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Ptfc Vs Aufc


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We were poor but a special mention goes out to Ross Forbes who was beyond poor this evening.

 

I like Forbes as a player but he looked like he was going through the motions out there tonight.

 

Osbourne and Kerr need a little time to adjust to our style of play. SOD was getting a little bit frustrated at the ball being held on to for too long in the midfield.

 

We won, I'll take that as a positive.

 

Forbes couldn't be arsed tomight, he was poor

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The better team lost on the night in my opinion.

Disagree. 1st half, we were comfortably better than them even though we were too pedestrian. 2nd half we began to lose it as they did start pressing more, but once Welsh and Bannigan came on, it looked fine again in terms of exerting more control on the game.

 

Terrible goal to lose from Fox's viewpoint. Midfield was gutted from Friday (Welsh, Bannigan and Craigen on the bench), and I certainly prefer Friday's starting line-up to tonight's. Baird was better when out wide later in the game and his corners were decent, but he should have scored. Mukendi really didn't show much at all when he came on. Gabriel looked decent enough for the most part, but I'd have Aero ahead of him. We're through. But I agree that we will have to do better in the next round.

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Team selection sensible .... Performance so far disappointing .... Lack of creativity in final third and overall lacking penetration .... Forwards scoring goals looking an issue

Maybe not for too much longer, theres a guy on the forum swears Brian Graham is signing soon, he could be the big target man we need :thumbsup2:
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There was a lackadaisical attitude tonight that was rather worrying, with various players dwelling on the ball for far too long. Perhaps it's time to rethink some approaches - not because we're not Barcelona, but because Barcelona can now get systematically taken apart by a solidly organised, skilful team.

 

Sometimes it's easy to see that the Scottish game is out of touch, when players (and fans, admittedly) find it so easy to forget that the only cross or corner that's worth anything is one that ends with the ball in the net. The success rate of crosses is very low by comparison with the success rate of on-target shots, which is why most top-class European teams only rarely use them, and in addition we no longer have the kind of presence in the penalty box that Son of Joe offered. So our team can put in any number of crosses and only rarely will they pay off enough to make them worth the effort. Why are we not playing more through the centre, and varying it with a few long-range shots? Ayr United, coming from a much lower level, could do so and give us a fright or two.

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I thought that we started well, there was a good tempo and movement. we scored early and then stopped doing what we had been doing. I fully expected us to come out in 2nd and lift the tempo again, but it didn't happen until about 20 to go.

 

SOD best for me; OSbourne didn't impress and neither did Mukendi when he came on. Kerr MOTM ?

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I hope the players maybe found it difficult to get up for the game with it being so soon after the league opener.

I though Osbourne did OK.

Gabriel looks like he will be decent but he didn't work as well with Balatoni as Muirhead does. I'm sure he will settle in.

Balatoni and SOD were the only performers.

 

I've no idea how Kerr got man of the match. He was horse, the midfield was a mess with him. Baldy *******.

If Baird gets as many as 5 goals this season I'll be surprised. He works hard but his finishing is woeful. It speaks volumes that the 2 goals were scored by defenders.

Special mention to Forbes. He should have just stayed in bed.

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Found Gabriel pretty frustrating at times last night, he wants the ball all the time, which is good as he is making himself available, but then he just seems to freeze with the ball at his feet in a "who wants it" pose expecting someone to come short every single time. Felt he slowed us down a lot last night with this carry on despite having up to ten clear yards in front of him to bring the ball forward himself.

 

I know we won't/shouldn't see as much hoofball from opposition this season but Osbourne didn't win one header all night, and there were several attempts. That said, he looks confident on the ball and like he'll improve with game time. Goal was a bit of a flap from Fox, he got away with one in the first half as well.

 

Overall I thought although they came back at us with a bit more urgency at the start of the second half and a flurry towards then end after they scored, we could and should have been comfortably out of sight by then. Just wish we had a proper striker... What's Craig doing?

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Pretty poor game tonight but as a grumbly middle aged man I need to ask this question...when do we get together and get rid of the feckin wee drummer boy?

 

I support his enthusiasm and that of his mates but its bloody annoying.

 

Sorry!

 

He was the best performer in red and yellow last night.

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Found Gabriel pretty frustrating at times last night, he wants the ball all the time, which is good as he is making himself available, but then he just seems to freeze with the ball at his feet in a "who wants it" pose expecting someone to come short every single time. Felt he slowed us down a lot last night with this carry on despite having up to ten clear yards in front of him to bring the ball forward himself.

 

I know we won't/shouldn't see as much hoofball from opposition this season but Osbourne didn't win one header all night, and there were several attempts. That said, he looks confident on the ball and like he'll improve with game time. Goal was a bit of a flap from Fox, he got away with one in the first half as well.

 

Overall I thought although they came back at us with a bit more urgency at the start of the second half and a flurry towards then end after they scored, we could and should have been comfortably out of sight by then. Just wish we had a proper striker... What's Craig doing?

