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The stats don't lie. This team didn't deserve a goal because they (or their manager) can't figure out how to break down a team like Morton.

 

After Fox failed to hold the ball, resulting in a goal for Morton, the Morton players were told to look out for similar opportunities, and chanced the odd ball directly at him. They were told to do this by an experienced manager. There needs to be a more decisive approach either on the field of play or in the changing-room. As matters stand, the players do well but there's no-one there to direct them how to bring about change in a game, and they just keep plugging away at the same thing, hoping that this time it will be different. A savvy opposing team or manager will figure this out and let them exhaust themselves going up a blind alley.

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Final ball tonight was horrendous. Stephen O'Donnell was particularly poor in that regard. Also, the amount of times he is caught up the park and clearly makes no effort to get back is concerning. Thought Paton had a solid game and Sean Welsh looks to have a bit of class and creativity about him when on the ball. If Cairney was being scouted tonight then i don't think we have much to worry about as he was totally anonymous.

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We played well for 65 minutes tonight, unlucky to lose IMO.

Aye roughly what I was thinking. Morton finally dragged us down to their level Team seemed to tire to a man during that last quarter.

 

 

If Cairney was being scouted tonight then i don't think we have much to worry about as he was totally anonymous.

Thought he was off the pace all night. Usually his stamina makes up for his lack of speed but not tonight. With only one sub available he had to stay on otherwise I'm sure he'd have been hooked.

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Did the manager's comments re the bookings have any basis in fact do you think (in other words was the ref soft on them kicking a couple of our players off the park and then booked our players for minor offences?)?

 

Jackie's comments were spot on.

 

Archie's booking in particular was a joke when Evans (number 2 who injured Sinclair) had at least 4 other fouls and got away with it.

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Don't know anything about McLean. Is he one of those fast tracked (Willie Collum style) refs?

 

I know you can't judge a referee too easily on his stats but I think you can fairly say he's never been accused of being "card shy". Like Collum, at least on last night's effort, he seems to miss the big picture but comes down heavy on the trivial cameo moments. What really infuriated me was the booking of Young late in the game. Not that he wasn't time wasting but there had been countless opportunities to yellow card a Morton player for time wasting/kicking the ball away etc much earlier when it could have made a difference.

 

I got the impression when he thought he'd got a decision wrong he'd balance it by getting another decision wrong in favour of the opposition. I wouldn't be too keen on him being in charge of more meaningful games

Edited by lady-isobel-barnett
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Guest fredthecheesecloth

Thought big McGuigan has a pretty decent game, he certainly puts himself about.

 

Agree with the comments on the referee, never really 'blame' them, but last night is an exception. He was shockingly inept, getting lots of very easy decisions wrong. His carding policy was also a joke.

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The most worrying thing about last night is that referee is the Recruitment and Education Manager for the SFA. Some of his decisions, particularly in the second half, were baffling and defied any sort of logic. However, it would be wrong to suggest that his performance contributed towards the fact we left a game that we dominated with bugger all again.

 

There's a problem within our approach as I've seen us control too many matches and come away with nothing to show for it; it can no longer be labelled as bad luck or a one-off occurrence. We have to be slightly more direct once we're in the final third and we must focus on getting decent deliveries into the box.

 

Much like Saturday, we played some really decent football at a good tempo in the first half. And, again like Saturday, we totally abandoned that in the second half, punting aimless balls forward and generally being impotent. Within the first quarter of the game, I said that we should hammer Bachirou and take a yellow card for it because, without him, Morton don't play - not that they played much last night anyway. I'd heard good things about him but had only seen him once before last night's game; however, it was quickly abundantly clear that he was a cut above anything else Morton had on offer, especially Tidser who I've yet to see anything suggesting he's any better than First Division level.

 

I'll wait to see it again on the highlights but I thought the tackle on Sinclair was relatively fair and the defender's momentum after winning the ball was what made it look worse. It's a sad indictment of football in general that there were calls for a red card for a tackle that wouldn't have warranted a second look a few years ago. I know it's a cliche but the game is descending into non-contact sport; the referee's booking of Conrad for winning a header was just ridiculous. Tackling is an art, just like dribbling, yet it is being excluded by inept officials instructed by the nanny state of football governing.

 

I've been saying it for a few weeks but O'Donnell needs to be dropped; that was another goal created from his area. His defending is atrocious, his crossing is abysmal, rarely beating the first defender and he regularly gifts possession to the opposition very cheaply. Paton is an infinitely better wing-back.

 

I'll end with a comment on Morton's number 15 who I've seen twice and is easily the worst professional footballer I've probably ever seen.

