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| vs Killie; 23/01, 3pm | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 18 2016, 12:17 PM (1,533 Views) | |
| vvhatsthatonyourback | Jan 23 2016, 04:48 PM Post #16 |
wild eyed
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Killie back in it now. |
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| vvhatsthatonyourback | Jan 23 2016, 04:54 PM Post #17 |
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wild eyed
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Phew. Held on for the win. And now I'm off to the bookies to collect my £2.24 winnings. |
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| reekie | Jan 23 2016, 05:35 PM Post #18 |
lum raker
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A five-goal win against our nearest rivals? Yes please! Seems Murray has made a real difference in how high we press teams and, despite his limitations, received a deserved motm award. Any news on Demel? Was he taken off injured or just tired? |
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| vvhatsthatonyourback | Jan 23 2016, 05:36 PM Post #19 |
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wild eyed
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Injured. Thigh. Not sure if hamstring or, err, the other thigh bit. |
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| Setenza | Jan 23 2016, 06:32 PM Post #20 |
Knitting with only one needle
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One of these days everything just worked. Rankin was left wing back and was excellent - aside from the goal worked hard all game, and covered the whole left side. Not joking that Dixon may not get back in the team. Killie's defence was hesitant and open, which was a gift for Murray who scared them from 20 yards away. Another 90 mins of effort, just what we needed. Still rough, still not great, but effective. Paton was excellent first half, tired in the second, but who cares at that point. Organised and won the challenges we've been losing. Dow got forward at the right times. We've really missed someone who knows how to get forward from midfield effectively. Spittal was efficient, great first goal and lots of good attacking play. Really has become a key player for us. They shut him down second half, but past the damage. Hopefully Demel isn't out for long, his confidence and willingness to take that few extra seconds makes a real difference. Same with Donaldson. Gunning is beyond the point where he should be out of the team, so many awful decisions, and yet another bizarre header the wrong way from a corner. Killie really were stinking though. Few good players but were all over the place at times. Ref was good also, few minor things, but in general helped to let the game continue, even though it was a battle at times. It's all about next week now. Need another 3 points. |
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| Naebody | Jan 23 2016, 06:32 PM Post #21 |
Twat
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Don't want to jinx it, but I think we might win this. |
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| radger | Jan 23 2016, 08:09 PM Post #22 |
Craig Brewster
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Well that was thoroughly enjoyable! Tannadice was rockin! Is it like that every week??? I wouldn't even say we were all that great, a clear difference for me though was doing the uglier side of the game better. We harassed them in possession meaning they gave the ball away more often, taking the pressure off. We also didn't bother trying to play loads of passing football (although there were some swift and sexy interchanges). If the situation was semi-dangerous, it was hooked clear or hit into the channels for one of the strikers to chase. We won a lot more of the balls in the middle and Mckay and Murray were able to cause their defence plenty of problems, even if neither made it onto the scoresheet. For all the rumours of going to a back 4, we stuck with 3 at the back. Gunning in the centre, Dillon on the left and Donaldson and then Durnan on the right. Spittal and Rankin were out wide and we went for steel rather than flair in the middle, going with Paton and Demel and Dow in front, with Souttar (eventually replacing Demel) and Fraser dropping out. Murray and Mckay up top. Murray won a lot of plaudits today, and got the sponsors man of the match. Out of possession he is absolutely terrific. Superb pace and engine and he will sprint 40 odd yards to win balls he has no right to win or to just to force a defender to boot the ball clear. He also makes good runs off the ball and is a very useful outlet. In possession...to put it bluntly he's not great. But he is fully worth his place in the team just now and was a handful for Killie all game long. My man of the match though was Rankin out on the left. Tracked back, won tackles, worked his socks off as you'd expect from him, he was a far more effective attacking source than I expected, put some great balls into the box, linked up really well with the players around him, got into plenty of good positions and even trickery and dribbling when 1v1. Interesting to see what we do next game with Dixon back and possibly Demel out, I thought Ranks was superb today. The pairing of Paton and Demel looked really solid and was a good move to make. Both won tackles and made life difficult for Killie, Demel being really tidy in possession and Paton with some excellent balls over the Killie defence. Souttar also had more bite today than I'm used to seeing. Anyway some folks will be saying it's too late and all that, but we can go into the Thistle game with some genuine belief and momentum now, get a result there and who knows??? Oh and happy experience- I went mental when Sean Dillon scored, I was soooo happy! He's maybe not quite the player he used to be, but he's been an outstanding servant and example at the club for years now. I was willing him to keep on going when a bit of space opened up 40 yards out. Suddenly a pass, a deflected shot, a second ball later and he's popping up 5 yards from goal poking the ball home. And the celebrations were awesome, in the E.T and on Sean Dillon, where the whole team suddenly found themselves, poor Sean nearly died at the bottom of it all.  It's fun to believe you know 
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| Cobardon | Jan 23 2016, 08:36 PM Post #23 |
Uncle Smurf
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Thanks for the summing up for those unable to get to the game, such as myself. Sounds like a big improvement and a bit of overdue luck combined. It would be nice to think we can keep this going and that Mixu won't tinker too much next week...injuries notwithstanding. Two up front seems to make a difference too, eh? It was good to totally demolish that 10 goal advantage Killie had over us in goal difference as well. We've taken that out of the equation versus them at least. It could all come crashing down soon enough, but it gives a glimmer of hope. Edited by Cobardon, Jan 23 2016, 08:37 PM.
