Dundee Utd v Falkirk

[Grangemouth Bairn]

I think BPM makes some passionate and well articulated points 're. Austin. None of us get why he ain't playing and Baird is. I love Baird cos of his effort but his form is poor.

Also agree 're. Callout to the much maligned Shepherd. He did alright yesterday although probably should have scored.

Massive game next week.

[Shadwell Dog]

I can only think of one reason why Austin has been left on the bench and that is his injury problems earlier in the season mean that Houston is shit scared he'll break down before the playoffs. I can only think that he's trying to keep him fresh for that. It's the only reasonable explanation apart from him not having a clue obviously.

[Gaz FFC]

1 hour ago, ShaggerG said:

A wee shout out for the much maligned Scott Shepherd. Don't think he'll ever rival Messi but I was quite impressed with him yesterday. Thought he looked very strong.

This ^^^

Slagged him plenty but he was very good yesterday 

[ANEWHOPE]

Shepherd hit a post today........
As Ive said it should be Miller and/or Austin then Baird
Miller is still our best striker and Austin is the pretender to the throne as it stands
Baird has earned us 4 pts this season, which is a massive downfall from last season, whereas Bob has earned us zero points

Where does O'Hara stand in that pecking order? I always liked him & Miller. I'd go Miller & Austin as my 1st choice pairing and then O'Hara before Baird or McHugh

I certainly wouldn't have the combination of Baird & Miller.

[Guest]

Where does O'Hara stand in that pecking order? I always liked him & Miller. I'd go Miller & Austin as my 1st choice pairing and then O'Hara before Baird or McHugh

I certainly wouldn't have the combination of Baird & Miller.

I think o'hara is 6th choice striker

[Marshmallo]

I can see him playing Shepherd from the start next week. Shepherd and Baird.

[ANEWHOPE]

I think o'hara is 6th choice striker

But you also the person that is now homeless because you said Aird would start so not sure your view worth listening to! [emoji6]

I think Houston sees him as that but for me is higher up the list than that 3/4

[Guest]

But you also the person that is now homeless because you said Aird would start so not sure your view worth listening to! [emoji6]

I think Houston sees him as that but for me is higher up the list than that 3/4

One thing is for sure your opinion of where he is in the pecking order is as irrelevant as mine. I agree with Houston

[ANEWHOPE]

One thing is for sure your opinion of where he is in the pecking order is as irrelevant as mine. I agree with Houston

'I agree with Houston' not necessarily a badge of honour tho.

[Shadwell Dog]

1 minute ago, Back Post Misses said:

 

One thing is for sure your opinion of where he is in the pecking order is as irrelevant as mine. I agree with Houston

 

Makes it all the more ridiculous that he dragged him back from regular game time at east Fife to play for our development squad. Another Houston decision that does not add up.

[wee_bairn]

Both Craigen and Austin need to start next weekend. Not sure why Austin was even dropped in the first place but in current form he is our best striker. Craigen has done well coming off the bench against both DU and Raith Rovers and deserves his place in the starting 11. Defensively I'd like to see a back four of Leahy, Kidd, Grant and Muirhead. 

 

[thelocalcat]

If Sheps and Austin start it would be okay with me, don't think I rate the wee ginger but deserves a crack up top with someone he can feed off.

[Guest]

'I agree with Houston' not necessarily a badge of honour tho.

There is clearly something in the background with the lad that he has not built on his few decent performances of last season.

[ANEWHOPE]

There is clearly something in the background with the lad that he has not built on his few decent performances of last season.

Or maybe Houston that 'great' judge of a player has got this one wrong.

[Guest]

Or maybe Houston that 'great' judge of a player has got this one wrong.

Or maybe he is just not good enough ? Who knows

[Marshmallo]

There is clearly something in the background with the lad that he has not built on his few decent performances of last season.

Difficult to do so when you're not getting any game time whatsoever. He was coming on to a game in League One (more than can be said for Shepherd) before Houston refused to allow him to go back out. Without looking at the numbers he must've scored about the same amount of goals as Shepherd in the children's league despite playing deeper.

