ascender

If it was a game of football manager, I'd be getting rid of most of them! I also can't believe we've not been able to renew some more contracts though, so I've got a sinking feeling about some more players leaving for reduced fees. I'd also let Gio go at the end of the season, but that's probably not realistic. The team are under-performing, but I'd have expected a much better reaction to playing under Gio given his playing career. I just think a lot of guys like Aribo, Kamara and maybe even Kent aren't cut out for this pressure and/or have had enough of Scottish football. As much as the European games are amazing, it must be pretty depressing playing against teams four times a season who just want to defend at all costs, on crappy pitches, whilst time-wasting, getting lumps kicked out of you etc.

So looking at the squad.... And being concerned by some of those contracts being run down on players who we all thought we might get big money for, but its looking increasingly unlikely... I think there's no doubt the squad has suffered from under-investment - or rather investment in the wrong places. We have a very bloated squad and seem to have prioritised quantity over quality. I know the line is that nothing happened during pre-season, but I'd love to have been a fly on the wall during that time as neither the players or the management team looked up for it this season. The Malmo game was a real warning of things to come. What's even more frustrating is that we've gone backwards in some regards this season and the (two) management teams have been unable to resolve some blindingly obvious issues on the park. BTW, I'm saying all of this while realising I'm watching probably the most successful and consistent Rangers team in Europe I've ever seen in my life. Which makes it all the more baffling that we've stuttered so badly in Scotland during the same timeframe. Keepers McGregor - Retires. McLaughlin - Deserves a run as number 1 McRorie & a.n.other as backup? Or when do we expect McRorie to step up and be the number 2/challenge for 1? If not soon, should we not just be moving him on? Unless we pull off a big coup with a new number one, maybe a young prospect from Europe who's good enough to be our #1 for years to come, I guess we'll just be signing a new number 2. Centre Backs Goldson - Will go for nothing. Can't believe we've let him run his contract down and I'm still of the opinion he should maybe have gone as part of the Gerrard rebuild. Still seems suspect to dealing with long balls and anything not on his right foot. Helander - I think he's our best CB, but clearly has fitness issues. Balogun - Good cover, but I'd like to see a first-choice CB signed. He's fast, his attitude is good, but not a commanding presence. Jack Simpson - Another one who I'm surprised we signed. Surely Leon King could have covered that position? Surely he'll leave. Souttar - I still think we should have signed him in January, would definitely have helped shore things up a bit in the league. So we're after a first-choice CB in the Summer to play alongside Helander with Souttar and Balogun as cover? Full Backs Barisic - That 2M offer from Southampton looks like it could have been a great bit of business for us. His injury ahead of the Euros was poor timing and he's struggled with form all season. Which, last season apart, has been the story of his time here. Bassey - Our number one LB for next year right? He's only 22 and is improving all the time, seems to have his head screwed on right too. Tavernier - What a signing he's been. I've been saying for a few years though, that like Goldson, I can't help but shake this nagging doubt that we should have moved him on. Regardless of his amazing input, he and Goldson have been constants in a changing squad which has exhibited the same character weaknesses time and time again. I don't think he will leave though, so that means with Zukowski as deputy, Sands can also play there, we're just going to be in the market for a LB? I'd not be against us signing a new first choice RB and let Tav go with our best wishes. Midfielders Arfield - I think he's still got a part to play as a squad player as he does like to get beyond the front line frequently. He seems to start seasons poorly, then come on to a game though. So maybe he's another one who we can't afford to carry anymore and we need to start using youth more for those games where we rest players or need something different? Aribo - Inconsistent. Another big hope but seems to be one who is undroppable and un-subbable. I wonder if the grind of the Scottish game has just taken its toll on him and a few others to the point of disinterest. Davis - I guess he'll retire, but I've been surprised by just how much he's been sidelined by Gio. What a servant though. Hagi - Like Arfield, I think he offers us something different, but we've not got the best from him so far and again, I don't know if we know his best position. Jack - If he can stay fit he must be the one we build the midfield around? Kamara - He was looking like the one who might go for big money, but has drifted off as the season has gone on. Same as Aribo. He's been played in a few different positions too. But surely there's a place for him? Lundstram - He's come on to a game as the season has progressed, but how many players like him, Davis, Kamara, who can play that role do we need? Sands - He's looked good, but maybe not the 1st choice starter we need. So he's a squad player... How many of those do we need though? Lowry - I'd hope we'd make much more use of him next season, even though he's young. Remember Stephen Kelly though? Ramsey - will move on somewhere, but its a shame its taken us this long to get him fit. Not sure why he was subbed yesterday. Ofoborh - Presumably he's just going to quietly leave over the summer. I have no idea what our best midfield is any more. Worryingly, I don't think Gio does either. Genuinely no idea where that leaves us other than knowing we need a few players of really quality to improve out first XI. That's been the case for a couple of seasons though.... If we don't have the money, then we need to make better use of the players we have, including the younger ones - that's where I think we might struggle with Gio in charge as he's looked out of his depth at times. Forwards Morelos - We have to build a team round him, but also have a plan for when he's not fit. I think he's been treated poorly by Gio - run in to ground, when we should be able to cope in Scotland without him. Itten - Surely will leave. Kent - Inconsistent. Flatters to deceive at times. No doubting the talent, but sometimes could benefit from some time on the bench when its not going his way. Seems undroppable though. Will that Leeds bid finally materialise? Roofe - Another one who we know is going to have injury problems, but I think he's a great striker. Just a shame we drop him in to the team and don't play to his strengths. Again, can we not have a system where he and Morelos can play? Or give Morelos a break by playing Roofe and a system which suits him? Sakala - I'm a big fan of his, but he's another we seem to have signed without knowing where we're going to play them or how we're going to integrate them in to the team. Wright - After a very promising start, seems to have fallen out of favour and didn't take what chances he was given this year. Another squad player or is he one to move on? Or does he deserve another chance if we have a clearout in the summer? Like the midfielders, I've no idea where that leaves us. Light on quality certainly, but there's so many question marks over our tactics, formation etc that I've no idea what our medium-term plans are.

