GG Riva

To that, we can add that there will almost certainly be financial restrictions which will make it very difficult to bring in quality players who can command a big salary. It's all very well to say we need a proven goalscorer, and/or a top class keeper if we simply can't afford them or these players don't want to come to the Pars.

A good, positive post, as I would expect from a staunch Pars fan. Maybe a tad optimistic, but why not? The Pars away record is better than their home. I think a draw is more likely. 1-1.

I don't think it's unreasonable to point to the catalogue of injuries our club has suffered this season. While we were undoubtedly very lucky with injuries last season, we've had more than our fair share of bad luck this season,

I wasn't referring specifically to this season and didn't mean to imply that.

I don't doubt we were lucky to come away with a point but I can recall plenty of games we've lost when we were the better team. Let's take the point and move on.

I'm not at the game either, so I won't comment on how we're playing. I do hope we can turn things around and salvage something from the game. A point would be decent given what's gone on before.

Good to see Breen back. He's been out for quite a while. Hopefully, he's not too rusty. I'm guessing Hamilton will move into midfield in place of Chalmers?

Surely he was reasonably fit last week if he was on the bench? Another week won't have done him any harm but he's been out for a good while. Might be a bit rusty.

Aye, it was much more than a mistake. It has held the Scottish game back for over a decade now and will probably continue to do so for many years to come. It's a classic case of the tail wagging the dog.

Yeah, Aberdeen thought they would become the Newgers. 🙄

Again, can't disagree with that. Trouble is, an 11 to 1 majority is needed to change anything. Can you spot the stumbling block? The top flight clubs missed the chance to end this hegemony when Therangers were plying their trade in the lower leagues. I'll never understand why they didn't grab the opportunity to outvote Celtic. Can only have been greed and self interest on the part of the other 11 club Chairmen. ☹️ So what we have now is equally unpalatable - a league which can only be won by 2 clubs for ever and ever......

It's probably fair to say that most keepers are only as good as the defence in front of them. Folk forget football is a team game. Goalkeepers make mistakes, the same as any other player. If a defender manages to block any attempt at goal or an opponent misses the target, the mistake doesn't matter, but when a goal is conceded, the mistake is magnified 10 fold.

I can't disagree with your sentiments, EEP, but there are many fans who believe Scottish football would be better off without the OF and if the ESL ever gets off the ground, we'd surely see the back of them? Another scenario, is that they would have B teams, which would still be good enough to dominate the domestic game. Most of the clubs which had their fingers burnt when the ESL was first proposed have been quick to distance themselves from it this time, but if other clubs are seen to be jumping on the new, expanded bandwagon, which would not be a closed shop and would include promotion and relegation, they won't want to be left behind. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67797350

Not sneering at all, bud. Just stating a fact. Football always looks a lot easier when you're watching it than when you actually play it. I don't think you'll find anyone to disagree with that - it's an incontrovertible fact. And I'm not sticking my head in the sand, either. Nor am I defending Mehmet, he had a poor game, but McPake is not going to discard him after the club has just given him a 3 year deal. What message would that be giving to Mehmet? It would create an unhappy situation best avoided. Harry Sharp knows he was brought in to cover for Mehmet when he was out injured. He won't expect to play. Showing faith in your player, especially a goalkeeper, is a great confidence booster and the sign of a good, courageous manager.

The game's definitely a lot easier from the stands...... 🙄

Would you be similarly demanding an outfield player be dropped for missing an open goal? It's much the same thing, why do we manage to forgive those but can't find it in us to forgive the goalie? You can shout all you want - it ain't going to happen, unless Mehmet himself asks to be dropped* and I very much doubt that. No manager is likely to drop his No 1 for a loanee back goalie who could soon be returning to his parent club. That would be madness and could affect the morale of the rest of the squad. *or picks up an injury in training.

Aye, my bad, I mixed that playoff game with the later one v Atletico Bilbao, as they were then, because the Generalissimo didn't like the English version the Basques originally used. They went back to Athletic when Franco died.

It must certainly rank as one of the Pars greatest ever results. Valencia's team was full of incredibly gifted players. It was no surprise they went on to lift the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. (Not the last time the Pars would be eliminated by the eventual winners - Real Zaragoza, Dinamo Zagreb and Slovan Bratislava. Anderlecht lost the final on a 4-3 agg to Arsenal in 1970.) If truth be told, the game should never have gone ahead. The pitch was a skating rink. Jock Stein was adamant that it was playable. Some of the Valencia players stared wide-eyed at the piles of snow around the track. The Pars adapted far better to the frozen surface than their illustrious visitors. It's been suggested that each player only brought one pair of boots. Would the Pars team have had access to more suitable footwear? I've no idea. The 6-2 win tied the aggregate at 6-6 as Vakencia had won 4-0 in the first leg, so perhaps they thought the tie was won. No away goals in those days. A 3rd game was played in Lisbon and Valencia edged it 2-1.

I'd be below EET, S'Ally. 😄 I'd miss more weeks than I'd remember in any case. Happy to predict the odd Pars game, but I don't know enough about the other teams in this league.

I take you're at the foot of the Prediction League, EET? 🤫

Atta boy, BRS! You can't keep a good man down. 😉 Eta. I think Mehmet will keep a clean sheet and confound his critics. 2-0 Pars.

It was Legend85 who mentioned Christ, not me. Mehmet is not the Messiah, but you're a very naughty boy. Is your name Brian? 🤔

Far better goalkeepers than Mehmet have struggled with crosses. Some have been capped for Scotland. Alan Rough and the Pars Jim Herriot are just 2 who spring to mind. A goalkeeping mistake usually results in a goal, so it's magnified. You want Mehmet dropped even though you admit Edwards was complicit in the first goal. When a striker misses a sitter, as Jakubiak did, it still costs us a goal. Do you want him dropped, too? If we take that to its logical conclusion, McPake would have to make wholesale changes every week.... I don't believe either Sharp or Little expect to play on Saturday. Sharp may quietly hope he gets the nod, but he knows he's the back up, on loan from another club, and Mehmet has the No 1 jersey. He will even feel sympathy for Mehmet if he is dropped. Rival goalies often share a unique, empathetic friendship. They are a different breed from outfield players and only they fully understand the perils of their position. McPake is hardly going to come out and say Sharp (or Mehmet) are not very good, is he? That's the kind of shooting yourself in the foot statement that John Hughes would make. Who's he managing now? 🤔

And what if he plays Sharp and he chucks one (or two) in? The manager crosses that bridge when he comes to it. If Mehmet has another poor game the manager has a decision to make for the New Year derby. I'm 99% certain Mehmet will be between the sticks on Saturday. McPake will stand by his keeper and give him every chance.

Surely, it can't be one or the other for every single ball into the box? Any experienced goalkeeper has to be able to call each one as he sees fit, depending on so many variables in every game - far too many to list here. Only thing I would say is, if he shouts that he's coming for it, he absolutely has to get it.