Aye, so who saw this result coming then? Accies hadn't scored in their first two league games of the season, and had managed just 14 goals in Martin Canning's previous 21 games as manager. Yet they absolutely annihilated Dundee United here.
It has been a feature of United under Jackie MacNamara that they rarely, if ever, have a match under control - even when the likes of GMS, Armstrong and Ciftci were wearing Tangerine. Too often he gambles that his flair players will produce some magic in the midst of the mess; Blair Spittal's sensational double in the derby is a good example, distracting from how Dundee were on top for long periods. When there's no magic (an increasingly common occurrence in recent months) and the opposition are in the mood to take advantage of the midfield frailty, it can be grim viewing. And so it proved here.
Accies love flooding players forward from midfield at pace, and so they were in good shape to really hurt United. Norwich loanee Carlton Morris' intelligent movement drew the centre-backs, giving acres for Gramoz Kurtaj and Ali Crawford to maraud into. John Rankin and John Souttar, sitting in front of the United defence, simply couldn't cover all the space. Rankin was left so twisted by Crawford for the opening goal that he's probably in bed with an acute episode of vertigo.
Crawford even managed two assists - the first a cross for Lucas which proved that last season's difficulties with high balls into the box haven't been fixed, the second a rather fortuitous ricochet that put Morris clear to score. United didn't turn up until they were 3-0 down; hell, just to add to the ignominy, Christian Nade practically walked the ball into the net for a late fourth goal. Christian Nade!
After the game, McNamara called it "the worst half" of his reign. The truth is that this has been coming for a while; all their weaknesses, and there are many, were exposed for all to see here. As a one-off event, the calls from many fans for the manager's head on a plate were harsh. In the context of a run of just four wins in twenty-two games since Armstrong and GMS left, maybe not so much. With so many youngsters, full of potential but still woefully inconsistent, this is going to be a season of transition for Dundee United. But will McNamara be around to see the end of it? LS
SuperCelticGoBallisticCaleyAreAtrocious
Don’t let the scoreline fool you. Saturdays match between Celtic and ICT was incredibly one sided until Celtic started to look towards their midweek European fixture and took off captain Scott Brown who had dominated the game until that point. Thereafter they really eased up and ICT were able to conjure up two goals to make the score line look, on face value, a little bit more palatable.
Atrocious may be a bit harsh to describe the Inverness performance but take nothing away from Celtic. They were sublime and they carved the Highlanders open time and time again. The only surprise was that the Hoops were just two goals up at half time when in truth they could easily have hit four or five. John Hughes must be concerned at his side's apparent inability to defend set pieces, an achilles heel for months now. The opening goal came when Mikael Lustig got free of his marker and on to the end of a Stefan Johansen free kick. Leight Griffiths then took advantage of Danny Devine's lack of spatial awareness to put Celtic two up.
More lackadaisical defending led to two second half goals for Stuart Armstrong, the second of which was the sort of blunder that occurs so often under the stewardship of Hughes. Trying to play their way out of trouble Inverness were gradually forced back until a suicidal ball played across the penalty area was seized upon by Celtic and Armstrong who clinically made it 4-0. After the Brown substitution and the introduction of Ryan Christie from the bench, (left out for tactical reason, Hughes claimed - nothing to do with a rumoured approach for the youngster from Swansea) the game turned. A neat ball in behind the Celtic defence was collected by Christie and he nabbed his second goal in a week with a cool finish. A consolation maybe but it was still a nice finish from the highly rated forward who then turned provider for Dani Lopez who surprised everyone in the stadium, not least the ICT fans who have seen him play this season, by beating Gordon from about 25 yards out with a low drive.
Whilst Inverness didn’t have the quality to really test the Celtic defence Deila will be a little bit concerned at how his side conceded two goals. Whilst the Norwegian was happy to focus on the first hour of the game, he will be looking at how to address his defensive frailties which will undoubtedly be punished by stronger teams in the league such as Aberdeen or, more likely, in Europe.
For Inverness it was always unlikely that they would take anything from Celtic Park especially given the starting XI which Celtic put out which must have been as close to full strength as they could get. Again, the makeshift ICT defence was struggling for parts of the game and made some critical mistakes which cost them goals. Inverness only came into the game once Celtic eased off but both goals that were scored were well taken. Christie injected some pace and direction to an otherwise blunt Inverness attack and fans of the club will be hoping he is still there at the end of the August transfer window. AS
Aberdeen are made of tough stuff these days
Aberdeen went through a tough 90 minutes at Motherwell, however Derek McInnes and his men continued their 100% record with a hard fought win at Fir Park.
The home side perhaps caught the Dons cold following their first midweek break of the season. With Graeme Shinnie caught too far forward with Well in possession, Scott McDonald cleverly slipped Lionel Ainsworth down the right flank, forcing Ash Taylor out to cover him; Ainsworth squared it back to McDonald, who forced a save out of Danny Ward, but it ball bounced out to Marvin Johnson, who volleyed the ball into the net for the opener. It may be a tad critical to notice that the last two goals conceded by Ward have come from saves he has pushed into the path of the eventual goalscorers, rather than round the post or away to safety - but for that, he has been pitch perfect for the Dons so far this season.
