The Brian Colvin Horror Show
Six goals, two penalties, three red cards and Ryan Stevenson grabbing Alan Mannus by the ear - what more could you ask for? Of course, it helps that referee Brian Colvin had what could be diplomatically described as 'a shocker'. Tam Scobbie, the St. Johnstone defender (and, amusingly, emergency keeper after Mannus' sending off) told journalists after the game that Colvin's ridiculous decision to send off Steven Anderson for a professional foul in the first half seemed to be on the advice of his assistant, and that Colvin spent the rest of the match asking players whether they thought it was the right decision! True or not, the official evened things out somewhat by giving two terrible penalty decisions in favour of St Johnstone - the first was probably a foul outside the box, while the second was never deliberate handball in a million years. Should we slag off his ineptitude, or thank him for his significant contribution to one of the best matches of the league season?
I'm at least grateful to Colvin for sending off Stevenson - his red card for violent conduct rules him out of the League Cup semi final in a fortnight's time, which should surely improve Caley Thistle's chances...
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang!
Derek Adams actually described himself as 'brave' for picking six players who weren't even at Ross County three weeks ago - in fact, given the dramatic improvement in his team's performances, it would have been rather braver, and foolish, not to have done so. Filip Kiss was obviously the standout with a brace - his second strike, a 30 yard curler into the top corner, was enough to elicit a collective purr from those present. But County have improved in all areas, with Evangelos Oikonomou and Yann Songo'o at the back, Kiss and Michael Tidser in midfield, and Jordan Slew and Yoann Arquin up front. In Tidser, they finally have a player to take the ball from the back four and keep possession, a role they have struggled to fill since Paul Lawson left last summer.
The first thing I did on returning from Dingwall after the game was to have a look at the table. Eight points adrift of St Johnstone with eleven games till the split - do Ross County still have a shot at the top six?
Statement win for Yogi
After five games without a win, and a hapless performance or two by his side, John Hughes was badly in need of a result. Pittodrie didn't seem a likely place to achieve it, but to the surprise of even the most diehard ICT fans, the away side were absolutely dominant and deserving of a much bigger victory than 1-0 against the side currently second in the table. And that was with Richie Foran, Ross Draper, Marley Watkins and Gary Warren all missing. There was also the welcome sight of Jamie Vincent for the first time since September. Hughes has at least shown that he can learn from mistakes; restoring David Raven to the back four and Aaron Doran to the right flank has led to a sharp lift in the form of the latter. Perhaps Yogi's appointment isn't a boo-boo after all?
Can anyone beat Celtic before May?
The way Kris Commons is playing, Celtic could probably start every match with 10 men and still win. Victory over Motherwell made it 10 wins in a row for Neil Lennon's side, and the level of their dominance over a side who are third in the league was striking. Some pillock on BBC Sportsound queried whether anyone would take a point off Celtic between now and the rest of the season - there's no chance they'll win every single game left, but the possibility they could finish the league campaign unbeaten is increasing by the week.
Given the impotence of their other forwards this season, they might be just the teensiest bit vulnerable without Anthony Stokes, who got himself stupidly sent off for poleaxing Keith Lasley when the game was already won...but Commons will probably just pick up the slack, won't he?
When did Pat Fenlon become Hibs boss again?
At half-time at Pittodrie, apparently the announcer read out the score from Easter Road twice, such was the incredulity - Hibs were three down to St. Mirren by that point. Terry Butcher has done a terrific job of making them more difficult to beat since moving to Leith, but the absence of Paul Hanlon with a thigh strain seemed to completely destabilize the back four. The first half an hour was so farcical that it could have been from a Keystone Cops movie...or from one of their games under Pat Fenlon's charge. A second half recovery at least suggests that team spirit is a damn sight better than during Fenlon's days, though.
Partick Thistle must be developing a complex
Eleven home league games, no wins. Saturday is the closest that Partick Thistle have come to winning at Firhill, denied by Robbie Muirhead's last ditch equalizer for Kilmarnock. But last week they blew a 3-1 lead at home to Ross County, while on Boxing Day they missed about a million chances in a goalless draw with ICT. Earlier in the campaign they contrived to lose 1-0 to Hibs despite being utterly dominant, and let in a late equalizer to Hearts despite being utterly dominant as well. It would be incredible if this terrible record didn't dwell on the minds of the players, though in truth the Jags have not been particularly good on their travels either - they have won only two out of their nineteen games since the start of September. The next two home games are against Dundee United and Aberdeen - can they break their duck at last?
St. Johnstone can't find consistency
Considering that, in Stevie May, they have the league's joint top scorer, St. Johnstone really should be doing better than battling over sixth place. Over the last couple of months, they've struggled to put a string of good performances together; a win over Dundee United in December was followed by a 4-0 thumping at Motherwell, while they failed to build on last week's easy win against St. Mirren by drawing with Hearts - and probably bust many a coupon in the process. To make matters worse, Murray Davidson has wrecked his knee just as he was returning to his best form, and will miss the rest of the season. The Perth Saints will now be terribly short in midfield as well as attack - Gary McDonald and Patrick Cregg would never be referred to as a dynamic duo in the centre of the park. Tommy Wright will surely re-double his efforts to get Rory Fallon off the wage bill, so he can free up some funds for reinforcements.
Why can't St. Mirren play that well every week?
Every so often St. Mirren seem to turn on the style - this was the fourth time in the league that they've scored three or more goals. Why can't they do it all the time? At Easter Road, the Buddies could only keep up the performance level for 45 minutes, and they were hanging on at the end. But Danny Lennon will be delighted by how slick the attack looked - Adam Campbell appears to be a superb addition who has already clicked in partnership with Steven Thompson, and Paul McGowan is playing as well as he has done in a long time - possibly because he is no longer weighed down by the prospect of a prison sentence?
Higginbotham only does the spectacular
Incredibly, that strike from Kiss wasn't even the best goal of the week - Kallum Higginbotham's bicycle kick pips it. Higginbotham only seems to score spectacular goals - his only other Partick goal was smashed it from distance against St. Mirren, and he came up with one of the best strikes of last season with a scissors kick for Motherwell. Perhaps it might be better for Partick if he started scoring some mundane goals, but at a higher rate, rather than just two 'worldies' a year.
Arabs shouldn't panic
Yes, Dundee United were horrific at the weekend, and yes, they've only managed 2 points out of a possible 18. But Jackie McNamara's squad was stretched remarkably thin, especially after he chose to give John Souttar and Ryan Gauld a mini-winter break to reduce their chances of burnout. Stuart Armstrong was also left out of the starting lineup. Given that Gavin Gunning was injured, United were without their first choice central defence, and Callum Butcher in particular struggled in relief, unable to cope with the hustle and bustle of Jordan Slew. At the other end, they missed Brian Graham badly (who ever thought we would say that?!) but Farid El Alagui may improve when he has a few games under his belt.
Given his resources are stretched, it's no surprise that Jackie Mac has taken the chance to give Chris Erskine a run of games to see if he is up to playing at this level; 50 minutes of complete ineptitude in Dingwall (he was hooked shortly after the second half began) seems to have told McNamara all he needed to know - Erskine was shipped back to his old club, Partick Thistle, on loan this morning. United will be fine once they are back closer to full strength.
L.
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