Smiles all round after yesterdays 4-0n win over at Easter Road. Kris Commons opened the scoring, Virgil van Dijk showed another side to his cv with a free kick that had you on your feet, and Teemu Pukki, playing without help from Anthony Stokes, scored one and earned a penalty which allowed Kris Commons to wrap up the scoring.<\/p>\n
Hibs made it difficult, and for a while in the second half made more than a game of it, but the free kick from van Dijk took the heart out of them, and really the scoreline was a little more comprehensive than any of us would have believed possible.<\/p>\n
All good entertainment though, and worth the admission money. If you were at the game , that is.<\/p>\n
Despite the goal, and another assured performance at the back, Virgil van dijk has to step aside and allow the man of the match award to go to keeper Fraser Forster, for at least three outstanding saves. Neil Lennon concurs;<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought some of his saves were awesome, I have to say,\u201d said Lennon. \u201cHe is one of the only types of goalkeepers who can make those saves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cFor someone who is so big \u2014 and he has a great presence in the goal \u2014 his agility is fantastic. I think he\u2019s got a huge career ahead of him and he\u2019s made giant strides here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a nice treat to have. Sometimes when we are on top he\u2019s not had much to do but he\u2019s really earned his corn today.\u201d<\/p>\n
One on particular, involving a twist in midair to tip a scything shot wide was excellent, and shows the high level of concentration that Forster has adopted in his role.<\/p>\n
Lennon also praised van Dijk, and that majestic free kick;<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been threatening to do that for a while and I wasn\u2019t happy with the way the free-kicks had gone before that,\u201d Lennon said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cOur two previous free-kick were lacking in imagination. I thought they were a wee bit hopeful rather than being hit with conviction but he\u2019s gone up there and he\u2019s unstoppable. I think if you had two goalkeepers in there they wouldn\u2019t have stopped it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI think he has been so consistent and he\u2019s a class act. He\u2019s like a Rolls Royce when\u2019s he playing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s technically so gifted and physically he\u2019s a great specimen and he\u2019s certainly had a great season so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
A good day all round, although Terry Butcher had a moan about the handball that led to the free kick, but he would, wouldn’t he ?<\/p>\n
He told the Edinburgh Evening News;<\/p>\n
\u201cThe free-kick that was given for handball was bizarre in my opinion. The same referee does not give handball for the same player in the same incident at Aberdeen and then we have a handball by a St Mirren player not once but twice to stop it going through to Sam Stanton in the last minute and it\u2019s not given.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe referee said he\u2019d cautioned Michael and given the free-kick because he\u2019d stopped the ball going through to an opponent. I don\u2019t understand, I don\u2019t know what the rules are and how the referees interpret it, but we are bitterly disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which should give the readers something to do this week as they try to fathom out what he was on about.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Wolves have rejected a bid for Leigh Griffiths, manager\u00a0Kenny Jackett said: “We’ve had a bid from Celtic but it’s been rejected. We don’t know how things will develop.<\/p>\n
“I’m sure there will be further dialogue. I’ve spoken to Leigh and he’s made public his fondness for Celtic but he’s fully committed here.”<\/p>\n
Which means that theres no big money striker coming in, and Jordan Rhodes is believed to be inconsolable, after reading on here that we wanted him.<\/p>\n
He should know better than to believe this rubbish.<\/p>\n
Sports Direct News claims that Sunderland have made a bid for Georgios Samaras, which might explain his lacklustre performance again yesterday, whilst presumably the Wearside scouts never saw his lacklustre performance yesterday, otherwise they wouldn’t have made a bid.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Radio Scotland added to Ally McCoists woes when panellist Michael Stewart admitted on air that the jolly Ger had phoned him up to “mark his card ” after some less than complimentary remarks about the fat funster.<\/p>\n
The podcast for the show makes for interesting listening, and even more interestingly, it shows that the gloves are well and truly off, and the podgy pie eater is now facing the sort of flak that other talentless tacticians must face.<\/p>\n\n