Ryan Jack out for up to two weeks

[Gonzo79 15,294]

Morelos is undoubtedly a huge miss.  He's creative, he's robust, he's physical and he's bad tempered.  

 

 

[craig 5,199]

8 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Morelos is undoubtedly a huge miss.  He's creative, he's robust, he's physical and he's bad tempered.  

 

 

He also occupies BOTH centre halves by himself, which effectively makes him almost like an extra player on the pitch

[DMAA 3,658]

3 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

A major concern for me is this is very similar to last season.  Beat the scum at the New Year, have the Winter break and then come back lacking guile, passion and anything resembling a title winning team.

 

Why has it happened again?

I don’t think we have to look past Morelos and Tavernier being missing and Jack having an injury for the 45 he did play. I think too much is being made of the performances in the 3 games we’ve played. 

Edited January 28, 2020 by DMAA

[Gonzo79 15,294]

6 hours ago, DMAA said:

I think too much is being made of the performances in the 3 games we’ve played. 

If we want to actually win anything, we need to be doing better against rubbish teams.  

[JohnMc 2,754]

12 hours ago, craig said:

The management team, particularly Gerrard, has been at pains to highlight the need to not mirror what happened last year.  One of his major explanations was the lack of game time before the Killie game due to the Cowdenbeath SC game being postponed.  This time around they had the friendly in Dubai, they had the Stranraer game but it hasn't helped.  So what is it ?  Clearly this team have the capabilities.  Is it mental ?  Is it because they haven't switched back on ?  Either  way it needs to be corrected and very, very quickly.

It can only be 'mental', a side that can play Celtic off the park in their own ground but capitulate to a rotten Hearts side has a mental problem. Losing Morelos clearly affects our performance but a mentally strong side finds a way to win, and win ugly. The points dropped at Pittodrie and Tynecastle against limited sides while we were leading in both games is a concern. We've two players in our side who have ever won a league title, I'd be looking for more from both of them currently. 

[Scott7 6,013]

13 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

 

There appears to be something missing

Greig. Shearer. Gough. Weir. Somebody like that.

[Scott7 6,013]

13 hours ago, craig said:

He also occupies BOTH centre halves by himself, which effectively makes him almost like an extra player on the pitch

He plays centre forward and inside right in the same match with an occasional stint on either wing.

 

Jimmy Millar could play the centre/inside rôle but he didn’t have to often.

[Bluedell 5,627]

32 minutes ago, JohnMc said:

It can only be 'mental', a side that can play Celtic off the park in their own ground but capitulate to a rotten Hearts side has a mental problem. Losing Morelos clearly affects our performance but a mentally strong side finds a way to win, and win ugly. The points dropped at Pittodrie and Tynecastle against limited sides while we were leading in both games is a concern. We've two players in our side who have ever won a league title, I'd be looking for more from both of them currently. 

It's a bit of an over-reaction to suggest that the team has a mental problem. We've played 21 league games and lost twice and drawn twice and are sill in Europe.

 

That league form was only matched once during the 9IAR run (in 96-97). We had poorer league form in the other 8 seasons. Are you suggesting that the teams in these other 8 seasons also had mental problems?

 

Bad performances happen every season. We lose the odd game unexpectedly. It happens every year.  It doesn't reflect on the mentality of a team.

 

 

[26th of foot 6,084]

I think Ryan Jack's absence could be a problem. He has an eye for a pass, often competing to be our most creative edge. Further, this season he has been the side's metronome.

 

Fortunately, our next few games are at home and we should have enough to compensate.

[JohnMc 2,754]

3 hours ago, Bluedell said:

It's a bit of an over-reaction to suggest that the team has a mental problem. We've played 21 league games and lost twice and drawn twice and are sill in Europe.

 

That league form was only matched once during the 9IAR run (in 96-97). We had poorer league form in the other 8 seasons. Are you suggesting that the teams in these other 8 seasons also had mental problems?

 

Bad performances happen every season. We lose the odd game unexpectedly. It happens every year.  It doesn't reflect on the mentality of a team.

 

 

You might be right, I hope you are.

 

I agree every side will drop points, my concern has been the manner of them.  We didn't lose them to sides who are better than us (even on the day), we lost them to sides that worked harder and dug in and fought for the ball. I do see that as a mentality issue. When our short, slick passing style is working we're a joy to watch, even in the cup final when we lost I can accept that it was just one of those things, the ball simply wouldn't go in. But against Aberdeen and Hearts, having been leading, we should have seen both games out. We didn't seem able to match their physicality and desire. I believe our players are as fit as theirs and are man for man better footballers. All that's left is mental strength. 

 

We bounced back from the Aberdeen draw fairly well, hopefully the Hearts defeat will prove to be a catalyst for a similar bounce. But there's a fragility to Rangers just now, and I'd argue that includes our support as well as our players. We've lost our last 3 domestic cup finals, it's nine years since we won something of consequence, it's inevitable that has some affect on the club.