Talking points from the Premiership

Aberdeen's performance summed up in GIF form

St Johnstone FIVE?!

I was at Dryburgh Abbey this weekend to observe the time-honoured tradition of surreptitiously checking for fitba' scores whilst attending a wedding ceremony.  The only positive I can take from the experience (from an Aberdeen supporter's perspective, naturally - the wedding was fantastic) is that I didn't have to witness the Dons getting torn apart in person.

That said, once the trauma of the result has dissipated, I will probably come to regret missing Brian Easton's opener for Perth Saints.  I think it is fair to say that the Beast won't be belting many 30-yard volleys into the postage stamp corner and, regardless of what team you happen to support on the day, a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Coincidentally, the first 12 minutes of the game turned out to be a microcosm of Aberdeen's match the previous weekend in Inverness, with the opposition taking a two goal lead - former Don Joe Shaughnessy doubling St. Johnstone's lead - before Ash Taylor managed to head in a set-piece to halve the deficit.  I certainly hadn't expected there to have already been three goals when I first checked the contents of my sporran.

On my second check, Liam Craig had made it 3-1 before half time, and after my third check had revealed that Steven MacLean had put his former club 4-1 behind only four minutes after the break I decided to abandon the practice altogether and give the wedding the full attention it deserved.  When the groom himself graciously took the trouble of coming over to my table to confirm that it had finished 5-1, I proceeded to drowning my sorrows in a particularly impressive Indian Pale Ale...MI


Griffiths makes his case again
On Thursday, Scotland will play a football match against Poland that they have to win.  Much of the talk in the lead up to the game will be dominated by each team's strikers.  Robert Lewandowski has been destroying worlds over the past couple of weeks and comes into the game as Europe’s in form player; it’s safe to say he will start at Hampden.  Scotland on the other hand have three players vying for the position, and the question being asked most often is, “Can Leigh Griffiths do anything more to win a starting spot?”

Looking at his performance on Sunday, the answer would have to be “no.”  It was a poor performance from Celtic but for the umpteenth time so far this season he made all the difference. He laid their equaliser on a plate for Dedryck Boyata, and the winner was a very impressive header for a man of his stature.  He has been on top form all season and his teammates should be thanking their lucky stars that he once again bailed them out.

Confidence should have been high in the Celtic camp, what with the double boost of Aberdeen’s thrashing the day before and Efe Ambrose’s suspension.  But their nervous start and appalling defending for the opening goal suggests they won’t be totally comfortable until Jozo Simunovic is fit and settled.

The results this weekend also showed why Celtic will again win the league despite not being especially good (at least in comparison to sides of the past).  No matter how badly Celtic defend, they won’t go on a run like Aberdeen's current one.

For the record I’d start with Steven Naismith up front against Poland, although I wouldn’t have a huge problem with Griffiths getting the nod.  My main concern is that he does what he did in the last “must win” game he played in and knees one of the opposition in the Michael Ballacks.  Not that it will particularly matter who’s playing up front for Scotland, as Lewandowski lays waste to Hampden...IM

Yogi wins in Dingwall again
Terry Butcher never won a match in Dingwall with Inverness (though he did win one with Hibs, remarkably).  John Hughes, in contrast, has won four out of four away to Ross County since arriving in the Highlands.  This win was perhaps the most unexpected of the four, with County starting the day five points better off than an Inverness side missing several players (including Ryan Christie) but at least able to completely fill the subs bench for a change.

ICT's recent upturn of form has coincided with Miles Storey's arrival, and it's not hard to see why.  In comparison to the sloth-like Dani Lopez, who played up front in August, Storey's pace and running stretches the play, forces defenders to play deeper and so creates more space in midfield for his teammates to play in.  The English striker's goal tally - four in five games now - isn't too shabby either.

Inverness have now beaten Hearts, Aberdeen and County in the last four weeks, and they're still to get Gary Warren and Jordan Roberts fit (and without Aaron Doran long-term).  Imagine how well they might do when they actually get to play at full strength. LS


McNamara's successor has a heck of a task on his hands
The highlights of this match represented a new low for Sportscene, given that they only bothered to show 105 seconds of action, and didn't even bother with action replays - even of the goals!  With the SPFL having stopped putting extended highlights on their Youtube channel, pressure has to be put on BBC Scotland to actually do the games justice, rather than this half- (or even quarter-) arsed effort every week.

What did we learn?  Well, when the going got tough, Partick Thistle got going, scoring as many goals in this match as they had done in their first nine league games.  If they had lost they would have been five points adrift at the bottom and Alan Archibald would have been feeling the heat; now they are off bottom after leapfrogging United.

It helped that the visitors' keeper, Luis Zwick, had an absolute nightmare.  He was inexplicably outjumped by David Amoo in the six yard box for the opening goal (the lack of protest for a foul tells its own story), and later on he somehow let a weak low cross from the outstanding Mustapha Dumbuya dribble past him and into the far corner.  Zwick is a youngster with talent but is far too green to be playing at this level regularly - like far too many of his teammates.  Jackie McNamara's successor, whoever he is, is going to have to make do with a squad which lacks experience and graft.  Worse, it will be January before he can bring in the seasoned centre back and goalkeeper that this team so badly needs. LS


Hearts indiscipline is their undoing
In fact, ignore the first paragraph of the previous bit - the highlights of Hearts-Killie lasted all of FIFTY-EIGHT SECONDS...and didn't even bother including Gavin Reilly's late red card.  Can't BBC Scotland please hand over the rights (for which they are paying a pittance anyway) to someone who actually gives a s***?

Conrad Balatoni's late equalizer against his former club left the Jambos with only two points from their last five games, and there wasn't much in this game to suggest that the home side had turned the corner.  Hearts seem to be fine right up until they concede; they lost their heads terribly in the second half at Inverness, and then after conceding an early goal against Aberdeen they went to pieces.  I was as surprised as anyone that they drew at Celtic Park, but goodness knows what might have happened had Celtic taken one of a plethora of first half chances.  And this time around they failed to put Kilmarnock to bed and Reilly's foolish sending off, a few minutes after coming off, summed up their failure to deal with frustration.

There's so much flair here, but there seems to be a distinct lack of leadership aside from veteran keeper Neil Alexander.  Captain Alim Ozturk (absent for this match) is of course notorious for going walkabouts from central defence, which hardly sets a good example.  It must be noted that most of the older members of the squad were signed this summer and are still finding their feet and possibly, given the mix of nationalities, their voices.  Until that happens, Hearts will continue to be fragile. LS


Superb Loy eases Stewart's pain
Well, Motherwell found a way to stop Greg Stewart cutting in from the right flank and scoring with a fine left-foot finish...by crocking him.  Paul Hartley was not pleased to have lost his star attacker - "Stewart gets targeted again with another challenge. It seems to be happening every week with Greg."
  Hopefully for Dundee's sake Stewart won't miss too much action, but they still managed to win this without him, Kevin Thomson (who went off injured again) or the crocked Paul McGowan.

It helps that Rory Loy, who has missed too much of 2015 with injuries, was fit to lead the line.  Loy is tremendous at linking up play as well as being pretty slick in front of goal - his finish for the opener here was sublime.  A credible source of mine claims the former Falkirk man is on upwards of four grand a week, which surely can't be true - can it?  What is true, though, is that he is one of the best centre forwards in this league, and that not many folk have realized it yet. LS

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.