exiledjag

I am happy with this draw. If we win my Rangers supporter friend will say, when we meet, "i dont want to talk about football"! With a big smile I will say OK! If wevpose we still get lots of dosh! Seriously though we will be rank outsiders for this tie but I think it depends on which teams turns up. Rangers have been steadier since Beale but hardly impressive. We have been blowing hot and cold. If a hot Partick Thistle turn up playing against an unimpressive Rangers it will make for an interesting cup tie. I imagine the Gers were shaking in their shoes when they drew the Maryill Magyars!

Thank you very much and dates as well AFK.

Thanks AFK. How many times have we knock these 3 out of the cup including todays win? No hurry just when you can manage. Cheers

Strong looking Dunfermline team and Jags without Docherty, Lawless and Graham. Our midfield looks really weak. I think I would have gone for a 4-4-2 formation with Dowds upfront with Mullin and either Fitzpatrick or Tiffoney on the bench depending on form and fitness. What's wrong with Graham and Lawless? I think we really need to get the first goal.

Not so sure about Hearts and Dundee Utd but think your correct about Dunfermline.. I recall in my younger days playing (and losing to) Dunfermline was almost an annual event or at least it seemed like that. More recently we have been able to beat them. I share the sentiments about the vulnerability of our midfield plus the Fifer's current form - that are running away with League 1. They also have some good players and I have always liked Wighton. Even without Lawless and Docherty I think we should have enough to win this tie. We are getting back on track after our poor run and the wins against ICT, Ayr and Morton give us some momentum going into this Cup tie. I will go for 3-1 the Jags.

I recall David Amoo and especially his Cruyff Turn against St Johnstone. I also recall a game v Ross County which we lost 1-0 to miss out on a top 6 finish when he 'sauntered up and down the wing all day doing nothing very much. Was glad we got rid of him because his attitude wasn't good if that game was an accurate measure. I was sorry we let Aziz go as I felt there definitely was a player in there.

Great appointment. Hope he can coach the youngsters to have the same first touch and composure in front of goal. Now another couple of Kris Doolans - that would be something special.

I agree with the underpinning sentiment that we should be 'raising the bar'. Although a supporter of IMC I also agree that he and his two assistants have perhaps not got the best out of the playing squad we have. I am though, unlike others , prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt that progress this season has been hampered by the injury situation losing Graham, Holt, Docherty and Tiffoney who are arguably our four best players. For reasons already stated I would retain IMC as a Director of Football to take advantage of his abilities to 'spot a player'! I would appoint a new younger manager as Head Coach for the first team and release Archibald and Scally. As far as our aspirations are concerned I am not sure about competing regularly in Europe but do consider that we should aim to be an established SPL team competing for a top 6 place. Once established at that level then yes let's go for Europe. One important point we need to remember is that all the so called established SPLClubs like Motherwell, St Johnstone and to a lesser degree Dundee, Kilmarnock, Ross County and Hearts, all of whom have been in the Championship in recent times, have or have had a benefactor prepared to put money into recruitment. We have never had that and there is no indication we will have in the near future. In short we have to match our aspirations to available resources. This means, short of finding a financial benefactor, we are looking at slow organic growth rather than quick 'funded' growth.

Dundee don't seem to be in top form at the moment losing at Dens to Arbroath and drawing at Kirkcaldy to Raith. So one point from their last two games - a mini slump! Our record at Dens in the last few years has been reasonable and we have won there already this season. If we play well I would think a draw is the least we can expect and a win is possible but we have to play very well. Dundee will be up for this game more so than usual because of their last two results. We have to match their motivation and work rate and above all our midfield has to stamp its authority on their direct opponents. I will go for either 1-1 or a close 1 goal victory! C'mon the Jags!!

So would I (be delighted)

Probably off to Man City or Barcelona!

It's not a question of rewarding failure its a question of making the best use of talents or abilities. Contributors on this thread have said repeatedly that IMC knows avplsyer when he sees one it's knowing what to fo with the player that's his problem! I don't necessarily agree with this but if there is a concensus that thisvis in fact the case then let's put him into a position where the club can benefit from his strongest abilities - identifying Hood or potentially good players. As far as needing a Director of Footbsll (DoF) I think that with a men's and ladies team plus an academy that is now beginning to develop young players sought after by the biggest clubs in Scotland and PL clubs in England a DoF is exactly what we need. If we have a men's team manager plus the same for the ladies and the academy a DoF is needed to pull all this together to make sure the various parts are run and developed effectively and to the values of PTFC.

