GREENOCK MORTON v PARS

[DAFC.]

I know this a batshit mental league, but Morton are a safe bet for finishing in the bottom 2 IMO. 

[Specky Ginger]

1 hour ago, Wacky said:

Bizarrely, he wasn’t even a Pars fan. 

Dynamo Dymock (no relation of Charley).

Latterly of Kirkcaldy High School.

[vikingTON]

4 hours ago, Venti said:

An apt representation of the 60 seconds I spent in the ground between 0-1 down and the insipid second goal, before returning to the pub.

Leaving our own mess to one side, Dunfermline's tactics were spot on in the first half - a back three flummoxed our two forwards pressing, while also playing three up front man for man against a defence with Kirk Broadfoot was logically sound too. f**k knows why Lee Bullen didn't come to the same conclusion last Saturday, but McPake got that spot on.

But then for some reason Dunfermline tried their very best to shit the bed in the second half. If one of those predictably failed Morton stramashes had gone in, it would have been an abysmal failure given how superior Dunfermline were in that first half. 

As stated before the game, Imrie dug in under criticism and has now made a rod for his back. He could have easily swapped out players given the game and defeat midweek, but chose to double down on a starting lineup that fundamentally isn't good enough.

Before this evening I was not really alarmed by our predicament yet, but that risible first half and decision-making raises major red flags. 

[0neTeamInGlasgow]

9 minutes ago, virginton said:

An apt representation of the 60 seconds I spent in the ground between 0-1 down and the insipid second goal, before returning to the pub.

Leaving our own mess to one side, Dunfermline's tactics were spot on in the first half - a back three flummoxed our two forwards pressing, while also playing three up front man for man against a defence with Kirk Broadfoot was logically sound too. f**k knows why Lee Bullen didn't come to the same conclusion last Saturday, but McPake got that spot on.

But then for some reason Dunfermline tried their very best to shit the bed in the second half. If one of those predictably failed Morton stramashes had gone in, it would have been an abysmal failure given how superior Dunfermline were in that first half. 

As stated before the game, Imrie dug in under criticism and has now made a rod for his back. He could have easily swapped out players given the game and defeat midweek, but chose to double down on a starting lineup that fundamentally isn't good enough.

Before this evening I was not really alarmed by our predicament yet, but that risible first half and decision-making raises major red flags. 

I have no idea how Chinos thought Clubfoot was an apt replacement for Ambrose. Even a shite Ambrose was miles ahead of Clubfoot.

Edited November 4, 2023 by 0neTeamInGlasgow

[Rob1885]

Efe Ambrose what a man

[parsforlife]

3 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Lewis McCann is a wee rat. 

I was tempted to downvote that(which seems to be a wee contest between rovers and pars fans) but truthfully I don't mind it in the slightest, plays the dirty side of the game, happy to stand up for himself/teammates and have a go at opponents.

That doesn't mean I won't reserve the right to yell abuse at an opponent who displays similar behavior. 

3 hours ago, ClydeTon said:

Dougie sounds like he's reached the end of his patience with this lot now.

Certainly did,  I don't listen to opposition manager comments much so maybe he's done already but approaching tonight's interview he's made a risky decision to call out his players publicly,  it works occasionally but the dice are loaded in favour of players losing confidence in you, not being motivated and seeing a drop in performances.  To me deciding to take that gamble is the act of a desperate man who can't see another way.

[vikingTON]

The issue is that he's calling out only certain players ('last season's performers'), while protecting his obviously failed gamble signings like Power and Broadfoot. You also can't really call out crap performances, when you just picked the exact same starting lineup as the one that recorded the same scoreline (albeit with a very different first half performance) a few days previously. A lot of credibility has needlessly been torched, when a handful of changes before the match would have focused attention on the squad rather than management. 

[AyrshireTon]

5 hours ago, virginton said:

The issue is that he's calling out only certain players ('last season's performers'), while protecting his obviously failed gamble signings like Power and Broadfoot. You also can't really call out crap performances, when you just picked the exact same starting lineup as the one that recorded the same scoreline (albeit with a very different first half performance) a few days previously. A lot of credibility has needlessly been torched, when a handful of changes before the match would have focused attention on the squad rather than management. 

