der Berliner

Okay. Now to UEFA and check out how these two bribed Whittaker to commit suicide-defending in front of his penalty area!

I doubt that we will sign Verhoek. He will cost in excess of 2m too - according to latest reports - and we won't pay that. Remember, we've already got Ortiz, Kerkar, Wylde, Naismith, Lafferty and if need be Wallace for the left wing. And unless I am mistaken, he is a left winger.

The point remains that Ally's in a pretty much no-win situation here, at least with some amongst the support. He's retained the old guard who essentially won him and Walter three titles on the trott. He's started to build a team with a few new faces with very little time to prepare them to the tasks at hand. He faced probably the best team outside the OF in Scotland and as you would expect on the first day, not everything clicked and we "only" got a 1-1 draw. Next stop a vital European game. Against folk who are well advanced in their season and know how to play football too. A bad error of judgement (Whittaker) hands the Swedes the initiative and we, still very much in pre-season form, suffer a loss. Cue the press and all run amok and proclaim it a "shock result" - in fair ignorance of the Swedes' performance. Cue the fans run riot and want Ally's head after two games. Utter and complete madness. Obviously well groomed by the media over the last couple of seasons. We're always a defeat or two away from extinction, you might think. The panic brigade's always on the edge, waiting for some blip here or there. It is a very sad state of affairs indeed. As for Europe, the feel good factor is sure important. As is CL income. The current results should be fine, since we scooped 16m from last year's CL run alone, money that was not included in the latest results, since it only came in during the summer. Yet, we all know that we will come up against hard opposition in the CL and while we sure have the ability to beat some teams, there is every chance that some of them give us a right good beating. And I can envisage the bleeting that will descent on the boards and the press should all and the team suffer a bad loss to the likes of Chelsea, Lyon or Barca. We might as well win a game against those teams and the fans, in the state they are in now, want a repeat every time the Gers step onto the pitch. If they can't deliver that, the hawks will be back and the cries for Ally's head will return. You'd hope that those who utter these thoughts (mainly of FF, I have to say), are just a small minority with too much access to the net. I watched in desperation how the objectivity and dignity amongst the supporters as waned over these last few years. There's just Rangers and nothing else. If they win, it is usually not good enough. If they lose, it is our fault and our fault alone - with nigh to no credit being given to the opposition or the circumstances surrounding the game - much like Tuesday. As if the rest is just blocked out. Very strange an attitude indeed. If you project such an attitude to Alloa or Queen of the South supporters, you really wonder how there are any of them still about ...

Yesterday Lennon wanted to hijack Murphy, today it is Goodwillie. Some of our support bemoaned the lack of scouts we had pre McCoist. It looks these days as if we do the donkey work for them. Well well.

Still can't believe that people think that CL footie is all that crucial. Obviously, we all want 12 to 16m in the bag. But this time around the club is not threatened with administration et al, even with that pending HMRC thing. For you can challenge it time and again and we may not see any implications for three to four years. This time around there is no bank enforcing any sales. And as I said above, any sane chairman (business-man) and manager will not budget with a CL money pot in mind. Thus, we have to make sure to get a good SPL side in time for the challenges ahead, since the next title will give us a straight entry to the CL again. That all said, we all want European football, me included. It will not make or break my belief in the players or the manager if we don't get it this time around for any extended period. European football has always been a bonus. Nothing more and nothing less.

While we looked shaky at the back and McGregor was in fine form, I would assume that Naismith and Jelavic will put away half of their chances (18 last night) any other day ... or with some more games under their belt.

Dunno. I have been around since 1983 as a Bear, even from the days behind the Berlin Wall. And never ever have I experienced a mass hysteria like what has transpired since last night, not least on FF. Simple and utter madness, two games into a season that started on July 23rd. The dignity that the club and its support carried as a standard have apparently long since gone. At least from the supporters' part. Maybe the disfunctional reality perception syndrome, oh so evident with the hooped horrors last season, was contagious after all ...

At home, I would keep a three at the back (Bougherra, Goian/Weir, Papac) and use pacy wingbacks like Wallace in a more advanced position. If we sign Bedoya, I'd drop Whittaker for him.

And you could have bet your mortgage on it, today our dear friends from the east end have reported their interest in Jamie Murphy.

Keep in mind that not all of those we might face in the "play-offs" have 18 weeks of competition under their belt. Many have just finished pre-season too.

Pace needed? Edu, Davis, Naismith, Jelavic, Wylde, Wallace, Whittaker ... no not really. What we need right now would be 4 weeks of competition. This we'll only get by the middle of August and nothing can be done about that.

Hello ... it was the second game of the season. How about thinking back to Kilmarnock in May? It was nigh the same team out there tonight. Just let them get back into rhythm till the end of August or the like and watch them go. And no, by that time we won't have lost the league and whether we'll be in Europe remains to be seen.

