This is how it feels (Dundee Utd 19 01 20)

[Deansy]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Thought Allan tried to over complicate it too much today. Trying to turn and get away when he should just play the way hes facing at times. Sometimes he just needs to pass the ball. He cant do it all on his own. The amount of times we heard how allan will bring out the best in others, i think Omeonga will bring out the best in Allan. He needs legs around him. He currently only has Hallberg who could be described as mobile first half of the season.

I think that too, I'm dying to see those 2 play together ! At the time I remember lamenting to a mate that it was typical of Hibs luck that Scott Allan was returning to us just at the same time Omeonga was leaving - I hope and believe those 2 are going to have a brilliant partnership !

[Shrekko]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I think Allan is struggling a bit because he is being asked to be a bit more disciplined and do some of the dirty work. He can't just be the maverick playmaker so when he gets the opportunity he's trying to force it. Omeonga may help with that.

I was sat right by the Hibs dugout today and Ross and Potter were on at Allan and Kamberi all game. There was a point in the 1st half where Allan ran to close down their CB, Potter and Ross shouted to him, he turned to look at them and they screamed at him to.......go and close down the CB. A guy behind me shouted 'he would have ****ing been there if he didn't turn to listen you'. Potter did acknowledge the shout and laughed.

My point is in a really good midfield you don't notice the flaws in Allan's game in the same way you do when we are toiling a bit in there.

How come with crowd favourites like Allan and Kamberi it’s always cause there’s something around them that isn’t right when they have stinkers? Is Scotty not part of the ‘not really good midfield’?

He had plenty of clear opportunities to influence the game and he just wasn’t able to - nothing to do with having to play with more discipline. Let’s be honest , he gets asked to do very little but try and create. The modern game does need every player pulling their weight though.

[CMurdoch]

Dundee United scored from their only chances
Goal 1 - Porteous instead of staying in the back 4 was drawn out towards the ball which left a gap in the back 4 which Shankland ran into. Porteous error.
Goal 2 - Gray instead of kicking the ball into touch tried to play it up the line when unsighted and unbalanced. As a result the ball landed at a Utd players foot who passed it forward to Appre. Instead of getting goalside Whittaker dived in front of the Utd player to attempt to intercept the ball but misjudged it and was left for dead by Appre who bent the ball into the far corner of the net of the post. Basic errors by Gray & Whittaker

Stevenson and Hanlon played well at the back all afternoon.

The 3 forwards played very well and gave the Utd defenders a torrid time

The midfield desperately needs more legs in it which Slivka and Omeonga can provide.
Hallberg was all in after 85 minutes.
Allan was poor given the amount of ball he had. Needs to keep it simpler a lot of the time.

Dundee Utd were poor other than their goalkeeper who is a very useful big guy, and Shankland who had one chance, came to life and scored it. He did literally nothing else. Appre did well when he came on for the ex Aberdeen guy who was very poor in his 1st game since October. Hibs should win the replay with ease.

Worst thing about today was the injuries to Porteous and Naismith. Both looked like knee injuries. Fingers crossed, especially for Ryan.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Decent summing up. We really must find a way to keep up the tempo and bury teams when we have the upper hand, but there were plenty of positives today and for anybody who was at Livingston I'm sure they will agree that performance was far far better.

Rocky .... 6 .... Had little to do in truth. I'm not sure even after watching it about 5 times if he could have saved the second or not, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt coz it seems every time one of our keepers makes a mistake we want him replaced.

Naismith ... 6 ... Did ok defensively until he went off, his crossing was a bit off at times.

Porteous ... 6 .... I thought he was doing fine until he got injured. Much as I don't want to I agree with Billy Dodds on the telly who said that sometimes Ryan opens himself to injury because he 'likes to leave a bit on his opponent whenever he makes a tackle' which is probably true. I really worry for Ryan, he clearly has fantastic potential and I would hate to see his career curtailed by injury. If this is a recurring problem I hope Hibs go looking for the best treatment out there for him, be that in Europe or America.

Hanlon ... 7 ... He played a good game today and made a couple of timely interventions in our box.

Stevenson ... 7 .... I thought Lewis was his usual solid self, he was a bit unfortunate at Shankland's goal IMO getting in a tangle which I dont think he could help.

Whittaker ... 6 ... I thought he was ok, but his lack of pace is evident and he isnt clever enough to compensate for it with awareness, which was highlighted by his baffling attempt to second guess the Utd player at their second goal.

Hallberg ... 6 ... Got about the pitch well, but he's clearly a player who isn't going to be a goal threat or play a killer ball very often ... probably should have done better with his chance after an inch perfect ball from Boyle.

