By Graham Barnstaple
May 22 2011

There were a number of key talking points from yesterday’s Cup Final, would they have made any difference to the result?

Stuart McCall chose to play 4-5-1 rather than 4-4-2, I don’t have any problem with that I was a bit surprised with the personnel when I saw the team sheet at just after two o’clock.

It looked at first we had no right back then it became apparent Hateley was going to play there, meaning Gunning or Hammell would be in midfield. As it turned out it was Hammell who lined up in centre midfield alongside Jennings and Lasley.

I don’t think this worked and it may have been better to go with Saunders or Ross at right back with Hammell or Gunning at left back allowing Hateley to line up in midfield

The midfield appeared disjointed all afternoon allowing Celtic too much space in this key area and not getting sufficient support up to Sutton.

Then there was the performance of the referee, while it wasn’t the reason for our defeat it may have contributed to it. There were two or three big decisions he didn’t make, I can just about understand why Majstorovic wasn’t sent off for his tackle on Sutton given the timing in the game and the conditions.

There was no excuse for not showing the Swede a second yellow for his handball in the first half. This would have changed the shape of the game completely, and forced Celtic to play differently.

He did help us out by ignoring Craigan’s hand ball just after this but this appeared to be a case of a “make up” decision knowing he had got the other one wrong.

Finally, I don’t think the weather helped us, the pitch didn’t appear to suit the likes of Jennings, Humphrey and Murphy who all appeared hesitant with their passing and their running.

We were well beaten on the day and can have no complaints but who knows what might have been if the red card had been shown, or different personnel selected?

What might have been?

Discussion started by Fir Park News (IP Logged), 22/05/2011 17:51

Fir Park News
22/05/2011 17:51

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