The Top Six Crunch

[capt_oats]

4 minutes ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Agree we're shite against Motherwell though, but Watt is away to Utd, and he always ran us all over the place, Utd prob would've beaten us if he hadn't gone off injured too, he's that much of a pain in the arse to us. Think it'll make a big difference not playing against him in the Motherwell game.

I'm not disagreeing but we beat you without Tony Watt in the team in the last game at Fir Park.

We'd binned him off onto the bench after his pre-contract had been leaked to the press.

[LIVIFOREVER]

8 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

I'm not disagreeing but we beat you without Tony Watt in the team in the last game at Fir Park.

We'd binned him off onto the bench after his pre-contract had been leaked to the press.

Yeah we were still fucking about playing Shinnie up front then (albeit we did so again against Celtic, but i think that was a one off and will be back with Forrest-Anderson-Nouble front three), and Nouble wasn't playing, think us having Nouble and Anderson this time, and Watt not playing, will make all the difference. 

Please don't quote this when Motherwell beat us. 

['WellDel]

At this point last year Aberdeen occupied 4th place on 48pts, while County were down in 10th on 26. The fact that only 5pts separates these two positions now compared to the chasm of 22 last time out is testament to how utterly dire everyone outside the top 4 have been. An absolutely dire and soul crushing weekly grind for most of us.

As far as 'Well are concerned, I'd be quite frankly fucking amazed if we somehow managed to outperform those around us. Last season Alexander came in, and although the football was still dreadful, along with some embarrassing and shambolic defeats we somehow also managed to pull off some unlikely wins and drag ourselves to safety. This season, however, his scattergun approach to team selections and bizarre tactics have been the catalyst for our downward spiral.

Hibs, Livi, and Utd would be my picks for 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. No idea which position from 7th to 10th will be our final placing, but after a promising start to the season it's an absolute shanner either way and questions need asked of Alexander on the way forward for next season.

[capt_oats]

2 hours ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Yeah we were still fucking about playing Shinnie up front then (albeit we did so again against Celtic, but i think that was a one off and will be back with Forrest-Anderson-Nouble front three), and Nouble wasn't playing, think us having Nouble and Anderson this time, and Watt not playing, will make all the difference. 

Please don't quote this when Motherwell beat us. 

Tbh, I think there's a fair chance you'll beat us (our away form is absolutely fucking dire - we've not won away since we beat Aberdeen in November) but Watt not playing doesn't really make much of a difference IMO. We maybe haven't entirely compensated for him fucking off but between them Van Veen, Efford, Woolery etc are still a goal threat of sorts.

What's bitten us on the arse over the past few months has been the fact that we've went to shit defensively - we're coughing up cheap goals all over the place.

Where from August - December we could deal with most things teams were throwing at us (see our 2 shots on target = 2 goals and 25% possession against Aberdeen's 20 shots = 0 goals and 75% possession as the peak case in point) now we've got SOD getting caught in possession in the middle of our box, Johansen making half-arsed clearances straight to the opposition and sclaffing the ball into his own net.

It wouldn't have mattered if Watt was still with us when we're defending like that.

Edited March 16, 2022 by capt_oats

[PauloPerth]

45 minutes ago, 'WellDel said:

last time out is testament to how utterly dire everyone outside the top 4 have been. An absolutely dire and soul crushing weekly grind for most of us.

Been thinking this reading the various threads recently, how utterly disillusioned and dissatisfied just about every fan base outside the OF is.  Livi and possibly ross County are recent exceptions.

Even Hearts fans turn on neilson at the first sign of a poor run; for a team in the cup semis and cruising to third they seem particularly ungrateful.  

Not sure if it's the lack of consistency, the lack of entertainment, or if folk are a lot less tolerant than pre-covid.  Whichever, it does seem to have been a shite league this season. 

We've lost more matches than I can remember, but mostly through our own inadequacies, can't think of many opposition performances I've watched and thought 'they look a good side' other than United and Hearts in our early fixtures. And County recently looked okay.

 

[Alert Mongoose]

We should have got Rory Boulding in in loan for the three games.

[ATLIS]

53 minutes ago, Alert Mongoose said:

We should have got Rory Boulding in in loan for the three games.

We have to sign him first, for a 4th(?) time  

[Darren]

6 hours ago, 'WellDel said:

At this point last year Aberdeen occupied 4th place on 48pts, while County were down in 10th on 26. The fact that only 5pts separates these two positions now compared to the chasm of 22 last time out is testament to how utterly dire everyone outside the top 4 have been. An absolutely dire and soul crushing weekly grind for most of us.

Top 3, Shirley? And if you ask a lot of Hearts fans, probably top 2.

['WellDel]

16 minutes ago, Darren said:

Top 3, Shirley? And if you ask a lot of Hearts fans, probably top 2.

Aye, sorry meant top 3 obvs. Outwith them it's just one big pool of mediocrity, and that's being kind.

