Matty-RCFC

The actual state of that tweet by the way hahaha. Also, if you’re going to use a still image, at least use one where the ball is touching O’Riley’s hand.

Bollocks. The referee gave the pen. Absolutely nothing to do with VAR.

Apologies, I actually didn’t check who the ref was before the game and thought it looked like Walsh so just assumed it was him. In terms of the penalty - I haven’t seen it back but at the time I thought it was one of those harsh ones that you see get given because of a stupid rule. In my post though, I didn’t refer to the penalty once. The constant moon howling at every single foul that went against you was laughable.

The cries of “o**nge b**tard” as soon as Nick Walsh made any decision against them were extremely entertaining. Them and their city rivals genuinely believe the world is out to get them and it’s absolutely hilarious. On the game itself, pretty happy with how we defended. We were stuffy, wound the crowd up and took our chance when it came. We probably scored a bit too early, and when they equalised you knew it was a matter of time before they scored again. However, just six points off the top 6 and we look a far, far better side than we did this time one month ago.

Probably the best time to play Celtic imo, a long break after this which would’ve disrupted any momentum we had gained anyway so playing them now allows that momentum to snap. Expecting the 532 from the start again as it clearly suits the players we have at our disposal. Laidlaw Owura-Johnson-Watson-Iacovitti-Harmon Tillson-Loturi-Cancola Dhanda White Think we will go with something like that. Try and stifle them in midfield and prevent their full backs coming inside and getting the ball easily. Celtic just create overloads everywhere so having the 5 at the back suits us because it should mean we don’t get done easily down the flanks. Dhanda must start because he’s the only player in the squad with the ability to put his foot on the ball and regain composure. Big Jordan up top will fight like f**k and win fouls but really he’s on a hiding to nothing today. 2-0 Staggies. Steven Craig and Jimmy Scott the scorers.

I think it’s a 5-4-1 in defence, and then when we win the ball Dhanda will have free roam of the pitch.

I know that playing in a friendly would mean he isn’t locked in to choosing Scotland, but I’d be all over trying to get the boy Elliot Anderson into this squad to give him a taste of senior international action. That being said, I think he’s been picked for the 21s and I’m certain that there is a crossover with the dates.

At a ground we have a relative degree of success at given the stature of the two clubs, the Staggies venture to Edinburgh in an attempt to claim back to back wins for the first time since early March. However, Hibs’ scoreline on Friday was fairly harsh and I think they’ll be out to make amends tomorrow night. The change in shape was definitely beneficial on Saturday, giving us a large majority of control in the match and I’d be surprised and slightly disappointed if we shifted away from the 3/5 at the back. Especially when you consider that this is a game we are likely to have the minority of the ball. This is probably how I think we should set up: Eastwood Owura-Johnson-Watson-Iacovitti-Harmon Tillson-Loturi Dhanda White-Hiwula I think a change in goals is probably fair. No doubt that Laidlaw has been struggling recently and it may be worth testing Eastwood’s mettle seeing as he’s not had a proper chance yet. Should Baldwin be available I’d start him in the centre of defence but Watson was excellent on Saturday. That being said, if Boyle is fit, him running against Watson does give me the fear. Johnson suits that centre half role brilliantly, giving Owura defensive support and allowing him to support our own attack. The balance in the midfield 3 is perfect - Tillson’s dig, Loturi’s ability to keep the game ticking and Dhanda’s creativity. We then have White and Hiwula up front who are two targets to hit and would give us a benchmark to work off of. I don’t think it is wide of the mark to suggest we can get something from this game as performances have improved slightly over the past few weeks. I’d snap your hand off for a point. I will plump for a 1-1.

If you can just keep your commitments coming that would be grand.

In fairness, Tillson had been off it for a wee while prior to yesterday. I think he’d been trying too hard, doing Cancola’s running as well as his own. However, having Loturi beside him allows him to venture further forward and keep his discipline knowing he’s got someone beside him willing to graft like f**k too (not saying Cancola doesn’t, just that Loturi has a better engine). HAS to be the midfield three that we continue with going forward.

Was worried when Watson came on but to be fair playing against Ayunga and Main probably suits him down to the ground because the whole game is in front of him. I don’t think we started with the 3 but I definitely noticed the switch when we did make the move. Thought it suited us down to the ground. ETA: Purrington and Harmon are two excellent options at left back. Have we ever had two good options at left back before? Ever?

Our best performance of the season by an absolute mile today. Thought that the shape really suited us. Johnson looks so good in that wide centre half role because it provides out central defence with some much, much needed pace. Absolutely scandalous that Dhanda hasn’t been first name on the team sheet up until now. Man of the Match today, however, was Loturi by a long way. All energy, kept it simple, literally dictated the game along side Dhanda. I think once Callachan is fit, that midfield three could be brilliant. I’d still go and sign a proper dominator in January, but that is a solid 3 if we persist with this shape IMO. Also, special mention for Erhahon trying to bend it up the Jailend after going 2-1 up. Hope he sleeps well tonight - Riddy!

Correct.

Shaughan looked like a man feeling the effects of hayfever that had gone a few rounds with a heavily pollenated bush in the middle of summer. Check the eyes.

First Turkey, now England. What is it with the SFA booking friendlies against such small nations.

