DMAA

20 minutes ago, stewarty said:

When we read the accounts on Friday we didn't think that it would take the manager's departure to kick start the player trading model.

Biggest sale since Jelavic

I don’t know what to think of GVB. Potential obviously but less pedigree and experience than I would like. At this point in the season though are there any better options out there?

Compensation will play a part too. GVB is available so that goes in his favour. 

I just hope we are prepared for this! It won’t be as bad as 2017 anyway. Rangers fans excited about the post-Caixinha era, meanwhile in the boardroom, “What about Graeme Murty?”. 

14 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Recently, sure, but they are a sleeping giant. 

The comments with regards to Villa by so many has been absolutely bizarre tbh. A big club, in huge city, very near his family (can he even commute?). A rare opportunity for him.

4 hours ago, BlackSocksRedTops said:

Talk of Russell Martin (Swansea) now as a replacement.

No chance, he’s been at Swansea for a few months. 

14 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

I think he means Wilson, in terms of his managerial appointments. 

 

I agree that Hasenhuttl has done quite well. 

I did mean Hasenhuttl but I don’t watch the EPL, I just did a quick search and saw he’d finished 12th in his first full season but then dropped to 15th in his second season. 

6 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Yes, this is his first managerial appointment with us.

 

Who did he appoint at Southampton? Was he responsible for Hasenhuttl?

I’m sure he was primarily considered responsible for the appointment. It doesn’t look like he’s done too well there. 

5 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

I'm actually quite excited. 

 

I've been quite unimpressed and bored by our performances this season. 

There’s certainly a potential upside but the risk is big so I’m nervous. 
 

With the right appointment we could get a real bounce and a freshness to our tactics, but that is a best case scenario. 

4 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Barring any surprises now, I think it's a done deal - it's probably just a case of who goes with him across his backroom team.

 

Now up to Ross Wilson to facilitate Gerrard's successor in a timely fashion.

This is Ross Wilson’s biggest test yet. 

18 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

But if Beale was offered the Rangers job, could he turn that down?

You would certainly think not. I just worry that Gerrard wouldn’t go without him. 

It looks done

55 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

Unless Beale was offered a managerial post in his own right....  

Would Gerrard join Villa without Beale in the middle of a season though? Surely it would be too big a gamble for him to just go and make do with who they already have, with whom he has no relationship. Implementing his style of play would be very hard without his current team. If it was the summer, he would have an opportunity to get a new team together but he doesn't seem to have that. That's my worry.

I think Aston Villa is exactly the level of club he will be looking for to be honest. 

At this stage of the season you would hope he wouldn't though. I very much doubt he would go anywhere without taking at least Beale with him. That would be fine in the summer but disastrous for us just now.

The optics wouldn't be great either. The first few months of the season has been really poor and there's a serious challenge from Celtic. To jump now wouldn't look good for him at all.

On the other hand, unless he is fully committed beyond the summer I would be worried of the impact it could have on the team. Teams do not perform well when they know the manager is leaving at the end of the season (97-98 one example), it would be a hammer blow psychologically.

2 hours ago, Frankie said:

FWIW, I think Ross Wilson will have this well in hand and it wouldn't surprise me to see someone not on that list from somewhere left-field.

Yes, I would hope he has a shortlist of up and coming managers who I'm not even aware of that is realistic but also ambitious. That's his job. I can't even speculate on who it could be because I barely follow football outside of Scotland anymore.

Kent for the goal. It isn’t easy to come back from injury and make an impact but that’s an assist and a goal now. Long shots haven’t been a strength of his, with a couple of notable exceptions, so if he can chip in with one like that every now and again it would be brilliant. 

@Bluedell, what’s your take?

Tonight is another failing I’m afraid. A team who are 6th in their league, 13 points adrift of a team Celtic out out after only 14 games, we needed to win really and we’re up against it to progress now. Some positives to take from it maybe but Gerrard needs to sort us out, we still still look like we did in the second half of 19/20. 

We’ve been much more positive since the subs. 

Yet another stupid, inexplicable goal conceded this season. 

3 hours ago, Rousseau said:

Arfield links midfield and attack so well. 

 

I was hoping Lundstram would take over from Arfield, but they're looking to be different players. 

 

Maybe Bacuna, going forward?

Looking at the stats, Lundstram looked very similar to Arfield so I was expecting the same. I don’t watch the EPL so I hadn’t seen him at Sheffield United but I wonder if he has maybe lost a bit of his mobility in the past 2 years and had to move further back the pitch as a result. 
 

Yes, Bacuna was brought in to play a similar role, I’m sure Gerrard alluded to it. I’m not going to write him off yet because he does have something, although his start has been inauspicious. 

Fantastic weekend. Here’s hoping that could be a turning point in the season. Celtic had won 5 in a row and nobody expected them to drop points without scoring at home to 3rd bottom Livingston. A 6-1 win goes some way to restoring a our fear factor. Delighted to see Arfield getting a run out. We have badly needed a midfielder who can break the lines and contribute in attacking moves. Sure, he is winding down but he is still a player who can offer something different. 

16 hours ago, Bill said:

 

President of Zambia

You can’t not give it to the hat trick hero. Especially when we have been lamenting wastefulness in front of goal all season.
 

A big confidence boost for him and hopefully he can kick on from here.

I wasn’t aware that Celtic’s chance creation had been trending down. I feel better after their draw today and after reading through this thread. 
 

.