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| radger | Jan 23 2016, 09:44 PM Post #24 |
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Craig Brewster
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http://i3.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article7232959.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/JS81007128.jpg Edited by radger, Jan 23 2016, 09:45 PM.
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| Tom_Boland | Jan 23 2016, 10:16 PM Post #25 |
Ivan Golac
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Well that was an enjoyable afternoon c/w evening. Makes you wonder why the phuck we aint been playing like that since October. Musta been one scary Halloween the Club. Murray is MOTM for me. Chased everything. Think he made the pass for the 1st goal, and no sure if he also make the pass for 3rd. Unlucky to have hks goal disallowed, for what to me looked like a non-existant push. Murray and McKay worked very well up front. Why have we no being doing this since August. Spittal 3rd goal. Dinna think Killie were expecting him to do that. He'd be my third choice for MOTM today. Chuffed for Durnan. He's took some stick recently, but thought it was best game so far, not just because he scored, but generally thought he pkayed well the day. The 2nd goal was class. Rankin. He'd be my 2nd choice for MOTM. Great shot for the 4th. Dillon. Cant believe his run. From the halfway line right to the net, for the 5th. Dowzer had a good game, but you can see he's still a bit. Standing applause when he was hooked, Wonder if he's away? The return of Pates has been preety effective. Strong in the midfield with Demel. Kawashima hardly had a touch of the ball in the 1st half, but he made a couple of good stops. He was busier in the 2nd half and again he made a couple of good stops. Some crackin in the face for Donaldso. Sorry to see him go aff we the knock. Broken nose apparently. Looks like the Ref. Let a couple of handballs go and a penalty? Lino on Shed end was slow as phuck to flag anything, waiting on the Ref to make the decision for him. |
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| Naebody | Jan 23 2016, 11:34 PM Post #26 |
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Twat
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Yeah, that was better. Dow's wit gave the team a better balance, as did Rankin's willingness and Paton's no-fucking-around-ness. Giving MOTM to anyone other than Spittal would be charity, though. He was outstanding in the first half and remained very good in the second, in spite of being man marked. Forrest Gump certainly adds something. Specifically, it adds a gigantic ginger wazzock who runs at about 30mph and never, ever stops. He's more a scientific curiosity than a player, but in our current predicament that might be precisely what we need. Defensively, not tested so pass marks by default. Kawashima's habit of punching everything is a bit of a worry generally, but was no issue today as Kilmarnock were shite. Other teams won't be so shite but, providing we can be as direct as we were today, we'll have a chance of outscoring them. |
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| TheDean | Jan 24 2016, 12:19 AM Post #27 |
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ALLEGEDLY CALICO
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And in other news, we're now just 11 points behind the pack 11 Points |
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| the.mule | Jan 24 2016, 01:51 AM Post #28 |
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Ian McCall
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11 long hours of soul searching for you tomorrow, Calico. From the moment you wake up you'll be in a bad headspace of regret. By all means make yourself some breakfast (porridge for energy) then into the bathroom. 11.30-10.30 may seem like a long shift, but when you're standing there looking into that mirror preying for the Sportscene intro music to put you out of your misery.....don't even think about putting your hands n the sink to prop yourself up. I just want you to stand there. |
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| reekie | Jan 24 2016, 02:50 AM Post #29 |
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lum raker
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Ach, away to Eastfud, TheDean, you misery. Some of us are trying to enjoy our five-goal victory. |
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| Naebody | Jan 24 2016, 08:37 AM Post #30 |
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Twat
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Eastfudball is a joyous place today, full of people ignoring their previous views about three-at-the back, Spittal, Murray etc like goldfish with Alzheimer's. At least Calico's consistent. A promising aspect of yesterday was that Spittal, Paton, Souttar and a few others really looked to be enjoying themselves. It's been a while since any United player looked like they wanted to be there. This is grasping at straws, I know, but perhaps we're underestimating the morale-sapping effect of a year of defeats (including through pre season, thanks JMc). The way I see it, we need to win four more games in 15 than any one of Hamilton, Kilmarnock, Thistle or Motherwell. That's the least we'd expect of an average season. If the remainder of the season turns out to be average -- a big ask given the starting point, I accept -- we might manage something. The money agrees, incidentally: United have moved from 1.05 to 1.28 on the bid to finish bottom. Accies are now in the low 3s. |
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