5 minutes ago, pete said:

Okay here is my tuppence. I have said from day 1 Steven Davis is not going to be the difference to us winning the league. Our midfield should be McCrorie with Jack and Arfield more advanced. Thankfully Davis only has a 6 month contract because we really need better than him to win the league. Their seems to be the misconception that he was brilliant first time round but I can remember plenty of games he was the invisible man. Unreal why people thought Worrel was a world bearer after one good game against Celtic. We should be investing our time in Katic. The only time I saw McAuly was when he got yellow and letting Jones run 30 yards at the goal. It is not fair to judge Defoe after one game but tonight I would rather have had Broughy to be honest. I do think Defoe should have had a penalty though when the defender was pulling his arm.

Got to disagree Pete. I genuinely think Davis can bring some calmness and composure to our midfield. 

We lost our way when came off IMO. Before that we were probing with intent. After that it was long balls and rushed passes.

Just now, craig said:

I don't think he is as slow as Davie Weir - but Davie Weir was always a yard quicker in the brain.

Five yards quicker to be fair to Davie

2 minutes ago, 917 said:

That performance was much more typical of our season than the Celtic game. After 22 games we’re joint 4th. Everybody has played each other home & away now. A 4th place finish is much more likely than 1st place, in reality. We have 42 Pts at this stage, albeit 3 more than the previous 2 seasons. I can’t see Gerrard keep his job if we finish outside the top 2, unless he wins the Scottish Cup. Which wouldn’t surprise me either!

It's a bit early to talk about keeping his job etc. SG has much to learn but I've seen enough to keep the faith in the bigger picture.

1 minute ago, RTB2004 said:

Katic should undoubtedly be given a chance.

 

I don't know how Worrall managed to last the full 90 minutes today. **** went and made that mistake and he never looked the same. Looked shaken to fuck.

 

Worrall is the type of player who will show up against better opposition. We've seen that when we played against Villarreal and we've seen it when we played against Celtic. Stick him against any other team in the league, your Kilmarnocks, your Dundees, etc and he looks like a totally different player.

 

Worrall is a good player when he decides to show up. I've said it for quite a while now, he's far too slow on the ball and today it cost us.

 

That being said though. Gerrard has to shoulder some of the blame for fucking about with the formation. 2 upfront has never suited us in recent years and to change it in a game that was always going to be a difficult one is just brain dead fucking stupid.

I think that could be said of a lot of our players tbh 

On the plus side...Davis showed enough composure on the ball to suggest that he could be very valuable to us (once up to speed)

Just now, craig said:

You can give up on the league this early if you choose, that is your prerogative.  I, personally, will wait a while.  How many points have we dropped due to officiating errors ?  How many poor performances have Celtic had ?  Will they continue ?

 

Too many questions, not enough answers, and too many games and points still to be won this season to be giving up on it just yet.

The only answer that looks certain is our inability to transfer our home form to our away games. That's why we won't win the league. 

3 minutes ago, craig said:

We still have them to play twice.  And still 16 games in total to play.  I wouldn't be giving up on the league quite this early.

I admire your positivity but the league is over IMO. Celtic will drop points but more depressingly so will we. Our away form is woeful and will be our downfall. Apart from the opening day at Pittodrie and our recent draw at Easter Rd, we have been truly awful in every away game. 

3 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Worrall’s blunder shot us in the foot and a freak goal like that always throws you off. Same again with Jones, goal from absolutely nowhere and from then on it’s really hard to get back into it. The way people on here are talking is as if Kilmarnock were slicing us open and creating loads of chances. They had two lucky breaks, scored 2 from 3 shots on target. 

They don't need to create loads of chances. They nullified us and always gave us something to think about. Job done

Am I only thinking it's got to be Morelos or Defoe, not both? Playing 2 similair strikers reduced our width IMO. 

1 minute ago, craig said:

Worrall more so.  Had he not gifted Killie an equalizer I'm not sure they would have got one.

 

We were horrible at the back.  Say what we like about Goldson but he was missed tonight for sure.  Our central defensive pairings, no matter which combination, are too weak.

 

We look more like we are in a fight for 2nd place with Killie than we are with Celtic to win the league.  But no worries, we are far better than these wee diddy clubs like Killie and the sheep and they are all overdue a drubbing

Are we though? Kilmarnock played us like a fiddle tonight

7 minutes ago, rbr said:

Formation was totally wrong to play against of all teams Killie away ,we beat them before with width , absolute shambles .

Agree 100%. Didn't understand Davis coming off? Arfield was doing nowt and I thought Davis and Jack were starting to put their foot on the ball. All the good work and momentum achieved by beating the tims is gone in 90 minutes. We kissed goodbye to the league tonight

4 hours ago, the gunslinger said:

8 million lol. 

 

The correct bid should be closer to 30 than 8 and with a huge sell on clause.

