Scott7

Is this you being provocative, BG?  Surely not.

I can’t see the badge in that photo. I’ve seen the photos of Bill Struth and Bobby Shearer wearing blazers the badges on which show “Ready” clearly. 

15 hours ago, Franc Ergs said:

Will there be a Grand National thread ? offering advice to those who bet once a year on something that they know absolutely nothing about, or shall i just throw my hard earned down the drain ? ?

Do what everybody else does. Throw your hard earned down the drain.

Just don’t waste hours beforehand scouring the racing pages or downloading Apps. It all comes to the same in the end. Net loss. Can be exciting up to the last furlong when the daft brute carrying your money decides it’ll just daunder the rest of the way.

So’ton 0-2 Scousers

Bournemouth 1-1 Burnley

Town 1-2 Brendan’s Blues

Newcastle 1-0 Palace

Everton 2-2 Arsenal

Chelsea 3-1Hammers

Effy Cup:

Brighton 1-3 Man City

Watford 2-1 Wolves (hope I’m wrong)

Great victory last night for the Wolves. 

Tonight:

Chelsea 2-0 Brighton

City 4-0 Cardiff

And the double curse of the new stadium/gala occasion;

Hotspurs (dominating play and raining shots on goal) 0-1 Palace. (89th minute offside breakaway)

Edouard still had much to do after the mistake and the excellent pass. But what’s he doing? He runs to his own fans to celebrate. That’s not the celtic way.

Kent’s goal and other aspects of his play reminded me of Lovenkrands. I suppose Jones will be his replacement next season.

2-0 to the Arsenal.

Heard commentary on the last twenty minutes of an exciting game with what sounded like 20,000 Geordies making a helluva racket.

Two collector’s items from the commentary: “what a tackle by the Arsenal defender” and “Osil battling hard for the ball”.

Jings,

Correct in spades.

7 hours ago, Gribz said:

when Arsenal win tonight

Fixed that for you, old chap.

I think your reply makes my point.

If Gilchrist’s claims are true, idiots have given her a free pass to victimhood.

Tav looks apprehensive in the video. I wish the ghost of Bobby Shearer would take possession of his mind for the afternoon.

I didn’t read that through but I suppose the chimp stuff comes from some psycho bloke who has a theory that we’ve all got an inner chimp that makes us behave badly. Cooponthewing will know about it.

Think of the image of oor Willie on his bucket, his good inner self with halo pictured at one ear saying “no, William don’t do that” and his bad inner self with devil’s horns leering at the other saying “aye, go on Wullie”.

On 29/03/2019 at 16:14, compo said:

Burnley 1 Wolves 2

I didn’t get it right either, Compo.

You’ll likely remember a time when this match could have been the old fashioned Division 1 league decider.

You’ll maybe remember too when a burgeoning Liverpool beat Blanchflower’s Tottenham 5-2 on a Friday at Anfield with the scallies singing “London Bridge is falling down” then went down to the Lane on the Monday to get whacked 7-2

Seems like an age, indeed. Since I got more than half right.

Fulham 0-4 City

Brighton 2-2 Southampton

Burnley 1-3 Wolves

Palace 3-1 Town

Brendan’s Blues 2-0 Bournemouth

United 1-1 Watford

West Ham 2-2 Everton

Cardiff 0-2 Chelsea

Liverpool 3-1 Tottenham

Gunners 2-0 Mags

Another good Championship game tonight when the Albion will trounce Birmingham.

7 hours ago, buster. said:

Now is when it'll start going Pete Tong 

That’s the final piece in an old fashioned half back line, you’ve got there.

Nish, Punter and Tong.

I like Punter in the middle. Some no nonsense clearances.

No sad loss. The team will need defenders for this game.

I heard the Red Army choir open a concert with an inspiring thundering of GSTQ. Then straight on to the old Soviet Union anthem. If Kruschev had been there and asked me to sign up for a party card, I’d have done it.

Great player but the tiar failure was due to a combination of circumstances.

4 hours ago, Uilleam said:

I was out last night, but it appears that the worst national side in the world lost by two goals to the side with the worst national anthem in the world. 

Are you saying the line about your wee bit hill and glen doesn’t stir your spirit to the effusion of tears?

I’m certainly near greeting every tme I hear it.

I think positive identification of the culprits is the problem.

Should hit the high notes no bother.

51 minutes ago, compo said:

One of the best fetch and carry men ever in Scottish footie was Eddie Turnball and the wee prime minister could slip through passes that Messi would have been jealous off .

Correct. Turnbull played mostly inside left for the hiberanians but started as left half. Like JG he could do both positions in the same game.

I think you’re right about Dave Smith as the first official Rangers sweeper. His rôle at Aberdeen was that of a Baxter-style creator but he didn’t achieve that for Rangers. Whoever decided to move him backwards was a genius.

The old ritual lineup at the kickoff was GK 1, RB 2, LB 3, RH 4, CH 5, LH 6, OR 7, IR 8, CF 9, IL 10, OL 11. No names or numbers on the jerseys in early times.

The formation was more fluid than that during the game. The centre half in the three was really a centre fullback so the backline was RB, CH, LB.  As play developed with a team attacking on the right, the RB advanced but rarely beyond the half line. The CH also came forward but not as far as the RB and the LB dropped back so there was a diagonal across the pitch. If the attack was on the left the diagonal swung the other way, pivoting on the CH, hence the description of the CH as the pivot, usually in journalese “the big pivot”.

The weakness of the system is obvious. A clearance out of defence into the space behind a RB in an advanced position for a pacy winger to run onto caused problems unless Eric Caldow was there with his speed of thought and foot to come across to the rescue. 

Willie Telfer was the last of the old pivots. Bill Patterson was the nominal CH in a four man defence of RB, Shearer, RH, Davis, CH Patterson, LB Caldow with Johnnie Little filling the FB position when required.  Davis played between RB and CH and slightly forward of the line.

The half backs were theoretically defenders but one usually was more forward going and the other defensive eg Davis and Billy Stevenson.

The inside forwards were attackers but one was often a fetcher and carrier - Sammy Baird, perhaps - and the other a craftsman to unlock the defence and unleash the wingers - McMillan the prime example.

Rangers in the last of the fifties and the sixties played 4-2-4 before it was invented. Hearts were the first team to officially play that system with Danny Ferguson wearing 7 on his jersey playing RB. (“Gerrup yer wing, Fergyssunn”, cried the Gorgie afficionados.)

If a team was very lucky and had John Greig,  the defensive/forward distinction for the half back didn’t matter because he could play both in the same game.

Is the spectacle better now? Yes if you’re watching City or Barcelona but for the most part, because of its flaws, the nominal 2-3-5 was more exciting  and less predictable 

Looks like a Rangers inside right in that photo.

The graph is spot on.