Forrester Misses Cup Semi

[Rousseau 10,604]

When Forrester plays deeper (LCM), we've had O'Halloran and King to come in; because they're not eligible, Forrester's position would have been RW. From that the only replacement can be Clark IMO (Clark up top with Miller wide). I don't see Warburton changing radically -- with Halliday or Shiels playing as a winger -- it'll be something he's done before. DB picked the side correctly above IMO.

 

The midfielder replacements (Shiels, Law and Zelalem) cannot play RW; only Clark can come into the equation IMO.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Rousseau

[calscot 0]

Maybe so, but I'd say that given Thompson is the ref, Brown will fold Zelalem a couple of times unpunished and that will be that. We saw what he did last year without seeing a card till very late on and I doubt that the man in the middle will referee that game any different. You actually have to fear for our more elegant players' health in this one.

 

If we had a decent ref it could have been a ruse to get Brown set off, as he'd likely see it as an opportunity to highly intimidate a young player - but it would only be at the expense of the health of a player under our charge...

[calscot 0]

I don't think Warburton is genuine about this being the same as usual, I think he'll have a special formation for this game, and try to pull a surprise out the hat. It's what all the best managers do - you don't win much on a level playing field by being predictable.

[der Berliner 3,744]

Is Davie Weir eligible?

[Davie P 4]

I think comparing last years match to this one is wrong mate,night and day from last year I think!,we actually have a chance to win this time,we might get beat but if we play to our best we can beat them,as for Law pushing him out wide right would seem to be the least upset to the team set up, Tavernier pretty much gets up and down the line all the time so that alone should make it a wee bit easier for Law!.

Anyway whoever the manager selects at least we know they will give effort as opposed to the shite from last season.

 

I'm not comparing the team performance mate, thank god we no longer play that turgid, one dimensional football, just pointing out that Law went missing in all of our big matches. Without MoH, King and Forrester, we really don't have anyone as a direct replacement, so my guess is that Miller moves to the right, with Clark down the middle. (Just got a little bit of a sick taste in my mouth at the thought of Clark playing in this match, but at least you can be sure that he will put a shift in!) However, if Law is selected, he will get my support and hope that he proves me wrong.

[RabiDuck 89]

Maybe so, but I'd say that given Thompson is the ref, Brown will fold Zelalem a couple of times unpunished and that will be that. We saw what he did last year without seeing a card till very late on and I doubt that the man in the middle will referee that game any different. You actually have to fear for our more elegant players' health in this one.

 

Tongue in cheek perhaps, but perhaps more of a reason for Zelalem in that he's not our player and we're not risking our own boys' health against Brown!

[Tannochsidebear 2,406]

Having to rely on Miller & Clark in this game is not a position we want to be in. Neither should be anywhere near our starting XI next season and Clark will be gone anyway hopefully.

 

I also fail to see where some of the super-confidence from our support comes from for this game.

 

We're already without four players for this game & their replacements do not inspire me with confidence unfortunately. And our defence was,until the last two games, conceding goals all over the place

 

I'm not at all confident of success when I base it on anything logical - but a supporter of any side, far less Rangers, can always have some confidence based on sporting chance and blind faith!!

[calscot 0]

I'm not a fan of Law but Clark has yet to show himself to be an asset in the higher level games. If Law doesn't hide, he's at least capable of a top half of the SP performance. I don't see Clark as a top 6 player and Championship might be more his level.

 

Sheils has been a reasonable impact player as others have been saying but doesn't seem to play so well from the start, but again I see him as a top 6 player.

 

The main trouble with both those choices is that neither are top 3 players, which is what we need.

[craig 5,199]

It really does show the lack of depth in the squad. We have been very, very lucky with injuries this season. Unfortunately we have lost two attack-minded players at the same time in Waghorn and Forrester, which has very much left us scrambling around for "fillers".

 

I don't think Clark is the desired quality needed for us. However, and counter-intuitive as this may sound, on reflection I wouldn't mind seeing him get the start. I haven't seen much of Celtic but when I watched their 2nd half performance against Killie the Celtic CB's looked to be slow, indecisive and took too long to release the ball. Clark would put a shift in and his tenacity could certainly put some unwanted pressure on those Celtic CB's.

 

His inclusion would probably mean the least disruption performance-wise - the only drawback for me would be that Miller would likely have to play wide right, which is a shame as he has actually been doing a commendable job in recent weeks as the striker that drops deep to collect.

 

Either way, Celtic rightly are installed as favorites but, even with the loss of Forrester and Waghorn (I agree with TB, put Waghorn on the bench and give him the last 15-20 minutes if needed), we most certainly have a chance if we play to our capabilities.

[MacK1950 2,376]

Agreed we have to use more seasoned players definitely not a place for lightweight players but all playing will have to stand up and be counted.