Edited by Armand2
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I've been saying it for a few weeks but O'Donnell needs to be dropped; that was another goal created from his area. His defending is atrocious, his crossing is abysmal, rarely beating the first defender and he regularly gifts possession to the opposition very cheaply. Paton is an infinitely better wing-back.

Can only disagree with you with a negative but O'Donnell is a wingback, Paton is not. . O'Donnell, would I feel be dropped if we had a ready replacement. Lately he sees far too much of the ball for a youngster who's not on form.

Surely the definition of a wingback is a full back come winger? Paton, on no more than a very rare occasion to the best of my knowledge, has never beaten a man or reached the bye line. Replace O'Donnell with Paton by all means but you either ditch the 3-5-2 (3-4-2-1) with a conventional back four or revert to the ultra defensive McCall version of the 3-5-2, which would have three centrebacks plus Paton rarely venturing even halfway into the opposition half.

It's was frustrating to see so many poor out balls from O'Donnell last night (and recently) but Paton wouldn't even have been in such a forward position to make a difference.

Edited by lady-isobel-barnett
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...There's a problem within our approach as I've seen us control too many matches and come away with nothing to show for it; it can no longer be labelled as bad luck or a one-off occurrence. We have to be slightly more direct once we're in the final third and we must focus on getting decent deliveries into the box.....

 

We're not direct enough in the box - there's no 'slightly' about it. Whenever you see Doolan moving away from the penalty box to support the midfield, you know we're in trouble. Even if he wins the ball back in midfield through sheer persistence (as he does from time to time), there's then no-one in the box to pass it to (and McGuigan is too slow to get into position). Why is our midfield apparently incapable of dispossessing the opposition (except for Cairney - but he then usually loses it immediately to an opponent)?

 

It's a sad indictment of football in general that there were calls for a red card for a tackle that wouldn't have warranted a second look a few years ago. I know it's a cliche but the game is descending into non-contact sport;.... Tackling is an art, just like dribbling, yet it is being excluded by inept officials instructed by the nanny state of football governing.....

 

Whether we like it or not, that's the way the game is going. If you look at how other countries cope with it (and I'm thinking in particular of Germany here), they substitute fluid play with excellent ball-control and admirable passing for the kick-and-rush approach favoured by so many in this country. Just watch how the German national side retains possession, passes into space ahead of the receiving player - and weep, because this is totally beyond the comprehension, let alone the abilities, of Scottish managers. And yes, it filters through to very minor leagues there, to the extent that the football there is played to a higher standard than in our top professional flight. In many ways that's down to referees being very pernickety and disallowing virtually all contact.

 

Sadly, it's unlikely that referees here will ever be consistently strict to the point where the standard of football is raised. The background to this inconsistency is not just an old pals' act among referees, but kowtowing to the various footballing authorities, the sacrifice of the welfare of Scottish football on the altar of those deities we know as the Old S**m and the tolerance for the witterings and semi-literate comments of ignorant pundits in the media - themselves usually former altar-boys to those false gods.

 

I'll end with a comment on Morton's number 15 who I've seen twice and is easily the worst professional footballer I've probably ever seen.

Not bad enough: Lucas Aikens - 'nuff said. :evil:

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Not bad enough: Lucas Aikens - 'nuff said. :evil:

 

We were talking about him on Tuesday and it seems he has made a decent impression at Tranmere with fans of rival clubs hoping to sign him in the summer, particularly those at Preston. In fact, the last couple of times I've seen highlights of Tranmere, he's scored. Surely cannot be the same galumph that played for us...

 

Agree with everything else you said in your post. I think a lot of our play in and around the penalty box can be very good at times but there has to be a point where we turn that pressure into penetration and actually have a shot. A poacher would be useless in our team because we don't create the chances that they thrive on, like picking up rebounds or re-directing wayward shots.

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I think this guy's name was O'Ware. He played at right-back at Firhill in the 0-0 game earlier this season and was brutal then too.

Wasn't paying too much attention to who came on for Morton (suffering from cramp in yon tiny seats nearly needed subbed myself) but I though the guy* that replaced Flannigan was himself subbed a wee while later?

 

*Think that was Ware or O'Ware????

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We were talking about him on Tuesday and it seems he has made a decent impression at Tranmere with fans of rival clubs hoping to sign him in the summer, particularly those at Preston. In fact, the last couple of times I've seen highlights of Tranmere, he's scored. Surely cannot be the same galumph that played for us...

 

Agree with everything else you said in your post. I think a lot of our play in and around the penalty box can be very good at times but there has to be a point where we turn that pressure into penetration and actually have a shot. A poacher would be useless in our team because we don't create the chances that they thrive on, like picking up rebounds or re-directing wayward shots.

 

Was also talking about him a while back. I started to question the quality of that league after hearing that Lucas Akins and Enoch Showumni were tearing it up. Both useless while playing up here.

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