That was my take on it too - take off the loanee so you can justify punting them back to their parent club and stick with the guys you've signed, regardless of how poor they're playing.

[Heaton]

10 hours ago, mcjameos said:

How are both keepers allowed to wear strips so close to their opponents?

Well Mehmet doesn't interact with outfield players and leave his line so no concern there

Edited November 4, 2023 by Heaton

[Dunning1874]

Calling out "the players who got plaudits last season" was really a wild take when French, Broadfoot and Power were obviously the worst three on the park. Even accounting for the dip from some players who were here last season - Blues in particular is regressing to the pre-Imrie player who was never good enough for the Championship - it's the summer recruitment being a disaster that's put us here.

Two good goalkeepers, though the second last night wasn't the first time MacDonald has been questionable for a goal, Wilson coming onto a game now he's fit but bizarrely being the player subbed two games in a row when he's surrounded by absolute dross, then you have Broadfoot, Power, French, Boyd and Bearne. All of those five have been varying degrees of terrible, with the first two being genuine contenders for a worst XI of the last decade. We'd genuinely have a better squad now if they both announce their retirements today.

[Cardle is Magic]

Thought the Morton keeper went down in instalments for the second goal and was similarly slow to react to McCann’s free-kick in the second half.

I don’t think any of the other eight sides in the division will have been too intimidated by either side after last night. As pleased/relieved as I am with the win, the lack of quality on show was really stark at times.

[#Gary]

No idea why we're pretending Iain Wilson isn't horseshit as well tbh.

[Nelson]

25 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Thought the Morton keeper went down in instalments for the second goal and was similarly slow to react to McCann’s free-kick in the second half.

I don’t think any of the other eight sides in the division will have been too intimidated by either side after last night. As pleased/relieved as I am with the win, the lack of quality on show was really stark at times.

Ayr have managed to get beat by Morton.  Twice.

[CallumPar]

Looking back, I think last night is a good indicator of why we’ll be fine/competitive in the championship this season. It wasn’t pretty, but we got the job done and that’s all that matters. Other than the really uncharacteristic performance/result at Partick, we tend to always be in the game.

First half, we showed what we are capable of. Early second half, Morton were always going to start fast and get a bit of a reaction. But I thought if we held out to 60 minutes, we’d be fine and we would get a bit of momentum again. That didn’t happen, but we showed a real determination to win the game.

A better team might have salvaged a point against us last night. But I also think, had we not just lost 3 games in a row, we’d have tried to hit them on the counter in the second half - something we tend to be quite good at. I think KRH/Summers/Todd would also have driven the team forward. McCann was dead on his feet by the end.

We've seen that defensive determination before. Last season, there were games we were comfortably ahead, but the clean sheet meant everything to Mehmet and his defenders. They were putting bodies on the line at 3-0 up and that sort of mentality/determination served us well last night. A lot of games in this league are battles and our team has a battling spirit, with some quality in there too.

[Janne Lindberg's Laces]

14 minutes ago, #Gary said:

No idea why we're pretending Iain Wilson isn't horseshit as well tbh.

Probably because he's the least horseshit of our midfielders at the moment, and I include Crawford in that.

Dougie is right to an extent, the players who got the plaudits last season aren't performing, but one of (if not the) reason for that is the signings he made during the summer have put big gaps in the team which are dragging everyone down.

Michael Stewart called it correctly in his commentary that we were yards off Dunfermline and that there was no organisation to the press. We did have that last year Crawford was massively important in that, but he could do it because behind him there was some semblance of organisation and confidence in others to do their jobs. 

Wilson and McGrattan should get an opportunity in the midfield next week, French shouldn't play at centre back, Power and/or Broadfoot need dropped because they're not up to the pace of the game and Imrie needs to decide if he's playing Oakley or Muirhead, because we can't press effectively with both of them with the team he's built this season. If not be adverse to a keeper change either, Mullen hasn't done anything wrong and while McDonald has generally been good so far, he's had a couple of poor moments over the last week.

