Dundee United

[GinolasBald]

Agree with ian_mac. We were better in patches against Killie and over the 90 minutes against Dundee. We won on Saturday because we took (the majority of) our chances and got a bit of luck for probably the first time this season. United were absolutely dreadful, particularly in the second half, however, if one of their two chances in the first half goes in to make it 1-1 then it could've been a totally different game. Fantastic save from Cerny for the first and a bit of luck with the shot rattling off the post for the second.

 

Dumbuya has been excellent in every game since he joined and yesterday was his best performance yet. The fact Archie has said he's not fully fit yet means he could still get better yet. As soon as Pogba gets a goal, he'll be a bit more of a threat. He hasn't got a brilliant first touch, but was involved in most of our good moves and once the first goal comes, he'll hopefully kick on from there. Bannigan was excellent in an unfamiliar position and Booth and Seaborne also had good games. Amoo has a great delivery on him and bags of pace, but I still think he's always scared to take a man on and beat him with the ball at his feet. Once he starts doing that, he could be useful but I'm still not totally convinced by him. Edwards also had a couple of decent touches in the short time he was on the park.

 

Mainly I'm just delighted because I could celebrate my birthday with a Thistle win. Big step up needed for McDiarmid Park after the international break, but a great result to take into it.

[ian_mac]

Forgot to add, and as GinolasBald pointed out, Dundee United were indeed truly dreadful. They could well do a Hibs if they don't make a real game changing appointment for their next manager.

[Paulo]

I enjoyed that performance. In the second half. The first was a bit nervy, and totally understandable. Great to see us stick to playing football even with Pogba up top. I thought the big man did quite well, challenged for everything. That made a difference, as the Dundee Utd defence couldn't get distance on any clearing headers they were making. Glad to see the midfield pushing forward and gambling on this.

 

I thought Bannigan was excellent on the left, played with much more freedom. Both full backs have been great over the last couple of games too. Hopefully just the start of something here.

[Lambies Lost Doo]

"Dumbaya my lord. Dumbaya."

 

Decent performance. Bannigan was back to his best. Dumbaya looks great. Very excited by him. Pogba is a big battering ram and I would still have Doolan in starting as it's too easy for us to boot it long to him. Doolan holds ball when to feet and creates space for others to run into. Cerny is better than Fox which is good. Amoo needs encouragement from the JHS to take on players and hopefully he will improve.

 

Dundee United were atrocious. This time last year they were top of the league with arguably the best attacking line in the division.

[potty trained]

"Dumbaya my lord. Dumbaya."

 

Decent performance. Bannigan was back to his best. Dumbaya looks great. Very excited by him. Pogba is a big battering ram and I would still have Doolan in starting as it's too easy for us to boot it long to him. Doolan holds ball when to feet and creates space for others to run into. Cerny is better than Fox which is good. Amoo needs encouragement from the JHS to take on players and hopefully he will improve.

 

Dundee United were atrocious. This time last year they were top of the league with arguably the best attacking line in the division.

 

Pogba looks great, any time i've seen him, picking the ball up in the middle of the park and feeding the over lapping wing backs or central midfielders. Don't have any issue at all with Pogba having the ball at his feet. More than capable of making space for others.

[King Kenny]

Thought Pogba led the line very well. He can only improve once he's fully fit.

 

Seabourne was very good and Lindsay had a decent 2nd half, thought he was a little slow in the first.

 

Bannigan was terrific and his corner kicks were excellent as well, we looked a serious threat at set pieces which is always good to see.

 

Plenty to work on but if we keep that up then we'll be fine.

[Lambies Lost Doo]

I've got no massive problem with Pogba. He did well. I just prefer Doolan.

[potty trained]

I've got no massive problem with Pogba. He did well. I just prefer Doolan.

 

It's like Geordie Shaw and Colin McGlashin all over again.

[The Cup]

Doolan is a decent finisher but Pogba's (and Taylor's) ability to hold the ball up is significantly better so he is rightly first choice.

[eljaggo]

A terrible thought, but could Dundee United view Archibald's performance over the past 3 years (especially taking into account budget constraints) as sufficiently good to try to entice him to Tannadice?

[lady-isobel-barnett]

No way I'm disagreeing with those comments about Bannigan. I too thought he played very well. I think tho' the bigger question surrounds the position he played and whether Archie will continue in playing him there.

My own view is that Welsh and Osman are too good players not to persist with at this moment and so I'd be quite happy to see the same formation and players start the next match. I do tho' believe Sean and Abdul will have to get their act together very quickly to deserve a start. I did tho' notice with Stuart playing wider there seemed to be more understanding throughout the team. Welsh and Osman just made too many individual errors.