I enjoyed last Saturday as County didn’t ruin it for once. However, we’re now back to Saturday matches and there’s plenty potential for my weekend to be ruined earlier this week. That being said, the Hearts performance was a *SLIGHT* improvement on the norm last weekend and there may be the slightest hint of confidence coming from the stands after said showing. I take the pessimist view and say that we still couldn’t beat a Hearts side that was down to the bare bones and playing just 3 days earlier. We generally struggle against 5 at the backs and our showing last time out in Paisley was fairly drab, but we passed up a few sitters and but for a worldie from Richard Tait we could’ve walked away from that game with something. I think we should lineup something like this: Laidlaw Johnson-Baldwin-Iacovitti-Harmon Loturi-Cancola Olaigbe-Dhanda-Owura White As usual, back 5 pick themselves - I thought Johnson and Harmon had their best games in County shirts last weekend. I’m sick to the death of Tillson shying away from showing for the ball from the back 4, so why not give Loturi a try in there. He’s quite lightweight, but he’s energetic and a better ball player than Tillson for me. The 3 behind the striker, on paper, looks very exciting. If we played that 3 regularly, I believe we’d create so much more chances than we currently do. Jordan White had a decent game last weekend although he was playing against a team without a centre back and this week will face a sterner test. Saints have only seen both sides score in 3/12 matches this season, whilst we’ve seen it in 5/13 in the league. Therefore, I’m not expecting too many goals, but I think we can win this if we play like last weekend. I’m going to be optimistic here and say this is the weekend our season gets going - 2-0 County.

That game at Tynecastle was a slight anomaly to be honest. After that game, it came out that Tony Sibbick was fairly under the weather pre match which explained his bomb 30 minutes. Everything positive we had that day came from Owura getting at him as he was clearly not fully fit to play the game. The second half reverted to type as we continued our direct balls forward, eventually getting our goal from a pretty aimless dink. Generally though, I wouldn’t use that opening game as a barometer of County’s ability. Last season, we were slightly in the mire and eventually ended up climbing the table due to other teams inabilities IMHO. However, there were clear glimpses of a functioning team Pre-Christmas. We were consistently hitting >1 xG per game and looked a threat every time we ventured forward. Now, we look one dimensional every game. We’ve never shrugged a tendency to throw in cheap goals, sometimes several a game. I think a lot of people, myself included, looked at County’s transfer business and thought “actually, this lot are very interesting”, obviously getting over excited. It turns out that some, probably the majority, of the signings aren’t as good as what we had last season.

That was a game in which I thought we were probably value for a draw, especially in the second half. However, we were playing against a second string Hearts side that could’ve added to the scoreline later in the game. We’ve got 9 points, and I don’t think we’ve been the “better team” in any single game this season. The two games we have won, we’ve been entirely fortunate. Change is needed otherwise I think we’re going down.

I may be speaking for myself here, but the lack of interaction from County fans on P&B at the minute should show the lack of interest most fans are feeling at this moment. I’m unsure if many Hearts fans have seen a lot of County this season. The first 45 minutes at Tynecastle was the best we’ve played all season, so any positive impressions we gave you that day are simply false. Bare in mind, Sibbick was ill and every ball was in behind him for Owura to run onto. In terms of game plan for County, nothing has changed in that aspect. We still just shell the ball into the channel, but now we shell it for the pace-whore Jordan White to maraud towards. All jokes aside, we look really really poor. Ross Laidlaw has been steady but hasn’t set the heather alight really. Ben Purrington and Connor Randall, our two best full backs, are out injured. In Baldwin and Iacovitti you have two centre backs that will head buses, but they must also have the lowest pass completion of any CBs in the league. Our midfield looks disjointed with any combination you mix it with. Add to that Ross Callachan is out injured who has been a mainstay in the first 11 this season, albeit probably not at his best. We do have decent options on the wing; Owura and Olaigbe are both dynamic and get bums off seats. However, they’re both too interested in beating every man on the park than being rational with the ball. Finally, we have the worst striking options in the league. Jordan White is a tryer but simply not good enough for this level, and Jordy Hiwula is a fairy who is exactly as shite as the Doncaster fans told us at the start of the season. In summary, I genuinely don’t think it matters how many players you have out injured this weekend. I know our game plan will be to launch balls into your box at any opportunity - not because of your lack of centre halves at the minute but rather its all we have in our locker. I’d be stunned if the 3 points don’t head back to the capital on Sunday, sending us further into the mire.

We’ll probably be about 9 points behind by that time anyway. I’m not over exaggerating either, we are that bad.

4pm Monday.

We just wanting to call it a day now then lads?

Seriously, what do those fuds feed themselves? At what point in that match did we ever look like the better side? We came out for about 5 minutes in the second half with a bit of urgency because they probably got a beasting at half time - other than that they were outthought and outfought.

Nothing will change if the manager doesn’t, and we all know it won’t. It’s too much of an old pals act. Even if it were to change in the dugout, it would be Cowie who’d get it. He’d play the exact same way and nothing would change. I think this team is every bit as bad as Owen Coyle’s side and any team that finishes below us must be absolute murder. A decent team would’ve put 3/4 past us today - we look confused and disjointed. Ultimately, the players aren’t good enough and that’s the bottom line. Also, where the f**k has Dhanda been the last few weeks. The only not scared to get on the ball, graft like f**k to win it back. Anything decent we do (albeit, very little) comes through him.