Allan .... 5 .... Without doubt the most talented player on that pitch today, but he tied himself in knots far too often trying to prove it. Even when a simple and effective ball was on he went searching for a more difficult route through ... more than once our momentum was lost as he held the ball too long trying to engineer an opening that was never going to happen and trying flicks and tricks when he didn't have to. I don't want him to stop trying the killer ball coz he can do it ... but he needs to play it when the opportunity arises and stop trying to actively go looking for it.

Doige ... 6 ... Took his goal very well with a nice run and finish, but that aside he didn't get too involved and missed one header he should have done better with.

Boyle .... 9 .... Looked dangerous every time he got the ball, played a brilliant pass to Hallberg and a few other very good balls, not to mention scoring a beauty himself ... even when he lost the ball near the end he chased the Utd player 50 yards to try and win it back.

Kamberi ... 8 ... I thought he was excellent, he made a number of very good runs, had one cleared off the line and forced the Utd keeper into two pretty decent saves. The only criticism I have is when he played the ball into Allan at the edge of their box with two Utd players right on top of him, leading to Allan rushing his shot way over the bar. David Gray had made a super overlapping run and if Flo had passed to him instead he would have been right in on goal.

Subs;

Gray ... 5 .... Did fine, but it was clear to see he was a bit rusty ... the aforementioned overlapping run was excellent and Flo really should have passed to him.

McGregor ... 6 ... Didn't do a lot wrong, but when does Daz ever fail to put in a good shift.

[TimeForHeroes16]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I thought Allan ran the show for an hour, then faded.

Lets face it we should have put this one to bed by half time. By and large thought we played well today, diappointing we couldnt see it through though.

Allan was our worst performer yesterday, no doubt he’ll be back to his best on Wednesday tho

[Alfred E Newman]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Allan was our worst performer yesterday, no doubt he’ll be back to his best on Wednesday tho

He was on the receiving end of some pretty course tackles yesterday early on which didn't help. Obviously Neilston taking a leaf out of his old masters book!

[brog]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Yep, it’s like he pulls his hands away from it, as if he thinks it’s going by the post

Thats it for me. His body language is also telling.

[HFC 0-7]

Weird how views differ! I thought Whittaker, although played pretty well, is just past it. He seems to get turned easy and then caught on his heels. He just doesn’t have the burst to catch up with the man again.

Hallberg, I thought looked tired early in the game. A few times not tracking and if he got beat by a man didn’t try and recover and leaving it to someone else. Opinions!

[BILLYHIBS]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Thats it for me. His body language is also telling.

Gets his angles all wrong needs to readjust his feet quicker and anticipate the shot to the far post

Is slow in going for it needs to get across quicker and dive for it sticking an arm out to tip in around the post

On the TV replay he is miles away from it and does a dive for the photographers behind the goal

In fairness it was a superb strike but as you quite rightly point out it looks as though Rocky thinks it is going past the post

[AllyT]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Yep, it’s like he pulls his hands away from it, as if he thinks it’s going by the post

This! You can see his reaction when it goes in, like he's really surprised.

[BILLYHIBS]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Decent summing up. We really must find a way to keep up the tempo and bury teams when we have the upper hand, but there were plenty of positives today and for anybody who was at Livingston I'm sure they will agree that performance was far far better.

Rocky .... 6 .... Had little to do in truth. I'm not sure even after watching it about 5 times if he could have saved the second or not, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt coz it seems every time one of our keepers makes a mistake we want him replaced.

Naismith ... 6 ... Did ok defensively until he went off, his crossing was a bit off at times.

Porteous ... 6 .... I thought he was doing fine until he got injured. Much as I don't want to I agree with Billy Dodds on the telly who said that sometimes Ryan opens himself to injury because he 'likes to leave a bit on his opponent whenever he makes a tackle' which is probably true. I really worry for Ryan, he clearly has fantastic potential and I would hate to see his career curtailed by injury. If this is a recurring problem I hope Hibs go looking for the best treatment out there for him, be that in Europe or America.

Hanlon ... 7 ... He played a good game today and made a couple of timely interventions in our box.

Stevenson ... 7 .... I thought Lewis was his usual solid self, he was a bit unfortunate at Shankland's goal IMO getting in a tangle which I dont think he could help.

Whittaker ... 6 ... I thought he was ok, but his lack of pace is evident and he isnt clever enough to compensate for it with awareness, which was highlighted by his baffling attempt to second guess the Utd player at their second goal.

