exiledjag

To the actual game. This is definitely a must win game. Arbroath, Killie and Raith are all at home on Saturday playing against teams they should be considered favourites to beat. If ICT win we will lose a lot of ground to the teams around us and we will suffer a huge blow to our confidence. Together with the boost a defeat will give to Raith and ICT. If we win it will give the table a completely different look and after Saturdays games we will still have 2 games in hand. Whether we are good enough or not we will look like title contenders.. How do we win the game - play the way we did in the second have on Tuesday from the kick off and take our chances!

Agree with your final paragraph re Akinola. He has been exceptional since he came to Firhill and perhaps recent poor form is nothing more than the fact that no one can play great all the time. I admit to not having seen a lot of football this season but hope to make up for this soon. From what little I have managed to see I can't say I have been overly impressed by Smith or Murray. As far as Turner is concerned I was very impressed with him when in an Airdrie Jersey. Surely with Tiffoney being out and IMC apparently going for two up front this is the time to play Turner in an advanced central midfield role just behind the two strikers. We signed a very good player from Airdrie and in my opinion have wasted him by not giving him a run of games to prove himself and when we do play him, play him out of position! Is he now so poor that Murray and Smith are ahead of him - surely not!! BTW what's wrong with Tiffoney?

Thanks

I think we have to keep things in perspective. Granted our form has been poor resulting in games we have lost where we should at least have got a point and other games where we got a point where we should have had 3. But the same can be said of just about every team in the league. Only Arbroath are consistently picking up points but even they are not the prolific winners they were prior to the turn of the year. I haven't checked the stats but would guess Morton, Hamilton and perhaps Ayr have improved recently and in the top half of the table Kilmarnock are a bit better than Raith, ICT and ourselves. However after last night and the dust has settled we are in 4th place, still with 2 games in hand and still able to match anyone in the league ....... for 45 minutes!

I am happy with the point but agree it would have been a better point had we beaten Morton, which we should have done! It will be a better point if we can beat ICT on Friday. For me though the two big positives are that in the second half 1. we showed we were good enough to go toe to toe with the best team in the league on their patch and perhaps might have won the game (although that would probably have been unfair on Arbroath given how much they were on top in the first half), and 2. We are now in 4th place and in a play off position - getting out of 5th place was I think becoming a mental block gor the players and the fams. We need to kick on now and that means playing the way we did in the second half for the whole game. So it's over to our management team to get the team selection and formation right from the first minute, not the 46th minute.

Oh well didn't take Arbroath long to score!

Not according to BBC illustration of team selection. Shows Docherty playing in front of our back 4 but behind our midfield 4.

Is Foster not fully fit? Surprised he is not playing. Another question have we played the 4141 formation before? What do those familiar with the tactical side of the game know about this formation and what are we trying to do by playing to this format - beyond the obvious of winning the game?

Hopung for a win but would settle for a draw tonight. Arbroath do seem to be a bogy team for us or are they just better. I would like to think we could beat ICT at Firhill but I think even that is doubtful as we seem to be struggling at home. If we could just somehow scrap wins in these two games it will make the table look very different t and as AuldJags suggests perhaps we could kick on. Needs some good form from us, decent refereeing and some luck. Perhaps asking too much. Keep hoping though!

Read on P&B that Raith fans think their teams performance was the best they have played since about November. So perhaps a draw at Kirkcaldy is not such a bad result. They do, though, regret the lack of a recognised striker, are bemused by the manager' team selection, baffled by the selection and timing of substitutions and the way the team is set up in terms of the formation . I think as Jags we can sympathise with some of the above.

Second all the positive comments about our lady Jags. Great result and 4 goals away from home. Excellent.

Dundee's new manager has substituted hair whole midfield - never heard of that happening. With Rudden off as well that means of the 5 forward players, midfield and strikers, only Mullan saw out the game. Sounds like a shambles of a club. Rudden will be relieved he signed a pre-season contract.lùuuo6766⁶i55ii5ubtŕwf To today's result. The positive way to look at it is that the 0-0 draw is the start of an unbeaten run that we will keep going until the end of the season! Not sure 13 draws will be enough to get us into a play-off position!

8 Agree

Hamilton v Inverness 1-1! Another result that you could argue has gone our way. In fact I can't recall a period when you could say the above about the majority of results affecting our opponents and yet we are still 5th. We have had two opportunities to get to Third place and failed to grasp either of them - away draw at ICT and of course the recent loss to Morton. Can we win 2 out of three Raith, Arbroath and ICT. Recent history suggests not. Notwithstanding the games in hand it's starting to look that ourvposition in this league is 5th. One thing is certain IMC will need to focus on signing a couple of strikers, who actually score goals, next season.

Does this mean a 4-4-2 formation? Good to see Foster on the bench, in fact it looks a good quality bench with Murray and McIver, for me, being the only question marks in terms of impact. I would still prefer Turner to Smith!

If we pick up 7 points from our 3 Tuesday night games against Morton (H), Arbroath (A) and Queen of the South (H) won't that indicate we are in fact challenging for the title? if we win the Tuesday night game the script will become - we can't afford to lose the following Friday/ Saturday scheduled game against Raith (A), Inverness (H) & Morton (A)! Pressure eh!

Albeit in League One we did well last season playing catch up to win the league with one or two games to spare. We need to go out tomorrow night and be prepared for a battle. If we match or better Morton in the physical challenge and then just play our football (like we did against the Arabs) then we should become! I just worry about the stop-start season we seem to be having and the improvement in Morton under Imrie. I am sure he has made them difficult to beat!

He didn't turn out to be the safe pair of hands the pundits said he would prove to be when his appointment was announced. When he left St Johnstone he said he was going to take a year out. Given his experience at Killie he might want to revert to plan A.

Naismith (youth coach at Hearts and part of the Scottish International coaching team) to be interviewed by St Mirren. If I were a Saints fan and it was a choice from these these two it would be Naismith for me!

I broadly agree with the above but would like to empasise a couple of points. Firstly the improvement in the bottom 5 is I think an important point and not one that has escaped IMC. He has been making the point for weeks that taking points from the bottom 5 will have a big influence on who wins the league. So in short all of the teams in the top have of the table will probably drop points to teams lower down the league not just The Jags. Last point. I think Kilmarnock's Lafferty could be the difference that secures them automatic promotion. I am also confident that if we can get a bit of momentum from actually playing games and getting a couple of wins then we could push Killie all the way.

BBC Reporter also saying Killie have a game in hand over Arbroath when of course its the other way round. Inept in the extreme.

Thought results went our way today. I normally don't mind games in hand but 4 plus scheduled will put a lot of pressure on the squad. Looks like a similar situation to last season when we had to come from behind and cope with a punishing schedule. I would feel happier if we were relying on 3/4 players gor goals rather than one (Gráham). Come on McIver and Jakubiak- break the habit of a life time and get us some goals! Couldn't resist saying this - Dundee bottom of SPL.........wonderful!

Nice to see we are not the only football club with 'plumbing' problems.

Good now that Dundee are bang in trouble we should all support Aberdeen's interest in Goodwin. If he goes to Aberdeen that should be enough to knock St Mirren off track this season and relegation next season.

Personally, I think this is a fantastic appointment by Dundee. It is astute, shows great awareness of their footballing needs and sets Dundee on a clear path........... straight to the championship! Brilliant!