ascender

Its really weird, but if you ignore last season, domestically we still seem to be making the same mistakes, with the same inevitability that we have been for what, 4 years or so?

He should have been dropped after the LC semi. His indecision and errors have cost us quite a few points this season, I think we need to give McLaughlin a run.

WTF are we doing at the back... How many chances did we have to get that ball clear?

I wasn't sure if Madden wasn't in a position to see the first one as the replays weren't great, but I'd have thought the linesman should have seen it. The defender's arm wasn't flush with his side, it was slightly away from it - but the ball did travel a bit at pace so maybe the argument is he should have had time to try and remove it? The Sakala tug was even worse for me - I spotted it in real time and wondered why Sky weren't talking about it. It took them a while to notice it.. And while we're on the subject, HTF are Crocker and Walker still pundits? Sky's coverage is truly awful, but like other things, we just seem to have to put up with whatever shit offer is on the table to cover/sponsor our league.

Just playing devil's advocate as its frustrating to see us lose goals like yesterday's one. Basic, simple defending - just clear your lines. We've looked suspect at the back most of this season. And I don't mean suspect in that we've been shipping goals left, right and centre all year, but we've looked dodgy at set pieces again and from long balls in open play. We've got away with quite a few close calls in matches which we've gone on to win or draw very narrowly and I think teams are targeting these weaknesses now - things like McGregor's hesitancy in commanding his area. In games where we're struggling to break teams down, the margins between winning and losing are just getting smaller and smaller so losing goals like yesterday's feels like such a kick in the teeth.

How utterly predictable was that then? Scud Dortmund then come flying out the traps at an away ground before giving away a simple goal. Games like that are just so depressing to watch with the other team packing the penalty box and doing all the usual time-wasting from the off. But we should be more than good enough to break them down. Clearly we were unlucky yesterday - hitting the post and 2/3 times, Alfie came so close to scoring by being in the right place at the right time but the final ball to him was just inches away etc. But even without those missed penalty decisions, we should be swatting teams like that aside. BTW, nothing will convince me that we wouldn't have a stronger defence if we'd bought Souttar in January. We get out-muscled from set pieces way too often, players seem to lose their opponents and we still don't seem to know what to do with high balls - the amount of times we let them bounce instead of attacking them is ridiculous. Its bread and butter stuff in Scotland.

Something has come up which has pretty much decimated our table for the 5 Stars Manager's Dinner next week, so if anyone is looking for tickets, we have may have 8 or even 10 to sell. Originally the table cost £120 per person, but would be happy to sell for £50 per person. Original details are below, obviously this was all organised before we lost Walter. https://event.bookitbee.com/33934/managers-dinner

Follow-through on Jack, no foul. Follow-through by Balogun, free-kick and booking.

We look so much better today and are setting the tempo and controlling the game. Kent should have had 2 if not three in that first half. What a ball from Bassey for the goal, he has to be our first choice LB now doesn't he? Great to see Jack back and doing what he does best. I'm still not convinced about our backline though. McGregor's reluctance to come for some balls gives me the fear. BTW, Collum is feckin' useless.

So we now have the same set of players underperforming with two different managers and tactics. As much as we've conceded a lot of ground to Celtic in the last few weeks, we've massively ridden our luck this season at times and have really scraped through with some results we didn't deserve. I really hope Jack is back properly now and Gio makes changes at the weekend based on last night's performance and some others recently. Last night wasn't the time to do it, but I think he needs to do it now.

So is it the players, the coaching staff or both? Because we started the season like this and GvB coming-in gave us a bit of a lift - was that nothing more than the "bounce" you get from a new manager? I'm really surprised we didn't pony up the cash for Souttar at the start of the window given the injuries we had in the centre of defence. And with Borna a shadow of himself, we could have put Bassey to LB to at least give us a more natural/comfortable backline. If we now have Balogun back, I'd do that switch now and I'd also give McLaughlin a run as we still seem so uncomfortable with balls in to the box from open play or set pieces. I don't know where to start with the midfield but getting Ramsey in is a no-brainer, along with Jack if his fitness allows. That leaves Kamara, Aribo and Davis, who I know Gio doesn't seem to rate, but I'm starting to wonder if he's been passed over too quickly. I really like Arfield and he brings a few qualities Up front? Nae idea! But maybe if we sort out the midfield, that will take care of itself? Can't believe there was no fight whatsoever last night.

This is awful... Not unexpected though which is the sad thing.

I swore I wouldn't follow these threads today as work is so busy, but I couldn't help myself. Aaron Ramsey? Surely nobody could be against that unless you're related to Lewis Ferguson?

Heart and Hand did a good analysis of the accounts which seemed to suggest that even with the covid losses, we are returning to a decent position. If we trimmed the squad, had a run in Europe and sold one player for good money in the next year, it would be a very rosy picture (as other commercial areas have grown well). Since then, we've sold Patterson and taken in money for SG and his team, having already plugged the funding gap for this year. I don't think its the money that's the issue. January just isn't the transfer window where the major business is done, that's usually in the summer window, so I think our collective hands are tied a bit. But there's no doubt we're paying the price for not being more ruthless after 55 and facing up to some of the positions which needed fixed. Not sure if it was a false sense of confidence, whether SG genuinely didn't see the little things needing improved or if the gamble was that we'd qualify for CL and that would make more money available? Of course its an over-reaction to yesterday, but a lot of the criticism is valid because we're struggling in the same ways we did at the start of the season and during SG's time (other than the league last year). I still think we'll beat them at Parkhead though.