[craigkillie]

Maybe they're all just a lot better.

['WellDel]

3 hours ago, craigkillie said:

Maybe they're all just a lot better.

You've obviously not watched many Premiership games since you went down...

[topcat(The most tip top)]

3 hours ago, craigkillie said:

Maybe they're all just a lot better.

It looks as if everybody is just really variable. Almost all these teams have had a good run of form for half a dozen games or so at some point but also turned out the kind of dross that gets mangers fired.

It may be that, after the financial pressures of Covid, clubs aren't carrying squads with enough cover so if a few players lose form or fitness they're suddenly in a bit of trouble

[Sensible Soccer🏴]

It's probably been posted before, apologies if so but my team Ross County had an absolute stinker of a start to the season. 10 matches without a win, pretty much a new squad of players, new management team, ravaged by covid and conceding matches in the cup.

Then it kind of clicked in a great 1st half performance against Dundee in October, where we were 0-4 up at HT, winning it 0-5. We've been on a good run ever since, playing some decent attacking football along the way.  

I think we'll just fall short of making the top 6 though but grounds for optimism for next season.

[ATLIS]

1 hour ago, Sensible Soccer said:

It's probably been posted before, apologies if so but my team Ross County had an absolute stinker of a start to the season. 10 matches without a win, pretty much a new squad of players, new management team, ravaged by covid and conceding matches in the cup.

Then it kind of clicked in a great 1st half performance against Dundee in October, where we were 0-4 up at HT, winning it 0-5. We've been on a good run ever since, playing some decent attacking football along the way.  

I think we'll just fall short of making the top 6 though but grounds for optimism for next season.

Interestingly we did similar - although that's become a pattern, I think in the last 3 seasons we've done the exact same thing. Shite start and then it suddenly clicks with a new squad and you start flying up the table. We're going for back to back to back top 6 using that strategy  Hopefully Livi and Ross County both manage it 

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

I'd like to wish County well, cause they're playing well, but no with Mackay in charge.

[Munoz]

2 minutes ago, Insert Amusing Pseudonym said:

I'd like to wish County well, cause they're playing well, but no with Mackay in charge.

Could do worse......

[AmericanFan]

On 16/03/2022 at 10:06, PauloPerth said:

Been thinking this reading the various threads recently, how utterly disillusioned and dissatisfied just about every fan base outside the OF is.  Livi and possibly ross County are recent exceptions.

Even Hearts fans turn on neilson at the first sign of a poor run; for a team in the cup semis and cruising to third they seem particularly ungrateful.  

Not sure if it's the lack of consistency, the lack of entertainment, or if folk are a lot less tolerant than pre-covid.  Whichever, it does seem to have been a shite league this season.

 

Concur. It's odd seeing some Hearts fan blast Neilson this season, then you look at the standings and he has them poised for Europa League qualifiers -- and has for quite some time -- next year barring a massive collapse the last eight matches.

[AmericanFan]

On 16/03/2022 at 09:09, 'WellDel said:

As far as 'Well are concerned, I'd be quite frankly fucking amazed if we somehow managed to outperform those around us. Last season Alexander came in, and although the football was still dreadful, along with some embarrassing and shambolic defeats we somehow also managed to pull off some unlikely wins and drag ourselves to safety. This season, however, his scattergun approach to team selections and bizarre tactics have been the catalyst for our downward spiral.

Hibs, Livi, and Utd would be my picks for 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. No idea which position from 7th to 10th will be our final placing, but after a promising start to the season it's an absolute shanner either way and questions need asked of Alexander on the way forward for next season.

So that $1,000 I laid on Motherwell for this weekend wasn't a smart move?

[Chefki Kuqi]

As shite as this season's been since the first game against Rangers I do find the situation we're involved in now utterly fascinating. Three draws, two of them terrible results against relegation candidates, and we've somehow maintained fourth. 

Surely someone's going to break out some form at some point and not allow such not-even-mediocrity to go unpunished. 

As much as I like how we're playing these days we're injury ravaged to the degree that two of our three centrebacks aren't centrebacks. We managed to turn what should have been a fairly comfortable win on Sunday into a nail-biting second half where we couldn't retain the ball for more than a pass or two and gave up chances that should have been heavily punished. That said I'm quietly confident we'll play better against Aberdeen, Hearts and United than we did against Dundee and St Johnstone, with four points surely seeing as over the line.

Livi and Ross County are likely the teams to join us in the sense they appear to be playing rather well and also not having some form of crisis. Wouldn't bet against both of them finishing above us before the split, but depending on the players we get back (or don't lose) before the end of the season, I'd suggest there's a chance we can eventually finish fourth. 

[lennyzer0]

9 hours ago, Munoz said:

Could do worse......

Seriously, surely nobody thinks even Neilson is worse than Mackay? Robbie's often an arse, especially in interviews, and looks like he needs a good wash, but he's not a racist, sexist w****r like Mackay...