Talking Points from the Premiership

Mixu can't fix United's defence overnight

Ah, Mixu Paatelainen, the victim of ‘Sumo’ chants during my early days visiting Pittodrie (which were then used affectionately when he joined the mighty Dons) and a name used to confuse and baffle taxi office call-handlers by certain medical students (including maybe this particular author? Ed) whilst residing in Inverness.

His previous excursions into Scottish managerial waters had proved relatively successful and are covered in Lawrie’s excellent recent blog (INSERT LINK HERE FOR A CHEAP PLUG) so his appointment should bring some optimism to Arabs in the wake of the dark latter days of Jackie McNamara’s reign on Tayside.

Truth be told, Sunday’s game did not make for pleasant viewing, really for either side.  Referee Kevin Clancy must’ve been fed up of the sound of his whistle (I know I was) with the amount of free-kicks which littered the game – even the Sky commentators sounded cheesed off. I cannot recall a game more disrupted by fouls in a long time.

Big Mixu certainly has a job on his hands.  United' defence was dreadful again, with centre-backs  John Souttar and Mark Durnan jittery, and keeper Luis Zwick as uninspiring as ever.  Special mention must go to Reading loanee Aaron Kuhl, who has modelled his game, and his hair, on David Luiz.  He kept trying Hollywood passes from in front of the back four and even attempted a side-footed free-kick from 30 yards. A poor man's David Luiz...surely Mixu's first piece of business should be to send him on the first train over the Tay Bridge south.

There are a few bright lights however.  Blair Spittal, before his rather naive red card, looks like he has something about him.  Billy Mckay is a proven goalscorer at this level with ICT, and should play through the middle – he was often found wide right on Sunday.  John Rankin provides a steady hand and experience in a fairly young team.  The next few months at Tannadice will be anything but dull. ST

McGhee makes an inauspicious start

The best case scenario for Mark McGhee’s return to Motherwell was that they were getting an experienced manager who, in his previous stint in Lanarkshire, showed that he could set up a mid-table team in a way that could bring a measure of success.  On Saturday, that scenario was placed in the cold light of day.

McGhee made some big calls in his first selection back at Fir Park and he got them all wrong.  Scott McDonald, Keith Lasley, and Lionel Ainsworth were all left on the bench, while defender Louis Laing was played in midfield.  From the start it was clear that Scott Brown and Nir Bitton would claim the middle of the Fir Park pitch as their own personal fiefdom.  Motherwell’s nominal front three provided no outlet, so the home side were constantly on the back foot.

Louis Moult, shunted out to the right flank, struggled.  His lack of attacking threat would have been excusable had been offering some protection to his right-back. But time and time again, Emilio Izaguirre and Stuart Armstrong had their way with Josh Law, constantly overloading him and ultimately costing Motherwell the game as one of those moves set up the winning goal.  Nadir Ciftci took his goal competently enough, but Celtic still don't look sharp without Leigh Griffiths. Given their dominance, particularly in the first half, it’s incredible they only won by a single goal.

Celtic have taken until mid-October to reach the top of the league, but they will surely stay there. Any optimistic Dons fans (they’re a pretty bipolar bunch, so I don’t know any optimistic Dons fans just now) can hold onto the fact that they did only beat a terrible team 1-0, and if they get their act together soon there could still be a title race. But this was not really a 1-0 game.  McGhee claimed after the game that it was, but if he really thinks that then Motherwell are in big trouble. IM

MacKinnon is a liability for Accies
I'm not sure I can quite claim that BBC Scotland plumbed new depths with these highlights - they've already dug their way to the earth's mantle this season with their ineptitude - but a significant chunk of this very short reel was taken up by footage of a female stretcher-bearer slipping and falling over.  At least they bothered to show the sending off this week; why Darian MacKinnon felt the need to put his studs into an opponent's thigh, a few seconds after a teammate had been award a free-kick, I have no idea.

I was amazed to discover that it was MacKinnon's first red card since last September, when he got his marching orders at Tannadice and subsequently got an extra ban for elbowing an opponent in the same game.  He had actually gone his last three games without any card at all..after getting booked in nine of his previous eleven league matches going back to last season (a Joey Barton-esque record!).  Initially a winger when he joined Accies from the juniors, he was converted into an all-action central midfielder last season by Alex Neil; the action, however, seems to be exclusively in the form of hacking opponents.

Going by the online reaction to this game (and plenty of others in the past year) Accies fans aren't exactly proud of him - not for MacKinnon the "he's our hacking b*****d" love that Neil Lennon got at Celtic, or Ian Black at Hearts.  To them, he's little more than a thug.  Luckily for him, his teammates dug him out of a hole with a late equalizer against Dundee.  MacKinnon could do with replicating some of their team spirit...if he gets his place back in the team anytime soon. LS



Graham and Foster deepen Dons crisis

Perhaps the only thing harder to take than Brian Graham's opening goal for a Dons fan was the fact it came as the result of a terrific run down the left flank from ex-Aberdeen captain Ricky Foster.  Having been played onside by Andy Considine on the opposite flank, he first left the back-tracking Kenny McLean on his backside, then cut inside the returning Mark Reynolds, before driving towards the goal - he was eventually halted by the right boot of Paul Quinn, however his challenge spilled out for Graham in the middle of the box to calmly slot home and open the scoring before half time.  Foster was terrific in a wide midfield role, running Quinn ragged in the first half.  Dare I say he looked like he was enjoying his football for the first time since he left Pittodrie?

