Match Preview: General Caixinha Takes Command

[BEARGER 1,830]

Goals etc.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CsD0Xsi0gJ4

Edited May 13, 2017 by BEARGER

[BEARGER 1,830]

 

Jamie Barjonas.

[Tannochsidebear 2,429]

On the 31st of May 1862, General Robert Edward Lee accepted command of the Army of Northern Virginia from Confederate President Jefferson Davis, effectively becoming the Commanding General of all the Confederate Armies in the American Civil War.

 

"Lee Takes Command", Mort Kunstler

 

(Please excuse the shadows, best I could do.)

 

Just over a year earlier, at the outset of the War, Lee had been offered command of the 75,000 strong Federal Army being raised by Lincoln to suppress the insurrection in the slave States; but after a short equivocation he declined, saying to a Presidential Adviser, “Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four millions of slaves in the South I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native state?” With the benefit of hindsight, it is interesting but idle to speculate what might have happened if Lee, a veteran of the Mexican-American War and the former Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, rather than the hapless bunch of Generals who so frustrated Lincoln, had been in command of the Federal Army in the first year of the Civil War. In my opinion, the conflict would have been over a great deal sooner and a great many less lives would have been lost.

 

Lee won a series of remarkable victories in 1862/63 at Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville; before seemingly losing the plot and a third of his army with it, in the terrible slaughter that was the 3-day Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. After some inconclusive battles in 1864, Lee finally surrendered to Ulysses S Grant at Appomattox Court House on the 9th of April 1865.

 

But that was not the end of the American Civil War as many think; it was only the beginning of the end. There were to be four more battles in the Carolinas and Alabama in April and May 1865 at Morrisville Station, West Point, Columbus and Anderson. Finally, wait for it here’s the link you’ve all been waiting for; 152 years ago today, on the 13th of May 1865, at Palmito Station, Texas, the Confederates actually won the last battle of the Civil War. Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana Infantry Regiment is thought to have been the last of the more than 600,000 soldiers killed in the Civil War.

 

I could try to draw comparisons with the recent history of our Club but it is too late at night or early in the morning to say other than the obvious that we too are under new command. After some early successes, we too had our “Gettysburg” at home against Celtic, a “disaster” to quote General Caixinha and who can argue with that. We fared little better for most of last week’s match in sunny Maryhill until wounded pride and a wounded defender led to a double change of tactics of which Lee would have been proud, and produced a late victory of which he would have been prouder still.

 

So far this season, Hearts are beating us two games to one and 6 goals to 3, including the 4-1 humiliation in Crooks’ one and only appearance at Tynecastle in February. Such was our collapse that General Lee would surely have had some of the troops taken out and shot for desertion.

 

It is worth looking back on our team just 3 months ago:

 

Foderingham;

Tavernier, Kiernan, Hill, Wallace;

Hyndman, Toral, Halliday;

Mackay, Miller and Waghorn.

 

Foderingham remains in goal, though many would like to see the qualities that brought Alnwick to the Club. Tavernier somehow manages to keep Hodson on the bench and undoubtedly has raised his attacking game in recent weeks, though he continues to be a liability in defence. Wallace is "hors de combat". I have never rated Kiernan above English League 2 and hope that MW still believes enough of his own hype to take him to Nottingham. By all accounts Hill will be released at the end of his contract but may well be pressed into service alongside Bates today. I would have no qualms about that, he is the consummate professional, even if the years are catching up with his legs. The entire midfield is gone: Hyndman and Toral limping home to the South (get it?) whilst Halliday is out of favour and not before time in the eyes of many. Mackay shows what he can do 10 minutes at a time and Waghorn fails to show anything for as long as he is on the pitch. Rarely can a player have regressed so much in one season. And then there is Kenny Miller, the scourge of our beloved TB. Where would we be this season without his 13 goals and 7 assists in 44 starts including 90 minutes in every one of our last 5 games.

 

Pedro doesn’t have many choices especially if some are called in for 6.00am training again today, so I think we will line up something like this:

 

Foderingham

Tavernier, Bates, Hill, Beerman;

Windass, Holt, Barjonnas;

Miller, Garner, Mackay.

 

Can our depleted troops even the score with Hearts or will we surrender and be left to drown our sorrows at the Fifth Official Gersnet Dinner?

