A lot to be happy about tonight.

Some nice football played, some very good individual performances and the start of some good understanding and nice bits of link-up play between certain players.

A draw probably the fair result looking at the stats, but it did feel like we let them off the hook once again with that Randall chance blown near the end. A decent point to start the season though.

My player ratings -

Walton 7 - A couple of very good saves tonight.

Rawlins 6 - Thought he was ok. Tough gig up against Gassama in the first half, but he kept him quiet enough that he got subbed after 45. Still think there's more to come.

Esselink 8 - Thought Bert was very good tonight. Very comfortable on the ball and was calm when Rangers attacked.

Forbes 8 - Excellent display. The block he made almost on the goal line absolutely outstanding. It would have been flagged off for off-side anyway, but he wasn't to know that. Very promising start from him.

Ferry 8 - Probably my MotM. We are going to really miss him if his departure is indeed imminent this August. Personally, i'd only sell him if we got close to the 2 million bid we accepted previously. He's that important to us. If we lose him for nothing next Summer, so be it. He could be the difference between us getting to places like Hampden or getting Top 6 instead of finishing say 7th.

Sevelj 7 - Still not quite at his best for me. But gave everything as he always does in these types of games.

Tait 7 - Competed well.

Agyei 7 - Much more like it from Manny tonight. Outstanding ball winning challenge in our own penalty box to prevent a certain shot on goal in injury time. Brave.

Randall 7 - Missed that huge chance near the end and was at times wasteful with his final ball. But you can tell he will be a big player for us, as he's involved in so many big moments in a match. Still unsure why Goodwin is insisting on playing him on the right instead of the left (where he played for Auckland). I'd at least switch him and Sapsford at times during the match.

Rose 6 - I'm still not totally sold on 'Lochy', and think he's technically quite a poor player, but that's 4 goals already before August. If he keeps that up on top of his huge work rate then he'll undoubtedly be a fan favourite, there's no doubt about that.

Sapsford 6 - Good first half. Fairly anonymous in the 2nd half. I think he's better on the right wing. He's so right footed that he's always looking to cut inside. I think he has a fight on his hands to be one of the front three this season, but that is a good thing. Competition is healthy and he was massively overused last season. 

Subs - 

Iovu 6 - Not much to do.

Camara 6 - Was 'ok'.

Metsoko 6 - Never seen much of the ball, but hit the target with his only shot. More to come from him. A lot more.

Bennie 7 - Fantastic cameo. Looked very strong and confident on the ball. Outstanding pass to Randall with the outside of his boot to completely cut through the Rangers rear guard. Him and Ferry looked a great duo down the left. A minor tragedy that relationship probably won't get much time to foster. As the early signs are that it could be dynamite.

Randal puts that away and we are all saying what a brilliant performance and win that was.

I’m gutted not to have won, but I thought the signs look good.  Played some good stuff and look like we have much more pace in the team now.

Rose might not get is loads of goals but what a difference he makes pressing the opposition defenders.

Ferry outstanding, he’s is going to be such a huge miss if he goes before the window closes.  I’d rather keep him and lose him for feee next summer.

Walton - good to have a safe pair of hands back in goal. He's not the most comfortable with the ball at his feet but did ok. A couple of solid stops.

Rawlins - lots of calls for Naamo to play ahead of him but I felt he did well enough. I wish he'd not committed for the goal and anticipated the turn, but it's early doors and I think he'll get better and better.

Esselink - the Bert redemption arc is upon us

Forbes - solid, quick, will be important for us

Ferry - top class

Agyei - back to his usual

Sev - standard Sev performance. Loads of dig.

Tait - loves chucking himself to the ground when someone brushes his back, not a big fan of that, but that aside, on the ball he is a massive upgrade on what we have in midfield and was in the ref's ear all game - maybe just the type of guy we need.

Randall - great ball in for the goal, loads of pace, loads of hard work, some decent set piece delivery. Is going to be a good player for us. My god though, just pass it into the corner next time.

Sapsford - standard Sapsford performance. Great dummy for the goal, some frustrating moments, but another who will be a big player for us this season and will definitely be pushed for a starting 11 place by Bennie/Metsoko/Rose.