Quinn's first goal for Aberdeen was at Victoria Park, albeit he was playing for Ross County at the time, his own goal being the difference between the two teams the last time the sides met at Dingwall.  This time around he managed to make amends by adding a couple of assists on the night for his former club.  In the second half, he inadvertently flicked a header into the path of Graham who capitalised - via some pinball with Considine - to beat Danny Ward for his, and the Staggies', second goal.  Defensively, the Dons were a shambles, with Mark Reynolds badly off the pace on his return and Quinn awful at right-back then centre-back.  Surely their strongest back four would have Graeme Shinnie and Shay Logan in it from the start?

For Ross County, this result was perhaps the pinnacle of what has been an incredible turnaround in performances under Jim McIntyre, seeing them ascend to third place in the league table.  (Hearts would leapfrog them on Sunday.)  The Staggies are undoubtedly a different animal - or perhaps the same animal, just considerably more bucksome - under McIntyre's leadership. They are winning games, scoring goals, and look a match for anyone in the league on their day.

Four defeats on the trot are now far more than just a cause for concern for the Dandies.  The wheels haven't just come off the bandwagon; the bandwagon has exploded and felt a nuclear fallout in its wake.  This was another dreadful performance and they could have lost by more.  Winter is coming, and the Dons will need to sort their house out quickly before they succumb to the exposure. MI

Are Partick Thistle getting better, or just getting luckier?
What a difference a couple of wins makes.  Partick Thistle may still be only eleventh, but they are four points clear of Dundee United, and only five behind the St. Johnstone side they beat on Saturday.  A corner turned?  It's hard to be certain - the first win was against a United side still looking for a new manager, the second courtesy of two ridiculous long-range strikes from Gary Miller and Steven Lawless.  And they might not have won this one had referee John Beaton not inexplicably ruled that Abdul Osman's late handball was outside the box when in fact it was well inside.

Miller will have especially enjoyed that goal, coming against the club which let him go in the summer.  It had been a lousy start to the season for the right-back - his only accomplishment up till now had been putting his shorts on inside-out against Inverness in August, and he only played in this game because Mustapha Dumbuya was ill.

Next up for the Jags?  Accies at home.  Win that (probably with Dumbuya back at right-back, despite Miller's goal) and then we'll know if this is a proper revival or a flash-in-the-pan. LS



ICT too narrow minded against Kilmarnock

ICT were, based on the last five matches, the form side in the league.  This run and the fact that manager John Hughes remained at the club after Dundee United came sniffing meant that supporters felt relatively confident ahead of a trip to Kilmarnock.  So much for that.

Despite a pretty even split in all of the recorded stats available it was Killie who emerged with a deserved victory which, in the end, was pretty comfortable.  After a promising start ICT were, for the most part, not at the races and, despite the return of Ryan Christie to the side, struggled to create many chances in the game.  An injury to Ross Draper saw ICT lose their grip in midfield and their early dominance slip.  Perhaps a fully fit Draper or indeed any other fit midfielder would have gotten across to Greg Kiltie to close him down before he got a shot away to put Kilmarnock into the lead right on half time.  It seemed odd to keep a clearly struggling Draper on the pitch and perhaps a decision that, with hindsight, Hughes will wish he had made earlier. 

Hughes might also rue not trying to change the shape of the Caley Thistle side before they were 2-0 down and struggling.  ICT tend not to play with 'true' wide midfielders; most of the width comes from the full-backs.  The attacking three behind the striker were very narrow here, too often cutting inside with their full backs not providing enough width.  Danny Williams was at least trying to stretch the Killie back line but he was bizarrely substituted for Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo who offered little by comparison.  All too often balls seemed to be almost lazily played ahead of Miles Storey for him to chase in the hope he could get on the end of them and create a goal scoring chance.  

The option to call upon someone like Aaron Doran, out long term, might have made all the difference. Despite his 'fuller' physique Doran would have offered a real alternative in a game which got suffocated in the middle of the pitch.  The sooner the likes of Doran, James Vincent, Jamie Roberts and Toni Sho-Silva return from injury the more variety Hughes will have to try and tweak his side to rescue points in future matches. Sadly, for ICT fans, the Highlanders were too one dimensional and predictable on Saturday to get themselves back into the game. AS

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.

Stuart Taylor (ST) is Wick Academy's team doctor. He is an Aberdeen fan, especially now they're doing well again.