A strangly low-key day on Saturday...
Firstly because I set aside a lifetime of prejudice about 'balding fat middle-aged men wearing replica tops' and wore a Dons top to the game for well the first time ever (though in ma defence the new third kit is smart as f*ck like... 45 of yer Scottish pounds online or in the club shops).
And secondly cos there is this strange almost pre-season feel surrounding every aspect of the club just now from the players to the fans.
Why this is I'm nae awfie sure. The inevitable uncertainty and upheaval caused by the new manager/collapse of Setanta? A hangover fae the Olomouc fiasco? The fact ye can sunbathe at half time on the steps behind the Y? Feck knows, but hopefully once the transfer patio doors glide quietly to a close and after the international break everybody can come back refocused and the real stuff can begin in earnest.
Anyway, the pre-match pub conversation... well once folk had got over seeing me in colours for the first time and Joe Royle on ESPN making an early entry for the 'No Shit Sherlock Award' with his observation after Chelski scored their second that "that’s Burnley's chances of winning this game gone now"…nae offence Joe but you were gettting better odds on Lord Lucan and Richey Edwards being found haein a snowba' ficht in the Sahara than Burnley getting anything against Chelski after the first went in.
Sorry, where was I? Oh aye the pre-match pub conversation surrounded e'boy Fyvie. With nobody in the group having been at Hamilton the previous week, a'bidy was speculating as to whether he was '16-year-old good' or just good old-fashioned good.
We were joined later by someone who was actually at Hamilton and his opinion was that e'boy Fyvie had a good game but that if he'd been 21 or 22 he wouldnae have stood out... a view which was confirmed by the 90 minutes that followed.
Of course if he played for either of the Bigot Bros, after two games the Daily Retard would be running a campaign to get Burley to select him for the Macedonia/Holland double header and Chick Young would be asking David Beckham what he thought of e'boy Fyvie.
As for the game itself... instantly forgettable. I must have seen hundreds of nil-nillers like this in my life as a fitba fan and short of a massive Sean Connery sending me shuffling off this mortal coil in the next few years, a couple of hundred more still to see.
They just edged the first, we edged the second, but neither side ever really looked like scoring and there wasn't even a contenious moment to get het up about... well, apart fae the Miller penalty incident. Looked a stonewaller tae me, but I was standing 100+ yards away, had been drinkin, and am biased.
As for our opponents, well, before the season kicked off I fancied Well as dark horses this year. I'm nae suggesting they'll be challenging for the League/Cups or even a Europa League spot because like everybody else in the league they'll suffer badly when the suspensions/injuries hit, but Gannon has shown whereever he's been that he knows how to mould a side with limited resources and their two wingers (O'Brien and whoever their number 27 was) impressed.
As for us, well this week's 'cameo fae a promising youngster' award goes to Michael Paton who gave us added pep (and occasional flashes of skill) when he came on after the break.
E'boy Fyvie looked a bitty lost with the ball flying over his head for most of the game but he did show occasional flashes that suggest the hype isnae entirely without basis. It was a pleasant surprise to see a central midfielder who realises that it's nae illegal for him to start and join attacks.
While technically e'boy Fyvie appears to have everything, it wouldnae be the worst thing in the world if we sent him down a level or two on loan until he's physically ready for the SPL as he was literally thrown off the ball on a few occasions.
As for Grassi, well a brief 20-minute cameo and he did every thing he was asked to do (which to be honest wisnae much) rather competently.
The downside was Kerr having yet another game to forget as he wasn't so much telegraphing passes as getting planning permission for them. Why he's got off to a stinker this season I'm nae sure; the impending court date? The pressure of the armband? Both possibilities but I think given his form last year, just a bad run of form would be a more realistic assessment.
And then there is Lee Miller. I like Miller, when he's on his game he is genuinely one of the best centre forwards in the country but he does have two glaringly obvious flaws.
The first is he's very much a streak player who blows hot and cold, when he's hot you can see why he's rated in the million-plus bracket, but when he's cold (and right now he's January in Siberia wearing a Hawaiian Shirt, a pair of Speedos and flip-flops cold) he looks utterly useless.
The second is that he is completely lacking in pace. At one point in the second half, Paton made a break to the byline and looked up to find his target man only to find that at that point he was in the centre circle strolling slowly towards the box (actually strolling gives him a sense of urgency and dynamism that was sadly wasnae there).
As those on the messageboards less prone to mindless hysteria when we get beat or OTT hypebole when we win have observed, we're currently going through a subtle change of style from the conservative safety first/match-up approach of Calderwood to the more positive imposing ourselves on our opponents style of McGhee where we attack with pace down the wings.
A centre forward who's still in the centre circle when our wingers hit the bylines will be of no use to us and unless he can adapt and adapt quickly to the new philosophy then for that reason alone (and not some mythical made-up knowledge of the internal workings of the club) I can see him moving on come January.
And that was that, it was a game to use the old cliché/wisdom that we'll play better than that and get beat and play worse and win.
Nothing much else to report other than the usual post match binge drinking/recreational drug taking...
Oh apart from a wee enquiry - you know the folk that brought us the WonderBra? Well, have they invented the WonderArse too?
I only ask cos there was this bird selling (overpriced) fags in the Monkey House whose arse was a work of art, and seemed to defy not only the laws of physics but those of nature too. In fact it was such a damn fine arse that RLR seriously considered taking up smoking for the first time at the age of 36 and three-quarters. Who says smoking is bad for your health?
Incidently anyone wanting to write a View fae the Redside: all ye need to do ramble some monotonous keech for about 18 paragraphs then slip in a reference to damn fine women's arses right at the end, and job's a good 'un.
The Red Avenger
