Shaughan McGuigan
Every now and again, a politician or celebrity, taps into a groundswell of public opinion, and uses their elevated status in society, to turn a trend into a zeitgeist. Think Martin Luther King, John Lennon, or Gandhi, men who have taken their positions to amplify the will and opinion of the people and use it for good. And now, to that spectacular alumni, we can add the name of Jamie Langfield.
If you missed it over the weekend, the Aberdeen custodian took to Twitter to criticise Andy Walker, a man who appears to be completely unaware that he should approach his co-commentary duties with at least a modicum of impartiality.
Unfortunately, Walker’s pro-Celtic demeanour continually leaks into his oratory, so much so in fact that if the cameras were ever to be pointed at the gantry, I fully expect to see images of him bedecked in the full Celtic tracksuit and third strip, whilst colouring in the official 2015 Hoopy the Huddle Hound Annual. Clearly, just like us, the common man, Langfield was mad as hell and unwilling to take it any more on Sunday, boldly venting his spleen on Twitter with the following:
“This is worth the fine I’m going to get…Andy Walker is a ..”
He then ended statement with an exciting flourish, an emoji of a bell.
We can only presume that the former Aberdeen number one was unable to find the pictorial image on his phone of an “end”, which lent his statement a slightly bewildering but nonetheless evocative conclusion. Alas, our Jamie thought better of his exclamation sometime later, deleting the tweet that only Walker and members his immediate family could possibly have taken umbrage to. For accurately summarising the summariser, however, Langfield deserves our fulsome praise.
Craig Cairns
I’m going for Lee Erwin’s gangly legs as he tore towards the Kilmarnock goal on Friday night. Though not doing anything overtly nimble, he deploys enough pace, guile and confidence to force his way past players and create a yard to shoot. This direct style has served Erwin well over the last few months, even if he has to react to, chase and stretch for the odd over-hit touch to compensate.
For Motherwell’s opener on Friday night he received the ball at the edge of the box and employed this unconventional technique in order to work his way past Manuel Pascali and Sammy Clingan. His shot was saved but turned in by the predatory Scott McDonald. By the time the ball left Erwin’s boot, there was five Kilmarnock players closer to him that any of his teammates.
Then he got himself on the scoresheet. Sent down the left wing by Stevie Hammell, Erwin initially found himself one-on-one with Lee Ashcroft but at a difficult angle to inflict damage from and with defenders recovering space. He used strength to hold off Ashcroft and performed a sort of backheel-turn-thing that didn’t seem to gain him much advantage before turning inside again, watching the ball bobble off his feet in the process. The bobble fooled Ashcroft and Erwin strode into the space to fire low past Craig Samson.
That’s four goals and six assists in the last 10 matches for the 21-year-old striker, who is close to signing new deal at Fir Park. He is also beginning to attract interest from other clubs, however, and on this form, it is likely that an improved contract is more likely to command a higher transfer fee than prolong his stay at Fir Park.
Duncan McKay
Jamie Hamill is a much maligned figure in Scottish football. This shouldn’t be a revelation. But he might just be the sort of character that Kilmarnock need. Gritty and determined, Hamill, unlike many of his teammates on Friday night did not disappear.
Two moments stood out for me: his selflessness in starting a rammy after Manuel Pascali decided to flirt with the possibility of an early bath. The second was his frankly, silly run as he chased Motherwell’s third goal scorer Lionel Ainsworth. Yes, he looked ridiculous and yes he had no chance of catching him, but that commitment and determination might be enough to help secure Kilmarnock’s survival.
Gary Cocker
My moment has to be given to the Caley Thistle fans who erupted with joy as their European status was confirmed with victory at Dens on Saturday.
Unlike about 90% of other Scottish sides, I’ve yet to discover an incredibly petty and immature reason to dislike or mock them, which is in itself an achievement. They saw out their narrow 1-0 win with the minimum of fuss and wholly deserve their Continental forays this summer.
John Hughes has undoubtedly defied all of his critics – including me – who predicted a swift downfall this year and has taken the club that’s only a few years younger than I am to the next level. As always with provincial teams, the test will be whether he can hold the vital parts of his squad together beyond the already-confirmed loss of Graeme Shinnie to Aberdeen.
Joel Sked
Golf is an excruciating game to watch. The ball is hit then it is a case of trying to follow the camera following the ball. Any initial reactions as to whether it is a good shot or not is pure guesswork. But once in a while along comes a glorious moment of schadenfreude when a golfer mutates into your every day golfer hacking around Silverknowes and shanks one into a crowd which does all it can not to burst into fits of hysterics.
So it was with great pleasure that I witnessed Jamie Hamill do the football equivalent. With Killmarnock deservedly trailing to Motherwell as they cling to a cliff trying to shake off the team which could pull them from the precipice, Hamill worked a shooting position at the edge of the Well box. An accurate shot past George Long and he would have pulled Killie out the more, however as he fashioned to shoot with his left foot his right, so often used to pass the ball out the park, got in the way and nudged the ball further to his left. Yet he was already lining up the ‘sledgehammer’ and with the accidental touch of the ball he comically swung at fresh air to a loud ‘wheeyyyy’ from the Sked household.
Moving away from my bitterness, Kilmarnock are in real trouble. They are fortunate that the season has only 180 minutes left and Motherwell appear to have left themselves too much to do. The first 45 minutes were a high calibre of ineptness. At least Locke has three years to improve on it *smug face*
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