In Spain a Central defender would always look to get the ball then pass up the park to another Player ,unless there is a free player further up the defender will play a short pass rather than lump it and risk loosing the ball - the midfield in Spain has a higher workrate than Scottish Football and are more available to take the balls off defenders. Personally I hate the hump it and lump it tactict we see so often - thought big Gabby strolled through the game - comfortable on the ball ,can pass and an excellent tackle in the 18 yard box where the slightest touch and the forward was going down.

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Far from convincing but we're in the draw and that's all that is required.

 

We had the majority of possession for most of the game but there was little movement throughout our team which caused us problems. Kerr, Osbourne and Forbes offered no movement at all which meant our out-ball was to either full-backs. Once Ayr started to press further up on O'Donnell and Sinclair, we had to go longer to Lawless and Christie and, because of the lack of movement, the ball inevitably came back. Normally, we could play the ball into the channels where Doolan would lurk but Baird doesn't do that as effectively. So, we had the ball and couldn't really do anything purposeful with it which was frustrating.

 

Much like the United game, we left our defence one-on-one with the opposition striker far too often. There's something not quite right in the understanding between Balatoni and Sinclair because this was most noticeable down our left-hand side, again similar to Friday's fixture. It could be that Sinclair is being asked to push further forward and it's leaving Balatoni exposed. Either way, it's going to cost us eventually.

 

One thing that was highlighted last night is that our strongest midfield at the minute is Welsh, Bannigan, Fraser, Craigen and Lawless. I was not impressed whatsoever with Osbourne. I appreciate he isn't at match fitness yet but on that showing, he won't fit into our system. Literally no movement at all, hardly looked for the ball all night, lost every header he went for and held onto the ball for too long when he had it. He made a couple of good interceptions but an utterly unconvincing performance. Pairing him with Kerr didn't help matters for the team either; because they sat so deep, which is natural for them as defensive-minded players, it allowed Ayr to push an extra man forward to pressure us. Once we introduced Welsh and Bannigan, their mobility put us (or me, at least) at a little more ease although I sincerely hope Archie realises that the latter is completely wasted out wide.

 

Still to be convinced by Gabriel. I thought he was, by and large, very good last night - dominant in the air and never panicked in possession despite the lack of midfield movement - but he nearly ruined all that good work with sheer naivety. He made a great last ditch tackle on Moffat and then barged him over - whether it was in the box or not, I couldn't see, but it was as clear a foul as you're likely to see. Thankfully, we had another incompetent numpty who still manages to call himself a referee but I think he's a ticking time-bomb.

 

As I said after the United game, I think Christie could be a really useful player this season but probably not as a starter. His pace and directness is great to introduce later in a game when legs are tiring but he doesn't offer enough from the start. Kerr had a reasonably good game; whether it was worthy of the Man of the Match award, I'm not so sure. Baird worked hard but never really got the break of the ball. As the game wore on, he became more and more prominent and Lawless should have played him in when he made a great run off the back of an Ayr defender. I'm sure his goal will come sooner rather than later.

 

Heartbreaking moment when the Hoor was stripped to come on, only for him to change his mind when Balatoni scored.

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In Spain a Central defender would always look to get the ball then pass up the park to another Player ,unless there is a free player further up the defender will play a short pass rather than lump it and risk loosing the ball - the midfield in Spain has a higher workrate than Scottish Football and are more available to take the balls off defenders. Personally I hate the hump it and lump it tactict we see so often - thought big Gabby strolled through the game - comfortable on the ball ,can pass and an excellent tackle in the 18 yard box where the slightest touch and the forward was going down.

 

I wasn't suggesting lumping it in the slightest. I referred to bringing the ball forward out of defence when there is a gaping opportunity to do so and I would maintain that this slowed our play down on a several occasions. Muirhead and Conrad are good at it, hopefully it will rub off on his game when he settles in.

Edited by Jagtastic
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Gabriel is here I assume with the intention of getting a move to England.

 

I'm happy with that and I hope if he does move then we get a good fee for him.

However he'll need to learn how to play the game in Britain and goalkeepers punt the ball down the park.

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Found Gabriel pretty frustrating at times last night, he wants the ball all the time, which is good as he is making himself available, but then he just seems to freeze with the ball at his feet in a "who wants it" pose expecting someone to come short every single time. Felt he slowed us down a lot last night with this carry on despite having up to ten clear yards in front of him to bring the ball forward himself.

 

 

if he was another franz beckenbauer then he wouldn't be playing for thistle but i reckon the lad was pretty impressive given that it was his first experience of scottish fitba'

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if he was another franz beckenbauer then he wouldn't be playing for thistle but i reckon the lad was pretty impressive given that it was his first experience of scottish fitba'

Much better than he was against the Cypriots the other week there when he looked as if he would be giving away free kicks all around the box!
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