Tannochsidebear

I think last night proved even more that McKay should be given an improved deal to sign and get him back in the team. Him and Nico in the same side would be worth seeing. Dalcio doesnt look on the same planet as McKay - albeit after only one pre-season game so we have to give the boy time to settle in and see if he can contribute, but im not holding out much hope there. I think our 4-3-3 shape is not working at all. It leaves us short in midfield, we leave our wingers/wide forward players exposed without anyone near them to link up with far too often, and our central striker is easily marked out the game as the other forward players are never close enough to the central guy to be any help at all. There are plenty of other formations that could work better, and may better suit our players, and I would like to see something different tried as to me this isnt working.

That reminded me why I binned going to pre-season games years ago! The tempo was too slow and we didn't get in behind their parked bus defence enough, but it was pretty much what you would expect at this stage of the season. Nico was absolutely sublime, if we can keep him fit and get 40 games out of him we will have some success this season. Of the newbies, Cardoso looks tidy and organised everything at the back comfortably enough, Jack had a very good first half but understandably tired badly in the second and it should have been him subbed when Holt went off. Dalcio had one of the worst debuts I can remember. He never wanted to take the defender on, he was clumsy in possession, passing was poor. Hope it was perhaps too big an ocassion for him and he can improve because if we have binned McKay to play Dalcio and that is a fair reflection of his talent then we are royally fecked. Morelos and the midfielder who came on were unlucky in that when Nico went off we fell completely flat and that affected any chance of them getting a good run out. I will give PC the benefit of doubt for his subs this time and say he was using it as a pre-season game because the first two were totally wrong if he was looking at this game tactically and trying to influence the outcome with his subs. Positively, a win and clean sheet and no injuries. Onwards and upwards to my 6.30am flight to Luxembourg on Tuesday for the next gripping instalment!

6 6 6 6 6 7 6 9 2 3 4 Subs 4 4 4

Why would anyone, even tims, believe that this imposter would have ANY inside information about Andy Halliday?

I think this is spot on, I dont see him taking any part tonight, but he will be available to play on Tuesday.

I hope not, I dont see goals in that side. If last season showed us anything it is that Waghorn and Miller dont score enough goals. Why buy two CF if you are going to play last years failures in front of them? 2 holding midfielders? Thats overkill in this game scenario! I like Holt but I dont see us paying £2M+ for Pena and playing Holt in front of him.

I like Dorrans and would be happy if he signed, but to claim he was PC's "number one close season target" is stupid, when we have signed Alves and also spend double that fee on Pena. But then it was in the Scottish media so stupid is about right.

Didnt know that Ian, thanks. Bates it will be then. Not much between them so I am fairly comfortable either way as long as Cardoso settles in well.

I cant see any reason for last seasons forward failures to get another chance when we have purchased, at not inconsiderable cost, new forward players who are fit and hungry to get out there. We will not play this poor an opponent again this season, so it is the ideal opportunity to give them both a game to see if they can hit the ground running. We can always have Waghorn/Miller on the bench if we need them. I also dont see the need to play 2 holding midfielders when our opponent will be playing 10 behind the ball to keep the score respectable for the home leg to come., so would prefer to see PC go for a far more attacking formation. He has basically told everyone that last seasons duds were just that, duds, so it would be confusing in the extreme to see more of last seasons players playing with their "replacements" on the bench. You can add Rossiter and Nico in the "new" players category, so I would expect to see them both play, along with Cardoso, Dalcio, Herrera & Morelos. Wes, Wallace & Tav seem safe, and until Alves arrives we will see Danny Wilson IMO, but perhaps Bates at CH. Wes Tav Cardoso Wilson Wallace Rossiter Pena Nico Dalcio Herrera Morelos That is much more like it for me.

I seen that a couple of hours ago Ian, your slipping! I really should learn how to do it myself, I know. Thanks for posting. This was to be expected of course, given previous demand levels then overnight a stratospheric increase in demand. That is of course unless you believe the moon-howlers claims of warehouses full of unsold stock just sitting there!

Cheers FS, that's a relief. Would advise all going to get to turnstiles early, the paper tickets seem to take ages to go through and long queues are usually seen as kick off time approaches even for a 25-30K crowd. With a sell-out that will only be worse for those turning up from 7.30 onwards.

I hope that's not even close to accurate or a lot of bears are going to miss a big chunk of the game.

I agree in wishing St Johnstone every success in their Euro campaign this season. For the good of the national co-efficient, I hope they can win a few games. I wish the same good fortune on Dolly in Europe. Obviously I wish nothing but ill will and heavy defeats to Cheat FC, but that is rivalry for you!