Put another way I feel freeing up Bannigan probably requires playing both Sean and Abdul thru the middle. I'd imagine the alternative will be to drop one of the latter, bring Stuart back to his more familiar role and play Edwards or Muirhead out wide.

[MonehJags]

If Archie was even considered for the united post I'm sure there fans would be delighted with that....

[Lenziejag]

With any luck, they will get Tommy Wright from StJ, who will be totally demotivated when we play them and we come away with another win bringing to an end another long running dismal record

[javeajag]

A terrible thought, but could Dundee United view Archibald's performance over the past 3 years (especially taking into account budget constraints) as sufficiently good to try to entice him to Tannadice?

 

That's unlikely unless Archie wins atrophy or gets us into top six

[oneteaminglasgow]

Saturday was the first game I've been to since Falkirk, and I've only seen us v Hamilton and Hearts (and Celtic on the telly) other than that, so it was by a mile the best performance I've seen all season.

 

Amoo looked much, much better. He still makes the wrong run sometimes, and his final ball certainly needs a bit of work, but he looked like he was actually willing to take players on and try to hit the byline a bit. This could be down to Dumbuya in a way, as he is much, much more willing to get up and support him that Miller is, and this extra option and support might be helping him get that bit more confidence he needs, and which we all know is crucial to wingers in particular. Dumbuya himself was excellent, a well deserved man of the match. He defends really well and is good going forward. If he keeps that up, he'll be a huge asset to us this season. As will Pogba. Pogba was excellent. I'd have him a close second to Dumbuya on Saturday, he played really well. He holds the ball up brilliantly and brings other players into play very well. There's no doubt in my mind that the fact that we got so many players forward in support was, at least partly, down to Matthias bringing them into play. I still don't think he's fully fit either, since I'm almost certain I seen him motion to the bench just before he was subbed. Ok, he probably should have scored his one at the back post, but it's crucial to remember that a striker's job isn't just to score goals in the modern game, and particularly not if you're playing with just one striker, and his overall play was absolutely excellent, capped with an assist for Bannigan, who also played very well. Lindsay looks like he's progressing well also, the foul when Dow (i think) was going through and he just brought him down and took the yellow showed me that he might well have cut some of the naivety out of his game, and that can only help us.

 

If I'm being critical, Welsh really wasn't all that impressive. Free Kick aside, he held onto the ball for too long, and his touch let him down far, far too often and could have cost us against a better team. I'd be interested to see Edwards playing there instead of him, he looked positive in his brief cameo and drove forward with purpose. Osman wasn't brilliant either, he still has the same weakness that he holds onto the ball too long a lot, but he generally seemed to break up play reasonably well, so if he can just move it quicker then we'll be good.

 

Onwards and upwards though, a much overdue win, the first goals I've seen live all season and a new song. A decent day all in all.

[The Sunnylaw Jag]

Saturday was the first game I've been to since Falkirk, and I've only seen us v Hamilton and Hearts (and Celtic on the telly) other than that, so it was by a mile the best performance I've seen all season.

 

Amoo looked much, much better. He still makes the wrong run sometimes, and his final ball certainly needs a bit of work, but he looked like he was actually willing to take players on and try to hit the byline a bit. This could be down to Dumbuya in a way, as he is much, much more willing to get up and support him that Miller is, and this extra option and support might be helping him get that bit more confidence he needs, and which we all know is crucial to wingers in particular. Dumbuya himself was excellent, a well deserved man of the match. He defends really well and is good going forward. If he keeps that up, he'll be a huge asset to us this season. As will Pogba. Pogba was excellent. I'd have him a close second to Dumbuya on Saturday, he played really well. He holds the ball up brilliantly and brings other players into play very well. There's no doubt in my mind that the fact that we got so many players forward in support was, at least partly, down to Matthias bringing them into play. I still don't think he's fully fit either, since I'm almost certain I seen him motion to the bench just before he was subbed. Ok, he probably should have scored his one at the back post, but it's crucial to remember that a striker's job isn't just to score goals in the modern game, and particularly not if you're playing with just one striker, and his overall play was absolutely excellent, capped with an assist for Bannigan, who also played very well. Lindsay looks like he's progressing well also, the foul when Dow (i think) was going through and he just brought him down and took the yellow showed me that he might well have cut some of the naivety out of his game, and that can only help us.

 

If I'm being critical, Welsh really wasn't all that impressive. Free Kick aside, he held onto the ball for too long, and his touch let him down far, far too often and could have cost us against a better team. I'd be interested to see Edwards playing there instead of him, he looked positive in his brief cameo and drove forward with purpose. Osman wasn't brilliant either, he still has the same weakness that he holds onto the ball too long a lot, but he generally seemed to break up play reasonably well, so if he can just move it quicker then we'll be good.

