[FT] Partick Thistle 1 - 3 Rangers (Pena 55; Candeias 94; Herrera 99)

[pete 2,499]

Totally agree the young CH Mcrorie looks really good. Won everything in the air, especially with that idiot Salmon! Is the draw tomorrow night? Anyone know??

 

Thursday after the Well v sheep game.

[Walterbear 557]

Ha ha yup he is a pussy and pish! A "Pished Pussy" if you will. One of the guys behind me nearly had a coronary episode because of him. Just woeful and started hiding as he knew he was awful.

There might be a player in their but he is scared to get hurt. Not good enough for me. Pena looks like he could come on and be a great signing imo.

 

Yep he is a big negative. Dorrans bawling at him during a 'hiding' episode. There were a few such episodes. It's hard to believe Dean Windass is his dad. Suspect Mrs Windass might have a secret.

[craig 5,199]

Unsurprisingly the hubz grunts are apparently hoping they draw us because I think that despite the fact they needed a last gasp penalty to get through against Championship Livingston they fancy that they can get away with anything against us. Which doesn't surprise me since Stokes can execute any wrestling move he wants to and Lennon can get it up ye as he pleases.

 

And seemingly their only concern is that referees are bias in our favour. Really, I didn't make that up.

 

You clearly frequent the wrong forums bud

[forlanssister 3,114]

Ha ha yup he is a pussy and pish! A "Pished Pussy" if you will. One of the guys behind me nearly had a coronary episode because of him. Just woeful and started hiding as he knew he was awful.

There might be a player in their but he is scared to get hurt. Not good enough for me. Pena looks like he could come on and be a great signing imo.

 

An amalgam of the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion.

 

Think there is a player in him somewhere but by f*&k he doesn't let him out much.

[chilledbear 16]

If we had a fit left back (McCrorie worth a try?), I would play John in place of Windass..

[Gaffer 1,665]

So pleased that PC has at last played the system he (and many of us) prefers. Last night's game did however show us why he's been trying other systems though.

 

Firstly, it was a boost to see Pena from the start, and he looks great in that role. He found space, and played those one-twos he is so good at. The team needs to recognise those runs he makes though, because too often he played the pass and made the run, only for his team-mate (normally Morelos) to pass elsewhere. When the partnership develops, these two could be lethal together.

 

Candeias was clearly enjoying that system too. He's a good winger, but he's so good when cutting inside too, so this suits him and he could have had a few more goals last night. He is so fit too and was up and down that side of the pitch all game. He seems to have settled really well and will be competing for player of the season without a doubt.

 

Jack played well, but he's got to be more disciplined in his positioning. This system is very different from what he's played before and he needs to sit deeper between Alves and Cardoso. We gave away too many chances to them because we left big gaps. Against Celtic this would be a problem, but perhaps the manager opted to play it this way. Only he knows. Either way, if we're committing to this system, Jack needs to recognise when he has to sit that 10 yards deeper. And that brings me on to Dorrans. Dorrans is a really good leader and I rate him very highly, but in this fluid system, I feel he's out of position a lot. He likes to get forward, but he has to be the link between Jack and the front 4 and this didn't work for some reason. There were too many times when there were wide open spaces in the middle of the park and that's where he should have been. It also meant when we lost possession that Jack then pushed further forward to press the player. This causes the shape at the back to crumble. Almost every single break away they had was as a result of us being overloaded initially in that area. That shouldn't happen, and I hope they see that in the analysis session tomorrow. Dorrans will have competition from Holt in that role.

 

John looked excellent and he's got be pushing for a first team place now. He does however have to improve his awareness and decision making. He always looks to drive forward but he has to recognise when other players are committed forward and just sit back more. Equally though, his team mates need to recognise he's always thinking of attacking and perhaps sit back for him too. But he's a really exciting player and I'm sure we are already starting work on his pre contract for January.

 

The final player I'd pick out for attention is Morelos. Although he clearly has to develop his support for other players (in particular his understanding of how to create space and chances for Pena), I'm more and more impressed with him with every game. We all hoped we could sign someone like him, but I didn't think we'd get someone this good and so young. He's quick, he's strong, he's skilful, and he is so confident. His workrate is top class and I'm sure we all enjoy watching this boy play for us. There were (and probably still are) some doubts as to whether he is ready to play as the lone striker in this system, but I feel he's able to develop quickly into that role and I'd persevere with it, even if it means risking a few more points in the process.

 

Many of us hoped we'd see the manager's preferred system implemented, and last night was the first time. There are some big points of concern to address (as I've mentioned), but he's got to stick with this now. We will drop more points in the process of learning and working out the best 11, but I'm hoping PC gets the support from all players. I said yesterday that Miller and Wallace aren't naturally going to fit into this, and after last night I'd say that Windass is a doubt too. I hope he can develop, but now I see why we wanted Walker, who is a more natural fit for that role.

 

It'll be very interesting to see the approach we now have for the weekend game. Given that he's not under great pressure to win (accepting however we need to compete), I'd hope he'd stick with the same system as last night to see how we can create chances again Celtic. I'd fancy our chances to score a couple, but unless we sort out the shaping and discipline in certain positions we could lose a few too. I'm a risk taker so I'd go for it. I hope PC thinks that way too.

[Rousseau 10,630]

We had them sussed out, and they rarely got the ball for the majority of the game. They were content to counter us and Cardoso made it easy standing off Salmon -- however, he was tighter second half and dealt with him well, and he seemed to grow in stature when Alves went off. McCrorie was fantastic; at 19 to pretty much dominate the big hatchet man Salmon is really promising, and he's composed in the pass too.

