What I am worried about...

[Frankie 8,552]

Let's leave aside petty and OTT criticism of the players last night. They didn't play well but we're still in the tie, so let's move on.

 

However, I do have one worry and that is we appear to be over reliant on the same players too often at the moment. Guys like McCulloch, Ferguson, Broadfoot and Novo have all done well in patches this season but seem to have lost a wee bit of form over the piece recently.

 

As such, what worries me is that the management team seem very reluctant to take them off or rest them. Sure, when injuries and extra-time force the issue (see Celtic and CIS Final), we make subs but for the most part we seem to limit them to two maximum. Fair enough, consistency of selection is wanted and I'm a strong advocate of that but sometimes I think we need to be more flexible, no matter the game/opposition.

 

At this stage of the season, I really think we need to play the fringe guys more. Naismith, Boyd, Whittaker, Burke, Buffel and Gow all have their weaknesses and none have really achieved a high quality of consistency so far in their time here. Certainly any of these players can't really lay claim to a first XI slot. No matter, all would bring a freshness to the team in terms of creativity, pace and goals which is definitely lacking from a core first XI that appears to be tiring by the game.

 

As such, I'm really worried that Smith et al are going to push the core XI we seen last night too far. The return of Cousin will definitely help in that regard but I'd like to see the manager utilise his squad more often. Not in terms of unnecessary changes/rotation but just don't be afraid to change things and give others a chance to show what they can do.

 

Finally, I'd like to urge everyone not to lose faith. In the coming weeks and months the players will need our fans more than ever to help them over the finishing line. We've had a good season so far (if unspectacular) but it's far from finished yet. Let's make sure we get behind all the players so maximise their contribution and help them face the challenges ahead.

[alanmidd 0]

Couldn't agree more. Only using one sub was baffling. Players looked dead on their feet. I agreed with keeping the system but bringing on the likes of Naismith and boyd could have borught some life to the game and we might have nicked it.

 

I was disappointed last night but looking back we are still in this tie and more than capable of nicking a goal over there

[ian1964 10,720]

Agreed Frankie,and we were pish.More importantly I hope we get our finger out for Sunday,the second leg of this tie will take care of itself,keep the faith WATP

[Gribz 847]

Yip totally agreed Frankie.

 

The players being picked week in week out were always going to run out of steam at some point, i and few others said as much weeks and weeks ago that they should be getting more regular rests whereas a few disagreed.

 

Whats annoying me is that for this game we should have had them running on a lot more than they did. It was a huge european quarter final that could have put is with one foot in the semi final but the stubborness from the previous 2 months caught up with us in a game that Im annoyed about. Id love to see us in a european final probably enough to even risk the SPL title - but definatly the domestic cups.

 

We cant complain with recent achievments and progress but this is a bit of mis-management. As said there is a good few players who would definatly freshen up the team and were worth taking a risk on IMO. We'd only be talking 2 or 3 places.

 

But all is not lost as we still have a chance. But Id make a few changes for Sunday or we may get the same performance from players which would see us drop points.

[johnnyk 158]

we can't play the same system on sunday or it will cost us IMO.

even WS said it hasn't worked against them the last 'twice' so surely he can't do this again, we need to win and attack more.

 

As Frankie said a few players look tired so why not give others a chance. I was shouting for naismith to come on last night for davis or even put on boyd up front as you could see the players were knackered near the end but it never happened. Why he doesn't use all the subs is baffling and frustrating but we are still in the tie and that is obviously the managements main aim.

[Gribz 847]

Putting Novo on through the middle on his own was an error. He should have went 4-4-2 or put Novo wide in the 4-5-1 and played Boyd to use his strength.

[stewarty 2,010]

The trouble now with introducing fringe players back into the team is that they need to hit the ground running. It's a fine balancing act but one I agree needs to be given a shot. If you bring in one fringe player for a game then it might not work but if you keep giving other players 3 games every 7/8 days then they are going to burn out.

 

I've been saying for a few weeks now, Smith will have to target some league games to rest some players. I dont know which one's -although obviously not Celtc games. The other option is to play a reserve team in the Scottish Cup. The reserve team can be full of fringe players and all Smith needs to do is tell them to go out there, win and put in a performance with the extra motivation that if they get throught they will play in the next round(s) and will be considered for Euro and League games.

[juffery 0]

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who feels that Smiths over-reliance in the 'old guard' largely cost is 10 in a row. Saint Martin of O'Neill did it as well in his last season at Porkheid. The really succesful managers aren't afraid to say 'you're dropped' to anyone if they feel it will benefit the team Sir Awex with Leighton and Capello with Beckham are the first 2 that spring to mind.

 

I think Walter has been fantastic since returning, but I hope he has the courage to make the changes that can turn a very good season into a fantastic one - he signed Gow, Webster, Faye, Naismith etc so he must see something in all of them and now is the time for them to show it on the park.

[Hurlock 0]

We don't have any flair at the moment, there's a lot of brute strength or Brawn as we call it but where's the flair, big Kirk doesn't always skip past a man and swing the ball into the middle neither does Papac although Papac and Davis had some very important interceptions last night. Where's our Laudrup, Walters or Cooper ??

 

Where's the man who will entice two men over to him beat them and then hit the near post ??

 

We have McCulloch/Papac on the left and Davis/Broadfoot on the right.

 

There's one man that could bring a bit of flair, Beasley, occasionally Burke or Novo.

[ascender 352]

Frankie, its just the same old Walter Smith for me. We knew exactly what we were getting when he came back and he's not really surprised me tbh. But as you pointed out elsewhere, I think the team is over-achieving to a certain extent this season. His priority was obviously to make us harder to beat and to become competitive again, which he's managed. We're all grateful for that and its amazing just how he's turned things around in such a short space of time.

 

But there's no doubt he needs to address some serious problems in the summer which, IMO, have been a problem for as long as I can remember now. Settled strike partnership, attacking midfielder, decent wingers etc.

 

Its also a disappointing trend for The Gers to continually play players out of position. I genuinely don't understand why WS continues this trend and also, refuses to drop certain players to rest them or if they've played poorly. Some seem to contribute nothing over 90 minutes and then they're a first pick the next week.

 

Also, has anyone told our players that Alan Hutton doesn't play for us any more? Going on how much of the ball Broadfoot saw last night, I swear they think Hutton is still in the RB slot. If that's our best attacking option, then its going to be a really long title run-in.

 

As for the squad, its baffling as to why some of the other players aren't getting a run-out. I also think that the longer the season goes on without these guys getting a game, the less likely WS is to play them in the run-in. Which means we're relying on the usual faces even more.

 

I'm more than OK with us winning while not playing well, even though its awful to watch, but I really hope this is just a short-term plan and not how we're going to be playing for the foreseeable future.