 

Onwards and upwards though, a much overdue win, the first goals I've seen live all season and a new song. A decent day all in all.

In Welsh's defence he played the crucial ball to Booth in the first goal and won the ball in midfield for second and made another decisive pass to Amoo.

[Paulo]

I'm not sure I'd like to see Edwards play deep in the midfield either.

[Mr Bunny]

Agree with ian_mac. We were better in patches against Killie and over the 90 minutes against Dundee. We won on Saturday because we took (the majority of) our chances and got a bit of luck for probably the first time this season. United were absolutely dreadful, particularly in the second half, however, if one of their two chances in the first half goes in to make it 1-1 then it could've been a totally different game. .

 

fair points though we didn't make any absolute blunders, unlike v Killie, we were a bit too careless with our passes on occasion - especially the first half - which gave them most of their few chances. A much improved performance and good for confidence but we have to sort out these errors if we are to move upwards. The manager and players interviewed seem to think there is still room for improvement so that's a good sign.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Mr Bunny

[Mr Bunny]

I'm not sure I'd like to see Edwards play deep in the midfield either.

 

I'd agree. though he could probably do a job there in an emergency as he seems to have a lot of energy (admittedly coming in as sub against a tiring team). I wonder if he is our Craigen replacement?

[ChewinGumMacaroonBaaaz]

I'll be brief....

 

Not overly impressed but satisfied on the day. We'll have to be better than that and consistantly to survive. But, I knew we weren't sh1te, and clearly capable of getting wins in this league. Confidence booster. A long way to go.

 

 

In Archie I trust.

[oneteaminglasgow]

In Welsh's defence he played the crucial ball to Booth in the first goal and won the ball in midfield for second and made another decisive pass to Amoo.

 

I'm not saying that he didn't do anything right, just that, for me, his touch in particular was really poor. There were a few occasions when we should have been in but Welsh took a poor touch and the move broke down. That could cost us against better teams. The pass for the first goal was good though.

 

I'm not sure I'd like to see Edwards play deep in the midfield either.

 

I think that he could probably play there, but only if he's partnered with a defensive player like Osman. We've certainly lacked a centre midfielder who'll run at the opposition and get forward this season, and Edwards, from his brief cameo, would fit the bill. He may well be suited better further forward, but I don't think that where he's been signed for personally.

 

[lady-isobel-barnett]

I think that he could probably play there, but only if he's partnered with a defensive player like Osman. We've certainly lacked a centre midfielder who'll run at the opposition and get forward this season, and Edwards, from his brief cameo, would fit the bill. He may well be suited better further forward, but I don't think that where he's been signed for personally.

 

Saw Edwards in the first half of the U20s and I can't recall him making many tackles. That's not to say he couldn't handle the whole midfield thingy, just haven't seen or heard anything to suggest he could.

Even at that Edwards could play centre mid in place of Welsh but that would probably necessitate Banzo returning to his usual berth. I kinda thought freeing Bannigan up was one of the tactical successes on Saturday and that's why I feel we may continue with Welsh & Osman in the not unreasonable hope they'll be more effective.

[Lenziejag]

Just caught up on the Alba highlights and a couple of things struck me. In the game vs Dundee Utd last season at Tannadice and on Saturday, we scored a goal starting from our goalie without a Utd player touching the ball. One took 4 touches, the other 20. The 2nd thing is that at Dumbuya's goal, I am pretty sure the "pass" was meant for Lawless, who may well have been slightly offside.

[Ancipital]

I thought that about Lawless too on first viewing but the player that slipped when Mustapha cut back (Rankin, I think) is playing everyone on lying face down on the grass.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Ancipital

[Winter of '63]

Just caught up on the Alba highlights and a couple of things struck me. In the game vs Dundee Utd last season at Tannadice and on Saturday, we scored a goal starting from our goalie without a Utd player touching the ball. One took 4 touches, the other 20. The 2nd thing is that at Dumbuya's goal, I am pretty sure the "pass" was meant for Lawless, who may well have been slightly offside.

Booth's cross for the first goal was deflected off a United defender but it was an impressive passing move involving 9 of our players - I think only Osman & Pogba didn't touch the ball.

 

At the game, I thought that Lawless had flicked the cross in and was a bit surprised to see Dumbuya running off in celebration. When I saw the Alba highlights, I also initially thought Lawless may have been offside but the United defender was lying close to the byline after being turned by Dumbuya and was playing everyone onside.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Winter of '63