Unacceptable, Inexplicable But Totally Predictable

[chilledbear 16]

We brought on a defender[Dailly] for a midfielder.

They brought on a striker for a midfielder.

 

That to me showed who wanted to win the game. Sorry Walter, but for the good of Rangers you should go.

[Frankie 8,552]

The Dailly substitution made no sense whatsoever.

 

Edu has hardly been brilliant of late but at least he's match fit, sharp and the experience would have been useful for him. Yet, we bring on Dailly who hasn't played for the first team since late September who will be freed come May.

 

I'm no football tactician or expert so I'd love someone to try and explain Smith's rationale for this move...

[chilledbear 16]

The Dailly substitution made no sense whatsoever.

 

Edu has hardly been brilliant of late but at least he's match fit, sharp and the experience would have been useful for him. Yet, we bring on Dailly who hasn't played for the first team since late September who will be freed come May.

 

I'm no football tactician or expert so I'd love someone to try and explain Smith's rationale for this move...

 

 

Perhaps one of our hard-hitting Scottish Football Reporters will ask Wattie that question on Friday!!!

[calscot 0]

When Walter brought on Dailly I was completely baffled but KNEW that if we lost, he'd take a huge pounding for it.

 

I know a manager should not be unduly influenced by the fans, but decisions like that need to be tempered with crescendo of criticism that will build if the decision fails.

 

Any way you look at it, it looks like a poor decision in most people's eyes that will make people question Smith's competence.

 

It's incredibly hard to say if it contributed to the loss but there is no point giving your detractors such heavy artillery as ammunition.

 

I said with PLG that if you are unorthodox and it works you look like a genius, when you are unorthodox and it fails, you look like a fool.

 

The Dailly substitution certainly makes Walter look foolish, and also puts a bad light on his previous decisions - like that of purchasing a younger player for 2.7M that we couldn't afford, who is supposed to fill that role.

 

Player an over the hill, journeyman player who hasn't played for 6 months, in a final is just asking for the derision of the fans. I think sometimes you have to be clever enough to realise that some things are a hiding to nothing and keeping the faith of the fans is becomes more important than stubbornly doing the unpopular choice.

 

I'm wondering what the reaction would have been if we'd played 4-4-2 with Fleck instead of McCulloch, pushed forward in numbers and lost 3-0.

 

I'm sure the resultant calls for his head would be the same, but at least it would reduce some of the vitriol against him.

[craig 5,199]

I think any manager should make the decisions he feels will win games, regardless of the vitriol and ill-feeling he will suffer from the fans.

 

But I fail to see how the introduction of Dailly was an attempt at winning the game. It looked more to me as if WS was accepting penalties would be the fate.

 

However, just to contradict myself...... prior to Dailly's introduction we were actually creating the better chances. Boruc had a couple of very decent saves, so it could be argued that the tactics and formation were working.

 

Again, however, Dailly was STILL the wrong introduction - it really should have been Edu - younger, fresher, fitter.

 

Who would be a football manager, eh ?

[pete 2,499]

I would prefer we lost fighting than the powder puff football Walter Smith plays.

It is better to have fought and lost than not to have fought at all.

[chilledbear 16]

I might have seen the point if Dailly was a midfielder. Once again it's playing players out of position, and I know he has played there before, but only in Watties mind.

[Gers4Life 0]

Does the guy have a clue, did he not take the reins from McCoist, i was under the impression that ally took charge of our cup games, ditch the defensive football and play attacking football' oh wait most of the players are played out of position to start with! oh walter walter walter

[CammyF 7,982]

Sunday was a cup final, a one off game, so playing 4-1-4-1 of 4-5-1 was totally unacceptable. A cup final is supposed to be a show-piece, a game that is played to a finish with a trophy at the end of it.

 

Walter appears to believe that the only way to win a trophy is to hope that we score in the first 90 minutes and hold on to win, or to hold out for extra-time and penalties.

 

Given Sunday's opponents, a team that have a very shakey defence, we should have gone 4-4-2. Walter is a manager who doesn't know his best 11, doesn't know his best formation and worst off all, doesn't trust or rate players he signed in the summer.

 

We are all discussing the symptoms instead of focusing on the problem. The problem is Walter Smith and his coaching staff. The problem is that our players aren't coached properly and aren't trusted to play in their natural positions. We have no natural width in the full back positions (SW apart) and none at wide right either. We show-horn players into a team / formation rather than creating a formation round the palyers we have.

 

I don't think anyone will argue that we have a splattering of talent in the squad; Mendes, Ferguson, Davis, Fleck, Novo, Boogie, Aaron et al are all decent players but are played out of position or have some how, lost their form.

 

The prime example of this is Charlie Adam. A player who burst onto the scene scored ~15 goals from midfield (no penalties) domestically and in the CL. He looked a player but has gone backwards since Smith, McCoist and McDowell have arrived (he isn't the only player that has gone backwards).

 

To move forward we MUST replace the current coaching staff with coaches who'll get the best out of these players.

 

Cammy F

[Zappa 0]

The way I saw the game on Sunday was that the first half was non eventful, but pretty even, whereas in the second half we looked by far the better team & should have scored at least 1 goal to win it in normal time. If we'd done that & lifted the cup Walter wouldn't be getting berated except for perhaps introducing Daily, which by all accounts was moronic.