Teuchter

Ayr. 2 v Arbroath 1 Morton 1 v Dundee Utd 2

Arbroath 1 v Dundee 2 Dundee Utd 3 v Alloa 1 Dunfermline 2 v Morton 1 (3769) ICT 1 v Ayr 2  QoS 1 v Partick 1

I think we have possibly been played @GG Riva

Absolute ****. Show me a post where anybody said that. Edit Just read through it again - that is Boris Johnson / Trump territory you are in with that statement. Totally false. No one called for him to go. The consensus was that the responsibility was his. Guess what - he said exactly the same thing a few days later.

What backlash? Even on the other place I can imagine that has been muted by the last two games. The follow up to the cup defeat, and the defeat to Alloa just before it, could not have been better. Had these been followed by a home defeat to Partick and defeat at Ayr however, things would have been looking a whole lot different and SC would have had a lot of crap to deal with on top of trying to motivate a downhearted team. I would not have viewed this as sacking territory, but there is no doubt that there would have been negative momentum in the support. But there were no defeats, and there is some positive momentum now. The cup tie was not the end of the world - I said that at the time - but could have been a catalyst for a lot of negativity. Even before the Partick game, I was impressed with how SC handled it - talking responsibility and diverting flack from the players. I feel that the aftermath of the cup defeat has been a bit of turning point. What the accumulated stats tell us is that there are goals in the team and a reasonably mean defence. Remember by contrast last year and the desperation to get a striker in at Christmas? Every decent result not only improves SCs management record (tainted by the end of last season, and not helped by some hard luck at the start of this one), but gives the team confidence as they go along. They have shown they can bounce back from set backs. My biggest fear was that they could get stuck in a rut (thinking about the tail end of last seeason), but the poor team performances in individual games are just the result of inexperience and inconsistency and not signs of a wider malaise I think. The results that have followed each one show that - although the Partick one was particularly pleasing. The appalling home run has been buried. I am sure that they will start getting the hang of playing part timers away from home at some point also. As for the Morton game, you never can tell in this league. We were unlucky not to win at Cappielow, and I was disappointed for Gill losing his clean sheet bonus with seconds to go. Hopefully 2 clean sheets in a row for him and a few goals at the other end.

Clichés are normally clichés because they are true, and that is certainly the case when it is said that one error by a keeper is noticed much more than that of an outfield player. I was not as disappointed as when he lost the late goal against Morton, but was disappointed for the same reason - I think it would be good for him to rack up a few clean sheets.

Exactly what was required - actually, better given the goal difference column.

Ayr 1 v 1 Dunfermline (1966)

I recall an interview with him as Falkirk manager when he was enthusing about the facilities that were available to the players and the access that they had to specialist advice concerning fitness and diets. He struck me as the type of player who worked at his game and made not a bad career for himself. As a manager, opportunities for players to pursue self improvement seemed to be something he had a genuine enthusiasm for. I can't remember the full list of things he talked about, but what struck me was his open mind to new ideas. This goes against his reputation as some sort of dinasour, partially gained, unfairly I think, from the way that he expresses himself. There may of course be some folk with inside knowledge who can put me right on my view of Yogi.

@DigsI think it is impressive that he has done this largely off his own back - apparently after some sort of set back, as you have implied. Good that it seems to be paying dividends. I would imagine some of the benefits will spill over to life off the park.

Alloa 1 ICT 1 Ayr 3 Arbroath 1 Dundee 2 QoS 1 Pars 2 Partick 1 (3568) Morton 1 Dundee Utd 2

Does he play in a club set up or is this just to get the best out of the level at which he is playing? No idea how many sons you have, hence the question.

To be fair, the inclusion of the phrase "little did I know" seems to suggest the exact opposite. In reference to you saying the responses are typically over the top, I am not sure how stating the facts is over the top. After things starting to go right in the league, SC needed this result, and performance like a hole in the head. Hopefully they will bounce back from this and it will be largely forgotten about. If there is a bad run however, the negativity from the stands will be amplified. A bad run = relegation battle. I am not calling for his head, but pretty much stating the obvious.

Doubts about Crawford will naturally come to the fore again. It would be arrogance to dismiss them as bedwetting. This is not a fatal blow to him, but will have decreased his wiggle room for the league campaign. He simply cannot afford a bad run in the immediate future or things will turn sour quickly. In perspective, I am struggling to remember the last really bad Scottish Cup result that the Pars have had, so statistically we were due one. The cup is also littered with results like this each year - remember Ayr last year going out to a non league club. The cup dismissal can easily be put down to being just of these things. Crawford's inability against part time teams however is a reoccurring concern.