November 2008 Archives

Thank you, Scott Robertson. I was about to dwell on Saturday's disappointingly poor show at Kilmarnock when in came the news about your Scotland call-up.

I don't think too many Arabs will disagree that Scotty has been our most consistent player this season. He's turned out to be a real engine in the heart of midfield, taking on a lot of the thankless duties that Mark Kerr and the Fresh Prince did last season.

But Scott has added an attacking element that, combined with Jimmy Gomis' trickery and the strong running of Craig Conway and Willo Flood, has made us a joy to watch at times.

In case you haven't heard, Scott has just been called up today as a replacement for the Scotland squad for the Argentina game at Hampden on Wednesday. It's a big step up for a guy who has played only 14 league games in the SPL. But he deserves it.

On to Saturday at Rugby Park. It was our poorest show since the Hamilton game on opening day. The first half was dull beyond belief and we just didn't show up in the second.

Killie's Mehdi Taouil was the big difference, winning a penalty on the stroke of half-time. United's defence was all over the place in the second half and Sandaza and O'Donovan didn't do much up front.

Conway was right off the boil and it was a surprise when Willo went off for Danny Swanson rather than Conway. Jon Daly should have got a penalty when he was shoved from behind - but at 2-0 down I'm not sure it would have made much difference.

The United support, to their credit, sang all day. And the Rugby Park announcer seemed determined to tell us there were 617 Arabs in the ground - he mentioned it three times in his Tannoy announcements and thanked us for coming. Very civilised!

Anyway, we're back at the fortress this Saturday for a chance of revenge against the Accies and hopefully the start of another unbeaten run.

Maybe it's time to freshen things up. I'd bring back Daly for O'Donovan, reintroduce Prince Buaben into the centre of midfield and put Gomis wide left instead of Conway. But then what do I know?

I've just joined Row Z's fine team of bloggers - and what a time to start!

Nine games unbeaten, including seven wins, and a thrilling 3-3 draw at Ibrox.

We hung on a bit yesterday after a flying start against Aberdeen at Tannadice. But now Sir Craig has added that steely resolve to our undoubted talent and flair.

As a natural pessimist after years of under-achieving and false dawns, I'm starting to feel a tiny bit confident. Hell yes, I haven't felt this good since the giddy days of the 1996-97 season, when we went on a 13-game unbeaten run under Tommy McLean that included eight league wins in a row and helped us to a third-place finish.

There's more than a few similarities between that team and the current one. We signed a full back, midfielder and striker out of nowhere who went on to form the backbone of an exciting side. Erik Pedersen, Lars Zetterlund and Kjell Olofsson cost less than £500,000 in total but rapidly became fan favourites.

This season, we added Paul Dixon and Scott Robertson from Dundee and Francisco Sandaza from Valencia's reserve team - and they didn't cost a penny. Dixon and Robertson are hugely impressive and look as if they've been playing in the SPL for years and the Sandancer is finally coming on to a game after a sticky start.

Hibs at home on Wednesday will be another toughie. Maybe it's time to give one or two of the lads a breather and bring the Prince or Danny Swanson into midfield.

This year we've got strength in depth and Jon Daly must be knocking on the door for a return too, especially if Sandaza doesn't recover from his knock on Saturday. Roy O'Donovan didn't do himself any favours by racing off the pitch on Saturday without acknowledging the fans or his team mates. He doesn't seem to happy up here and I think he may be heading back down the road to Sunderland at Christmas.

The last word goes to Lucasz Zaluska, who's turning into our most solid keeper in years. The way we're defending, he's often only getting a handful of touches in a game. But he's pulled off some stunning saves in recent weeks and against Aberdeen plucked a couple of crosses right off Lee Miller's head to help out his back four.