How so? We played 5-4-1 most of our last CL games and it worked. Whittaker and Wallace have pace enough to work as wingbacks, so the 3-5-2 could easily switch back to 5-3-2, with Edu, Davis, and Naismith, given their pace, could lend cover too. They did, btw. Should have been tried before? Sure! Ask Ally why he deemed it worthwhile not to try it out earlier. It should be our formation in every home game. And since Bougherra and Papac are essentially right-backs (Algeria) and left-backs (with us), it does not need much organization talent either. It was a bad error that led to the goal, and afterwards, the Swedes produced some neat counter-attacking football against our just-back-from the summer break'ers.

metlika ... it was his second competetive game in charge. Calm down. We have to wait and see what he will throw at his future opponents (say 10 weeks) to make any announcements on the above. His tactics were IMHO spot on, a 3-5-2 was adequate, the only backdraw was McCulloch and Edu in there, and Edu on the park for 90 minutes. And again, this Swedish mid-table team is 18 games into its season and, btw, the current Swedish champions. They are no Faroese folk or the like, they are people who know their trade.

I refrain from giving our team too much stick here. It has played exactly one competetive game so far and was dealt a hammer-blow with Whittaker gifting the Swedes a goal. 19 shots on goal, 8 on target, with 3 of them sure to go in any other day of the week. Champagne footie like at the end of the season was not to be expected. Anyone thinking the Swedes to be a pub team were at last woken up. People can do their little devil's dances about this or that player, the manager or what have you. Tonight simply showed the stupidity of having to play a team that is half-way through it's season (as was Kaunas). We were well off pace and accuracy, as any SPL or English team would have been (remember that Fulham only drew 0-0 in the Faroers a week or so ago, also a league that plays summer footie!). That was to be expected, that is nothing that can be switched on just like that, by no team whatsoever. And there was no doubt either that the Swedish champions had some quality in them. This will be a long week and we sure have to dig deep to get to the next stage. As I said above, on any other day of the calendar, Jela and Naismith would have buried their chances. Maybe that day comes as early as next week.

Would have played Ortiz and either Edu or McCulloch, not both. But that was not going to happen. We've got enough pace for counter attacks as well as covering the 3 defenders, so it is sure something new. And as has been said, Whittaker and Wallace are suited to such a tactic too.

Somehow I am suspicious about this "latest" bid. Why would we bid exactly the same as we did before? On a sidenote, it is really Goodwillie's guts that are in question here. United is desperate for money, while we can surely wait till the end of the transfer window, since we still have options up front and Goodwillie would not feature in the CL qualifiers at hand. We have to wait and see whether United pushes him down to the south now in their own quest for money. If they do, we should snap up Murphy for 800k and be done with it. In an ideal world, I'd take both.

Somehow I .... made a double post, see below. Mea culpa.

Have a gut feeling that if we sign someone for the CL, it is none of those making the headlines this day ...

Here you go ... STV Get him and Murphy, let Beattie return to England and the future up front looks bright!

No need to be afraid

The "problem" I have with Lafferty is that he has not been a consistent thread in front of goals over the course of the season. While Naismith is so much involved in the game - physically and outspokenly - that he is bound to suffer from injury or suspension. Hemmings looks a grand prospect, Healy and Beattie are decent, but no 10 to 15+ plus scorers either. Jelavic is our main threat and as I said, you would not want to lose him like last season. This is all pretty hypothetical, of course. But as with a gun and/or a condome, you rather have one along and do not need it, than none at hand when there is need.

I like the idea of Jamie Murphy joining up. We sure need back-up amongst our frontline, as a Jela injury or suspension could wreak havoc up front. And Goodwillie ... well, we all know the "rat's tail"* involved here. *A German saying ;-)

A few more if not newer things on Rabiu Afolabi. I would feel a touch more comfortable with a pacy and robust African chap, than a lanky and stocky type like Goian. Interesting with the Nigerian: freebie and no work permit.

As I said before, IMHO, the first half was an experiment, how the "old" formation with McCulloch and Edu through the centre would hold in a competitive match. An experiment with regards to Tuesday. For you always have to keep in mind that the Swedes are nigh half-way through their season and if we try our cavalier football that we used at the end of the season (echo: end of the season) with people who have not really played a game in earnest this time, we easily could end up with another Unirea result. Thus, he tested a strong midfield, aimed at destroying any Hearts attack, while trying to hit them on the counter. It did not work and was not good football either. Then again, it was the first test and the first competitive game as well. The above is the way I explained it to myself. IMHO, we should use our potential at home and hit SPL teams with a 3-5-2 or the like. That, IMHO, would also be the option for Malm�¶ at home. The midfielders and wingbacks need to do a lot of backtracking*, but if we keep them busy in their half, we should do fine. McGregor Bougherra - Weir - Papac Whittaker - Davis - Edu - Ortiz - Wallace Jelavic - Naismith *Davis, Edu, Naismith, Whittaker all can do that.