I agree, but how many years is it now that we've been relying on Morelos and seem to have no clue what to do when he's not in the team?

Its not all about McGregor, but we don't need a keeper like him if his ability to make those world-class saves is literally the only positive to his game. His distribution is slow and inaccurate... he's not great with the ball at his feet... he doesn't come for crosses... he doesn't command his box at all. Legend or not, he should have been our number 2 this year and should have been dropped a number of times this season. Someone is a scapegoat when they get blamed for mistakes others have made. He's been getting a hard time from fans this season for mistakes which are all of his own doing.

We were very poor at the start of the season under Gerrard, but Celtic were a shambles, so we got away with it. Whatever the issue was with the players, SG seemed unable to identify it or fix it. We kept getting told nothing happened during pre-season, but we were stuttering from the off. Gio came in and has been largely unable to fix the same issues - he’s papered over the cracks by tweaking the system, but many of the same issues from the start of the year have remained. He bottled his first big decision by not dropping McGregor and Europe apart, has looked out of his depth. Are the players to blame for seemingly being unable to raise their game in the league? I still think we have the best squad in the league, but some players are criminally underused, some seem to get picked regardless of performance and we still lack a “plan b”. Some things never change…

Mcgregor’s mistakes alone this season have obliterated any points advantage we had over them. Add-in all those draws and I can’t believe we’ve thrown away the league like this. We need a proper clear out of those who’ve underachieved year after year with us and Gio looks so tactically naive at times. There was a big gap between midfield and the front… and a big gap from midfield to defence too.

Same old traits by the same team and some of the same players for the fourth(?) year in a row. Depressing stuff but not a surprise.

Why can’t we deal with high balls in to the box? Mark your men and clear the ball. Not f&cking rocket science is it? Broken record time… McGregor continues to cost us with his inability to command his box. How long was that ball up in the air for him to come and punch it?

I wasn't aware of that at all. I saw a WhatsApp message which was then rubbished by a few reliable sources on social media. I'd no idea It was something which was "circulating in the media". I'd still be very surprised if there was any truth in it tbh. Anybody with a reasonable following can start a rumour these days and the way this one happened just stunk of something one of the "sevco obsessed" would do.

I'm still wondering if the fact they leaked news of the tournament gives us an "out" from the whole thing without penalty. Proving it would maybe be difficult I guess...

Apart from a WhatsApp message a few weeks ago, who says they're getting a bigger fee? I thought that had been rubbished and I'd be amazed if something like this was ever a go-er unless there was transparency about the money involved.

I find it hard to get angry at Bisgrove as he's just doing his job and seems to be very good at it. What I can't fathom is how this idea ever got through the initial stage of "do you think we should consider this?"

This is going to go well isn't it? WTF is it with our club and fan groups... we always seem to end up in this sort of situation which inevitably plays out in public.

I don’t think our Board are strong enough to make that decision which is my worry. Its really difficult to give him the benefit of the doubt at the moment because of the McGregor thing which appears to be the easiest & most obvious decision he’ll ever have to make here but seems determined to stick with him. Aside from that, he has shown that like Gerrard, this bunch of players seem to have some sort of Jekyll & Hyde thing going on.

