DMAA

1 hour ago, 26th of foot said:

The biggest guffaw of the piece was when Ross raised how long it takes to get Leigh Griffiths fit? According to Mo’, pre-season lasts four weeks, add another two to three weeks to garner sharpness, and that’s it, you are fit.

I was delighted that finally somebody in the media asked the question. Players being ruled out due to covid is one thing. Players being perpetually unfit, however, doesn’t really merit being mentioned in a post match discussion. 

I haven’t had time to look into Standard Liege the way I did with Willem II so I can guess how it will go but it won’t be a very educated guess this time. 
 

They don’t seem to score or concede many, but they compete well against very good sides. I think it will be tight and a draw will be a very good result here. A win would be outstanding. 

1 hour ago, Rousseau said:

I think what we need to do, to give ourselves a chance, is start with Barker, then draw lots for the other positions. 

51 minutes ago, Frankie said:

I watched the game back the other day and he did a lot better than some fans suggested as live.  He wasn't as good as a few others but he was acceptable.

Jordan Campbell had a good piece on him in the Athletic. He says it’s a mistake to wait for a “big moment” from him and that his rise has been gradual, he pointed out that the management clearly trust him because he has been given a lot of big games. You are right Frankie that he is a bit like Kent, he is a winger to trade. He will never be my favourite player but he has a role to play and it would be great to see the management improve him as a player. 

39 minutes ago, Frankie said:

He had a go at Nicholas last week as well.

 

Methinks someone is feeling the pressure.

Certainly looks like it

We have it all to prove. 

Fantastic to get public comments like that from the gaffer. He looks a different player when his confidence is this high, long may it last. 

1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

Did you miss our matches in the first quarter or 2020?  Or their winning run?

You said you were worried by the OP. Why be worried that they have a really bad run of away games and we don’t?
 

I like to look ahead and see the run of fixtures we have coming up. I’m not too scarred to do that. And the set of fixtures we have compared to them presents us with an opportunity and will be a real test for them. That is all I’ve said in the OP. I’ve never been one to overreact at bad results and go over the top when we are doing well. 

A couple self isolating it seems too,

"As a precaution, Damjan Pavlovic and Abdoul Fessal Tapsoba, both tested negative, who cohabit and spent the evening yesterday with Moussa Sissako, are also excluded from the group pending the results of a new test."

Looked them up, both fringe youth players. Raskin is a big one though. Balikwisha looks like a significant miss for them too but as Frankie says it seems he is injured anyway.

4 hours ago, ian1964 said:

“Raskin has come in to the side. He was at Gent before Liege and made his debut there as a 16-year-old. After that he didn’t push on and play. But he has been given his chance at Standard this season and he has taken it.

“He is still only 19, but he has really shone. He is a box-to-box midfielder. He can play in every position in the middle of the park. He is technically gifted, but he is also a bit of a pitbull. He can run a lot, is powerful and has a good shot. He has been one of the big surprises in Belgium football this season and will be a key player for Liege who Rangers will need to be wary of.”

4 minutes ago, rbr said:

3 players plus the keeper coach have tested positive for coved and will miss the game , Balikwisha , Raskin  and Sissako plus goalkeeper coach .

I looked these guys up. Raskin is a huge miss for them, the others are irrelevant, they don't play. But Raskin plays every game is an assist king. They seem to get most of their assists from full back (2 each), and in midfield Raskin has 4 assists and only one other player in the whole midfield has an assist.

7 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

I base my comment on the wider Rangers support, rather than this forum.  

 

The OP worries me.  

 

We totally f*cked up after our last victory at the Noncedome.  I'm a pessimist...can't help it.

There is no reason to be worried. They have tough fixtures coming up and it’s come at a bad time. We have the opposite, except Killie, all I’ve said is that it’s an opportunity because it is, we have to use it to put real pressure on them if they do slip up. Not to mention to take advantage of getting a second game in hand. 

4 minutes ago, MacK1950 said:

Only bogey I see in that is one of the league games is on Killie's kid on pitch,always worry when we play on these surfaces.

Really big test that one. 

We both have 10 games in 42 days coming up. 

They have 3 league games, all away. 1 cup game at Hampden. 5 European games, 3 away. The Scottish Cup draw hasn't been done yet, but if they are drawn away that will be only 2 home games in their next 10 fixtures.

We have 4 league games, 3 at home. We have 5 European games, 2 away. If we are drawing at home in the cup, we will have only 7 home games in our next 10 games.

After Saturday, the timing of this couldn't be worse for them and couldn't be better for us. This a big test for them and it's an opportunity for us to press home our advantage. 

