pondsman

Great to hear the game is on. Ready to set off for our game of the season so far. Seem to remember a cup-tie against United some years back in very cold conditions when we were underdogs and beat them 4-1. Similar result tonight will do just fine. Would really like to stick it to that wee moaner, Willo Flood. COYS!!

Hope the weather doesn't interfere with the game....or travel plans for those coming a distance. Snow forecast for Glasgow area on Friday!

Making the trip for this game. I agree that there is much more character and fight in our team now. This has seen us win games after going behind (to Livi and Queens) which wouldn't have happened in previous times. However, United seem to have the new manager bounce since Laszlo's appointment and have greater resources than we do, so the game will be a real test for us. While a win would be fantastic, at this point in the season a draw would be acceptable and would keep us well ahead of the pack. I think that would confirm that the league is going to be between us and United. As for players, I've said before that we really need a hard-tackling midfielder in January. That would be my priority, before another striker or defender. Hope Jack agrees and can find the new Jim Goodwin for us. Meantime, Friday night could be a great game, so......COYS!!

Credit to Naysmith. Thought his interview was measured and honest. He did give credit to Saints at one point, though he must really be hurting after a game like that. Think what this forum would be like if we'd been two goals up after ten minutes and then lost 3-2. Credit also to Dobbie for getting 100 goals for QotS. Fine achievement. Was at the game and thought our troops were fantastic after the wobbly start. Was really worried about Gary Mckenzie following his involvement in the Queens' goals, but he came onto a fine game after that. Good to see him back to his best. We should also remember that we lost Eckersley quite early on, which makes the result even more commendable. Thought all the players did really well but special mention to Reilly and Cammy Smith, and also to Gary for turning what could have been a nightmare into a fine performance. Bring on the Arabs! COYS!!

Going down to Dumfries for this game. I agree with melmac that Dobbie needs to be kept quiet, but they're by no means a one-man team. Watched the highlights of their game v Dunfermline and they looked very sharp. Let's hope that was a one-off and that they return to the fairly average performances they were giving before that. Our defence will need to be right on their game and forwards will need to take any chances they get. 2-1 to the Buddies. COYS!!

Good result yesterday against a team which managed to make life difficult despite their recent loss of form. Two issues, one of which I've mentioned before. 1. Why so many long balls up to our front players, who are not tall? As well as yesterday's game, this has happened too much recently, noticeably against Livi and Dumbarton, both teams who have big defenders. Against them our ball players have little chance of collecting these high passes. The goal that won the game for us yesterday was the result of a quick passing movement with the ball kept on the ground. More of this, please. 2. I've previously stated my opinion that we need a strong tackler in midfield to break up attacks and give the defence more protection. That's why other teams are starting to create more chances against us. It's good to see that some others on here agree with me on that. Until we get someone like Jim Goodwin in the middle of the park, we'll be living dangerously. Despite all that, it's great to see us back on top of the league and I trust in our management team to do something about these points. Tough games coming up v Queen of the South, United and Morton, so.......COYS!!

I have belief in our management team, so I trust JR when he says that, although Mullen is a striker, he has different qualities than Reilly and Smith. Let's see what he can do when he gets a game! Jack also indicates in his interview that some players will be leaving in January when he talks about the squad being bigger than he'd like. My choice of players to leave would be McCart (not needed now that Davis and Mckenzie are back), Duffy (hardly been used) and maybe Kirkpatrick (not been overly impressive when he's played). If some players go and we are able to add someone in January, it surely must be in midfield. We really need a robust player in there who can break up play (where's Jim Goodwin when we need him?). I see a lot of discussion on here about McShane but neither he nor McGinn are hard tacklers and that is leaving our defence exposed at times. As for McShane's contribution, I'm not surprised that opinion on him is divided. I thought he contributed well in the early part of the season when the whole team was on song. However, more recently he seems to fade out of games for spells and doesn't contribute the good forward passes that he was able to do in those early games. Overall, I'm pleased that JR has managed to get a player in now, considering the tough games we have coming up, v Pars, Queens, United and Morton. A really hard festive programme. 9 points from 12 would be acceptable. So.............COYS!!