Bang on. Especially since they're talking about Bayern Munich spending nearly 40 million on young Chelsea fringe player. 

1 hour ago, MacK1950 said:

It's time we done away with the hand drawn balls from a bowl and moved over to using machines like those used in the National Lottery draws.

I suppose however that someone would still find a way to suspect skulduggery.

What school did Lancelot go to?...

2 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Defoe was almost through one-on-one on the break, but the ball from Morelos was too long. 

 

We've got some lovely interplay going. 

How's Defoe and Alfie working out? At swimming with my son so can't see the game

Also be interested to see how Davis slots in

1 minute ago, Rousseau said:

Tom and whoever else is on commentary duty can't seem to work out we're playing 4-4-2 diamond. 

As much as I like RTV. I wouldn't say it's the most analytical of channels tbh 

2 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Our defence is too deep, so they're disconnected from the the pressing midfield.

 

HJK get in behind, should have scored but Foderingham saves well. 

Pressing only works if the whole team are together. eg. the Celtic game

1 hour ago, ian1964 said:

 

WTF? Is this because Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon rocked up with his numbskulls? Oh dear. Shameful scenes all round

53 minutes ago, der Berliner said:

Snatched from FF ...

 

ID 10 (you know who)

Mind we were linked with the lad Skov Olsen (?) 
Well Gerrard, Scoulding & Allen went to Denmark today to apparently ‘work on a deal’

Bit of 2+2 = 48 but I’m throwing it out there for Saturday night thoughts......

 

And: (not from ID 10)

Rangers asked for this information to be kept under wraps.

 

Also Lee Bowyer of Charlton says that we might be interested in Karlan Grant, their young striker for next season.

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/karlan-grant/profil/spieler/314183

 

SCOUT REPORT 

Rangers watch Karlan Ahearne-Grant as Steven Gerrard plots summer transfer for Charlton striker

The Ibrox boss wasn't able to watch the striker in action for himself but he sent someone along in his place as the Light Blues step up their pursuit of the player

By David Friel

20th January 2019, 8:00 am

Updated: 20th January 2019, 8:39 am

 

STEVEN GERRARD cancelled plans to make a personal check on Karlan Ahearne-Grant today.

But the Rangers boss again had the Charlton striker watched as he plots a summer move.

 

SunSport understands Gerrard had requested directors' box tickets for the Valley yesterday.

The Ibrox gaffer then had to scrap his plans to watch Charlton take on Accrington Stanley in League One.

But Gerrard sent someone else along in his place as he steps up the pursuit of Ahearne-Grant.

The in-form striker has been a standout for Charlton and Gers hope to land him for a development fee this summer.

 

 

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/3769107/karlan-ahearne-grant-rangers-steven-gerrard-watch-charlton-transfer-news/

I'm liking the long term thinking we are adopting. Preparation is key to our future

32 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Provan should focus on the criminality that took place at Separate Entity FC.  A more sordid affair that, strangely, the press seem keen to ignore.

 

Wouldn't it be sensible to loan Rossiter to Dundee, rather than their neighbours, to get Kamara in in January?

I wouldn't loan Dundee Utd Leonard Rossiter. Hate that grubby wee club

Quite glad tbh. If the game was touch and go, the pitch could have been risky. We don't want any silly injuries 

2 hours ago, buster. said:

If it is postponed at least we have the HJK friendly tomorrow for what would be a strong team in front of a bigger crowd.

 

In case of postponment, the midweek of 29/30th of January looks like the only available slot.

 

Gary Bollan must be burning the candle at both ends. I saw him make a guest appearance in Dr Who recently....

1 minute ago, DMAA said:

McFadden said on Sportsound that we'd signed old players for an already ageing squad whereas Celtic have gone in the other direction. A very ignorant comment because our squad is not at all ageing. Gerrard has brought in experience for that very reason. I did a quick check on our starting line-up versus theirs in the last game and our average age was 26 and theirs 27. 

McFadden should stick to hair transplants... 

With regards to the average age of our team, if you took McGregor and Arfield out of the equation our average age would be much lower than 26. McGregor in particular is skewing the average age stats so McFadden (as usual) is talking ballacks

2 hours ago, DMAA said:

Hope he is over his knee problems. He certainly looks like he has the quality to play for us and replace Tav. 

Agree. Like Kamara, he looks very accomplished on the ball. Hopefully a sign of the type of player we will be looking at for the near future. 

7 minutes ago, Stevie - 4lads Blog said:

Signing news is coming soon, nothing overly exciting but keep eyes on tomorrow’s press 

 

That’s all I can say at this moment folks 

 

?

Kamara coming in during this window?

2 minutes ago, DMAA said:

I think the much more traditional Martin O'Neill will fancy Worrall and want him back. Time will tell but I think it'll be a concern for Gerrard because he clearly rates him higher than most on here. 

There is a good chance this will happen IMO. O'Neil has a tendency to fill his teams with big players and cloggers.