der Berliner

We play them like we play most Scottish teams. If they turn half their quality on, they'll cut us apart. We laughed at the Scum, but ...

Dessers wasn't held by one guy, but two. Interesting. Can we give Cerny the jersey of Kent? He's as lethal as the Czech guy ...

Bad pass from Barron, but no-one covered Lacazete, midfield too slow to react. Lot of pashion involved, yet, we're getting caught up field and these chaps can cut you open in no-time.

Tavernier, Cerny, Cerny again, and Fofana. Who scores?

Maybe the blame lies not with Hagi, but those who whipped up the contract.

Raskin has been out for ages and hardly any minutes to his name this season either. He's not there for the more physical games, but IMHO more forward-minded than most we had recently. Diomande is a bit of a conundrum. Sometimes it looks like he's there for the joy of the game and action, but forgets what to do with the ball. We've probably the youngest DM/CM in a long time, Barron (22), Diomande (22), Raskin (23) and Sterling also just (24). I'm not sure whether we can make these four click with one another (sometimes we need more steel, sometimes we don't ... yet we always play the same pairing), and at times we need to tell e.g. Diomande that he should stay further forward rather than run about when his presence in the defensive third is not required. I was rather disappointed with Dowell (also just 26), who IMHO did not occupy free spaces to receive and play the ball as you would expect from someone who's put on for exactly this role. Thus, we often couldn't get out of bother, as there was no player to play a pass to.

It was noted over on the German board shortly after HT. Some X feed reply said that both he and Raskin signalled to the bench during the first half. Neither looked in any bother ... from over here 😎 Hibs took the game to us in the second half, and we didn't look comfortable at all. Sterling and Kasanwirjo look to be more on the aggressive side, so no problem bringing them on. My main point of bother was that we didn't have enough attacking people on (even though Sterling tried his best) to keep Hibs occupied in their own half. But that is a feature for ages now. Two or three attackers shall prevail against 4 or 6 defenders, who, if they get the ball, lump it over our midfield (and preferably to the flanks left empty by our fullbacks), and we soon end up in bother. But in saying this, I only preach to the converted anyway ... Trying "to play out of defence" is also one of these things that makes you scream at the monitor. Even if the manager thinks otherwise, these chaps out there should know what to do. Which adds to the frustration.

... which was probably not replayed 15 times on BBC et al?

Bizarre fact ... four games on the trot without conceding.

We need to get Kasanwirjo on much earlier, so Tav can finally live his dream as striker! Brutal toil for most of the second half, in contrast to us, Hibs actually played some slick passing football ... and luckily lacked the final touch/pass. As I said before, Lawrence and Dowell are not made for this high-intensity stuff, offer very little either way. You need far more aggression here, and quicker decision-making. We could just as well have kept Igamane on alongside Dessers, so there would have been more pressing. Three points, game (felt) 326 after our return you don't want to write home about, next stop Olympique Lyon. Anyone knows what Lee McCulloch, Daniel Cousin, and DeMarcus Beasley are doing these days?

We may still get 3 goals from somewhere, but there is so little creativity since the 65th min onwards ... and the level of football is quite poor. Having 90 % midfielders and defenders on surely doesn't help either.

Remakrs on X that both McCaulsand and Raskin signalled to get off at HT in the first half. Some brutal stuff there at the back. There's hardly anything that Dowell and Lawrence offer in games like these, get Sterling on please.

Did Butland actually touch the ball for the corner during which Souttar handled the ball? The latter was given because he raised the elbow higher than what is deemed natural, so no problem with this. So far, we toil on, as per usual against Hibs, who know how to hit us on the counter. Very little to show for in the final third, which is once more down to having too few attackers there. Lawrence, aside from his goal, was hardly to be seen, Cerny was hitting every player in front of him ... and much of the real threat came via McCausland and Jefte. Raskin looks willing and capable to spray passes, but looks short of game time (no wonder). I'd chuck Cerny at HT, bring on Bajrami and possibly even Dessers for Lawrence. Not what Clement will do, though.

You look at the level of refereeing on the pitch and note that those on the panel are essentially of the same level as said referees, there is little doubt about the outcome of these things. Alas, European refs are not much better, Thursday saw two rather blatant fouls on Dessers not given, apparently not even reviewed AFAIK. BTW, has the Compliance Officer made redundant, or is he/she in hibernation till Kerrydale Street needs him/her again?

There was that one moment in the second half which my monitor will remember for some time (because I was going mildly hysterical). Dessers received the ball in their half, had two guys on him, yet all our fellow attackers went backwards to the halfway line rather than supporting him.

So not only did we dismantle the Swedish table toppers, but made this our first ever win in Sweden in Europe, and beat Swedish opposition in Europe for the first time too. Nice.

Could have been 7-0, should have been 5-0 ... who would have predicted this? In the here and now, some feat. Hats off to the lads, safe journey home!

They stick to their tasks and everything is fine. Cerny a bit too shy with tracking back for my liking, unlucky in front of goals. I just hope those missed chances don't come back to haunt us ...

Bare-bone strike-force ... really frustrating. If something happens to Dessers, we'll have Lovelace left. Whatever happened to Igamane ...

Everything we gain from the game is a bonus. If we don't get anything point-wise, at least the new players have had some more game time to play alongside one another.

Rio Hardy and Brogan Hay on target as we beat Hearts 2-0 away ...

Three points, good first half, mediocre second half. The old problem of converting chances hasn't changed. Igamane looks good, let him AND Dessers loose at the opposition and themtwo will have fun. The Don got card-happy late on, almost farcical.

All in all, well deserved lead. Should be 3 or 4 though. Not wanting to tempt Fate, so no comment on the Arabs. Last minute chance was so typical ... quick ball to Dessers, who is a little too far wide, and cannot pass inside, as there's no-one anywhere near. Might have shot first time, but that's not his way. A bit unlucky earlier in the half. Lawrence and Dowell are essentially Rolls-Royce style footballers, great technique if they have time and space (they actually have that today), but also the acceleration of such a car. I'd assume that we'll see Bajrami soonish. Diomande can play a little further up too.

So ... Cortes will be doing the Kent job of getting free-kicks and penalties, so the burden of scoring with nigh every chance he gets is lifted from Dessers shoulders. There's a surprise. If you don't press teams like these, they will try to go physical, drag you down to their level, push you back and ... ... ach well, Rangers will surprise us, nae problem!

Sometimes you wonder how many jobs are up there at the club. When Gerrard arrived, we "suddenly" had half a dozen roles no-one ever heard of (well, maybe I was just a little ignorant), at least not in the days of Sir Walter. As I stated recently, there will be people pulling the strings no matter what I think or know of it, so I leave this debate and topic for people more ITK. There is enough to worry about on the pitch and next to the sideline.