We've been a bit off our game recently, despite the result against Brechin. Fortunately the Pars seem to be even further off form, so we might feel quite optimistic going into this game. Trouble is, teams in this league all seem capable of producing a good performance when it's least expected. Queen of the South had been pretty average until Saturday, when they suddenly produced a great game. I just hope that Dunfermline doesn't choose this Saturday to find some form. In any case, I'm hopeful about our chances, despite our defeat at East End park. The Pars seem to prefer attacking and letting the other team play as well, instead of sitting in and closing everything down. We're going into a really important spell of games, Pars, Queens, Arabs and Morton. 9 points from 12 would be very satisfactory. So...........................COYS!!

As has often been the case in recent years, the Championship is the most interesting league in the SPFL. Yes, one big team (Rangers, Hearts, Hibs) has raced away at the top, but below them things have been quite tight. This season Dundee United should pull away, given their resources. The playoff places look like being between Buddies, Dunfermline, Queen of the South, Livingston and Morton. Five teams but only three places available, so things will heat up in the last couple of months of the season. I fear slightly for our team. We have players who are good on the ball (Morgan, Cammy Smith, Magennis, McGinn) but they are quite slightly built and are too easily pushed off the ball. See how we struggled against Dumbarton who had big defenders against our lads, and Morgan in particular is increasingly coming in for rough treatment from other teams. Don't know if finances will stretch to it, but we could do with a tough midfielder who can break up play and support our ball players. Also, Jack seems to have decided what his best team is but he needs to play these guys every week and doesn't have the same quality in the squad to back them up, so I fear we may suffer if one or two of our regulars get injured. Despite all of the above........COYS!!

If Aberdeen is left looking for a manager, JR may be on the radar but surely managers like Alan Archibald, Tommy Wright or Stephen Robinson would be preferred to him.

Just seen JR's post-match interview. Calm, measured and very honest. Showed again what a good manager he is and that we're fortunate to have him at the club. Said first of all that he would look at his own performance in preparing the team, but quite rightly then said that the players should take the major part of the responsibility for the performance as they were well below their usual level, but didn't go over the top in his criticism and reminded us of the consistently high level achieved in recent times. Struck exactly the right balance and reinforced my view that he is the right man for the club at the moment.

Bad day at the office, I'm afraid. Even before the sending-off, we were well off the pace. Big change from Tuesday night. We didn't seem able to play through the opposing defence as we did against Livi. Instead we played too many high balls up to Reilly who had little chance of collecting them. And against such a big defence we really missed the pace of Cammy Smith. Stelios was played out of position, so unlike some others on here, I don't think he should be condemned for a poor game. However, he was out of order with the tackle and deserved to go. I agree with insaintee that he was looking for payback following some rough treatment earlier, but that doesn't excuse him. Thought we actually improved a little in the second half but, like some others, I wondered why JR took so long to use the subs. The Dumbarton goal looked like it was coming for a little while before it arrived. Disappointed to hear some of our fans getting on the backs of our players, especially later in the game when it was clear they had struggled from the start. Shouting abuse at them at that point wasn't going to make them play any better. Don't think there's any need to panic yet. As JR has said, there will be ups and downs throughout the season. We have the ideal opponents next week to help us get back to winning ways. However, I agree that we will need to strengthen the team in January to be ready for playoffs which is where I think we will finish up.

Great game last night. Also, good atmosphere despite the smaller than usual crowd. Lots of praise on here for our usual stars, but spare a thought for Liam Smith who got through a power of work both in defence and attack and was on the wrong end of a very bad tackle in the second half. Like some others on here, I'm surprised that Livi are so high up the table with that type of football. Referee not strict enough with some of the Livi tackles but gave the penalty, which he might not have done, given what he let go elsewhere in the game, so wasn't all bad. United v Dunfermline this weekend, so chance to move away a bit at the top if we beat Dumbarton, which we should do, given last night's performance. COYS!

If we have any pretentions to winning the league, this is the sort of game we have to win. Doesn't matter that it's a derby. The team we are playing is well below us in the league and a team sitting on top of the league should be able to put them away. I agree that Quitongo is their danger man but they also have other good players up front. Our defence will need to be on top form to look after them. Elsewhere, having Magennie back should help if he's up to speed and we need Smith, Morgan and Reilly to take the chances that were missed against Falkirk. We need to win and stay top as our next game is likely to be against a resurgent Dundee United at Tannadice. That one is starting to look a real crunch game for our future prospects. Having said all that, it will of course be a great bonus to pay our derby rivals back for their win at Cappielow! COYS!

