match thread (image) Celtic v Rangers: Becoming the real deal...

[Franc Ergs 1,708]

19 minutes ago, The Shed said:

I know why it was done, I just think it's a mistake to diminish the only thing that this league has to offer the wider football world, and reducing the opposing support to virtually nothing, diminishes it.  I wouldn't be surprised if in the not too distant future Sky will be informing the clubs the same. That's my opinion, I'm entitled to it as are you to yours, so don't be giving it the 'Oh dear'  shite.

 

Ok, what exactly did the league have to offer the wider football world and Sky six years ago?

 

A team guaranteed to win the league unopposed is hardly a big selling point ,and a lot of teams earned a lot of money off the back of us for nothing.

We've been shafted to the ends of the earth and beyond, and  after a while ,we took what little influence we have, to decide that we would cut their allocation.

If you disagree with this that's ok , but it is the club's decision, and it's one that has benefits to the club .

 

How many chairmen saw what the league had to offer the world when they voted us out  ?

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

3 hours ago, der Berliner said:

Your opinion is your prerogative, as craig usually puts it. Don't expect that people will agree though. And IMHO, you are wrong.

Have we ever played poorly in a game before, in your opinion?

[Rousseau 10,823]

I thought we defended OK; the objective is to stop them scoring after all, which we did for the majority of the game. The wave after wave of attack was unsettling, but we showed tremendous resilience to keep them out -- first half in particular. 

 

For me, the main issue was our play on the ball. Their attacking waves were compounded by the fact we couldn't get a hold of it ourselves, and when we did we lumped it up to Lafferty -- not bad in itself, but it shouldn't be the main outlet -- ultimately giving it away. 

 

I've said it before above, but I don't mind letting Broon and Ntcham have the ball. I am usually more concerned with the three in front, Rogic, McGregor and Nae Neck, who always seem to nick a goals against us; for me, they didn't really get into the game.  

 

 

[Gonzo79 15,299]

We weren't good enough.  It's that simple. 

 

You can't let a team run all over the top of you like that.  I hope Gerrard has learned from yesterday.

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,809]

1 minute ago, Gonzo79 said:

We weren't good enough.  It's that simple. 

 

You can't let a team run all over the top of you like that.  I hope Gerrard has learned from yesterday.

I think the players and management will learn. One of my concerns is that 5pts from 12 leaves us looking for a pretty flawless record until the next OF game as they won't drop many points tbh. I hope playing under that pressure doesn't effect the players.

[Gonzo79 15,299]

I hope so.  Two points from nine away from home is pretty embarrassing.

 

We need to learn quickly.

[Craigy1881 79]

People need to tailor their expectations.  Realistically we aren't going to win the league this season, very rarely happens when a whole team overhaul takes place.  We should have 9 points from 12 not 5 but we know lessons need to be learned from those goals conceded.  We still have only conceded more than 1 goal once in 13 matches so we know the ground work is there. 

 

I think the Thu-Sun schedule took it's toll yesterday along with the 9 man match on Thu there.  We looked leggy but thankfully we won't be having that schedule every week from now on and only once a fortnight.  We have Grezda, Worral, Rossiter & Dorrans to come back in and the team will continue to get stronger and better the more the play together.   I said weeks ago that this team will take 2-3 transfer windows before we really see a title winning team.  I think we'll still finish second easily and we'll close come the end of the season.  Still 9 points to play for against Celtic and everyone involved yesterday will benefit from playing in that match.

 

We will get a run of home games now as well which will help build some momentum.

 

Things are still looking good and we need to remember how we were feeling in April before Gerrard's appointment (4 Months ago might I add).  Let that sink in how we were all feeling, now we have european football to look forward to until Christmas.  Things are looking bright, lets not over critise 1 match and remember this is a long term project.  

[JohnMc 2,802]

I realise my over-whelming sense of disappointment about yesterday is largely down to my feelings of optimism about our team as August progressed. Not since our first match against them since promotion back up to the SPFL have I gone into a game against them actually believing we could win it. It's the hope that kills you and all that... It's not the result that's so disappointing, rather it was the performance. It feels like an opportunity lost, clearly Celtic were having issues behind the scenes whilst we were on something of a roll. In my opinion we got our tactics wrong, particularly in the first half. 

 

However, most of our players will get a break now and that can only be a good thing. It was a difficult start to the season, with a brand new side and brand new manager. Dropping 7 points from a possible 9 away from home is poor by anyone's standards, but, there's some mitigation with our European matches and our over-achievement in them. 

 

How we bounce back from this first set-back will be revealing. That's how we'll know what kind of team we now have. Full league points for the rest of September please. 

[buster. 5,262]

The only way we compete with them and beat them is if we get in their faces, play a high press and play very well.

 

Yesterday we played European Away tactics (happy with a 0-0). It allowed them to dictate the play and they are a better team than any we've came up against in the 4 summer qualifiers. We did so, probably because of a lack of the necessary collective energy to be able to employ an effective high press.

 

 

 Several things.....

 

1. They focused and raised the quality of their game (especially retention of possession) from the inconsistent Colin Nish they had previously been playing. This will nearly always happen for OF matches and we have to be ready for it. The less 'noise' we make prior to these games the better.

 

2. Villareal game on the 20th will be a long night unless we can vastly improve on retention of possession.

 

3. Despite all the signings, we are currently light on options.

 

 

All that said, we need to forget about them and concentrate on improving ourselves. We have an excellent management team in place and the base of a good squad. This season will see teething problems and humps in the road but we are going in the right direction. 

[Scott7 6,173]

Two points from three away games. Should have had three at Aberdeen. Lucky to get one at Motherwell so that sort of evened itself out. Better teams than the current one have come away from parkhead with a worse score than 1-0. 

 

The only win in the league is a handicapped 2-0 against St Mirren who lost four goals to each of Hearts and Aberdeen and lost 0-2 to promoted team Livingston.

If 55 is coming this year, which I doubt, the team has to be undefeated going into January and no careless draws.

 

In Europe, previous  teams would have been out by now. On the other hand nobody had heard of the opposition yet every match was testing.

 

So, satisfactory abroad, slightly disappointing at home but overall, a noticeable improvement.

 

For once I’m glad of the international break. A rest for some of the players and an opportunity for some serious drilling. I hope there will be call-offs from the international squads.