match thread (image) [FT] Celtic 1 - 1 Rangers (Morelos 38)

[the gunslinger 3,366]

6 hours ago, Tannochsidebear said:

Perhaps i need to see that period again, I was on the Peroni!

 

I just recalled I wasn’t surprised we equalised when we did. They had some joy down our RB area getting in behind Balogun in the first half but strangely I never felt the game was getting away from us. Perhaps that just comes from knowing the gulf between the 2 sides.

we were back on top by the time we scored. 

[Tannochsidebear 2,413]

1 hour ago, craig said:

It is exactly that attitude that has them where they are.  If it wasn't for us going for an invincible league season I would grudgingly been comfortable with us losing that game if it meant Kennedy getting the job.  We basically treated it like a training session.  The only time we looked like it was a competitive game was, as you say, when we went behind.

 

You could tell we were treating it like a training game when Celtic scored.  McGregor almost looked like he didn't care that we had conceded - very, very unlike him not to be bawling and shouting after conceding a goal.

 

We weren't fussed about winning, we just wanted to not lose.  Hopefully in the game on May 2nd that changes and the squad want to finish the last OF game with a performance to be proud of - though, again, I would take a draw if it meant Kennedy getting the Celtic job

A further point to back this up - we scored from a set piece, which means most of our players were in or around their box when we scored. Normally an OF goal at the piggery would see all outfield players rush to celebrate with the scorer, but on Sunday Morelos was only congratulated by 4 players, with a 5th (Borna) jogging over as they were heading back to halfway, and the celebrations were similar to if we had scored an equaliser against Hamilton. Compare to our previous OF goals to see the difference.

[der Berliner 3,745]

6 hours ago, craig said:

Each to their own, but I have THOROUGHLY ENJOYED watching Rangers this season.  We have played with a panache, swagger, and intent about us all season long, with minor, very minor, blips along the way.  Some of our play has been absolutely sublime, even when struggling to break teams down.

 

 

As I said, we have averaged 2.36 goals per game - you will be one of very few football fans unhappy with their team scoring an average of 2.36 goals per game, being undefeated in the league, won the league before the split, the quickest it has been won in a century.  It is almost as if some of our fans are completely forgetting the last decade already.  The progress made by this team is absolutely remarkable - yet scoring 2.36 goals per game just isn't enough - now we need to do it playing like the 2011 Barcelona team, no matter how our opponents line up.

...

Well, well, nice way of turning stats into an argument and say that we played fine football all along. Despite the odd "dire affair". It´s not just (unless you are a purist) the results and goals we score, but the play we put on the park and the amount of chances we miss along the way. It`s not just in terms of goals scored, but tactics tested. You won`t make me believe that you like us being set up 4-2-3-1 against the trench diggers with our fullbacks doing the wingers job, sometimes more admirably, sometimes not. And obviously you`ll throw the fullbacks' assists column at me and I will calmly ask, how that might have looked for a true right/left winger? Since we hardly needed Tav`s or Barisic`s defensive abilities that often. In other words, why not put 3 defenders on, spare a DM to and play more attack minded at home against 0-5-5s? Every now or then at least? We never tried and thus will never know. Nothing about Barcelona, just UTILIZING the material we have, instead doing Plan A over and over again.

And sure everyone on here is happy about how it all turned out - with a wee reminder that the Scum fell apart along the way too and quite a few players haven`t had to cope with the pressure of 50k people breathing down their neck every other week. We have clicked more often than not this season, but there is room for improvement and as always, we are a project in the making. So why not talk about that?

Edited March 23, 2021 by der Berliner

[craig 5,199]

47 minutes ago, der Berliner said:

Well, well, nice way of turning stats into an argument and say that we played fine football all along. Despite the odd "dire affair". It´s not just (unless you are a purist) the results and goals we score, but the play we put on the park and the amount of chances we miss along the way. It`s not just in terms of goals scored, but tactics tested. You won`t make me believe that you like us being set up 4-2-3-1 against the trench diggers with our fullbacks doing the wingers job, sometimes more admirably, sometimes not. And obviously you`ll throw the fullbacks' assists column at me and I will calmly ask, how that might have looked for a true right/left winger? Since we hardly needed Tav`s or Barisic`s defensive abilities that often. In other words, why not put 3 defenders on, spare a DM to and play more attack minded at home against 0-5-5s? Every now or then at least? We never tried and thus will never know. Nothing about Barcelona, just UTILIZING the material we have, instead doing Plan A over and over again.

And sure everyone on here is happy about how it all turned out - with a wee reminder that the Scum fell apart along the way too and quite a few players haven`t had to cope with the pressure of 50k people breathing down their neck every other week. We have clicked more often than not this season, but there is room for improvement and as always, we are a project in the making. So why not talk about that?