But it's a long time since this Aberdeen side crumbled under the first signs of adversity. After failing to beat Louis Laing with an initial attempt at a cross from the left, Niall McGinn patiently worked the ball back onto his right foot - his subsequent inswinger snuck past the heels of Josh Law, was then missed by David Goodwillie and keeper Connor Ripley, before dribbling in off the base of the post to level the score. It was messy, but they all count.
Aberdeen pressed the play before half time, with Goodwillie having a goal disallowed for handball and then having another effort saved by Ripley at point blank range. The Dons finally took the lead with another bizarre goal. From a Niall McGinn free kick, Ripley chose to run head first into Laing's backside rather than come out for the cross, and Ash Taylor gratefully accepted the opportunity to nod home into the vacated net. There was even time for another patented McGinn effort off the woodwork before the end of the match.
St. Johnstone's defensive woes
It must have been another hard result for Ian Baraclough to swallow, now a third defeat in a row. It could have been worse - the initial match report on the BBC Sport website had stated that Motherwell had yet to win a league match this season, which must come as concerning news to the Well supporters that apparently beating ICT doesn't even count as a league win nowadays...
Aberdeen next welcome Paul Hartley's Dundee, a side that proved to be something of a bogey for the Dons last season. If they are to retain their 100% record next weekend, they will likely require to produce their best performance of the season so far. MI
Given how well Dundee are playing just now, it's a travesty that the BBC could only rustle up two minutes and five seconds of highlights of this game. But that's a subject for another day...
This would be an opportune moment to point out that I predicted Dundee would finish fourth in the league, and got a lot of stick for that. Yet their start to the season has been impressive enough that few would bet against that. They look solid in every area - Scott Bain is in stunning form in goal, Kane Hemmings and Greg Stewart are on fire up front and Gary Harkins looks as hungry as he has ever been, both literally and metaphorically given his improved fitness.
St. Johnstone, in contrast, have not started the season well; they haven't led a game for a single minute this season, they've conceded a goal by the seventeenth minute in each of their four league matches; they've conceded more goals in those four games than they did in the last thirteen games of last season.
The backline, a strength for so long, is currently the problem. It doesn't help that Steven Anderson is still recovering from a facial injury sustained in the Europa League qualifiers, but nor does it help that they don't feel they can currently trust Frazer Wright or Brad McKay, both subs on Saturday. 35 year old Wright is simply too vulnerable against mobile forwards, whilst McKay, brought in from Hearts as his potential long-term replacement, has struggled thus far.
In this match Tommy Wright started with Dave Mackay and Tam Scobbie, both best suited in the full-back roles, in the centre of defence. Whilst Brian Easton is as solid as ever on the left, it's also been a rough start for another newcomer, Joe Shaughnessy, on the right; the Irishman was left floundering by Nicky Low in the build-up to Dundee's second goal. The boss would surely prefer to have the tried and tested Mackay over there, instead of plugging an Anderson-shaped hole.
Given the Perth Saints don't score enough goals at the best of times, they can't afford to be fragile at the other end. Anderson is out until at least the middle of next month; will the manager need to bring in another centre-back before the end of the transfer window as well. LS
Hearts can grind out wins too
Victory over Ross County preserved Hearts' 100% record, and keeps them top of the table, at least for now. Dingwall is a difficult place to go, but two early goals put them in the driving seat and they managed to hang on even after Liam Boyce's penalty reduced the deficit.
Impressively, the Jambos showed that they could see such a match out; they slowed down play, frustrated the home side and effectively killed the game off. Robbie Neilson noted as much himself -"The foreign guys coming in know how to manage a game - the younger Scottish boys are starting to pick that up as well, how to win a game. You don't always have to win it by playing wonderful football; at times you have to win it by managing it properly."
Hearts have the talent, and they increasingly have the knowhow. Just how high can they finish this season? Pretty high, I reckon. LS
Killie need to win on days like these
Kilmarnock are a bad team by pretty much any measure you want to use. Although the league table doesn’t really mean anything at this stage of the season, they currently occupy the position that many expect them to finish in. They have also won one of their last 13 games.
Having unexpectedly held Celtic in midweek however, they headed to Glasgow’s west end with a bit of spring in their step. They still couldn’t get that elusive win, but a decent display by Josh Magennis and a goal from Kris Boyd showed that if they are to stay up, their best bet will probably be to attack. While not exactly superstars, Boyd, Magennis and Kallum Higginbotham are pretty good options for a team in the lower reaches of the Premiership, and if Gary Locke can find the imagination to get the most out of them then they might just have enough goals in them to survive.
The reality however is that a point is all they got and was perhaps more than they deserved. Thistle were the better team and will be very disappointed to have conceded a late equaliser, even taking into account that they played the last quarter of the game with 10 men.
While any points prised from the cold, undead hands of Kingsley are to be cherished, draws aren’t going to be enough of Killie this season and they need to start winning soon. IM
Martin Ingram (MI) is our Aberdeen Correspondent. Legend has it that he is the tallest man in the Red Army. He writes regularly for Aberdeen fanzine The Red Final..
Iain Meredith (IM) is technically a Rangers fan, but these days he tends to support them ironically. He only agreed to help with this blog because now he can tell his wife that he's "only watching the game to help a friend out".
Lawrie Spence (LS) has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.
Andrew Sutherland (AS) occasionally writes for When Saturday Comes. He would never miss an ICT match unless he was offered a date with the lead singer of CHVRCHES...who he would then take to said ICT match.
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