Their Fixtures                                     Our Fixtures

Thu  AC Milan Home                               Standard L Away

Sun  Aberdeen Away                              Livingston Home

Thu  Lille Away                                          Lech Poznan Home

Sun  Aberdeen Neutral                           Kilmarnock Away

Thu  Sparta Prague Home                     Benfica Away

Sun  Motherwell Away                            Hamilton Home

Sat   Hibernian Away                               Aberdeen Home

Thu  Sparta Prague Away                      Benfica Home

Sun  Scottish Cup 2nd Round - Draw not yet done

Thu   Milan Away                                       Standard L Home

1 hour ago, the gunslinger said:

I thought Kamara was very unlucky to be dropped for Davis after the Livingston game. 

 

Many people pointed out Davis is more offensive than Kamara and that has certainly been the case since he came in. My point really though was that Kamara was unfortunate to be the one dropped. 

 

For me Jack has a lot of work to do to get back in the team over Kamara. I don't like them together and Kamara looks better this season than Jack. 

 

That's quite the place to be as i really rate Jack. 

 

Then we have the new guy and Arfield making himself undroppable.  

 

an embarasment of riches. 

 

And Aribo and Zungu both to come in ?

If the season can't be finished the only fair way to award the title is to use the supercomputer. Celtic will be lobbying hard to award the title now after Saturday's performance, the supercomputer still has them winning it by a point (due to last season's form).

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/18804976.celtic-tipped-win-premiership-just-one-point-rangers-defeat-supercomputer-predicts-season-2020-21/

Brian Laudrup has his say,

“I thought (Glen) Kamara was the best player on the park in the Old Firm game. Just outstanding. He was crucial to the control Rangers had,” Laudrup said. “That control left Celtic looking clueless at points in their attempts to produce an attacking threat.

“Kamara’s decision-making sets him apart. It is exceptional when he is at his best. On Saturday, his footballing brain was in top gear to run beside his technical qualities. Kamara’s value will only rise if he impresses for Finland at Euro 2020 next summer.”

Really interesting to see him specify his decision-making and his footballing brain. Really encouraging, because add those things to his obvious technical ability and you have some player on your hands.

Standard Liege 1-1 Rangers

Hagi

1 hour ago, Bill said:

The manager clearly thinks they're robust enough to play more regularly than some others - and the evidence clearly says they are.

Mo Farah would be jealous of Tavernier’s fitness levels

I think we have played harder games so far too. The only games that really matter are the away ones, and they have had,

Kilmarnock, Dundee United, Ross County, St Mirren, St Johnstone.

We have had,

Aberdeen, Livingston, Hamilton, Hibs, Motherwell

Now for me, we have had far harder away games. Hamilton is the only gimme there. Kilmarnock is the only tough one they have had, the others are all strong bottom 6 candidates and don't have the track record Livginston have for taking points off us. Another good sign.

Just now, Rousseau said:

What do you mean "even Barker"? Barkerinho is the star on which our whole team must now be built! ? 

 

That's incredible, actually. 

Haha. And here’s the proof on xG for the whole team. This is very significant. It’s not exaggeration, they really have been as poor as we have been hearing. 

2 hours ago, Rousseau said:

Here's another interesting one:

 

 

Wow, look at this one. Open play only. Suddenly Celtic’s main creators disappear! This is crazy. Even Barker is well up there. 
 

2 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Yes, but we have to remember that it's xG and xA, not actual goals and assists. 

Yes, but what I mean is they have scored about the same as us but according to this, their expected goals must be lower than ours. 
 

As I understand it, if you are outperforming your expected goals and assists you are probably getting a bit lucky, and it will eventually even itself out. Conversely, our actual goals probably don’t do us justice. Which makes sense given Morelos and others have wasted very good chances. All that to say, it is very good to see that our expected assists and goals are higher than theirs (at least for their main men, it bodes well. 

1 hour ago, Rousseau said:

Morelos clearly not taking his good chances. 

 

Hagi and Kent are in a league of their own, regarding Assist and Goals. 

 

Arfield is a surprise (not really) goal threat. 

 

Barisic is a key creator. 

 

Barker is much better than average, but not following through. 

 

Tavernier is a freak. 

I am actually really surprised how much we are dominating this graph. This really shows the luck Celtic have had in terms of points because their key men are below ours on every metric.

2 hours ago, Rousseau said:

Here we go, @DMAA:

 

 

Thanks I hadn’t seen that. That account is brilliant for these stats. Hagi’s stats are quite incredible. And more recently I’ve felt he has been more consistent throughout the game, against Galatasaray he was really good throughout whereas in many league games he actually hasn’t been very impressive but then pops up with an assist. 

The rest of the league have far too much respect for Celtic. Surely they will smell blood after that display at the weekend.