buster.

Reminds me of the Walter Smith celebration after Edu got that last minute winner... A gentleman in his mid-sixties leaping into the air in a CR7 pose

In your terms that is "stating the bloody obvious". The main point I was making was that despite their squad depth advantage and significant wage bill difference that represents it, Celtic haven't been able to come up with tactical answers to the way we approach OF games. They had 3 weeks after the final and an hour of the game at the weekend before they attempted to change it. For me it is a significant weakness between the two teams but as @DMAA points out, we depend more on keeping vital players fit because we tend to suffer otherwise. SG has remarked on an improvement on lost games down to injury this season and we could do with that continuing BUT also 2 or 3 players this window to help in specific positions, eg. centre-forward and unless Halliday is deemed good enough, left-back.

Generally, stating the bleeding obvious would be a significant improvement for a Scottish fitbaw hack. If stating the bleeding obvious wasn´t allowed in football, you might as well close down the whole circus that follows it around, including forums like this. It´s a decent article but IMO doesn´t touch on a point that I would regard as important as we head into 2020. It is that when asked a question tactically, the current Celtic management are relatively poor. In part, I think that the protected status of their first team manager within the Scottish media means that such criticism would only be pushed as a last resort. Tom is a man for stats, comparing the wage bills then looking at performance would be a useful base from which to analyse why things are going in the direction they are. Back in August, I thought we missed a golden opportunity to put pressure on a Celtic team managed by Lennon but we have stuck at it, improved our consistency of result and have now taken a second opportunity that we earned the right to have. I guess it´s stating the bleeding obvious but it´s now we have to kick-on and continue to stack up results, or in other words exert pressure and then see what happens. Ironic that Under Pressure was a Queen song...

SG knows all about being a huge component part of a massive club, it´s been a feature of his stellar career in football. He knew about the importance of putting together a coaching team that together were capable of moulding players into a way of playing that brought a synergy of sorts. You also get the impression that he himself can inspire players and install belief. When most were talking of managerial inexperience in the summer of 2018, Dave King saw exactly the right type of experience in SG to take on the Rangers job and he was very right. A successful football club, as well as a team, needs a solid spine from the boardroom to the football operation, management & coaching staff to the team on the park. We now have a good structure but still need to close the deal regards success.

IMO we badly need another centre forward brought in next month, even if it is a six month loan.

I´m tempted to go Kent, he got through a power of work to add to a sublime finish for his goal. The Croatian contribution was immense, that Aribo control was a thing of beauty, the McGregor penalty save was vital, Goldson did his job and what about that pass !!!

Their summary table on the main football page is yet to be updated but their full table is updated. Enjoy the win and don´t be so careless with the criticism

Ross County and St.Johnstone,...both at Ibrox. Their outstanding fixture is St.Johnstone (A) which they´ll play when we receive Ross County. That will leave St.Johnstone at home as our game in hand for a later date (probably quite a bit later)

One thing that strikes me about the two teams is that SG&Co have the tactical know-how advantage over their coaching team. Big advantage

Today was the day we had to take points off them as no-one else looks like doing it....and we did For the first time, many of the green and grey will actually be looking at each other wondering if they are going to let it slip away. Everyone who played and the coaching staff deserve huge praise for that performance today. There was Prso the warrior, now we have Barasic & Katic . By far our most significant win in recent history.

Hats off to Klopp, who is finally becoming a serial winner after years of being a popular nearly man at Elite level.

The way I see todays game is as an opportunity. They aren´t going to drop many points to provincial clubs, so it´s up to us to take points from them. December was always going to be pivotal in three different competitions. As far as the league is concerned, today is the day. Minimum requirement is a draw or I think we can forget about it this season. It doesn´t matter who comes up with the big moments for us, they just have to happen.

Good to see something a little different. Morelos is far from perfect but the treatment he has received from the media up here has been a disgrace. A media who tend to bend over backwards to justify Scottish failure whilst desperately looking for angles to attack or discredit anything different. If the respective national football media teams earned a co-efficient mark for output, I´m convinced we´d come somewhere close to bottom of the European standings.

It didn´t work for Middleton at Hibs but I still rate the lad as a player and we should bear in mind that he´s still only 19 years of age. For me he offers more than Ojo and he´s our own player. That said, I´d imagine we´ll be looking at another loan move for the lad.

I agree. The question is now about what he does for Sunday. In his 15 minutes yesterday, I thought Davis looked hungry and was making a real effort to pitch his case to the manager. Gonzo, yes we lost but I was commenting within the context of performance-

Agree re. type of game but tend to think what actually happened was always on the cards whoever we played up front, ie. struggle to make clear cut chances against organised deep defence but over time we wear them down and eventually score. Having Morelos on the bench gave us an excellent option but IMO the goal itself was more about Jack and Aribo teeing up a relatively straightforward chance that you´d expect either AM or JD to tuck away. The game on Sunday is a very different proposition and Alfredo will start, hopefully after a re-charging of the batteries. Much of the focus will be on the Columbian but we´ll need all players to step-up. Ryan Kent being one who needs to lift his quality level and the defence maintain concentration.

You wonder if the Davis injury forced or persuaded SG&Co to go the way we did in the recent Final. Regardless, we can all see the effect it had on that particular game.

..but go onto get the 4th and 5th so as your prediction comes up Loving those positive vibes !!!

That may be the case but quite apart from the those doing the business keeping the jerseys angle.... I think the way we need to play against Celtic is better served by the midfield balance we are currently playing, rather than Davis and Jack playing together. We need to get after them again #high press

Interesting stuff Elfideldo, thanks ! Sllight tangent but I reckon we should send Ojo back to Liverpool and bing Kai Kennedy into the squad #pathway

IMO those who are currently being selected have to start again and if they do the business individually and collectively against Kilmarnock, then same again for the 29th. I note that Davis didn´t play in the League Cup Final and we played them off the park.

Would prefer to see Hamilton or Livingston go down. Their plastic pitches shouldn´t be allowed in the top two tiers and their support (numbers) are about 3rd tier level. I note that Ryan Christie was booked for diving at the weekend, playing for a team whose fans forever talk about opposition players doing the same.

The Docherty loan is probably more about shop window/adding value than a step toward our first team. I don´t think he´s SG&Co´s type of midfielder. King is a strange one but not worth more than a sentence or two. He came, did nowt and left.

Was surprised not to hear the name of Ryan Jack from the pundits when discussing MotM being between Aribo and Kent ! The goal scoring exploits of Morelos this season has meant Ryan Jack getting about 40% of the accolades that he is due, he really is a tremendous midfielder and we will miss him badly against Braga at Ibrox. I commented on his measured finishing skills last springtime and on Friday it was a wonderfully disguised and measured pass to set Aribo up that was all about a quality that very few midfielders in Scotland possess. Apart from that, he just bossed the middle of the park.

That´s some draw to be involved in. Atletico Madrid will be an excellent test. I have a mate whose son (13 or 14 years old) plays for Atletico.