They’re Not In League. Time To Get Over It. (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Of United Away)

The return of a semi popular review of games.

The Good.

For the majority of this game we played at a fantastic tempo. This was a major feature that was missing from last weeks defeat to The Marnocks. It’s not hard to do the math and point to Scott Brown as the reason for this. He was excellent for 60 mins before he worryingly (but not unexpectedly) fell out the game.

Our goals were superb. The first saw Tony Watt play a great ball to Miku whose movement, control, awareness, ability factor and finish were fantastic. It was a flash of why this guys club rate him so highly.

The second saw Tony Watt do what Tony Watt does. Pick up the ball and charge towards goal. The finish was accurate and powerful. Watt is full of raw energy and talent. My worry is that he will lose this excitable puppy demeanor when he learns more about the game. But…he is a hell of a watch at the moment!

Kelvin Wilson looked comfortable during this game no matter his partner. Ambrose and Rogne were designated to pick up Jon Daly and indulge in the physical stuff while Big Kelvin could use his pace and reading of the game to mop up anything that came his way.

The Bad.

Tam Rogne. You really are made from twigs arnt you?

Despite Tony Watt’s excellence for long spells we did resemble a team that was playing without a main striker or a focal point. Injuries are blunting us in this area.

Charlie Mulgrew played on the left handside of midfield and then moved to left back when Izzy got injured. We created very, very little from the left handside during the game (apart from one cross which Scott Brown should have scored from). All the good stuff came down the right. As we were missing our main striker we were looking for our wide men to be threats. The left failed in this.

Kris Commons reached the mediocre levels of his Marnock performance with ease. Terrible set plays for the majority, struggled to find his touch and was as threatening as roadkill. The fact that he has got so much to offer is the reason he disappoints so much.

The Ugly.

I have though long and hard about this. My stance has changed. A certain dead club are not in the league. It’s no use going: “but what if they were in the league” like some sort of limpet because they are not. No-one can say that the fact we have dropped 12 points in 12 games is down to them not being in the league. No-one can say we would have been better in the league if they were there.

It’s a mute and irrelevant point. They’re dead.

The only reality we can deal with is the players struggling to cope with European / Domestic commitments. That is the ugly thing about our first 12 games. The players inability to seemingly be professional and habit of letting us down.

The clubs goal was to get in the Champions League. They did that at the cost now of our domestic form which sees us top of the league with a game in hand. Armageddon eh?

The whole Barca – f*cking – lona thing is a pantomime. I will be glad when it’s over. It’s like waiting on the Polis to turn up to arrest you.

Lady luck is being a bitch to us. Our starting line up disrupted by injuries that when looking at them could be a sign of fatigue at this point in the season. Have the players been pushed to far too soon in our quest for the holly grail? I wish the injury to Rogne was a surprise but with Izzy’s you need to point to the half time routine which saw him come out cold.

She also gives us the gut-wrenching situation that Peter Houston will get praise for his teams fighting spirit and his changes. DuNT deserved nothing from the game. They benefited from a break of the ball in the box and some deflection tomfoolery from a hit and hope cross. Aye, Houstie is the next big thing.

Also, anytime we don’t beat the boil on the ar$e of the SPL that is Rudi Skacel is a sad day in any household that upholds decency as a value.

What was your Good, Bad & Ugly?