 

 

Just catching up on This thread, a very enjoyable read BH, thanks for that.

 

As for the name check when discussing Miller, I must bite and add when 13 goals in 44 games for the Rangers number 9 gets you POTY you know your club have had the worst season imaginable. As for where would we be without him. I would suggest if Hardie was retained instead of loaned and Dodoo was given more game time and even Garner perhaps, then we may well have scored a lot more goals this season, and perhaps won a few more games, but we will never know.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

Oh nearly forgot, the ref was gash the day, some of his decision's were bizarre. Hearts player jumps for the ball, make a James Hunt of it, falls and the ref gives a free kick to the player, Rangers player standing about a foot away shakes head in disbelief. Goodnight troops.

[Tannochsidebear 2,429]

Down south so only caught the game on to in pub with sound off (thankfully!) but thought we were OK in first half and could have been further ahead at the break. Loved the free kick slid to Tav with Miller pulling the defender away to create the space, that could work if tried again.

 

Second half was turgid. Holt was terrible at Hearts goal, he simply cannot commit to that tackle in that situation and I hope this is pointed out to him by Pedro in no uncertain terms in the game review. Miller in midfield is not working. I would have thought that Pedro, after seeing how badly Miller was in the man-marking Brown role in the OF disaster, would have played Miller up front or not at all but it seems he is another manager that loves to cram round pegs into square holes. Millers midfield performances are making me hark back to the bad old days of Jig being shoehorned into centre mid just to give him a game without being a liability in defence or attack. I await Miller starting next week at full back.

 

In reality, this season can't end quickly enough for us Bears, so just 2 more torture sessions left before our biggest and most important game since last years SCF which is our Euro qualifier at the end of June about 6 weeks from now. There is a gargantuan amount of work to be done to be ready for that game, which is pretty much impossible to expect, so we have to hope for a kind draw or 3 and a bit of luck on the park too.

 

At least we don't have the awful league cup sections to play in!

[jhunter 0]

Just catching up on This thread, a very enjoyable read BH, thanks for that.

 

As for the name check when discussing Miller, I must bite and add when 13 goals in 44 games for the Rangers number 9 gets you POTY you know your club have had the worst season imaginable. As for where would we be without him. I would suggest if Hardie was retained instead of loaned and Dodoo was given more game time and even Garner perhaps, then we may well have scored a lot more goals this season, and perhaps won a few more games, but we will never know.

 

in miller's defence regarding those stats , a lot of those games he never played at CF

[Tannochsidebear 2,429]

in miller's defence regarding those stats , a lot of those games he never played at CF

 

But I keep getting told he is our best striker. If he is our best striker, why is he not playing as a striker? We have struggled to score goals all season, yet Miller is our best striker, and our best player, but bring up his dreadful goals return and all of a sudden I get but he isn't being played as a striker.

 

So is it all three managers this season are wrong by thinking he is not our best striker, or he is but his goals record is shit?

 

Given that goals win games and the striker is the most important position, am I seriously getting told here that Miller is our best striker but is not being played as a striker because other inferior strikers are being preferred?

[BrahimHemdani 1]

But I keep getting told he is our best striker. If he is our best striker, why is he not playing as a striker? We have struggled to score goals all season, yet Miller is our best striker, and our best player, but bring up his dreadful goals return and all of a sudden I get but he isn't being played as a striker.

 

So is it all three managers this season are wrong by thinking he is not our best striker, or he is but his goals record is shit?

 

Given that goals win games and the striker is the most important position, am I seriously getting told here that Miller is our best striker but is not being played as a striker because other inferior strikers are being preferred?

 

TB, your almost pathological dislike of Miller, was subject of some brief debate at the dinner, pity you weren't there to defend yourself.

 

I can't speak for others but quite apart from being our second top scorer overall and top scorer in the League he also has 7 assists in the League alone, including putting the ball on Garner's head for the winning goal the last two weeks.

 

No doubt our coaches play him where they think he will do the best job for the team.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Id say he was our best player and top scorer. Not necessarily our best striker.

 

Though hes probably that to.

 

 

[Uilleam 5,960]

This season has seen Kenny Miller shoulder the burden of a position that many believe does not exist:

 

Defensive Midfield Striker

Edited May 15, 2017 by Uilleam