DMAA

That's good news.

I don't read too much into that alone tbh. I remember well how Julien Rodriguez was talked up as Monaco’s captain. Those kind of comments are what you want to see though.

Tackling seems mediocre. 11th percentile in defensive 3rd, 53rd percentile overall. Past three seasons have been around that level, two seasons before were lower with the lowest being the 8th percentile overall. Dribblers tackled numbers are low across seasons, both in terms of instance (25th percentile) and success (7th percentile). Again suggests he isn’t a particularly strong/aggressive defender. Blocks numbers on the lower side but inconsistent across seasons. They are a top 5 side so it may be due to that, would have to compare other defenders. Interceptions generally low. Aerials aren’t great either. He gets involved a lot which is good, but his success rate is mixed. Percentiles for success rate over five seasons are 49th, 25th, 83th, 56th and 83th. A couple of good seasons there but safe to say he isn’t particularly dominant in the air. Playing for a top 5 team could possibly explain some of the lower numbers.

Reports that we are paying a few million have made me very lukewarm on this one. His stats are pretty run of the mill, and poor on a few key metrics (and inconsistent between seasons). On the other hand, he is rated by Twente fans, seems to have leadership qualities and has had a good record with Twente in terms of goal conceded so may have strengths in some of the intangibles like organisation. At the end of the day I’ll get on board because he likely improves us today (hopefully significantly). I’m just not seeing the justification for spending so much on someone this age, and another example of someone who has a personal relationship with our coaching staff is not helping my doubts about our scouting and recruitment.

I haven't understood why he's been frozen out. He's at least a natural centre mid and we could have done with him several times in recent months.

That was an absolute sickener. They've scraped most games against us but it doesn't matter. A win is a win.

His success in his second spell was an incredible achievement.

It's the fact he was being praised by a lot of people for his honesty though, when we all know others would get crucified for the exact same words. It's irrational.

Exactly what I said elsewhere. They would be absolutely crucified if they had said this. Just shows some players can't do/say anything right at the moment and others can do no wrong.

In order of weakest position to strongest, regardless of whether they happen to have been here for longer than a year.

The overriding narrative tonight is that the “old guard” are at fault. It is simplistic nonsense to pin a collapse like this on Tav, Goldson and Lundstram. Fans love a simple answer to a complex problem and that's what they've gone for. The sudden turn in our form since Hearts has been utterly mind boggling and I have no idea what has caused it, but I do know that the simplistic narrative being peddled tonight is not the answer.

He was in between the two men from the start, that was the problem. He was second to the ball because of the indecision over whether to go for the ball or accept the 2 on 1. A ridiculous position for him to be left in. If he had stuck with his man, the other Benfica player would have likely gone himself and it would still have been a 2 on 1. If we are apportioning blame for this goal, I’d blame the manager first, then Dessers, then Diomande. Yilmaz was arguably slow spotting the danger too.

Doesn’t really matter. He was right on this. We allowed ourselves to be done by one boot up the field.

Manager has to take some responsibility for last night’s goal. 1 punt up the field and we are left 2 on 1. There was no reason whatsoever to leave ourselves so exposed on 60 minutes when we were on top. McCoist was in shock and rightly so.

I was surprised he didn’t get much of a mention last night because I thought he was excellent and consistent throughout the game.

It’s just a sickener to lose due to a baffling tactic at corners. We had several warning shots and still didn’t act. McCoist was incandescent on comms. Lack of quality in the forward positions hurt us too of course but that is to be expected when none of our front 4 would start if not for injuries. I was crying out for subs from about 55 minutes and it felt like we waited till the game was gone before we made the changes. Roofe and Cantwell added quality. Raskin turned out to be a big upgrade over Dio. A sore one because we did a lot right but it feels like we brought the defeat on ourselves over the two legs. Having said that, an incorrect penalty decision hurt us too. At least our full focus is on domestic matters now.

I got a bad feeling when I saw the 11 today. Injuries have really taken their toll in the forward areas. It should have been enough but a major error and clinical finish changed the whole game early on. And Motherwell really did turn up today. The game was a reminder that Clement is largely working with the same players Beale had too.

The mistake was giving him the job in the first place. I was delighted but surprised when we did sack him. I thought it was to the board’s credit that they called it after 6 wins and 2 losses in the league (which was quicker than half the people who voted in this poll).

I think that’s debatable. 1 We both play Hearts, Celtic away. 2 We both play Hibs, Celtic away. 3 We both play Motherwell, Celtic away. 4 We both play St J, us away. 5 We both play Kilmarnock, us away. 6 We both play Dundee, us away. 7 We play RC at home, they play Livi away. I would prefer our set of fixtures.

Big relief. Showed character to get that winner. Cortes and especially Silva made a real difference. Silva needs to start from now on and I think Cortes will be a starter soon too.

I was very impressed with his goal at the weekend. Drove straight for goal and showed great technique.

“I’m a striker. I live for the goals.”

Feeling very optimistic at the moment. - Lawrence and Jack back in the team and getting game time. I’ve changed my mind on Jack getting a new contract because I owed him my ticket today via a family member. And Lawrence can be a key player when we are struggling to break teams down. Even today I felt he added creativity. - Fabio Silva, I’ll say it again, I believe will be very good for us over the next few months. A very good player. - Cantwell has now scored 4 in 6. Phil is getting him back to his best. - Great to get Cortes straight in. I’m positive he will score plenty goals once he settles. Great to strengthen that position (hopefully). - Diomande is still to come! Hopefully a very good player. Meanwhile Celtic are going in the opposite direction. That's 7 points more than us they have now dropped since Phil came in.

A goal every 99 minutes in the league since Clement joined mid October.

Fabio Silva is a striker so can rotate with Dessers. We could certainly do with another for depth, but I would say the wide forward positions need it even more. As things stand, Matondo and Scott Wright will play often in the second half of the season.