LazyBW

There was a Pars player on the touchline at right back or so. Frustrating.

Well that was a complete and utter humiliation. My only solace is that fans couldn't be at the ground meaning we weren't subjected to the taunting and cajoling that we would've rightly deserved on the back of that. First of all what a well coached side Rovers are. I think it was fairly obvious the critical difference between the 4-1 game at EEP and last night's was that Hendry was playing. I was quite surprised he didn't get man of the match but then the Vaughan narrative makes sense. I've watched a few Rovers games this season and in the one's in which they have lost Hendry's role in the game has been diminished - saying that a lot of the games I have watched involving Rovers have been midweek! In terms of the Pars I think Stevie tinkered with the starting 11 from the Dundee game far too much. I felt Henderson was needed in the midfield alongside with Wilson and Banks in for Fraser Murray. A brand new central midfield pairing against one of the slickest midfields in the league was a big risk and it showed. I could understand why he changed the shape mid way through the 1st half but switching to a back 3, a formation we haven't used at any point this season, screamed of desperation. Players weren't tight and I think they were just completely perplexed at what their roles were. Surely if Crawford wanted to tighten the midfield and starve the flow of the ball to Hendry, we would've switched to a 4411 - a formation of which we are used to and allows us to be 'stuffy' if unspectacular when necessary. The 2nd half subs will rightly be thrown at Crawford but to be honest the game was done once he had committed to the formation change. Credit to Gullan for his 2nd goal - great pick out when you consider the complete lack of composure from Murray seconds before! I was expecting to see today that that was Crawford out today but the longer the day has gone in it looks as though we are sticking with. I can only see this going the same way as the season we dovetailed and were lucky to avoid the relegation play offs due to some good early season form. Our form seems to replicate that of an iffy winger - about 1 good game in 10 and that has been quite a common theme of Crawford's time in charge. Time for a change.... Rovers will make the play offs for sure and if they can play to last nights standards, and find a plan b when playing poorly, they have a good chance going up. It would be somewhat poetic if they did relegate John Hughes Ross County!

I tried to post a lengthy reply summarising my thoughts on the game today and it disappeared! To sum up Inverness deserved the win on the back of a strong 2nd half. Pars are frustrating with their stuttering form and performances. I understand the Turner situation wasn't necessarily something that could be rectified but it's clear that we lack a playmaking midfielder. Announce emergency loan of....someone Pars!

Given the recent Covid circumstances within the squad I think that goes down as a really good win. I had a sense of de ja vu when the penalty was saved but thankfully good combination play from our 3 best attacking players on the day proved the difference. I can understand the sentiment that we are very much a stuffy side to watch though. Very rarely under Crawford have we had a team penned in and most games are cagey affairs. The 4-1 Rovers game being a glorious exception! Ultimately, today brought us closer to reaching our objective of making the playoffs and I just hope we can use this as a catalyst towards putting a run together. Thought the defence looked solid today but worth noting how crucial and solid a player Comrie is. He is so consistent and I thought he was going to replicate his goal v Rovers again in the 2nd half. Morton looked a bit toothless today - Nesbitt looked lively in the 1st half and I thought he was going to give the out of position McDonald a tough day. He faded badly after his good chance though. Won't make a prediction as to where I think they will finish as they are so unpredictable!

Gave this game a watch yesterday given that the Pars weren't playing and I thought it was a fairly entertaining watch. It pretty much summed up what we know about the two sides - Hearts clearly have the best players in the league and owing to this fact will be Champions; Dundee are dangerous going forward but defensive frailties mean that it has put their seasons objective into jeopardy. I know he has had a slow start to his Hearts career but I thought MacKay-Steven looked like the player we know he can be. Saying that I couldn't help but laugh when he missed from 2 yards out - having seen the 'alternative angle' I can maybe suggest he was slightly in front of the ball when it came across goal but I think I am just being kind. As I said Dundee looked threatening but without ever looking like winning the game. McGowan stood out for me but I'm not sure if that's just because of the nature of his game which is to try and be in the faces of the opposition. I think Dundee will make the play offs but I can understand their fans having misgivings about their manager.

Apologies. That's my chunky fingers missing out words using my phone! I meant a league victory at East End.

If Soccerbase is correct then our last league victory at EEP was in 82/83. There has been a few cup wins over the years and largely been in different divisions for the majority of the 38 years. I would agree Murray played well for the 1st half but also put in our only quality cross in the 2nd half which resulted in the goal.

Haha that was me saying that on the comms! In fairness I was just trying to drum up intrigue - though I did think Banks looked promising for the first 30 minutes and Watson coped with his defensive duties impressively. On the game, we were hugely fortunate to get 3 points but then I would argue there are have been games where we deserved more as well. It does show the importance of us getting Wighton in, as his two instinctive finishes have proved the difference. It's also the first time we have managed to beat Alloa in the league since they came up 3 years ago, so it's good to get that hoodoo off us.

Just posting a link for the recent round up just if it is of any use to the OP.

On a Tuesday/Wednesday the SPFL have a Lower League Roundup video. Fairly basic as it just shows the goals (or main events in a nil nil say) but a good watch to keep up to speed with all the other games. Last weekend's

I thought QoS were reasonably capable going forward today, with Fitzpatrick being the standout as an attacking threat. They are so fragile defensively though. The opening goal being a case in point - if such cheap goals are being surrendered weekly it must give the side such a mountain to climb. The Pars were competent enough but never fully got into a groove. I thought the concession of the 2nd goal really knocked us off our stride but I can't complain with us picking up 3 more points

Not overly surprised it was high scoring as Dundee looked shocking at the back (Nisbet played right on Forster) and we had Ashcroft and Devine performing and making errors like last season. Dundee have decent firepower and I'm sure they will be in the playoffs but their 2nd (Ashcroft slip) and 3rd (ball not being knocked away) were dreadful errors. Kiltie didn't look at it today though I felt his 1st booking was harsh but may need to see it again. He tends to have more good games than bad so I reckon he will missed next week. I still reckon we are good enough to go to Inverness and get a positive result but desperately need Murray back fit.

I was sad (desperate) enough to zoom in on it on the highlights. I might be wanting to see it but I am convinced Ashcroft gets his foot clipped.

I thought it was a really encouraging first episode. As alluded to it will take a few weeks to fine tune things but I particularly enjoyed the way they seamlessly went between all the leagues of Scottish football. I'm in total agreement with CGT as a suggestion for the Sportscene host on a Friday night. Not sure whether there was a rationale (or media training?) behind the Thompson/McDonald presenter role or they have just thrown them in the deep end but either way it's reduced 2 (in my opinion) fairly reasonable pundits into stilted and struggling presenters.