Hallberg ... 6 ... Got about the pitch well, but he's clearly a player who isn't going to be a goal threat or play a killer ball very often ... probably should have done better with his chance after an inch perfect ball from Boyle.

Allan .... 5 .... Without doubt the most talented player on that pitch today, but he tied himself in knots far too often trying to prove it. Even when a simple and effective ball was on he went searching for a more difficult route through ... more than once our momentum was lost as he held the ball too long trying to engineer an opening that was never going to happen and trying flicks and tricks when he didn't have to. I don't want him to stop trying the killer ball coz he can do it ... but he needs to play it when the opportunity arises and stop trying to actively go looking for it.

Doige ... 6 ... Took his goal very well with a nice run and finish, but that aside he didn't get too involved and missed one header he should have done better with.

Boyle .... 9 .... Looked dangerous every time he got the ball, played a brilliant pass to Hallberg and a few other very good balls, not to mention scoring a beauty himself ... even when he lost the ball near the end he chased the Utd player 50 yards to try and win it back.

Kamberi ... 8 ... I thought he was excellent, he made a number of very good runs, had one cleared off the line and forced the Utd keeper into two pretty decent saves. The only criticism I have is when he played the ball into Allan at the edge of their box with two Utd players right on top of him, leading to Allan rushing his shot way over the bar. David Gray had made a super overlapping run and if Flo had passed to him instead he would have been right in on goal.

Subs;

Gray ... 5 .... Did fine, but it was clear to see he was a bit rusty ... the aforementioned overlapping run was excellent and Flo really should have passed to him.

McGregor ... 6 ... Didn't do a lot wrong, but when does Daz ever fail to put in a good shift.

Would not be surprised if the rumours are true and that clubs are sniffing around Boyle

[expresso]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

]Dundee United scored from their only chances[/B]
Goal 1 - Porteous instead of staying in the back 4 was drawn out towards the ball which left a gap in the back 4 which Shankland ran into. Porteous error.
Goal 2 - Gray instead of kicking the ball into touch tried to play it up the line when unsighted and unbalanced. As a result the ball landed at a Utd players foot who passed it forward to Appre. Instead of getting goalside Whittaker dived in front of the Utd player to attempt to intercept the ball but misjudged it and was left for dead by Appre who bent the ball into the far corner of the net of the post. Basic errors by Gray & Whittaker

Stevenson and Hanlon played well at the back all afternoon.

The 3 forwards played very well and gave the Utd defenders a torrid time

The midfield desperately needs more legs in it which Slivka and Omeonga can provide.
Hallberg was all in after 85 minutes.
Allan was poor given the amount of ball he had. Needs to keep it simpler a lot of the time.

Dundee Utd were poor other than their goalkeeper who is a very useful big guy, and Shankland who had one chance, came to life and scored it. He did literally nothing else. Appre did well when he came on for the ex Aberdeen guy who was very poor in his 1st game since October. Hibs should win the replay with ease.

Worst thing about today was the injuries to Porteous and Naismith. Both looked like knee injuries. Fingers crossed, especially for Ryan.

This has become such an alarming feature in recent seasons opponents goals to chance ratio seems to be ridiculously high

[hibsbollah]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

It’s a good strike but you’ll understand what people are saying once you have seen it again. Weirdly seems to get down quick enough but his arms just aren’t extended like they should be. I was shocked at the time from my angle at the game and I think it looks even worse on tv.

Hmmm, well after watching it again, i agree he could have swiped an arm at the end of his dive, which would have made it a great save, but I wouldn't call it a howler or an error, he could have done a bit better. I'd instead be calling out the careless control and sclaffed clearance by Gray and the bizarre decision by Whittaker to wander off to the shops instead of staying on his man.

[jacomo]

Thanks JB.

Appere’s goal was a very well placed shot... arguably we should have done better but I don’t want to heap too much blame on our players.

My bigger concern is an inability to make more of the chances that came our way. We still lack balance in midfield. Whittaker did ok but relying on a 34 year old fullback as our best option in midfield is not ok, and a damning indictment of our summer transfer business.

Omeonga will help us once up to speed.

I’m sure Neilson will be delighted with his money-spinning replay...

[Peevemor]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

It’s a good strike but you’ll understand what people are saying once you have seen it again. Weirdly seems to get down quick enough but his arms just aren’t extended like they should be. I was shocked at the time from my angle at the game and I think it looks even worse on tv.

It looked like a comedy dive to me, ie. the sort of thing you did when you were forced to play rugby at school and you dived to score a try even though there was nobody within 25 yards of you.

[HFC 0-7]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

It looked like a comedy dive to me, ie. the sort of thing you did when you were forced to play rugby at school and you dived to score a try even though there was nobody within 25 yards of you.

