As the supporters see it...
ABERDEENA DISAPPOINTING result on Saturday and, apparently, according to one commentator, 'not a game for the purists'. Who are these purists? They should learn to appreciate great games like Saturday's.
The atmosphere in the
ground was fierce and there was the same commitment on the pitch – yet there were no red cards.
The game saw subtle shifts between periods of dominance for both teams, and had a frantic end with the Dons swarming over Hearts' goal, desperate to snatch that vital equaliser.
The game also had great goals, including the clichéd 'contender for Goal of the Season' from Mackigol. Who says players raise their game just as their contract runs out? Dazzer penned a new contract last week and played like his life depended on it.
In fact, the game had everything that the Old Firm borefest didn't. Maybe the purists liked that one. If so, they can keep 'pure' football – we'll take ours contaminated thanks.
Craig Stewart
www.aberdeen-mad.co.uk
CELTICYOU know the bit in Omen II when the crow swoops down on the reporter and plucks her eyes out and then she gets hit by the truck? I yearned for a similar fate whilst watching that dirge on Sunday!
The man with no surname deserves the title of the John Major of Scottish football. The same dire, anti-football tactic employed on each of his previous visits was utilised again. I actually thought the Rangers management might look at Celtic's recent poor form and really go for it. But, no, they came for a draw and got it. Chick Young salutes you!
Celtic, at least, made an attempt to play some football. Admittedly, we were gash at it but at least we tried. Our lack of pace and guile in midfield, coupled with limited movement up front, always meant we were unlikely to trouble the Rangers' 1-5-5 defence.
A lot was made of referee Calum Murray ending the game early; I doubt it would have mattered. One team couldn't score and the other team was happy not to score.
Dave Devine
DUNDEE UNITEDTWO incredibly important games coming up for United. This coming Saturday's visit to Aberdeen is all the more interesting because of both teams suffering a dip in earlier season form, then in-form Hearts' visit to Tannadice will be a strong test of whether we can be regarded as serious contenders for third.
To be honest, Saturday's performance against Inverness didn't do a lot to fill the heart with confidence that our recent defensive mishaps have been thoroughly banished. Scott Robertson's presence is being seriously missed (as, one hates to admit, is Willo Flood's) as we struggle to dominate the middle of the park as we did so effectively earlier in the season.
Paul Caddis acquitted himself well, and it was nice to see young Andis Shala get his first SPL run-out of the season (missed chances aside) and Sir Craig Levein has hinted that we may well get our first look at James Wesolowski at Pittodrie. Strong hearts are required.
Hamish Mackintosh
www.united-mad.co.uk
FALKIRKAFTER the thrills and spills of the cup last week it was a return to league duty and a visit to St Mirren's tidy new stadium. Certainly Yogi set out a bold three-pronged attack with Michael Higdon and Steve Lovell alongside Carl Finnigan, who grabbed a cracking equaliser after the Saints had gone ahead.
A couple of months ago going a goal down may have seen the Bairns almost accept defeat as inevitable, but right now Falkirk have rediscovered their fire and passion. A lot of this stems from solid new partnerships at the back between Steven Pressley, Darren Barr, Dean Holden and Lee Bullen and the trust building between them and new keeper Dani Mallo.
Our youth policy continues to provide the stars of the future with Kevin Moffat, Chris Mitchell and Mark Stewart all involved. Also, our under-19 side have reached the semi final of the Youth Cup after a 2-0 victory over Hamilton on Sunday. No less than five of our squad were called up for the Scotland under-21 gathering.
Brian Guthrie
www.bairnstrust.com
HAMILTON ACCIESONE of the papers last week mentioned that Accies' brilliant Czech goalkeeper Tomas Cerny almost turned his hand to fruit picking while he tried to find a Scottish club. Well, Tomas had so much time on his hands on Saturday afternoon that he could have left with a couple of pounds of Maris Pipers from the tatty field that is Fir Park.
Accies were perhaps a bit fortunate during January, when they won all four league games, but their luck ran out on Saturday with Simon Mensing's early effort being wrongly ruled out and then David Clarkson scoring a flukey winner just before the break. Accies did play well though and can be reasonably confident about their prospects for the remainder of the season.
One of the most pleasing aspects of Saturday's game was how well Kenny Deuchar fitted into the Accies team. His arrival gives Billy Reid more attacking options and I'm sure he'll score goals. He returns to face his first club Falkirk on Saturday and that would be a great place for him to open his account.
Gilbert Mowat
HEARTSGIVEN their growing hatred of us, it's always a pleasure to send the Dons fans home with their tails between their legs and their A4-sized flags folded neatly into their back pockets. It was a well-deserved victory and a hugely encouraging performance, particularly from David Obua. Apart from Mackie's superb strike and a close call at the end, the visitors rarely threatened. As Tangoman had noted, the sale of Berra and absence of Zaliukas clearly weakens us, but against the likes of Aberdeen, we should have enough to cope.
Next up are St Mirren, and as someone who would have been unable to attend a rearranged game, I am glad Hearts stood firm on the date. St Mirren's disappointment is perhaps understandable, but they should get their facts straight, as we have suffered from the similar inflexibility of opponents on a number of occasions. Maybe it's the sort of situation the SPL needs to clarify with a rule. Anyway, St Mirren are the last club that should expect any favours from us. Memories of 1986 still run deep.