The first part of this season was almost like a greatest hits of Gerrard's sides outwith 55. It was never going to be easy for Gio to turn that around and I think the results have masked some of the underlying issues which are still there.

I genuinely thought Gio would have dropped McGregor for his first game in charge, but he didn't and to be fair, McGregor looked back to his old self and has made some amazing saves. But as a member of the Amateur Goalkeeper's Union, I'm not convinced that his ability to make those world-class saves outweighs some of his negatives. He can be indecisive, doesn't command his area and his distribution isn't as good or as quick as McLaughlin's. When you combine that with how Goldson can struggle with high balls, often letting them bounce first, I do think that's part of the issue with our confidence. As someone said earlier in the week, our midfield balance doesn't look right either, so maybe its a combination of a few things contributing. @CammyF is spot-on though, we've not been right since pre-season. SG couldn't fix it and now we're left to try and get things back on the rails mid-season which isn't easy, especially with a new manager and a January transfer window.

Unbelievable. What a shambles today has been and I stand by my comments that we've got away with a few scares this season at the back and there's no downside to bringing Souttar in now. What was McGregor doing today? Back to his bombscare days at the start of the season and he had a moment midweek where he hesitated coming for a ball in his 6 yard box and we got away with it.

On the flip side, as someone who grew up with the 9IAR team, I still think our central defence isn't as solid as it could be and looks suspect at times to the sort of long ball approach a lot of clubs use against us. They also still give me the fear a bit at set plays, nowhere near as bad as it was a couple of years ago, but I think we should be defending a lot better than we are. From the list of players we have, Bassey has done well, but is a LB. Simpson hasn't looked great whenever he's played. King is untested. Helander clearly has his injury issues. Balogun has done well, sometimes brilliantly, but can blow hot and cold. 300k? I don't see the downside given how important the league is, or even being able to rotate with a bit more confidence and actually try to win the SC this year for example.

Last night wasn't a disaster, I'm kind of grateful we escaped with a point in the end and the display reminded me of some of the ones earlier in the season where our limitations were really exposed. We're not good enough to go 1-0 up and control the game like we did last year. Last season was unique in so many ways, but SG was asleep at the wheel this year and we're going to have to try and just deal with that this season as there's only so much we can do in a January window. I don't know if he'd had enough during the close season, or if he was banking on CL qualification to get players in, but he was unable to sort out the basic issues which plagued our start to the season, many of which seemed to be the exact issues we had in his first couple of years in charge. As a result, we've still got a squad which needs trimmed. We still need to add 1 or 2 "starting XI" players. We still have a few players who seem likely to retire at the end of this season or who go from one injury to the next. Clancy was fucking dreadful and he's like that all the time. He's a crap referee and like many of his colleagues, are simply not good enough to be refereeing this level. Unfortunately, things will never change because one of the issues we have in this country is that it becomes a Rangers v Celtic "thing". And then becomes an Old Firm v rest of Scottish football "thing". We have loads of things wrong with football in this country but the clubs and supporters are so divided and driven by agendas, that we can't see the wood for the trees. So we're stuck with it. Brown is an absolute clown. He just does what he's always done, which for the most part seems to wind up our fans more than our players who just have no time for his nonsense and can see him for what he is. The really annoying thing is that refs fall for his schtick and he does seem to go unpunished for a lot. Is that because he's clever about when he does things? Will VAR make a difference? But we're four points ahead at the top, so that's a big positive, especially given the start to the season we've had. I still think we are the best XI in the country by some way on our day, but I still think we look a bit shaky at the back and we clearly need someone in to run the midfield and dictate the tempo when Aribo is out.

Assuming you're not rushed back (I'm guessing because the Achilles has a really poor blood supply so can take a much longer time to heal properly), there's a pretty low recurrence rate of achilles injuries. He did one, then did the other but was possibly not ready to comeback hence the recurrence. Or maybe it was a different injury. Every player's a risk and then you have luck to throw in to the bargain too, so who knows. I think he's a good signing and given injuries and Goldson going, he has a chance to set himself up to be our first choice CB.

Given the injuries we've had, I still think we'll try to get Souttar to join this window, especially as he's used to the SPFL so should be quick to bed him in to the team.

Help ma boab.

I think Helander is a class above them all, but Goldson has improved massively since coming to us (I guess there might be quite a few reasons for that).

I looked at his appearances and injuries last week and they seemed to be specific injuries which he recovered-from rather than niggling injuries coming and going. Assuming proper rehab and not being rushed back, there's a very low chance of them recurring again. It does sound like he had a period of bad luck, but I guess every player we sign is a risk in one way or another.

I'd hope that between Ross Wilson and Gio's team, they've identified a new "first choice" CB and GK who will be a priority to sign now or in the summer.