Alibi

It was a pretty violent challenge, and one that seemed out of character for Murdoch, who is not a dirty player. It put Quitongo out of action for a few weeks, but Murdoch himself came off worse with ligament damage that has kept him out for the whole season.

Boyd left some time ago. Do keep up...

This "brutal" Morton thing is a load of nonsense. In reality we are not a team of tall, strong players and on more than one occasion this season we've been kicked off the park by opponents (Airdrie at Cappielow being one prime example). Part of our problem this season has been the number of injuries we have sustained - from Jai Quitongo being assaulted by the usually mild mannered Andy Murdoch to George Oakley being targeted by some double barrelled mutant from Monklands. I think Raith are more than capable of giving as good as they get in that respect. No idea what we'll be like on Saturday, whether we are trying as hard as possible to hang on to 5th and the extra prize money that means, or more likely with thoughts on a wee break in the sun before next season. Would be nice to beat Raith although in truth there isn't really anything vital to play for with this one as we're now safe and Raith are safe in second place. We will have Strapp and Wilson out which weakens our team considerably. I'm guessing a dull 1-1 draw but it's Morton so you never know.

That maybe says more about you than about VT...

Macdonald was leaking soft goals earlier in the season - against Raith and Dunfermline at Cappielow for example. As soon as Mullen got the jersey, we stopped conceding soft goals. Mullen has hardly made a mistake all season and his distribution has been pretty good - can kick some distance and with accuracy too. I'd rather have Mullen than Macdonald.

Couple? I don't think you've taken anything from us at Cappielow (in the league at least) since 1962. That's 62 years.

A target of top 16 doesn't mean we want to be 16th. It means we want to be 1st or close to it but recognise that world domination takes time. The statement could maybe have been finessed by saying that 1st or 2nd were not regarded as realistic due to the financial advantages clubs get from basing their appeal on bigotry, with the media largely going along with it, but it did at least make clear that relegation scraps every season are not acceptable. we are aiming upwards not downwards.

Have to say I can’t see the need to towel dry the ball with a damp towel for every throw in. Surprised referees haven’t shown any interest in keeping the game flowing.

If the rules stipulate a minimum of 5m clearance from touchline to hoarding, is that not sufficient for a run up to a throw in? How much room do you need? Especially as could presumably get a good start by pushing against the hoarding. I doubt the clearance from the Cowshed perimeter wall at Cappielow is any more than 5m, if it’s even that. if Partick didn’t have the required clearance from the touchline, presumably the referee should not have accepted the pitch as satisfactory for the game to start. Would be a laugh if they were penalised or told to play the game again…

On Oakley, I’m getting the impression he’s going to make a surprise appearance. The wording of the denials of any chance of him playing are a bit unconvincing. Could Imrie and Oakley be trying to mislead Hearts? I really hope so.

It's a pretty good summing up though. Hyphen boy should have had two reds; the rest of your team were content to play football in a reasonable manner. Had the ref done the right thing with the first assault, nobody would be complaining and Oakley wouldn't be injured.

I’m hoping Oakley is back in time for our next visit to Airdrie. I’d like to see him put that hyphenated p***k in hospital. Apart from assaulting Oakley, Taylor-Sinclair also should have seen red for his aerial assault on Crawford.

Good to have Jai back - as long as he is fully fit. The rest might have done him good. Mullen back is a huge boost with Macdonald not fully fit either.

Please stop digging. You clearly have a problem with Dougie for some reason. The rest of us don't. You are implying that Dougie wanted us to lose that game. That and your sycophantic love-in with Brian Graham are beyond the pale. Maybe best to take a few days off before you spontaneously combust.

I think the answer to that might be never if cup games are included. If they aren't, we certainly won 23 league games in a row at the start of the 1963-4 season (continuing on from winning the last three games the previous season) although that run was split by our loss in the league cup final if cup games are included, and also a loss to Celtic in the cup in about January 64. So in league games we can claim a 26 game winning run (no draws) but this current run seems to be the best ever when all competitions are included. It's certainly some achievement and I can see it continuing if our injured players are not out for the long term. Hearts on the horizon though, and it will be interesting to see how we get on against what looks like a very good team.

Massive? So was the Titanic...

We'll do our best.

Of course it's ridiculous to set a target of top 16 due to the near-impossibility of reaching the top 4 or 5 places, so the target might have been better stated as being to reach a level where we get promotion and once we manage that we aim for position 5 or 6 if things go well enough financially. Something along those lines that are within the bounds of possibility. Stating that we are aiming for top 16 is a fairly vague target - we know what is meant but we also have to set targets with a degree of realism. The biggest hurdle to get over is promotion - once we have achieved that, the business plan needs to be revised to where we go from there, and I'd imagine it might be to get into the top 6 on occasion at the top end but mainly to avoid relegation. no harm in dreaming but tempered with realism, and our targets will probably keep moving.

I think your points are reasonably valid, but remember that currently we are in that 16th place. Having an ambition of winning the top tier is also reasonable although highly unlikely to be achieved. Having an ambition to finish in the top 6 or to win a cup is perhaps more realistic and given favourable circumstances could be achieved (I think we had a 6th place finish in the Rooney era and also in the late 60s when we got a Fairs Cities Cup place in Europe). We have to recognise that we can have ambitions that are never likely to be achieved, and we can also have ambitions that might, just might, be realised. Winning the Scottish Cup this season is still an ambition and although highly unlikely it's not completely beyond the bounds of possibility with the squad and manager we currently have. I see the target announced as aiming for 8th place in the top tier, i.e. halfway up the top 16. That's ambitious but not out the question for a well run club.

Don’t think we have scored against Airdrie this season in 2 league games and one in the cup. Time to correct that anomaly.

Ferrie isn't really the best keeper in the division, but he's not the worst either. He had several excellent saves on Saturday and a bit of luck. By contrast, Ryan Mullen had very little to do and I can't remember him making a save of any significance all afternoon. He has been a revelation for us so far since coming in for Macdonald (who conceded a lot of goals that he should have prevented). You just need to look at the statistics to see how much tighter we are at the back with Mullen in goal. I see we had 804 travelling fans at the game. That is a hell of a good travelling support for a routine league game. Unlike when it's a Scotland game, Hampden is a decent ground to go to by car, with easy access from the M74, free parking and stewards directing traffic approaching the stadium. The catering costs are however ridiculous (£6.50 for a hot dog I think it was and £3.50 for a cold drink). Downside is the lack of atmosphere in a 95% empty stadium. Not a patch on a packed Cappielow with the Cowshed bouncing. Hope to have another two visits to Hampden this season as it's our turn to win the Scottish Cup.

Stop digging an ever deepening hole for yourself. It really is becoming tedious. Best to stay silent for a wee while, then maybe come back and see how it goes.

Nearly 50 years after leaving Glasgow Uni, when I see those two words, the next word that comes into my head is "Quiver". That probably means nothing to anyone who didn't spend Saturday nights at the (then ) GU Men's Union. Don't want to tempt fate, but I think we should do better in this game than in the previous 2 games against Dunfermline this season. We're on a decent run and more or less free from injuries (Quitongo apart) so it should at least be a fairly evenly matched game. Can't make this one sadly. Tempted to put money on Crawford first scorer though.

I'd like to see extensions offered to Oakley, Muirhead and Crawford. Hearing that Strapp might actually be staying till the end of the season - hope so.

I never knew about them. Hope it's not a one-off...