ascender

The warning signs have been there all season though, it was a bit strange to see some in the media and fans on the web going overboard in their praise of the team I thought and comparisons to some of those in the 9IAR squad for example.

Someone I know was talking to Ally McCoist last season about tiredness amongst professional athletes and he was saying that its not just physical tiredness, but that the mental pressures of playing a lot of games you're expected to win does take its toll on players, some more than others. I agree though, they're still not in the real world with real jobs and pressures that the rest of the population have, but they're also not super-human and immune from things getting to them.

Its disappointing to have dropped points, but I think we've done well to not drop them before now, so it was never going to be an unbeaten season. And Celtic have dropped some too which means its not as bad as it could have been. In a head to head between us and them, I'd still fancy our players to beat them and I still think that could be enough to see us winning the title.

I still think we should be trying to work with Davie Weir and get him in to some sort of coaching role or mentoring role to the young players as he has clearly looked after himself over the course of his career and maybe our younger lads would be more open to advice from someone like that than a foreign coach coming in and preaching about lifestyle, diet and fitness etc.

The worrying thing though is that there's been a few times already this season where he could have changed things around in terms of starting lineup or with different substitutions, but hasn't. Some of the younger guys need time on the pitch with the first team urgently, otherwise, we'll be saying the same thing in another few months. You only have to look at how long some of our younger first team players have taken to settle to see that even playing regularly, the "reserves" could take a season or so to find their feet.

The squad is looking bare in terms of options in the midfield. We have two players in Edu & McCulloch who can play the defensive/holding role, but we're really lacking other players to come in and play in the other positions. Its not as bad if you have Naismith wide on the right as an inside forward almost, but we can't setup so attack-minded in every game. With Weiss disappointing so far, you then have to play someone like Lafferty on the left who is also a forward playing out of position.

Even with our defence, we do have some cover there to mix things up, rest players etc, but WS doesn't seem keen to do it for whatever reason.

Taking a chance on him? He's no 21 year spring chicken untested in more advanced competitions, he's a 28 year old who's done it at the highest levels - for his country, for his club both domestically and in all European competition.

 

He is capable of playing for some of the best clubs in Europe.

 

We'd do very well to retain him come February 1st.

I used the phrase because despite years of supposed interest in him, we've not had a single actual bid as far as we know and there's his off the field (and some on the field) antics that may put some off him as well as the fact he plays his football in Scotland. I'm actually really surprised no-one's come in for him before as they could have got a proper bargain, but may now have to pay a lot more for him.

I'd much rather he didn't go, but if we could get a very good fee for him and something like half to the debt and half to WS, then I think we'd be in an overall stronger position. Quite a few clubs have been linked with McGregor, but with nothing public yet, its all just gossip.

Given his age, recent performances and likely fee, someone could get a massive bargain by taking a chance on him.

He's been quiet recently apart from saying he's very happy here winning medals which is an about turn because I seem to remember him saying he was thinking about going about a year ago if he wasn't playing regularly. Conspiracy theory will obviously be that he's been given a nod and a wink that McGregor will be off and he'll be number 1 at some point in the future.

Great post Calscot. I think the problem is exacerbated by the fact we play in Scotland which from a footballing perspective is a very small-minded and parochial place. The dominance of a league by a couple of teams is nothing unique, but those two teams do carry a massive amount of baggage with them form both a football and social perspective. Hence its very difficult to have anything approaching a reasoned and sensible debate with the majority.

There needs to be some sort of transparent and consistent review of matches within 24/48 hours of them finishing, by an "independent" review panel, plus some sort of feedback from referees. That's the only way the situation will improve and all teams will be seen to be getting treated equally.

The SFA and SPL must do something to reign Celtic in though. They're behaving irresponsibly and recklessly imo. Also, they appear to be free to question decisions very publicly and suggest there's some sort of conspiracy or corruption going on without any organisation reminding them of their responsibilities as a large club. Its incredulous that they can do this without any hint of irony at the decisions they have had in their favour in recent times.

Of course some fans will still believe that the big teams get the big decisions, but that really is a belief among fans of so-called smaller clubs in every country around the world. The issue we have is that some clubs are now using this to hint at something much more sinister and in fact use it to deflect attention from their own inefficiencies on the pitch while playing up to their deluded fans who appear to be lapping it up.

Regarding the standard of refs, its ridiculous that they're judged on decisions which they've made in real time without the benefit of a single replay when you have pundits analysing replays from all angles at all speeds. FWIW I think the standard of refs in Scotland does appear to be low at the moment, but their job really isn't being helped by clubs and players at all.

Nice to see Davie Weir congratulating Little on his goal which was a cracking strike.

Good finish by Naismith too.

Brilliant stuff

The "no Boyd = no goals" thing was obviously an exaggeration, but you can see where it came from given just how many goals he scored for us. Let's be honest, can anyone here really have foreseen just how many goals Miller would get last year, let alone how Naismith would start this season?

Maybe Boyd is enjoying the challenge of the Championship, but I find it hard to believe he's not got half an eye on what's been going on this season up here and wondering if he's made a mistake.