I'm not turning anything into an argument, that is you who is doing that.  The stats speak for themselves though.  If you believe that we truly set up in a 4-2-3-1 against the "trench diggers" then I really can't help you.  Our formation against the parked buses has 2, possibly 3 at the back, with our fullbacks not acting like fullbacks at all.  I am not sure the rest of it I should bother getting into because it has been done ad nauseum.  Using natural wingers against a team who play two solid banks of 5 give you absolutely NO guarantee that you would get better results.  Indeed, who do we even have who are true wingers at the club ?  We don't have any wingers in the truest sense of the word.

 

Our fullbacks don't do a wingers job because they aren't being asked to go and beat players before whipping a cross in - our fullbacks use the overlap to get those crosses in - wingers wouldn't be sitting as deep as that to be able to get behind the defenders.

 

Which games this season have we been dire in ?  Because you can't blame Rangers for having to go up against a brick wall - if that is dire it is on the opponent, particularly if Rangers are battering them into submission - which has happened on 28 of 33 occasions in the league this season.

 

Hahaha - the "scum" fell away - sure.... but even if they hadn't fallen away we were still miles ahead of them - NOW who is trying to fit an argument into their agenda ?  Whilst you try to take the gloss OFF this Rangers team by making Celtic being poor as an excuse - I will, quite happily, give them the credit that they thoroughly deserve.

 

Honestly, I just don't get it - in a season where we have been, by and large excellent, you are finding a way to make it less so.  And, from my perspective, though this may NOT be where you are coming from, it once again looks as if you are doing so merely because you want to see other players get game time.  Me ?  I will just give all the credit due to the players who contributed to our 55th title, all the while still being undefeated after 33 games in the league.

 

Yes, we are a project in the making - but Greg Stewart won't be part of that project - so why continue to go on about him as some kind of missing link when he clearly hasn't been ?  You aren't talking about us being a project in the making - you complained that we continued to use the same tactics - those same tactics that see us unbeaten in 33 games and won the league at a canter.  Why would ANY manager change winning tactics, winning formations, winning personnel ?  It is bonkers.

[CammyF 8,112]

42 minutes ago, craig said:

 It is bonkers.

It's not bonkers, it's batshit crazy....

 

Won the league before the split, treated Celtic with disdain on Sunday, played some of the best football I've seen as a Rangers fan (only Advocaat teams came close), finally have a winning formula and mentality and some fans want us to change it - batshit crazy 

[Ted McMinnime 356]

20 minutes ago, CammyF said:

It's not bonkers, it's batshit crazy....

......... Exactly. Talk about digging a trench for yerself! 

 

[Gonzo79 15,294]

We've had a bloody good season, certainly far better than what I anticipated.

 

We've won the league with ease, performed magnificently in Europe (maybe not last week though) and there's more to look forward to if the team can stay focused.  Is there room for improvement - yes but not much.

 

We haven't even been handed the trophy, so let's bask, like a sleuth of fully-fed grizzlies.  

[der Berliner 3,745]

1 hour ago, CammyF said:

It's not bonkers, it's batshit crazy....

 

Won the league before the split, treated Celtic with disdain on Sunday, played some of the best football I've seen as a Rangers fan (only Advocaat teams came close), finally have a winning formula and mentality and some fans want us to change it - batshit crazy 

Well, we could trawl a few of the midseason games for your's and Craig's comments. Those draws or them 10 games we won by the odd goal. Yeah, I guess it was all about points and not performance, dire stuff et al. Hindsight is a fine thing, now that the main objective is achieved. And no, the Scum did not went off the boil after the new year in a fashion we are totally unfamiliar with, no no?! But anyway, ifyou think everything`s fine as it is, so be it.

[CammyF 8,112]

28 minutes ago, der Berliner said:

Well, we could trawl a few of the midseason games for your's and Craig's comments. Those draws or them 10 games we won by the odd goal. Yeah, I guess it was all about points and not performance, dire stuff et al. Hindsight is a fine thing, now that the main objective is achieved. And no, the Scum did not went off the boil after the new year in a fashion we are totally unfamiliar with, no no?! But anyway, ifyou think everything`s fine as it is, so be 

Offs course there is always room for improvement, but NO team can win every game 3, 4 or 5 nil. There are always going to be tight games which are drawn or won by an odd goal. This is true whether you have Ronaldo, Pale and Messi as your front 3 or if you have Me, you and Craig as the front 3.

 

Our tactics have been spot on this season and we have been defeated  a grand total of twice thus far (once domestically and once in Europe). 

 

As for Celtic going off the boil, even if they have played to their best, we would still have won the league IMO. We will beat most of their "9inarow" points totals - think only their invincible season under Rodgers is out with our reach. 

 

 

[Uilleam 5,943]

It seems that rahoops will not appeal Eddie Plongeur's yellow card for "simulation", despite the incident being, according to Manager, and Captain, a 'stonewall' penalty, which even a blind man fleeing backwards in fear of his very life would have seen.

Strange that. 

Either the cost of the appeal -about a £grand, or thereby, a f a I k, - will leave the club short of cash in its amaretti tin (a recent upgrade), or it does not wish the player to be confirmed as the dirty diving bastard he is, by the authorities.