That pretty much sums it up for me. The McGregor thing is such an obvious decision he seems to have bottled out of which could continue to cost us. On the flip side, you have to consider that the team has needed an injection of serious quality to it for a couple of seasons now which just hasn't happened. Putting last season to one side, we started this year with issues on the pitch which SG didn't seem to know how to fix and it turned in to a "greatest hits" of his reign - we seemed out of ideas; vulnerable to long balls & set pieces; inability to break down stuffy defences etc. Since Gio has come in, even with his tactical tweaks, I just get this feeling of Groundhog Day. I guess its going to go one of two ways. If we lose the league, having effectively thrown it away due to results against teams other than Celtic, do we trust Gio to be the man to turn it around next season - given the squad is going to need a lot of work in the summer. If we win the league, whilst not exactly doing it in style, do we trust Gio to be the man to strengthen us next season and make the tough decisions when it comes to a few players who I think should be let go? I'm not convinced he's the right guy in either scenario tbh, because he seems to be struggling to fix the issues which have been here all season.

Was there any word as to why Balogun and Helander were on the bench today? I think we look much better with two natural CBs and Bassey at LB.

I missed the game in person and couldn't watch it which I think is a good thing. My nerves and blood pressure couldn't have taken that. Going by the comments online (even if you discount the usual extreme reactions) made it sounds like another terrible performance.

I was wondering earlier if there would be a way to cancel the contract given Celtic clearly leaked the announcement as it suited them.

Thank f*ck for that.

I'd be surprised if there's any disparity in the finances - our board seem to be all over that aspect of things these last couple of years - so I'd treat it as shit stirring just now. In principle, its not a bad idea given the large ex-pat community out there who will never get a chance to see either club in action. But.... Celtic utterly hate us. There used to be a mutual respect amongst the clubs and players, even those brought up in the traditions of both clubs, those die-hard players that would be figures of hate on the pitch for the opposing fans, but that disappeared a long time ago. Their current board pander to their fans about the use of the Old Firm, sevco and won't even use our name, so why on earth we would want to do anything with them like this? Its really a bad look for the board and with the way things are going on the pitch, it could make for some really toxic home games depending on the next few results. The whole thing was badly handled yesterday too - we let Celtic set the narrative and didn't respond to this story when leaked.

Thing is, we looked capable of doing that last season, all game, every game. We've regressed this season and just aren't capable of doing this so it really gives me the fear. Need a big reaction from the players against Aberdeen who will be looking to win their final game of the season that seems to mean anything to them.

I don't have a problem with Goldson leaving on a free - we've more than had our money's worth out of him and I firmly believe we shouldn't be breaking our wage structure as that's a very slippery slope. McGregor retiring? We have McLaughlin who can just step in with no bedding-in time and are clearly trying to sign another keeper. This summer is the same as the last few windows for me. We need to sign 2/3 real quality players who will improve the first XI.

So he feels he can't trust Steven Davis (I know he's out just now, but he's hardly played under Gio has he)? He continues to play Alan McGregor regardless of what individual errors he makes which cost us goals, points or add to the nervousness in the back line? He's playing Arfield who seems dead on his feet, but could he not have played Lowry last night given we had Kamara starting? Gio made a great tactical switch against Dortmund, reacting to what he saw in front of him, but at times in the league he seems to be out of ideas or just happy to hold on if we're winning by even a goal. I'm really starting to doubt he's the man for the job, but its difficult to judge him given he's not had a pre-season and summer transfer window. Not to mention the fact that we're still seeing some of the same recurring issues, from the same player, that Gerrard also had to deal with. My worry is that if he's not going to be able to resolve these issues, that we go in to next season and its the same all over again.

Thank f*ck for that. What an abysmal pitch, but we did not look convincing at all. I still can’t believe we started with that XI after the amount of games played and some of the dire individual performances. But we got the three points so that’s the main thing. If someone plays crap and retains their place, what message does that send to the player & to the rest of the squad? Similarly, we never seem to learn from those sort of games - we’ll invariably do OK in a couple of games now, maybe even play brilliantly in one, then we’ll have another shocker and repeat the cycle.

In our league, his ability to make those absolutely world-class saves that nobody else can, is far outweighed by his inability to command his box and slow/inaccurate distribution. He's an absolute legend, but how many points has he cost-us this season? And we've got away with quite a few near-misses from balls played in to our six yard box this season where opponents are clearly targeting his weaknesses.