DMAA

There's someone on FF claiming a deal is all but agreed with Hibs but being held up by us inserting a clause saying he can't play against us this season. Bizarre if true.

It's going to be a long transfer window, especially with the Skov Olsen link not going away. It's got me excited when there is probably nothing in it.

33 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

The atmosphere at Ibrox is non-existent at the majority of home matches anyway.  I don't think the empty stadiums are having any impact at all on our performances  

I still think Ibrox being empty helps against the small teams but would be a lost advantage in bigger games. And is a major lost advantage for our opponents away from home. 
 

Some of our players don’t cope well with the sighs, moans, groans and worse when they are struggling to break down a low block and making mistakes. 

2 hours ago, Frankie said:

Balogun confirmed as unavailable for foreseeable due to quad issue and manager said he will be happy with Helander or Edmundson.

Disappointing for him after an excellent start, but if it fastracks Helander's road back to full fitness then that would be a good thing.

6 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

 

Interesting that Football Italia have reported this. Previously it was only a very questionable Twitter source that had reported it. His name came up in January 2019 I think, before he got his move to Bologna. Surprised it hasn’t worked out, he looks a real talent from his YouTube reel. His signing, even on loan, would be a real coup. 

10 minutes ago, craig said:

What I find more interesting is that the little I have seen on social media is that their fans are more concerned about their central defence than they are their striking options.

I can't imagine why when they have 30 million pound man Ajer who AC Milan are desperate to sign and Julie Anne who the papers are telling us Napoli are after. 

Celtic have signed Albian Ajeti. It is interesting because he is very similar to Itten. A Swiss striker, only a few months between them in age, both ex Basel and with similar records in that league. One thing that is different is that Ajeti seems to have got his done better in the early years of his carrer whilst Itten has really come onto a game in the past season or two. Ajeti looks like a decent player, but have they really signed a £5m striker to sit on the bench next to a £3.5m striker? Not to mention Griffiths. With any luck Edouard will leave now.

13 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

I think McLean fits in nicely. 

 

He tends to play as the more advanced of the '2', in a 4-2-3-1.

 

Despite playing in a deeper role, he has an attacking intent, I think.  

 

He won't get bullied and will drive us forward. 

He would be good but Norwich have no intention of selling, their manager rates him highly

Arfield played his best football at Rangers as a number 10 and not as a centre mid. It is a bit unfortunate that he is only getting to play in a position that isn't his best.

18 hours ago, the gunslinger said:

Loan them so we control when they play. 

Loans have been ruled out by Gerrard. It's permanent or nothing.

However if we sell to Hibs we better put a huge sell on clause in his contract because he is only 22 and could go on to make them a bit of money.

I really felt Docherty was good enough to be a squad player so I am a bit disappointed it looks like he is going. I've said for a long time that McCrorie isn't good enough though.

9 hours ago, craig said:

The problem, and it’s a good one to have, is that Aribo also seems to be better suited in the “10”.  Aribo has started the season better and deserves a run there.

I don’t agree. He can play in the 10 because he is good enough to adapt but it’s not his natural position. He is excellent on the right side of the midfield three, providing creativity from a deeper position. His ball winning and ball retention are excellent too and we get more out of him there. That’s where the second goal game from yesterday, Aribo cleverly finding Hagi from that position.  

A win is a win and to score 3 goals is always pleasing, but a little disappointed we just let the game fritter away. In the manager’s defence, Livingstone away is one of the toughest games of the season and it is likely they decided to take it easy. 

I’m only listening on the radio but I expected a bit of a ponderous performance when I saw the team was the same. I wish he would mix it up more. What a player we have in Barisic though, he’s really proving his worth. 

58 minutes ago, Scott7 said:

One Aribo to flit and dance his way through defences is enough.

 

On the other side of the park I want a player who will drive his way through wind and rain and glaur and muck and the opposing midfield.

He doesn’t need to be exactly like Aribo, I just meant a player who can create as many goals as him. 

16 hours ago, Tannochsidebear said:

I dont think 7 players for 3 spots can be seen as being short of numbers. We are clearly short of quality, and the Jack-Kamara partnership is really not working as both are far too defensive and both cover the same ground. One is enough, happy to rotate them, to allow Aribo to get forward, and we need a third player of quality to finish that area off. None of Arfield, Davis, Docherty, McCrorie or Barjonas are the quality we are needing for a full season although on their day all could make a contribution, and we know SG is looking to bring one quality midfielder in, but will perhaps need to offload 2 or 3 of this list to make room for the wages. I think our squad is far too bloated all over with average players who are way below the quality of the first picks, and leaves no room for our youth players to force their way in. Our youth players, much lauded over the last 12-18 months, have had very little opportunities to show if they can step up, and are not going to get any when there are big wages players ahead of them in name only because we cant get rid of them.

I would include Aribo so it is 8 players to 3 spots. I agree the problem is quality and not quantity.

I think ideally you would have two Aribo type players on either side of Jack or Kamara for most SPFL games. If we could bring in one player with that kind of creativity in that position I would feel far more confident that we won't eventually succomb to the same issues against the low block again this season.

Could it be that there is an element of appeasement in it too? 

51 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

 

The amount of grown men who can't bring themselves to say the word "Rangers" in this country is embarrassing.

13 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

We really need to win these next 2 games now. That was always the case but more so now. 

The first test of the mentality of the team this season. 

4 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Looking forward to Thursday morning when, after we draw 0-0 with St Johnstone tomorrow night, we find out Jordan Jones carelessly drives RTV's special guest Thomas Buffel home to Belgium.

I forgot about Jordan Jones ?‍♂️ it's a matter of time 

1 minute ago, Whosthedado said:

From a purely football point of view - good news for us potentially - bang in two wins and piles on pressure on the covid breakers!

And they will hopefully have a crowded fixture list later in the season with at least two postponed games to squeeze in. 

You have to wonder how it will affect Bolignoli too. 

If detailed protocols weren't documented and agreed for scenarios like this before the season started then the SFA have demonstrated that they are incompetent on quite a staggering level.

Humza threatening to pause the season now. Sounds like a better idea than making Aberdeen and Celtic suffer the consequences. At the very least, postpone their games for the next fortnight and then they can deal with the backlog.

Bizarre stuff. I just hope our players know better.

41 minutes ago, BlackSocksRedTops said:

Apologies if it's been posted nut I thought there should be a special mention for Kamaras through ball for the 3rd goal yesterday. It was a beauty. 

 

Kamara gets a lot of stick so it's good to see him making a contribution like this. 

That was Aribo. BLM will be on your case for that one. 
 

It was an excellent ball, Aribo is going to be huge this season. He’s our most important player IMO. 

1 hour ago, craig said:

I’d hardly say a point behind at the break was HUGE pressure.  And, unless I’m mistaken, we played ahead of them in the first game after the break and dropped points, reducing the pressure on them right away.

So they weren’t under huge pressure at that stage but would be if they went 4 points behind in August? Regardless, the point is that they have been under a lot of pressure from us much further on in the season and they passed the test and we failed. We will need to overcome those mental challenges this season. After all, it’s no coincidence we slipped up immediately after going top every single time. 

52 minutes ago, craig said:

which puts huge pressure on them which they haven’t really been under for a decade.

Well, they were under huge pressure after December 31st last year and they came through it and we crumbled. We need to show we can match their mental strength because there's no hiding that it's an area we've failed in.