Rose - what a boy. Runs his heart out, chases everything. Maybe has a tad more quality that I have him credit for after the first couple of games. We've not had a number 9 like him for a good while. He might not score every week but I'm almost certain his energy and effort will create chances for others that lead to goals.

Thought the sub ls did well too and we didn't see much drop off. Great ball by Bennie and he looks like he could really have something. Camara and Iovu solid enough when they came on. Metsoko with a bit more sharpness and composure could have won it for us.

Overall a good performance and (as mentioned by others) I would have absolutely taken a draw before the game. Happy to see Jim go with the 433 and stick to it through the game. We are a much better team to watch when we have 3 in midfield. Yoro, a left back and (maybe) an experienced centre back in and we're on for a solid season with top 6 hopes.

Was a really good performance from us in the main and we should have won.
Apart from the start of the second half we at least matched them which I didn't expect.
Just good to see us play without an inferiority complex and in a proper shape. Keep at it Goodwin.
Still early days but it would be good to finally enjoy watching United play futba more often than not for the first time in over a decade.

Reading comments above and looks like i see some things a bit differently to others.

I'm really happy with last night especially when you put the match in context.

We were playing against a manager who came a very close 2nd last season who is also loved by the huns and making his debut. A team who have spent 16.9m quid according to transfermarkt this off season.

The whole game was set up to be about them and most outsiders would be expecting a 4 nil or something similar.

What we did was run, compete and test them for the majority of the game and other than a 15 minute spell, looked very good.
Our goal - maybe a lucky finish but the lead up to the goal was excellent. There was hard work, skill and determination- all things we want to see.

There goal - slightly unlucky but cant take away from a terrific bit of skill by assgaard.

Don't think 1 player let us down. A lot of chat about rawlins and think he did an ok job. He kept a 2.5m player quiet. Could do more attacking but also a change in formation will see things change.

Super positive. The thing I really liked was mcinnes mentioning our forward 3 and saying how much they gave them issues with our movement and closing down.

We are not the finished product but a bloody good start.

Need to keep these performances going for a midweek in killie etc.

433

Playing out from the back. OK we had to adapt a bit second half but I haven't seen us play like that for years.
Quite something to see wasn't it?
Especially for fans like me who put a high emphasis on style, identity, passing and cohesion. If that front 3 click at any point someone is getting 5

Walton- 2 excellent saves

Rawlins- grew into the game as he settled
Bert- Strolled it. Played very well.
Forbes- absolutely solid. Upgrade on Graham.
Ferry- usual superb. Someone win the lottery quick and make him a ridiculous offer.

Sevelj and Agyei- good partnership. Couple of pitbulls that can use the ball.
Tait- the captain we’ve needed. Excellent league debut.

Randall- bar the miss, excellent assist and worked hard.
Rose- worked his kunt off. Got the goal.
Sapsford- worked hard. Great dummy for the goal.

Subs-
Bennie- looks like a right good find.
Camara- worked hard but there’s been a drop since Agyei signed.
Metsoko- done fine

Draw was the fair result but if anyone deserved to win the game it was us. If Randall scores we win the game but chermiti should’ve squared the ball to Shankland near the end and it’s an easy tap in to win the game so it’s evened itself out.

Noticed that Farrugia was back in the squad for this but Naamo wasn't.
Is he injured again?

LarsErikKjell wrote:

redford_must_score wrote:

Noticed that Farrugia was back in the squad for this but Naamo wasn't.
Is he injured again?

 
Muscle injury. Expected to be ok quickly enough. Chances are we'll need him this weekend.

 
I'm not keeping a record on the lad but he seems to be out injured quite a lot?
2/3 games here, 2/3 games there.

I'll be honest when Dario arrived I thought we had signed a real player.
I made excuses for him being asked to play out of position, time to settle in, time to adapt. He'll come good I thought.
Neat, tidy, (detractors might say tippy tappy)  but I've yet to see him make a crunch tackle, a goal saving intervention, a great attacking pass, or set up a winning goal. (Stand to be corrected obviously). Do you think he's suited to Scottish football? I'm not sure he's aggressive enough.