Now that the International week has been and gone, Saturday sees Ian McCall bring the Arabs up the A90 to the home city of these two humble scribes, who are spared their fortnightly battle of wits with the speed cameras! The media hacks will be dusting down their ”New Firm Derby” tales of how the mighty have fallen, but who knows….this might be the only Derby we have to look forward to, once the “Cornershop” has a Retail Park over the road from it!!!
It is hard to believe that three quarters of the first quarter of the season (if that makes sense) has already passed us by. The early promise and optimism of the pre-season performance against Everton and the first sixty minutes or so against the HIVees became a dim and distant memory two weeks ago in a truly awful home performance against Motherwell, which was like Groundhog Day from last season.
Even the most pessimistic Arab could not have envisaged us going into this game sitting second bottom with only a meagre five points from a possible twenty four, however, that is the position we find ourselves in and there is no time like the present to address it. The only positive to be taken from our league position is that the Sheep are only two points above us and Killie and Livi are three and four points likewise respectively. It’s too early to do a Gerard Houllier and talk of “win or bust” but it’s not too far off the mark.
The good news is that “we” are on the road, as there is little doubt that the Tannadice crowd is transmitting jitters and panic down to the players with their vociferous criticism (even though some of it is justified). Hopefully, being away from home will lead to a more relaxed and improved performance and thus a better result.
Ian McCall seems to be indicating that some of the injuries are clearing so hopefully he will have a bigger squad to choose from than he had a fortnight ago. The papers seem to be concentrating on the battle for the goalie’s jersey. Personally we believe that Bullock deserves to retain the jersey, as the penalty against Well was soft at best and the second goal was merely a result of the team pushing up for an equaliser when one nil down.
The Sheep are on a high after a miraculous victory away to Killie in their last fixture and judging by the Evening Express (ie the Sheep Shagger’s “Tully”) this week, they have turned the corner. The truth of the matter is that they are the worst team in the SPL and Saturday is an ideal time to leap frog them with a victory. The MogaDons are wearing their new black kit on Saturday at the “Dung Heap”, so c’mon United lets give them a black mood to go with it by humping them and making life in the Granite City bearable for the two of us!