 

Our decision making in awful: the number of times we get to the byline and cut it back wonderfully only for a player to pull out, or sky it is ridiculous! Candeias is case in point: terrific pressing and pace, rounds the 'keeper and skys it! We missed some sitters. Windass guilty of a few.

 

We completely disintegrated after we made those first forced subs at the back: no organisation at all, and their goal was coming. It was somewhat understandable, as there were a few subs, an untested back four and our vice captain off.

 

I was actually pretty content to see us in two banks of four defending; they really didn't look like scoring. We were a little too deep after we scored and then after those subs, but I think sitting deeper and countering was a decent way to go. A little more composure and it would have been out of sight.

 

Morelos worked his socks off, and was understandably knackered at the end. Herrera did the job when he came on.

 

Pena was excellent. He did indeed play No.10 as we wanted, but I think he was positioned deeper, almost like a 8. It was like a 4-5-1, but with Pena having the license to go forward. His late runs and positioning was fantastic. How many times was he free but not picked out!? When he gets the ball he moves it forward, and then follows it with pace. We failed to link up with him as much as I'd like, but that movement at least had the effect of moving defenders away, creating space.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing Alnwick in goal for Saturday: he's a better shot-stopper than Foderingham, which will perhaps be more important than Fod's distribution?

Edited September 20, 2017 by Rousseau

[Gaffer 1,665]

We had them sussed out, and they rarely got the ball for the majority of the game. They were content to counter us and Cardoso made it easy standing off Salmon -- however, he was tighter second half and dealt with him well, and he seemed to grow in stature when Alves went off. McCrorie was fantastic; at 19 to pretty much dominate the big hatchet man Salmon is really promising, and he's composed in the pass too.

 

Our decision making in awful: the number of times we get to the byline and cut it back wonderfully only for a player to pull out, or sky it is ridiculous! Candeias is case in point: terrific pressing and pace, rounds the 'keeper and skys it! We missed some sitters. Windass guilty of a few.

 

We completely disintegrated after we made those first forced subs at the back: no organisation at all, and their goal was coming. It was somewhat understandable, as there were a few subs, an untested back four and our vice captain off.

 

I was actually pretty content to see us in two banks of four defending; they really didn't look like scoring. We were a little too deep after we scored and then after those subs, but I think sitting deeper and countering was a decent way to go. A little more composure and it would have been out of sight.

 

Morelos worked his socks off, and was understandably knackered at the end. Herrera did the job when he came on.

 

Pena was excellent. He did indeed play No.10 as we wanted, but I think he was positioned deeper, almost like a 8. It was like a 4-5-1, but with Pena having the license to go forward. His late runs and positioning was fantastic. How many times was he free but not picked out!? When he gets the ball he moves it forward, and then follows it with pace. We failed to link up with him as much as I'd like, but that movement at least had the effect of moving defenders away, creating space.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing Alnwick in goal for Saturday: he's a better shot-stopper than Foderingham, which will perhaps be more important than Fod's distribution?

 

It's funny that we both pressed 'post' at the same time with the same assessment of Pena. When the team starts to use him more, he will be lethal. Maybe the language barrier is making it more difficult for him to direct players, but it'll come. I agree he looks like the player we hoped he would be. You never know Rousseau .... maybe this was PC's plan all along, or maybe he read the forum yesterday and decided to listen to us. ;-)

[ian1964 10,724]

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald believes referee Steven McLean was "affected" by Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha's comments ahead of their League Cup quarter-final tie.

 

Caixinha said teams are more aggressive against Rangers after they drew 2-2 with 10-man Thistle in the league.

 

"You could see that Pedro's comments affected the officials," Archibald said after Rangers won 3-1 in the cup tie.

 

"Every 50-50 went their way. I'm so disappointed."

 

Rangers opened the scoring in the second half at Firhill through midfielder Carlos Pena, who was one of three changes to the visitors' line-up, four days after the teams had met in the Premiership.

 

Archibald made two changes to his side, replacing the cup-tied Miles Storey and the suspended Chris Erskine, who had been sent off against Rangers in the league.

 

After Rangers were forced to replace defenders Bruno Alves and Declan John through injury, Thistle's push for an equaliser gathered momentum and they were rewarded through substitute Kris Doolan's 90th-minute strike.

 

Thistle were subdued in extra-time, though, with Rangers establishing a two-goal lead through Daniel Candeias and Eduardo Herrera in the opening period.

 

"It was a fantastic game to watch, just disappointing [to lose]," said Archibald.

 

"I thought the boys put so much in, we were in the ascendancy when we scored, and it's hard to put your finger on extra time, and why we dropped off.

 

"We changed our shape in the second half, we felt the lad No 27 [Pena] was causing a problem in the hole.

 

"We were just about to bring Kris Doolan on and they scored. We gave Rangers a lot of chances, which was disappointing, they came from a slack pass or dwelling on the ball.

 

"We deserved our goal when we got it, just disappointed with the reaction in extra-time, because I didn't see it coming."

[chilledbear 16]

I noticed McCrorie in his interview after the match, saying Pedro wanted Jack and Holt to sit deeper with the untested defence.

 

At the end of 90 minutes having seen how well they were doing, it looks like he pushed them forward again, Holt at least.

 

I love the technical ability of the new guys, Morelas, Pena and Candeias, combined with their workrate, they look to be good signings.