Shouold be able to accomodate both players then, and save us having to watch Waghorn or Miller shoehorned into wide roles they cannot play well in.

Are both of these players central strikers then? Should we be looking at a 4-4-2 to accomodate both of them?

I'm with John 100% on this one. McKay is (Niko excepted) the most talented and best player we have at the club, and if what I heard is correct is on a fraction of what other, lesser, players are on in our squad. The new offer took him to just below what other poorer players are on, and his agent would be right to ask for at least the same as the improved contracts given to some at this time last year. I hope Barrie and the club can find a solution to this impasse, as we can ill afford to lose one of our best players. I recall one game last season after Barrie had been criticised in the media compared to some other players that he didnt have enough assists - he created 5 good chances in a 15 minute spell and our forwards missed every one of them. Comparing assists is only fair if the same percentage of chances are taken at each club. When our strikers were as woeful as ours were last season, not even Messi could get his assists up to an acceptable level.

In days of old we would have said it doesnt get any bigger than us and the player is a fool for having ambition to play in england over us. Nowadays however the football world has changed, and we (and the bheasts) actually use this as a selling point to players we want to sign, with a proven list of players who have been successful using us as a vehicle to get noticed by the big money down south. I'm glad he is honest enough up front, instead of badge-kissing fools who swear allegiance then disappear at the first sign of a pay rise elsewhere. If he gets his way, it will be because he has been putting in good performances for us, and we will make a profit on him, so its all good.

The only one i'm surprised about is Dodoo, who i thought was worthy of a better chance and offers something a bit different to the others. If Waghorn/Miller can get into the squad despite both having really poor goals returns last year, then Dodoo has been quite unfairly treated by comparison. Of course it could be that he just doesnt show much in training or has a poor attitude etc that we dont get to see. Those not making this squad know their time is up and their agents should be working to get them a move.

Wow, I didnt think for a minute we would get anywhere near 40K never mind a sell-out! I will believe it when I see it on Thursday.

Yes, I read and heard King say that but I'm not buying that. Is King really telling PC how to set his side out? No chance, PC royally fecked up the two OF games with poor team selections and tactics. The sign of a good manager is he can adjust his style to suit playing a better opponent, nullify their strengths etc. I don't know what more evidence he needed that MW's squad was poor from the other games. If PC had set the team out properly and individual errors cost us the game that's fine. He would have learned enough from that. Are we to believe we deliberately threw the two OF games as a test? King's work behind the scenes has been pretty damn impressive recently, but his performances in front of the cameras do him no favours IMO.

I want to see steady improvement this season, I can just about accept this season losing the title again, but we must finish second and by a hugely reduced margin (around 10 points). We should be winning one of the cups to prevent another treble, and depending on the draws in europe we should make at least the final qualifying round. I was severely critical of Pedro last season, especially the back to back capitulations to the bheasts, but am prepared to give him a clean slate for this season now he has got his first choice picks into the squad. I remain to be convinced, and if it doesnt work out, we will be left with a large number of players who also havent worked out, all on 2-3 year deals that we wont be able to get our money back on, so it is a huge gamble by the board to go down this road. I would much rather take the punt on players like this with international experience than players from the English backwater with no experience, so it is a step up from who MW wanted to bring in. Although we have done a lot of work on our squad early in the summer due to our early start, a lot of work will remain to be done between now and Aug 31 to move players on, see what we can get from the loan market, and see where we are short nearer the deadline and see if we can bring any others in. Cautious optimism. I was really optimistic last season and that turned out dreadfully, so i'm not getting carried away this year, but more in hope than expectation I am really looking forward to Thursday to get my first sight of the new look side, and then my first trip back (of many I hope!) into Europe the following week.

I know King has had a fantastic few weeks but I really wish he wouldn't talk about them, or wind them up. It serves no purpose but to sell papers and fire up our opponents, neither of which is in our interests. Stick to the good work behind the scenes please.

It is a complete mystery totally out of left-field. Some clarity would be welcome, given the amount of scum we have had inching their way in before. Not casting dispertions as I have never heard of him and happy to give the benefit of the doubt if only for paying off MASH, but even a wee interview as to who it was that brought Rangers (and the availability of MASH's shares) to his attention would suffice.

Wow, that is a very tough month's fixtures right before the shutdown. If we are close to the tims going into those games, it will be the defining month of the campaign. A lot of tough games (that we failed to win last year) before we even get that deep into the season of course.

I said that last year!