DMAA

That’s more like it Kent. Pass and move! Beat the man off the ball. What a relief. Excellent free kick and excellent finish.

We don’t need Zungu and Davis here.

That was good from Itten

It’s not like he’s had much service.

St Mirren never make it easy at their ground. That was very poor from a couple of players though.

I don’t blame Arfield and Itten for not getting on the end of that low ball though. If you watch the replay the ball was way ahead of the play and nobody was going to get to it.

It’s about decision making though. Far too often for my linking he’s trying to be Messi and trying to do the impossible.

Yes, to be honest this was a big ask of Bassey. I would be limiting his game time to substitute appearances (early when possible) and games against lower league teams for now I think.

He’s lost the ball a few times trying to take people on, it is frustrating.

So clumsy from Bassey but really poor from Kent trying to dribble past people in that area.

Attacking line up. I would have preferred Hagi to Kent on this pitch. St Mirren have been very good defensively against the big clubs in recent years and if they sit deep there might not be a lot of space to run in behind.

Tavernier for me for that free kick. I remember moaning on here during the Caixinha era that we just didn’t have enough different ways of scoring goals. Championship winning teams are dangerous from free kicks and in the air and it is staggering how much we have improved in that regard. To have Tavernier and Barisic here at the same time with their dead ball ability is really rare.

On the one hand, there was very little in it. In modern football, you can’t do it, regardless of force. But let’s be honest it wouldn’t have hurt in the slightest so to call it brutality is ridiculous. But what was most disappointing for me was that the game was only 10 minutes in. He didn’t have the excuse he has had on previous occasions where the game was an hour in with a hostile crowd and with Scott Brown raking his studs down the back of his ankle. There was no excuse for losing the head this time.

As frustrating and disgraceful as the double standards are, Alfie can only blame himself if he loses his place to Itten here. It’s a big opportunity for him.

Thanks to all for the work that goes on behind the scenes. It wouldn’t be the same without this forum where you know peoples names and the chat and debate is reasoned and sensible. Apart from my contributions.

Agree with the sentiment, and Edouard has been terrible, but to be a tad pedantic Morelos has had 9 goal involvements using official numbers instead of Transfermarkt.

I’ve never been one to subscribe to the view that we shouldn’t second guess the management’s decisions so why start now ? they must know he is better suited to being a penalty box striker, but prioritised the new system over what suits Alfredo. There is definitely pressure to persevere with him too due to his large wage, the bids which have been rejected and prospect of future bids.

Just going to make one more comment on Morelos to clarify a bit. I think he has proven that that he can be very good as a number 9, an out and out striker, playing on the last man where he can get physical with the CB and focus on getting into the right positions and playing as a poacher. I just think the false 9, Firmino role actually negates some of his strengths (power, movement in the box, shooting) and exposes some of his weaknesses (technical side of the game).

My fellow millenials ?

I said "at least as good as, if not better". It wasn't a definitive claim that we were better because that is impossible to say when the circumstances in each game are so different. The games Morelos didn't start in are, 2-0 Kilmarnock Home 2-0 Hamilton Away 2-0 Livingston Home 8-0 Hamilton Home 4-0 Falkirk Away 1-0 Poznan Home 2-0 Poznan Away 5-0 Lincoln Red Away There is no value in analysing that, it's impossible to prove. To my eye, we progress the ball on the deck better with Roofe, Itten and Defoe in the CF role because they are so comfortable taking the ball to feet and playing one touch football (Roofe in particular). Less attacks break down due to a poor touch or wayward pass etc. That's just the way I see it.

Of course plenty see that it's not specific to Morelos, you are obviously as tactically aware as any, but plenty haven't spotted it. I think he always works hard, many people have criticised his attitude and I haven't. It's not the only disappointing thing though is it. Every game he has at least a few wayward passes and poor touches and they often result in dangerous counter attacks. In some games it seems the only chances the opposition have come from Morelos' mistakes (Aberdeen comes to mind). Roofe played 3 games in a row at CF earlier in the season, starting ahead of Morelos. He was excellent there. The decision has been made to bring Morelos back in and for Roofe to replace Hagi behind him. I like Roofe in this role too. The way I see it, reverting to Roofe, Kent, Hagi is an option, as is something like Itten/Defoe, Kent, Roofe. I think Defoe has earned more game time. With regards to Itten, I find this a bit of a circular argument. He can only warrant it if he plays, and it was no surprise to me that he did so well on Thursday and IMO he showed that he should have had more game time up until now. Even in brief cameos I have felt there has been ample evidence he has the ability to play the CF role well. It is unfortunate from his point of view that he has often been asked to play off the striker. Funnily enough, I have found some of the criticism overblown. Not on this forum, but I have seen words like "rotten" used. His overall play was ok yesterday, I just think others would have offered more, and he did have some very poor moments aside from in front of goal. I can come across harsher on Morelos because I have long believed him to be vastly overrated by our fans, so I do find it a bit frustrating when he gets defended to the hilt when so many of the rest of our players don't get anything like this kind of backing. Almost every other player in our starting 11 has endured a spell of significant criticism from what seemed like the vast majority of our fans and in those cases I was on the side of defending the player each time (Kent the only exception). It comes down to how you view the game and judge a player and I tend to favour more technical players.

I think he was better than some have made out. He was denied a truly outstanding assist by Morelos. It was a sublime pass that set up as good a chance as a striker could ask for. His link up play is underrated too, he was involved in some good one-touch passing moves. 2 of those goals were against part timers in Gibraltar though. Still goals, sure, but I think those goals make his numbers look better than they are. He's scored 3 of our 47 league goals, and 2 of those were at home to St Mirren (again, still goals yes, but in an easy game against a side 2 points off bottom). Up until this season he was reluctant to change the team at all, this season he has been much better but I have still been frustrated by his reluctance to rotate the forwards. Itten, Hagi and Defoe have deserved more opportunities because Kent and Morelos haven't been good enough not to be rotated. Doesn't matter to me if we are winning games, individual performances matter.

There have been 7 red cards in Antwerp's games this season ?

They’ve been excellent in Europe, including a 1-0 win over Spurs, but are on a horrendous run domestically.