That's not a bad idea. Unless they're going to treat all clubs and incidents equally, with a regular weekly review of all games, they might be better off reviewing none of them.

I thought his kick at Naismith was much more violent tbh. How on earth can a player get away with that sort of thing?

I have to say, I've been pleasantly surprised by most of the match reports I've read today. Many mention that the Broadfoot penalty was soft at best, but they all seem to point out the two Celtic players who were lucky to be on the pitch and they all say that regardless of any of this, Celtic were dreadful.

I thought he did ok, but missed just how bad the Stokes challenge was and a lot of niggly off the ball stuff from Celtic players as well as numerous fouls from Samaras. There was a lot of this and repeated fouled which went unpunished which i think is what was winding up Naismith and Weir in particular. The Samaras kick on Naismith was a straight red.

I didn't think it was a penalty for us and i thought Broadfoot took a dive which is pretty cringeworthy tbh. Unless the replays showed something different, it was a blatant dive. But given the last week, Celtic can't be surprised that the ref made a decision on his own can they? They just don't seem to get it.

Thing is, with Collum, what did Celtic expect? After the fuss they made last weekend over a correct decision, they've again heaped pressure on the ref before the game and i see Lennon has said they'll be looking for an explanation from him over his performance today and a couple of decisions in particular. Despite some of the reports I've read, Rangers didn't look troubled at all today apart from the goal. Celtic were really poor which isn't surprising considering the number of changes they've made, but they need to just get over this complex they have where they don't take any responsibility for their actions.

People have said that the penalty ended the fightback, but there was no fightback from them at 1-1 or 2-1, so by the time the third went in, it was all over. It'll be interesting to see how the media report all of this as i don't see how any reasonable person could watch that game today and deny that the better team won.

Forget about the ref, they were just dreadful and that's why I'm sure he'll be the focus of much criticism to deflect from their performance.

I'm sure they'll mention the penalty incident, but if they're going to mention that, then they have to also acknowledge the fact they were lucky not to finish with 9 men on the park.

This is a really, really poor Celtic side, i can't believe they've been unbeaten in the league so far. I hope the penalty doesn't overshadow just how bad Celtic have been. They boy Ki keeps getting caught in possession time after time and there's a few of their player who have been making little niggle challenges off the ball from the start. Very strange game.

We really dodged a bullet with Samaras and Loovens who we were apparently interested in. I wouldn't take a single one of their players for our squad.

200K+ a week?!?!? Another sign that the EPL is so far removed from anything approaching the game of football I grew up watching.

Weiss also gives us a different sort of outlet that we've not had in a very long time. He's got so much pace & energy, that he'll keep trying to go past players, cut inside and make something happen. As well as causing difficulties for the opposition, it can also take the pressure off us from a defensive point of view too.

I thought Foster looked shaky but came on to an excellent game both defending and attacking. I think its also a bit harsh that the papers are describing his chance as an open goal. Bougherra looked to be back to his best and Papac was very good.

All things considered, it has to be :rf: I think.

Crocker is just a bit rubbish, I also think Provan is pretty good. I really like Jim Beglin actually, surprised he doesn't get a bigger gig. Pre/post-match wise, I wish one of the big companies would give James Richardson a job. And I cannae stand Lawrenson and Shearer....

I know why some people are sick of us talking about players who've gone, but in Adam's case I think its interesting to see his constant improvement since leaving us, especially given the fact he was a favourite for the boo boys when he was here. When he first went and was doing well in the Championship, many were saying he'd "found his level", but he's now getting rave reviews in the Premiership too.

Is it not reasonable for fans to wonder why he didn't make the most of his time with us? Was it down to him and his attitude, or should he have been given his chance in the centre of the park to show just what he could do? Did coaching/training and/or diet have anything to do with it? He was often criticised for trying to pull off the difficult passes instead of keeping things simple, but he seems to have shown that he is more than capable of pulling the strings in a central role, so should our coaching team not have been able to recognise this?

Of course, it could just have been a case of the wrong player playing for the wrong coaching staff at the wrong time. Maybe the move to Blackpool was a wake-up call for him personally, but if it was, well done to the lad for grabbing the opportunity with both hands. Just a shame things didn't work out for him up here.

Main question I'd like to see asked is without CL football, is the new business plan/model & budget currently in place sustainable without further down-sizing and selling of assets?

No surprise there with the result really. Still loads of time to turn it around obviously, but i can see every other team around them have a right go at them when they're down.

One thing i was thinking is that Tim Howard is rarely mentioned as one of Ferguson's mistakes, but the guy has gone from strength to strength for both club and country since he left OT, while man yoo still struggle to find a long term replacement for Van Der Sar.

Missed it too, came back in to see Lennon repeatedly saying "f@&king cheat" after getting a talking-to by the ref.

I guess the first question is, why hasn't someone in our club asked these questions publicly instead of it having to come from a supporter's group.

The statement is well worded and I like how they've not resorted to finger pointing at other incidents that have gone unpunished, choosing just to focus on what affects The Gers directly.