Sandy Leonard
HIBERNIANANOTHER week and, for most Hibs fans, another lost opportunity. I feel like I'm just copying the same comments in this column each week as Hibs under Mixu continue to put in uninspiring performances.
Yet again, Hibs found themselves ahead, thanks to a deflected Riordan effort, but yet again we lost the initiative and allowed the opposition to dominate and duly lost an equaliser to share the points. There are bright spots in amongst the gloom, with Riordan scoring for the second game in succession, Rosa looking a promising player and McCormack and Hanlon gaining valuable first team experience.
However, the lack of results and poor team performances are a cause for concern, and with a trip to bottom dogs Inverness next week, hands up how many are confident of getting three points up there? It'll be interesting to see if Mixu can do what no other Hibs manager has achieved before – and get us three points in Inverness. God knows we need them!
Eddie Henderson
www.hibs.net
INVERNESS CTBEFORE the start of Saturday's game many of us would have been delighted to take a point from Tannadice. But, after being in the lead for most of the game, it was disappointing not to take all three. The sending-off didn't help our cause but if Russell Duncan hadn't committed the red card foul we'd have probably conceded a goal anyway. Despite being down to ten men the confidence factor was still there as the manager extended our unbeaten run to three games. And a draw seemed to be the fair outcome. Terry Butcher has been sticking with pretty much the same XI from his first game in charge, but changes will be forced upon him now as both Duncan and Black start suspensions. Up front an exciting partnership is developing between Imrie and Odhiambo. Both have pace to trouble defenders which is something we've been lacking. We now face "winnable" home games in the coming weeks which gives us a golden opportunity to pick up vital points in our battle to avoid the drop.
Dave 'Gringo' Wilson
www.caleythistleonline.com
KILMARNOCKOUR match against Hibs was a tough one to predict and could have gone either way, but it went neither. Our list of absentees was longer than the actual team sheet and we had to resort to playing our one fit first team striker up front himself. Despite fearing the worst it turned out to be one of our better performances this season.
Hibs opened the scoring with a long-range effort from Riordan that took a major deflection off Simon Ford which left Alan Combe stranded. It couldn't have happened at a worst time as the whistle went for the break immediately after the ball was centred. At this stage normally the heads would go down but the players battled on and were rewarded with a sublime equaliser from my man of the match Jamie Hammill. Hopefully that will cement his place in the team.
The real difference was that there seemed to be a bit of fight this week which was sadly lacking at Inverness. More of the same next week please against one of the twisted sisters.
Barry Richmond
www.killiefc.com
MOTHERWELLA DERBY win is normally greeted with great fervour but instead our victory over Hamilton is viewed mainly for practical purposes.
We didn't play especially well against a rival challenger for a top-six spot but came out on top regardless and we have now managed to catch Hibs in the upper half. But the lack of excitement at beating our neighbours shows that this rivalry is still fairly one-sided.
Hamilton took great delight at beating us twice this season, but, for us, those losses hurt for themselves rather than because of the opposition. Many Motherwell fans are still pleased to see Hamilton doing well and are happy they are doing so well.
The seemingly permanent decline of Airdrie as a mid-level club has denied us our true derby and Hamilton are presently providing a rather weak ersatz version. It will take the Accies many years of competing at the top flight – and sadly many victories over us – before we become genuinely aggrieved by their existence.
Derek Wilson
www.firparkcorner.com
RANGERSWHAT a terrific match, two local rivals going hell for leather in front of a frenzied crowd feeding off the feast of expansive football. But enough of the Milan derby, let's talk about the thrilling Old Firm game.
There was very little to excite as Rangers set up for a point and Celtic seemed happy to go along with it. The referee had a fairly erratic game, but hand on heart, I didn't think the Stephen McManus tackle on Kenny Miller was a penalty.
Both teams were awful in the first half, and although Rangers improved in the second, a draw seemed a fair result.
It means the league will be decided by who does best against the other sides. Celtic look badly off-form at present, but given Rangers' poor away results over the last 12 months, it's difficult to predict who will go on and win it. On paper, this should lead to a dramatic climax to the title race, but any more games like Sunday's and we'll all need smelling salts to be awake for it.
David Edgar
www.theRST.co.uk
ST MIRRENWE are developing a worrying trend for throwing away leads. In our last four games, we've been in front three times and failed to win any of them, which is getting increasingly concerning as we had a reasonably good defensive record until a month or so ago.
Saturday was definitely a case of two points dropped rather than one go. When you twice take the lead in a home game, and score with ten minutes to go, you should go on to win the match. Sadly a mistake at the back cost us and we were denied a win that would have seen us break our duck at our new ground and move well clear of the relegation battle.
One thing Saturday proved once again is how important Andy Dorman is to us. His runs from midfield are extremely hard to deal with and he is capable of causing problems to any defence in the league. Despite repeated interest from bigger clubs, he has said he's happy to stay. Fingers crossed we get him to sign a new deal soon before someone else takes him.
Stuart Gillespie
www.stmirren-mad.co.uk