As you've said Houston is very stubborn and is determined to justify the hard on he has for Shepherd.

[ANEWHOPE]

Maybe this a based on performance yesterday but should Muirhead be given opportunity in his preferred position? I think there is a player in Luca & we have chopped and changed quite a bit in defence but don't think Luca looks fully fit. Although dropping him might be overly harsh and kill his confidence completely.

[ANEWHOPE]

Luca has been dropped this season. He undeniably came back better. At no point during his time on the bench was Aero utilised at CH. Nor has it happened when Kidd came in at RB. I guess its not going to happen unless we are desperate

I agree with this [emoji115]but you haven't offered an opinion to my question, do you think he should be given a chance there? Or is it so unlikely not worth contemplating?

[MrDust]

1 hour ago, ANEWHOPE said:

 

Where does O'Hara stand in that pecking order? I always liked him & Miller. I'd go Miller & Austin as my 1st choice pairing and then O'Hara before Baird or McHugh

I certainly wouldn't have the combination of Baird & Miller.

 

I think we over hyped O'Hara, I got carried away with it at the time too, then stood back and realised a couple of good performances followed by some sub apperances where he seemed way off the early promise shown that its not gonna be overnight for him, his time will come if he is good enough and he shouldve probably stayed at East Fife for the season to gain experience to challenge next season. There is no reason why he cant be an impact sub this season tho, I actually thot utd were playing high up and balls in behind maybe the answer, but I dont know how he is doing in the development league.

There has been no mention of how poor Bob has been, its the usual easy targets of Baird and Kerr. Our best spell yesterday was when it was Kerr and Taiwo in the middle, the wide players create, the middle spoil and break up and feed the width. We had no back balls repeatedly to Grant from the centre mid as we did last week. Sibbs was playing well centre yesterday but he has positional sense and workrate to think about before he can do anything else, out wide he stepped up a gear where he got to wander, link up with Leahy which wasnt there with Hippo. Id like to see Hippo on the right but he is becoming a very frustrating player at the moment as he has all the attributes to be a top player and doesnt use them.

My only real qualm yesterday is the front two, unless we are playing Elgin, I wouldnt have Bob in the starting 11, he has brought nothing to the table this season at all

 

[Bainsfordbairn]

1 hour ago, Marshmallo said:

Difficult to do so when you're not getting any game time whatsoever. He was coming on to a game in League One (more than can be said for Shepherd) before Houston refused to allow him to go back out. Without looking at the numbers he must've scored about the same amount of goals as Shepherd in the children's league despite playing deeper.

As you've said Houston is very stubborn and is determined to justify the hard on he has for Shepherd.

 

O' Hara doesn't play deeper. Both play as strikers, often as a pair, unless a shortfall of players means that one of them has to go into midfield.

For me, Shepherd has had much the better season of the two at U-20 level, which is kind of confirmed by the fact that one has 16 league goals and the other only 3. I can't find appearance stats online anywhere but as O' Hara was available for selection when on loan at East Fife (and often played) I doubt there will be much between them in terms of game time.

Last year - in my inexpert opinion - O Hara was the better performer of the two. As he was the year before. This year he isn't. Which is probably why he now appears to be behind Shepherd in the queue for first team games. I really think it's that simple.

Next year it might change. Next week it might change for that matter, if one of them plays a blinder against Dundee U20s on Tuesday. Though from what I saw in Peterhead on Thursday and at Ochilview last Tuesday, I'd doubt any of the U20 players will be in the first team any time soon.

As for the East Fife loan, a friend of mine who's a sponsor asked him in October last year how he was getting on there. Let's just say O' Hara wasn't all that enthusiastic about how things were going. So it's quite possible that the decision to return may have been his rather than Houstons. I don't know, but if you don't either then it's a little unfair to blame the manager when he may simply have been trying to look after his player.