Far from brilliant, but a win was the most important thing after our recent slide. Again though we looked ponderous and tried too hard to be perfect rather than be incisive. Too much emphasis on passing over speed. Our problems are tactical and the gaffer needs to take a look at himself and his coaching staff as much as at the players for the solution. That could easily have been 1-1 today and more points dropped as Livi missed a cracking chance late on. That was only one of several occassions when they caught us napping on the counter. This might sound strage, but I think we're missing Kamara with the defensive balance he brings to the midfield, his ability to retain the ball (more often than not), and distribution. Although undoubtedly a class act, Hagi coming straight into the side has changed our balance. Whilst he has certainly contributed it might have been better to let him watch from the sidelines for a few weeks and earn a start in training, rather than be given the shirt immediately. The side that won at the piggery should have been the side that started against St. Mirren. In fairness, it also could have been 3-0 for us today, had their keeper not pulled off a brilliant save from Halliday, and Alfie not been so greedy when Arfield looked better positioned for a shot. The Canadian is on a great run of form and you'd have stuck your wages on him grabbing his second there.
MOTM: Andy Halliday. The guy is much maligned these days, but I thought he put in a terrific shift today. There's been a lot of talk on here recently about 'lack of heart' in the players. I don't buy it, and evidence was there when Andy put his body on the line to win us a corner. The guy bleeds blue (although it was red today) and has shown in the past two games that he is adequate cover for Borna for the remained of the season.
WATP!
p.s. I forgot to add, yet ANOTHER shocking performance by the officials. A good goal chopped off and a penalty denied. However, both paled in comparison to a shocking studs-up challenge on Goldson only being penalized with a yellow card. The linesman was four feet away and looking straight at it, yet did nothing. Once more the Scottish referee makes decision based on his OPINION rather than apply the rules as they stand. Two similar late challenges, one on Katic, one on Hagi, also went unpunished. It's disgusting. Brutality is more deemed worthy in Scotland than skill. It's no wonder the national side are a mess. The club need to stop talking and start taking action because we cannot hope to succeed when referees make things up as they go along. We are a member of an association which has laws and rules. Surely legal action must surely be an option when those rules are openly ignored.