloth says our away form isn't nosediving. Was causing more concern a month or so ago. Lost count of good balls that Hutton laid off being squandered, Erskine being by far the major culprit. As for the manager motivating the players I'd guess that'll be the hardest part of McNamra's job. I've been in the poacher turned gamekeeper situation myself and know a good few others like me who found it difficult at first. Football tho' doesn't allow you much time to develop that part of management. It also explains how some make great coaches but lousy managers and vice versa.

Pics very much appreciated as always, Tommy

I know there's been quality control issues with the 24yo Erskine (too inconsistent) and they sampled the Fraser but it evidently needed a tad more maturing. Tasting notes on the 24yo Paton appear slightly ambiguous... " A right good kick of it but left a lot to be desired".

Is that another cryptic clue?

Robertson would have been my choice to play alongside Archie. Presuming a heavy pitch the bigger fellas usually are preferred. McNamara's more or less said that he won't risk Robertson if conditions are poor so we can assume he won't play. No idea who'll start up front. I suppose it's just try any two from four tho' again conditions might favour Stewart. Rowson is hard to replace and McNamara might not want to move Cairney as he's playing well a bit wider. I mention him frequently, tho' still no sighting, but Jamie Campbell could fill in for Rowson. He's played centre mid often enough and his tackling is usually not bad. He'd also give plenty options if we wanted to change system of play.

Are you definitely certain? No dout whatsoever?

Agree with the first two and certainly Clarke is a real personality. Not so sure about the third. A good bit nearer home would be My choice

ah hae ma doots * * see what one afternoon in Petercoulter can do to you.

I see it another way. A typical lower division club is likely to have a good few senior pros who have to ensure their runs etc are productive and with reduced pace & stamina they'll rely almost entirely on experience. Bannigan for instance must have learned from Roberts last season. I suppose tailoring the right lower division club for the individual youngster is all important. Totally guessing that while Burns will be picking up much needed game time he'll be benefiting from the sink or swim situation he'll find himself in at Clydebank. The lad had bulked up a good bit since he made his first team debut for us. Looks tho' that he's lost a good bit of pace, no doubt down to his injury lay off. Maybe that'll return but at least he'll be learning how to battle for the ball in the Juniors.

Valid point. I'm surprised tho' nobody has brought up comments McNamara made a couple of months ago about our senior youths not being the finished article. He was generalising of course but the main gist was that the players we've got that should be ready to step into the first team lack the necessary guile and rely too much on instinct (he definitely used that word). By that he was meaning positioning, running angles etc and other text book stuff left a bit to be desired. He certainly values the youth policy and the potential of a lot of our youngsters. He believes tho' that they just need more time on the technical side instead of relying on flying by the seats of their pants. I know that with Shaun there was an additional fitness issue and maybe attitude problem but perhaps some folk are making too much of that. Young Fraser will no doubt have needed the training in positioning and the other things Jackie's looking for and thus his visit to Stenny will not have been in vain. Stenny as we know is packed with experienced pros. McNamara's remarks about our home produced players can be backed up when you see the likes of young guys like Hutton & O'Donnell who know how to make space for themselves etc, the latter signed along with Lindsay as first team ready. So when one or two posters on here suggest that McNamara doesn't rate our youths I feel it's more than slightly off the mark.

Very sad to hear THIS

An early contender for this week's turn a positive into a negative award When he first arrived I thought he had all the makings of a future Jags captain. I think Cairney now he's back on track could well be Archie's successor. Not having pace probably means Paul won't attract much interest from clubs above our league. His consistency more or less means he'll play every week. What he lacks in pace he makes up for in stamina so he'll be on the park for 90 mins. He takes the penalties and other deadballs (corners still need to improve, tho') so he's an all round importance to the team. Cairney's future probably lies back playing central mid but it looks to me that he's enjoying the wider role at the moment.

Tom on the updates says 10 secs and I heard mention 11 secs on the BBC. Obviously we'll get it more accurate from the video. Anyway all I can find is THIS (scroll down a bit). John Hewitt 9.6 secs (for Aberdeen at Fir Pk '82) So we might just have witnessed the second quickest ever recorded Scottish Cup goal. I'd argue because we were playing into a very strong headwind once adjustments are made to reflect that then yesterday's was the fastest ever.

This hospitality business may be a Junior thingy but it can't have any tradition within the Scottish Cup. Up until not that long ago cup ties weren't played to a finish on the first replay. It wasn't uncommon to have ties go to three or four games. I can't really see clubs putting on post match hospitality after every drawn game.

More than a bit I would suggest. If the conditions had been like that up at Culter we might not have even made the replay. Btw unrelated but I thought the pitch held up really well. Was anticipating a quagmire coming so quick after the rugger.

Much the same really. Paton & Archie played well behind the full backs and Robertson as centrally defensive in midfield as you can get.

If the conditions weren't so bad we'd probably have added a couple more goals. Kinda with the above post but on the other hand having watched the whole 180 mins I think we're lucky no player has picked up a serious injury. At the time quite a few of us thought Erskine had in fact suffered a bad one in the first half up at Culter and today some what would pass for a timed tackle in Junior football was woefully late at our level. Kinda a long way round of saying I'd rather we won 4-0 than 10-0 with a couple of our lads out for the rest of the season. Btw I thought the almost bunnetesque in eccentricity line up today worked very well. It may have possibly contributed to the relative shortage of goals but in a safety first set up it was faultless. With that in mind McNamara will be very pleased with Robertson. Can't really imagine an occasion when we'll line up like that again. I don't know how others saw it but I thought it looked as if it was a 2-3-1-2-2 with width .

Confession time. When the final whistle went I stormed off down the road to catch a bus back to Aberdeen so as I could get a pint before the train. I realise now it was an action of a person that showed both disrespect to our hosts and a complete disregard for Junior protocol. I'd like to take this belated opportunity to apologise to Culter FC, the North of Scotland Junior Association, the SFA, PTFC, the BBC and the Press and Journal. I feel that in not being present at either the clapping off the pitch or the screaming bile ceremonies I have let an awful lot of people badly down.

Gale force winds & driving rain forecast plus a playing surface that's been ruggerfukated as recently as last night. I'm not so sure you should have posted that.