djchapsticks

Don't be stupid. That would involve many public admissions of being wrong from the infallible. To be fair, I did speak to Lex in the pub on Sunday and he held his hands up and said he was delighted to be proven wrong so fair enough.

Good move for all involved. He'll get regular football at a higher level than he played last season and presumably it will be a developmental loan, so will still be training with us on days when the Alloa squad aren't together.

Nice time to be playing them - sandwiched between a game against Istanbul on the Thursday and a trip to Riga the following Thursday. Teams in Scotland tend to take their eye off the ball a little between European games so hopefully we get a chance to get a rare result at Tynecastle.

Based on what exactly? The fact they finished 2nd bottom last season, or they've lost their 3 best players and replaced then with dads army? Maybe the one league win so far. I'm not saying that we'll win on Saturday or even take anything as Perth has always been a difficult hunting ground for us but it's simply not true to say that St. Johnstone don't look like a bad outfit. They look the very definition of a bad outfit at this level.

McDonald was a great player but he's not been the same since his transplant and his career at the higher levels of the game are probably over - we're also well versed in centre of the park so I'd pass on that. McNulty, a definite no for me. He's a downgrade on what we have. 1 league goal every 9 games for Dundee Utd means I wouldn't waste a wage. There's no-one from that list I'd be looking to strengthen with (I mean obviously apart from Rogic but lets be honest, that's fanciful unless he wants a pre-Aussie World Cup love-in). McGeouch and Grimshaw are only two possibilities I'd want us to look at if we weren't well covered in both areas of the squad. Neither currently going to significantly strengthen our side and would be bit part players. The best affordable free agent who left a Scottish side that was still out there on the market, we signed two weeks ago in the shape of Gogic. Thankfully, mercifully it looks like a club, we're now beyond the 'maybe we will be utilising the free agents market after the window has closed' stage.

He did. It was May 2021 though.

Not the outgoing I think any of us were hoping for.

The Oxford comma you fixed is perfectly acceptable.

Interesting but can't possibly see where he's fitting into that side just now. It does appear he'll be Motherwell bound though.

Probably for the best. The field is missing a turnip.

Does it give you pleasure actively hoping the team you support does badly to prove your point? Anyone who can't see what we've been doing over the first 4 games and understand the way that we are trying to play and set our our stall really shouldn't be involved in a football discussion. We are a far better watch than we were last season. That much is plainly obvious.

Thankfully you know not the f**k what you're talking about.

Believe it.

All well and good, I didn't mention Robinson's record since he's been here when addressing your initial post and neither did you - you said we were hanging on at the end yesterday. Aside from one deflected shot that nearly caught us out, no we weren't. We were in control for the full 90. They hit the post after about 65-70 mins which isn't quite 'the end' so safe to say your opinion on yesterday's game is way wide of the mark. You've been on such a crusade since day one you can't even hold your hands up and admit the team you support played well because you have a massive dislike of the manager. Bit sad, really.

Agreed. Think it's clear to see that in the top flight, there are about 7 or 8 teams who if they all played one another head to head for 10 games, there would be a relatively even split of wins draws and losses across the board. We're firmly in that group and it's not a bad place to be. Better that then the whipping boys. We'll be just fine this season. We do need to develop a bit of composure and a killer instinct though.

No we weren't. The red and penalty were Aberdeen's first goal and they had troubled us very little before then. The actual performances in the first three games taken as a whole are far more encouraging and easy on the eye than they were under Goodwin.

Thing is, I was more than encouraged by the Aberdeen performance whilst it was 11 vs 11 as well. We looked to have game plan to sit in and hit and were potentially going to get some success from it. It was the lack of a contingency plan when we got Gallagher sent off that sort of threw that up in the air.

I suppose when you're entrenched in an opinion you refuse to budge from, the mind sees what it wants to see. They had one shot that took a wicked deflection and the keeper made a superb stop. Apart from that, we were hardly hanging on.

To be fair, I don't think there were many on the park who done more running than Strain yesterday. After 70 minutes his race was run and it was understandable that anyone would wilt in that heat. He covered the entire right hand side of the park god knows how many times and never got caught out. I think everyone in the West stand could see he was blowing out his arse the last 20 but it really drives home that we do still need defensive cover in wide areas as on another say I'm sure he'd have came off. Think he's been a very good signing so far, his touch is excellent, his set pieces are good and he's got this knack of alway finding himself in a dangerous area in the other teams third. My one criticism of him is that he needs to have a better or more varied end product. His crosses always get past the first man but too often they are too high and floaty/looping or close to the goal line. Still worth remembering he's played very little football in 2022 and he's getting more and more up to speed every week.

This has all the feelings of a must win game. I was saying to my old man earlier, the last time I remember a game with quite the same feeling of it having to go right for the manager's sake was when we played recently promoted (along with us) Livingston in Alan Stubbs' 3rd game of the season. We got absolutely humbled 2-0 that day against a team we were far better than only 10 weeks before and it was the writing on the wall for Stubbs - a final confirmation that he'd without doubt, weakened us massively. It kind of has that energy about it. If we lose on Saturday, regardless of the manner of defeat, or if we scrape our way to an undeserved point, it's going to be the tipping point for many I fear.

Too many silly wee guys who are there first and foremost to hang about in a gang and the football being played is secondary. More interested in what the other teams supporters are doing. I saw an annoying number of incidents outside the ground last season after games involving these groups and there's no need for it at all.

Wonder if there is any substance in those Charles Dunne to Aberdeen rumours from earlier in the summer. He was pictured at Pittodrie on Sunday but apparently his old pal just signed for them from Wycombe so in insolation, maybe nothing in it. But then it has come out today that David Bates - the man with the best agent in football - is leaving for Legia Warsaw and is getting his medical today so Aberdeen might well be in the market for another centre half.

Carson Tanser Strain Shaughnessy Dunne Baccus Czapala (U19 Aussie central midfielder) Greive Olusanya Main Ayunga We could potentially field a non-Scottish XI this season but it's highly unlikely with the current squad.

Shocking thread. Players need time to adjust to the pace and physicality of Scottish football. He may not come good, on the other hand he might. Give the guy a bit of time and patience to bed in FFS. He's literally played 3 games.

Strain is one of those ones that will take time. He's had practically zero football in 2022 so understandable he's going to be rusty. Time to get off the back of guys like Strain, Ayunga and Olusanya who I've seen quite a few folk making their judgements on already. We need to give these guys a bit of time to bed into the pace and physical differen e of the game here.