Rousseau

Thanks for the highlights. The tackle on MOH looks worse every time I see it; completely inexplicable decision.

I think we all agreed that as good as Liverpool can be, it was always going to be how they did against so-called lesser opposition that will define their season.

Can I say I thought we played better at Pittodrie? Referee's hampered us in both games, but I felt the passing, possession and control was better in the away game and missing yesterday. We showed great hunger and determination, with many good battles, though and that should be the minimum required. Great win!

Aye, at one point Halliday stole the ball almost at the half-way line and then ran past Garner and Miller!? Lovenkrands was perplexed at that. If anyone follows Halliday then we create a chance IMO.

Garner needs to find his scoring boots, but you can't doubt his effort and determination.

Perhaps a little fortunate to go 1-0 up but after that we were superb. It was scrappy, and we had to show a bit of character and desire to win headers and tackles, but Aberdeen are nothing special; what did they actually do apart from launch a few balls into the box? 2nd best in Scotland? pfft... I keep saying it, but we play nicer football when we bunch up, so there are options on the ball-carrier. First half felt like we were too spread out so no-one had an easy ball. Garner was superb, battling all day; McKay brought a bit of guile; Hill and Kiernan were solid; and Waghorn was brilliant when he came on too -- hopefully we see more of it.

Aberdeen are man-marking quite directly, so a Forrester type could be effective; to beat his man.

I like the desire and hunger, but I hate the lack of control in the match. Every player seems miles away from another. We're supposed to be making triangles but they're just dots. Hill and Kiernan have been solid -- I think both Kiernan and WIlson need a Hill next to them for guidance -- and I like McKay's guile, although nothing much has come off (except the Wallace chance). Miller has been poor; why he needs to pass it back every time he gets it I don't know; It's never a controlled pass but a high wayward one that any receiver struggles with. Tom was saying the Referee is brother to a former Rangers player, but I wasn't listening 100% as I was annoyed at a wayward pass.

I can see 4-4-2 in the line-up, but the website says Miller in midfield, so maybe the same 4-3-3? I initially thought it was simply McKay that would play deeper, which he's done before.

I apologise trublu, it does indeed look like Miller is in midfield... FFS! Thanks SteveC.

I must admit I thought Man City would win today, and maybe just pip the title (simply because I always see the team I don't want to do well doing well). But, what a second half performance from Chelsea! Fantastic performance.

No - I suspect McKay will be in midfield; it's just the way in which they've posted it. I highly doubt Miller is in midfield.

I see McGhee has told them off at half-time. Normal service resumed.

Is it not down to a timing issue? I recall something about the kick-off time. I found this from the Independent: "Unfortunately, it will not be shown on television in the UK. It is illegal to broadcast live football matches on UK television between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturdays due to the potential impact on match attendances."

I thought we seen plan B last night: the dreaded long ball that everyone was crying out for? Didn't work. We can moan about plan A being shite or not working, but surely there's no doubt we can play plan A a lot better than that! The connections between the players are non-existent; how are we supposed to pass through a side/keep possession when there's nobody looking to receive the ball? I didn't think Hearts were that great: they executed a dull plan, which wasn't really causing us too much trouble -- but we were undone by two breaks, with Tavernier posted missing for the second and inexplicably lackadaisical for the first (surely he was in position to boot the ball out?).

I said at the start of the season that I'd be content with 3rd/4th; not ecstatic, but content. Aberdeen have an entrenched squad, finishing 2nd for the last few seasons (I believe?), so even with a greater budget, I think overcoming Aberdeen was going to be difficult because we've had to completely rebuild. Hearts did well after getting promoted, but I don't think it's any better than us finishing 4th -- they only had to overcome the shite, which we've been doing. OK, they pushed Aberdeen a tad, but they finished 3rd; behind the entrenched teams. Hearts are now one of those entrenched sides. So, I'll be begrudgingly content with 3rd/4th.

I changed the spelling on the published article after googling it!

That's it published, Pete! (I had to google Daktari!)

Excellent scoring round! Everyone who entered gained 1 point for the correct result. Several gained another point for the correct number of Rangers goals (Rousseau, Pete, Whosthedado, Cooponthewing, BEARGER, BH, YB, 26th, Craig, TB, compo, SBS, Yorkie Bear and Gribz). No one got FGS. And finally, Rousseau, Whosthedado, BH, YB and compo gained an extra 3 points for the correct 1-2 score! Latest Standings: IFRAME Not Available. Direct Link to Spreadsheet. A week-by-week tally of scores can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-uQa9LP4du35rep3iUemqtj2NihPxHUuAGJFhz2WW0I

I like the possession, but our inability to create chances is worrying. Why is there no option on the ball for Wallace, Wilson, Kiernan and Halliday (and Foderingham)? Every time one of them gets the ball they have no one to pass to, resulting in long balls -- not bad in itself -- or tame passes between them. I'd prefer to see us pass through this side. Holt and Windass should be deeper to allow the team to pass up the pitch. McCann said it himself: why are the front-four in a line? That's not conducive to anything!

Partick Thistle 1 - 2 Rangers FGS Forrester

A win's a win. We were OK but probably deserved the 3 points. It's difficult when Dundee play anti-football (Oh the irony!), with 5 at the back; they had no desire to get forward at all. I'm a little surprised at the criticism of Holt (not here to be honest, but on Twitter): It reminds me of the criticism Zelalem received last season. Holt may not be the most conspicuous of players, but his influence is vital IMO. We're not as far off 'clicking' as people think. I think we're only a couple (few) quality additions away. There's no doubt we need to be more courageous in the final third with the current team, though.

Really? I must have missed it. It's a good point you make about us not taking shots: we seemed to go back to waiting for the perfect pass.

Right... I'll get this over quickly. Only Gribz gained a point this round for correctly predicting the correct number of Rangers goals. Done. Latest Standings: IFRAME Not Available. Direct Link to Spreadsheet. A week-by-week tally of scores can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-uQa9LP4du35rep3iUemqtj2NihPxHUuAGJFhz2WW0I

I don't really care (too much) about our occasional defensive lapses, I care that we are absolutely toothless up-front. We didn't created a single chance second-half.