GG Riva

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.

😄 You're a hard, hard man, BRS.... Like I said, let's see what Saturday brings.

Surely, he just shouts "keeper" if he's coming for a cross and then his team mates make sure they don't impede him?

Yeah, I know McPake can just select Sharp ahead of Mehmet, but does he want to publicly humiliate his contracted keeper and risk destroying his confidence, as happened under Grant when he wasn't helped by some of the defending in front of him, tbf? The alternative is that McPake takes him aside and tells him that he's still his first choice goalie, to put the last game behind him and go out next week and justify his faith in him. I'm quite confident that McPake will go for the latter option. We won't have long to wait too long to find out if my confidence is justified. Had Sharp not been an on loan keeper but a permanent back up to Deniz, I wouldn't be nearly so confident.

How can the manager play an on loan keeper, to the exclusion of one recently tied down on a 3 year contract? Is Sharp away back to Dens in January or do we have him until the end of the season? And can Dundee recall him at any time if they need cover?

I don't know the salaries being paid to the CEO or the Commercial Manager, but my starting point would be that Ross McArthur did both jobs for nothing..... If these gents bring in enough extra money, then their salaries are irrelevant, but if they earn more than they bring in, it increases our financial burden and might not be sustainable, which would be a concern. Of course if we were to be promoted to the Premiership, with prudent financial management, our concerns would vanish....

True, Grant, but is it not logical and fair to start at the point where the current manager was appointed? I could have gone back to the Jimmy Calderwood era, when we were bringing in players from the likes of Hibs, Aberdeen and Rangers, paying them with the bank's money which we would never be able to repay. That would be totally flawed and illogical. I would have to conclude that we've gone backwards. 😔

I'm anything but upset, mate. Life's too short to get upset because another Pars fan has a different opinion from me. I didn't say getting out of League 1 was remarkable. I suggested that to be sitting 4th in the Championship after the dreadful run of injuries to key players is remarkable. Feel free to disagree, but please quote me correctly. Also, if you think winning League 1 in a canter is "bang average" after the horror show under Grant and Hughes, we'll agree to disagree on that, too.

How far back do you want to go? Are you just looking to put a negative spin on an optimistic thread? we have had 3 managers in between AJ and JMcP, none of whom were highly successful, though Stevie Crawford wasn't the disaster that Grant and Hughes undoubtedly were. McPake took over a squad that had just been relegated, led us to immediate promotion and now has us sitting in a play-off position. The progress is undeniable. Given the injuries he's had, the progress is remarkable,

It`s not always easy to look at the bigger picture, particularly after a disappointing result, especially at home. Progress is synonymous with improvement. It`s not always linear and in football, it often has bumps along the way. The important thing is to be able to look back and see that the club is in a better place than it was than, say a year ago. When James McPake was appointed, we had just been relegated. Today, we are 4th in the Championship. Nobody can deny that we are heading in an upward direction, and therefore progress is being made. Minimum progress would be consolidation of our Championship status by avoiding relegation. I`m sure the club`s ambition will be to finish in the top 4 and earn a shot at promotion via the playoffs. If we don`t manage to achieve that this season, I would expect us to improve on that next season and either gain promotion or go very close, as Partick did last season. If we keep improving, year on year, we will reach the Premiership. After that, we build a squad that can compete in the top flight, and every Pars fan will be happy..... Or maybe not. 🤔

A fair assessment, but Jakubiak had to score when the ball hit his heel and trundled onto the post....

The big European clubs still want a European Super League, in spite of the uproar their last attempt caused. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/european-super-league-new-a22sports-31687601.amp Sooner or later, the big boys will get what the big boys want. This proposal has been modified to take into account the objections to the previous one. It would no longer be a closed shop, many more clubs would be included, and no club would be a permanent fixture. If it comes to pass, UEFA will lose its authority over European football.

He looked a fantastic player for Spurs but his career stalled at Man United. 😒

Cantona and Ronaldo were mentioned by Giles before he listed his 5 criteria. He conceded that Cantona was "a star and the game needs stars" but didn't specifically state that he wasn't a great player. Perhaps if you take his whole career into account, you will understand where Giles is coming from. Cantona didn't make for a harmonious dressing room. For player of such outstanding ability he wasn't half moved on by a host of clubs in his native France and also banned from the national side. Fergie must take a lot of credit for getting the best out of him and not punting him after the notorious Kung Fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan. That wasn't his first such aberration, btw. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Cantona

Hammy's done pretty well so far. Let's cross that bridge....

A bit harsh, Al. They're not in the same league as Man City or Newcastle. They have the 12th highest budget in la Liga, nothing like that of Real or Barca. What they've achieved so far would be like the Rovers going up this season and then sitting top of the Premiership before Christmas next season. They've bought players relatively cheaply, £7.5m is their record buy and they have an astute and charismatic manager. Sportswashing or not, I'd be delighted for their fans if they become champions of Spain. It would make a welcome change from the Spanish "Old Firm".

While a draw wouldn't be a disaster, I think the management team will set us up to go for a win, especially with us being at home, and I think we might just shade it. 2-1. I think Sam Fisher could be 50-50 but McPake is very protective of his players, so he'll probably be on the bench, but unlikely to feature. Agree with the manager if this happens. Better to have a fully fit player next week than risk him aggravating his injury on Saturday and being out for longer.

I'm currently reading the fascinating autobiography of Irish international Johhny Giles, who won the FA cup with Man U before moving to Leeds United in 1963, to form a formidable central midfield partnership with Billy Bremner under Don Revie, until 1975. In his book, he maintains that many fans and pundits accord "greatness" to players who are extremely talented but don't deserve this ultimate accolade because they don't meet these essential criteria; 1. Whatever abilities a player possesses, must be used for the benefits of the team. This requires honesty of effort. 2. Moral courage is needed to take responsibility in accepting the ball, no matter how important the game is and regardless of the score. 3. An honest effort must be made to regain possession when the opposition has the ball. 4. There must be no public remonstration with team mates. 5. A player must have the intelligence and humility to play the simple pass when that is the right thing to do. It's hard to argue against any of the above, but a good number of players most of us regard as great would be excluded, among them Cristiano Ronaldo and Eric Cantona,

Girona is not a name many football fans outside of Spain would come up with, if they were asked to name 10 La Liga clubs. Sunday night`s sensational - but well deserved - 4-2 win away to Barcelona, saw this relatively small club climb back up to the top of the table after 16 rounds. They are not poor by any means, having the same backers as Man City, but nor are they on a par with the traditional big hitters immediately below them in the table. This article in the Guardian is a few months old but gives a bit of history and background before their meteoric rise; https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2023/sep/28/girona-la-liga-top-first-time-history-spain Eta a more recent article by Sid Lowe. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/nov/13/girona-and-their-boy-from-the-barrio-hit-new-heights-on-top-of-la-liga

Great result - I'd have taken a draw before the game - and an excellent performance. Good to see real daylight between us and the teams below. Airdrie will probably finish safely in midtable. It's beginning to look like ICT are building momentum for a top 4 challenge. Big Dunc has given them a proper "managerial bounce" since arriving in the Highlands. Had it not been for their awful start under Billy Dodds, ICT might well have been up there with the Rovers and United.