Bearne I think deserves more game time based on his showing last night but we don't have the liberty of carrying him until he gets up to speed. He might also turn out to be the kind of player who looks good for flashes in games and then disappears; see Boyd last night.

Dunfermline, certainly in the first half, did everything right; quick passing, good movement, pressing when appropriate, tactically spot on, not afraid to shoot and should have had a penalty to likely be 0-3 up at half time.

[parsforlife]

1 minute ago, CallumPar said:

 

We've seen that defensive determination before. Last season, there were games we were comfortably ahead, but the clean sheet meant everything to Mehmet and his defenders. They were putting bodies on the line at 3-0 up and that sort of mentality/determination served us well last night. A lot of games in this league are battles and our team has a battling spirit, with some quality in there too.

It’s never comfortable defending a 1 goal lead when your not able to get a hold of the ball and get up the pitch but the amount of trust I have in this side to be able to defend its box certainly makes it easier 

[Wacky]

I’m still stunned that we didn’t lose a goal in the two goalmouth stramshes. 
Our players confidence will be boosted by that alone, and will hopefully have that determined mindset in our upcoming five home games in a row. 
It feels like we’ve hardly had a home game for ages, and now we have five in a row. I hope the results don’t make me sick of the sight of the place 

[D'Jaffo]

9 hours ago, virginton said:

An apt representation of the 60 seconds I spent in the ground between 0-1 down and the insipid second goal, before returning to the pub.

Leaving our own mess to one side, Dunfermline's tactics were spot on in the first half - a back three flummoxed our two forwards pressing, while also playing three up front man for man against a defence with Kirk Broadfoot was logically sound too. f**k knows why Lee Bullen didn't come to the same conclusion last Saturday, but McPake got that spot on.

But then for some reason Dunfermline tried their very best to shit the bed in the second half. If one of those predictably failed Morton stramashes had gone in, it would have been an abysmal failure given how superior Dunfermline were in that first half. 

As stated before the game, Imrie dug in under criticism and has now made a rod for his back. He could have easily swapped out players given the game and defeat midweek, but chose to double down on a starting lineup that fundamentally isn't good enough.

Before this evening I was not really alarmed by our predicament yet, but that risible first half and decision-making raises major red flags. 

Besides the fact that we don’t have the players to play the way that Dunfermline did, Lee Bullen is about as stubborn as they come in terms of formation and how we approach the game. It’s cost us on plenty of occasions in his time with us. 

[MC_Lachlan]

14 hours ago, houston_bud said:

This should he hung in the Scottish football museum.

[The Toun Clock]

First half was really pleasing to watch last night. The passing move for the chance Paul Allan has was tremendous, if he just opens up the body and tries to guide it into the far corner, instead he closes off the body and drags it. That goes in and we're talking a goal of the season contender. Second half was tense but I still thought we looked dangerous when we went up the park. Without the complete brainfart from Mehmet and that's far more comfortable than it had to be. 

I think for all the pressure Morton put on us with set pieces in the second half, we still had good chances. Hammy should have scored with the diving header, McCann's freekick was fairly tame but in the right area and if Wighton had been a bit more composed that one finds the corner. The Craig Wighton from the end of last season scores that but I think he's going through a dry patch.

That was very much a Dunfermline of last season game. We can hurt you, we can play really nice football but we can also dig in and grind out a result, and doing so with no captain in Benedictus or Breeny. Also without the running power of Todd, KRH and even Summers.

I think we put a lot into that first half, early in the second half Moffat looked done, McCann looked done as well.

Fair play to Morton. For a minute I thought they'd fold and we could be talking 4/5 but they chucked a lot at that in the second half and I'd be lying if I wasn't relieved when the ref blue for FT.

Biggie now next Friday with the league leaders at home. They've been in decent form but we've already taken a point off them this season and in fact if not for a couple of seconds would have won the game, so hopefully the boys have a spring in their step and we can make it a good game, even if it is more like the second half last night. Also another week of training under the belt of Matty Todd and KRH and we might even get an answer on Bene and Breeny's scans, although there's some suggesting Bene is going to be out until the new year.