Great start to the league season yesterday. Struggled in the first 20 minutes or so. Peter Houston was right to say that Falkirk could have scored more in that period, but 4-0 was maybe pushing it a bit. After Morgan switched wings, Saints started to find their feet and the equaliser certainly didn't come out of nothing. They had a good spell leading up to the goal. The two later goals were the result of taking chances well, which the players failed to do in some of the Betfred Cup games. However I don't think we should get too carried away. For a team which has shown excellent form recently I thought Falkirk were disappointing. They seemed to fold fairly easily when things started going against them. I'm sure there are other teams in this league who will show more fight than that. Still, a fantastic start and we move on with increasing confidence to next week's derby. COYS!!

Unlike some others on here, I don't think we need to get too carried away(either for or against) about this signing. In the games he played last season, Harry showed that he was well up to the standard of football required in the Scottish Championship. Unfortunately that spell was cut short by injury so we will see if he can resume that form on his recovery. I see no reason to think that he won't. As for signing a player who is injured, I think his form last season makes him worth that gamble. We should welcome him back as someone who contributed a fair bit to our late-season success last year, someone who appears to have a lot to offer the team and someone who, according to his comments on the Buddies website, seems to want to be here.

Agree with Bud the Baker. This is a very important game. The players MUST show a positive reaction after the Firhill performance. Given our recent results, a loss or even just a draw against a team from the league below us would be very worrying. This is the last chance for the players and the manager to show that they are beginning to get things right for the league games ahead.

After the last two performances I'll settle for a point against a team that's likely to be challenging towards the top of our league. Hopefully we'll have some of our injured players back by then and a bit more fight in our bellies.

Just watched Jack's post-match interview. To be fair to him, he gave his usual honest assessment of the game. Accepted his share of the responsibility (picking the team, motivating the players and setting out tactics) and pointed out that players are accountable for playing with desire and intensity. Again, I wonder how players who have shown ability elsewhere can play so poorly for a manager whose character, ability and enthusiasm, many said when they arrived, played such a big part in their decision to sign for the club. Maybe it's just too big a step up for some who played yesterday. Hopefully, Jack and James can turn things around when the injured and suspended players (Stelios, Todd, Magennis, Hilson) return to the side.

Can anyone explain how JR can go from motivating the team so well in the second half of last season to apparently being unable to get the players up for the challenge now? I've had great faith in Jack and James up till now and so many of the new signings commented that it was largely the manager's plans and enthusiasm that persuaded them to sign. However they don't seem able to produce the goods for him when they take the field. Surely they can't all be not up to the standard required for our league?

Poor, poor performance, especially from the defence. How can Baird and Mackenzie, who were so good in the second half of last season, be so poor now? Midfield almost non-existent today. Where were McGinn and McShane? Team as a whole didn't seem to be up for a challenge. The summer signings must be questioned. Only Samson and McShane seem to have some pedigree. Others all came from leagues or teams below us. We expected that they could step up to the Championship, but so far, that doesn't seem to be the case. We badly need Stelios, Magennis and Davies back. Looks like a long season ahead! COYS!

Would imagine the club will want the red strip worn at as many away games as possible in order to promote sales of replica shirts. Source of income for the club. Must say I'm not overly keen on it. Too much going on on the front of it. If you want checks, just make the whole thing checks.

Disappointing to find Buddies fans associated with the type of behaviour described by Stoobs. We sometimes criticise the behaviour of fans of other clubs but we lose the right to claim the moral high ground when this sort of thing occurs. Time to acknowledge that all clubs have a minority of fans whose behaviour in public places is not always acceptable. Let's encourage our fans, especially the young ones, not to get carried away, but to keep the vociferous support for our club inside the stadium.

Fine post-match interview by JR on Radio Scotland. Thanking fans for great turn-out.

I think Rocco could go but Sutton should stay meantime. He can still contribute some goals while I don't really see a need for Rocco now.