I immediately thought the same, as if he pulls his arm away, but when you see it from a different angle you can see that he is going for it and his left arm is fully stretched

[hibsbollah]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I immediately thought the same, as if he pulls his arm away, but when you see it from a different angle you can see that he is going for it and his left arm is fully stretched

And he missed it. Because the shot was so accurate it went in off the post. But he's not as culpable as Gray or especially Whittaker in that situation, we need to give the same forensic analysis to other players as we do to the poor keepers

[Since452]

It was a sublime finish from the United boy to be fair. I'm very critical of Marciano but he was just beaten by a good strike imo. Annoyed me more that he was allowed to get the shot away

[Smartie]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

It was a sublime finish from the United boy to be fair. I'm very critical of Marciano but he was just beaten by a good strike imo. Annoyed me more that he was allowed to get the shot away

That’s how I saw it. Good strike, went in the one spot the keeper was never going to get to, we could have done more to stop the shot.

At first glance it doesn’t look great from the keeper but I’m not sure he could have done more.

[500miles]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

That’s how I saw it. Good strike, went in the one spot the keeper was never going to get to, we could have done more to stop the shot.

At first glance it doesn’t look great from the keeper but I’m not sure he could have done more.

Marciano was definitely slow going down, think he expected it to go wide. He should have kept it covered even then, so it was poor mistake. He's made a few bad errors this season. I'd drop him again.

I'd be tempted to play Horgan at the tip of the diamond next time too, he's better at running at players than Allan, and I think that would cause the United defense more problems than finding passes in behind.

[Shrekko]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Hmmm, well after watching it again, i agree he could have swiped an arm at the end of his dive, which would have made it a great save, but I wouldn't call it a howler or an error, he could have done a bit better. I'd instead be calling out the careless control and sclaffed clearance by Gray and the bizarre decision by Whittaker to wander off to the shops instead of staying on his man.

Yeah it was a bit of a comedy defensively but ultimately a goalies job is to ‘save’ and I really feel it’s a really strange one from him. He’s renowned as a shot stopper more than anything else after all.

[hibsbollah]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

That’s how I saw it. Good strike, went in the one spot the keeper was never going to get to, we could have done more to stop the shot.

At first glance it doesn’t look great from the keeper but I’m not sure he could have done more.

Yes. The point is, Gray dropped his toast butter side down and Whittaker disappeared off to the shops for a pint of milk. Rocky didn't do either of these things.

[hibsbollah]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Yeah it was a bit of a comedy defensively but ultimately a goalies job is to ‘save’ and I really feel it’s a really strange one from him. He’s renowned as a shot stopper more than anything else after all.

Sure, I get your point that it's not exactly going to stop the clamour for Bogdan to get the gloves, him not making thatsave. It's just not a Peter Enckleman moment either.

[jgl07]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Thanks JB.

Appere’s goal was a very well placed shot... arguably we should have done better but I don’t want to heap too much blame on our players.

My bigger concern is an inability to make more of the chances that came our way. We still lack balance in midfield. Whittaker did ok but relying on a 34 year old fullback as our best option in midfield is not ok, and a damning indictment of our summer transfer business.

Whittaker is actually 35.

[number9dream]

Whittaker was impressive in his first start since August but can he manage two games a week?
The report & ratings suggest everyone was top class but we couldn't beat a Championship side. Our inability to keep clean sheets is undoing good work at the other end of the pitch, although we should definitely have tucked away a few more goals. Doidge needs to be more composed for that stoppage-time chance...
Does Omeonga replace Whitts in that formation once the wee man is up to speed? Not sure he's going straight in, having hardly played this season.
Newell or Slivka for Allan might have been a shout for the final 15 mins but using up two defensive subs made a third change risky, I guess.
No Murray in the squad, despite Mallan & Omeonga being unavailable and Slivka a fitness doubt. Looks like he might need a loan move this month to get some game time.

[Dundee Hibee]

United put out a very attacking line up 4-3-3, they haven't done that many times this season and I expect them to revert to type for the replay and flood the midfield and rely on width, the young lad Appere will start I'd imagine.

The way to beat them is to stop the wide players, 90% of their goals come from crosses.

[KingPat4]

I thought Scotty was trying too hard yesterday, always looking for the wonder pass rather than doing the simple thing. Lost possession far too often.

[WillowbraeHibby]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

He was on the receiving end of some pretty course tackles yesterday early on which didn't help. Obviously Neilston taking a leaf out of his old masters book!

He was.. No doubt he was being given plenty of attention to keep him quiet.