Can we focus on the game and not who loves or doesn't love Ian McCall. The undeniable facts are he has performed much better than his two predecessors, Archibald and Caldwell. The Club from a football perspective is in a much better place. To today's game. Imrie appears to be doing good things at Morton and to win we will need to be competitive from the first whistle. If we play to our best form we can win this game with a couple of goals to spare! However if we turn up with one of those lazy and tentative performances we will lose and have kissed goodbye to a play-off place. That's it IMO.

I disagree with you re needing a DoF! IMC working with Brian Graham would in my opinion be a good partnership. Graham 's focus would be the performance and development of the first team. McCall would be in charge of the overall football operation including recruitment. I think McCall is suited to this role given his experience of managing clubs and his ability to spot a player. In relation to recruitment I see it working as Graham telling McCall what he wants and the latter finding the type of player wanted. So in short McCall following discussion with Graham finds the players. Graham then gets the best out of them. Ideal!! Most if not all of the abve would be funded by Archibald and Scally leaving..

I would go with Graham being appointed as head coach. I think he has done well with the ladies team and deserves the opportunity. I would also restructure the management set up by, as I have frequently advocated, appointing IMC Director of Football and releasing Archibald. Not sure what to do with Scally. I know that Graham wants to play for a couple more seasons but given he can barely play a full game (frequently substituted around the 60 minute mark) I think his resolve on this point could be tested by offering him a full time position as Head Coach. There we have a young manager supported by an experienced manager. As a Director of Football IMC would work closely with Graham on recruitment and oversee the Club's Football operations including the Academy and the Ladies Team. The flaw in all of the above is that IMC will I think resign if we were to release Srcgibald and or Scally.

I understand the feelings about IMC and agree that if he can't fulfil the club's aspirations to get back to the top flight then a change should be made. As a supporter of IMC that change should in my opinion be moving him to a Director of Football role. I think though the comparison made here between Coyle and IMC is an unfair one. Coyle (and QP) are being bankrolled by a multi-millionaire who it seems is prepared to put money (unlike Colin Weir) directly into the playing budget. QP could not afford some of the players they have signed eg, Murray with revenue from their home attendances! Contributers to this site have said in the past that Coyle is no tactician therefore its not unreasonable to speculate that given the same financial support IMC would do just as well if not better than Coyle.

This captures everything I would like to say. Come on the Jags.

Agree with your comments regarding away results. Our inability to win away from home (against other top 5 clubs, excluding Dundee) may perhaps be a consequence of not having enough muscle, ball winning and defensive qualities in our midfield.

Agree with all the comments about our performance and especially about how well worked the goals were. Difficult to choose but I think my favourite is Mullin's goal. He received the ball with his back to goal, held off the defender snd made s good turn to plsce the ball into the far corner. I said a week or so ago that I had a dream we would win all 5 of our games in this sequence of matches. That's 2 down, Ayr and ICT, so 3 to go - Oueens Park, Morton and Dundee. The football world is looking a brighter place this morning! C'mon the Jags.

Great result and now only 4 points off top place albeit we have played a game more than Dundee. Why were we wearing the kit with the yellow top and red vertical stripes and black shorts? Wonder who will drop to the benchvwhen Doçherty is fit. Hopefully not Turner.

Apologies for being pedantic but there are no better teams than the Jags. Just football clubs that have more money. We will prove in this league when all our injured players return and get match fit.

I am inclined to agree with this. Looking at the goal (courtesy of Camallain) my first impression was that Lawless could be offside. The keeper also thought this as he had his arm up claiming for offside before Lawless crossed to the far post. It also looks to me that when Milne heads the ball Graham is just about level with him and is moving forward toward the goal line perhaps anticipating a rebound. I don't think he is offside at that point. Also, although the angle is not great, not a criticism of the recording, it looks like it's Milne's goal as the ball could be over the line before it hit Graham or he makes contact. At no point is Graham 'standing on the goal line'. I think from the match stats we deserved to win the game and Bullen is just a bad loser. I suggests he tells his game analyst that he should go to specsavers!

BBC show 2831!

But we have Holt on the bench. What is the problem with Tiffoney? This season is proving to be a bit of a non-event for him!

Pleased to see Holt is back albeit on the bench. Pity though there is no Docherty. I watched the incident with Cardle that resulted in a red card for both him and Docherty. The Referee must have seen something everybody else missed. To describe what happened as violent conduct is laughable. Even more laughable is the fact our appeal failed! Clearly the appeals panel havet heard of the saying ",two wrongs don't make a right!