Saturday sees us return to SPL action with an away game at Perth against St Johnstone who have performed admirably this season in their return to top-flight Scottish football. As with all games these days it is a crucial fixture. Even the fact that we are 10 points clear of our nearest challengers the importance of retaining that lead, or possibly even extending it, should not be forgotten.
I will openly profess to not having seen much of St Johnstone this season but the ex-Ger Derek McInnes seems to have them playing a refreshing brand of football which is also achieving results. Saints have a realistic chance of making the top 6 which would be a significant achievement in their inaugural season back in the SPL, currently sitting 8th with there being only 4 points between themselves and 6th placed Hearts. They also will be confident and buoyed by their 5-1 mauling of 3rd placed Hibs earlier this mid-week, a result which puts some light between Celtic and Hibs in the battle for 2nd place.
Rangers on the other hand, yet again, seem to be blowing hot and cold when it comes down to performances – however, as much as we would love to see the Barcelona-esque football generally on display by our East End counterparts (or at least so they would have you believe) this Bear will settle for the fine art of actually winning games and, hopefully, trophies. Don’t get me wrong, I would love both good performances AND good results but if pushed would sacrifice the former for the latter.
After what was a decent performance against Hibs at Ibrox last weekend one could be forgiven for expecting the level of performance to be as good against St Mirren – sadly this was not to be the case. However, as has been mentioned in various quarters the main thing is getting a favourable result, avoiding extra-time and seeing our name in the hat for the next round of the cup is what matters most – the last thing we could have been doing with was extra-time given how threadbare our squad is.
Whilst the game at Perth will most certainly not be our easiest game of the season there is no reason to believe that Rangers should not return to Glasgow with a W in the win column to, at least, maintain our 10 point lead heading into the crucial Old Firm game the following week.
WS made some changes for the Cup game to freshen things up and give players a rest who needed it but I would suspect that we will revert back to playing our strongest team in an important SPL game. This being the case, much of the team picks itself this as usual so rather than spend time going through the options it makes sense to simply state what is possibly the team that WS will go with.
Rangers on the other hand, yet again, seem to be blowing hot and cold when it comes down to performances – however, as much as we would love to see the Barcelona-esque football generally on display by our East End counterparts (or at least so they would have you believe) this Bear will settle for the fine art of actually winning games and, hopefully, trophies. Don’t get me wrong, I would love both good performances AND good results but if pushed would sacrifice the former for the latter.
After what was a decent performance against Hibs at Ibrox last weekend one could be forgiven for expecting the level of performance to be as good against St Mirren – sadly this was not to be the case. However, as has been mentioned in various quarters the main thing is getting a favourable result, avoiding extra-time and seeing our name in the hat for the next round of the cup is what matters most – the last thing we could have been doing with was extra-time given how threadbare our squad is.
Whilst the game at Perth will most certainly not be our easiest game of the season there is no reason to believe that Rangers should not return to Glasgow with a W in the win column to, at least, maintain our 10 point lead heading into the crucial Old Firm game the following week.
WS made some changes for the Cup game to freshen things up and give players a rest who needed it but I would suspect that we will revert back to playing our strongest team in an important SPL game. This being the case, much of the team picks itself this as usual so rather than spend time going through the options it makes sense to simply state what is possibly the team that WS will go with.
Possible team (4-4-2):
McGregor is obviously the preferred keeper and is having a very decent season. Broadfoot offers more cover than Whittaker as he is better defensively although it is undeniable that Whittaker is stronger pushing forward – I wouldn’t be averse to either player and, indeed, Walter may go with Whittaker with a view to utilizing him, possibly in midfield, in the Old Firm encounter. The central defensive pairing picks itself although this is very harsh on young Danny Wilson who has done nothing to deserve being left out – he does, however, seem to have a very level head on his young shoulders and sees that he can still learn the game whilst sitting on the sidelines, although he will obviously be disappointed at not currently being in the starting line-up. Sasa Papac has, for the most part been Mr. Dependable this season and I would suspect that, if fit, he will start against Saints to ensure he gets some match fitness for the clash the following week with Celtic.
Into the midfield and the central midfield pairing should see Steven Davis as a mainstay with the only question being should he be partnered with McCulloch, Thomson or Edu. Many will disagree but I think that McCulloch has had a very decent season for us thus far, doing the spadework and popping up with some goals. Edu, based on his fleeting performances since returning from injury, is a little off the pace so I would suspect he will only find the bench on Saturday. Thomson has also suffered in his return since his mediate injury and subsequent niggles. That said he played well on Sunday against Hibs and, if he can recapture his pre-injury form, would constantly be in this Bear’s starting XI – I also happen to think that of the 3 options he complements the creativity of Davis best too. With regard to the wide berths it may come as a surprise that I have selected Lafferty – however, the big fella made a difference when coming on last weekend and in the Saints game (Mirren not Johnstone….) from what I saw there was a new-found confidence about his play – looking to get past defenders and get the ball in. Given this I would give him a start here to see if he can further build upon that. In my opinion much of our best play in December came about due to us having Novo and Beasley playing wide and using their pace to get past opponents. Novo has come back from injury but Beasley is only starting that recovery and, therefore, needs game time. For this reason I would give him the start as it will improve his match fitness ahead of the OF game where he could, potentially, be called upon. Novo also took a few bumps and bruises in mid-week so a rest may not be a bad thing.
Up front and I think it is fairly self-explanatory – the forward line picks itself as much as the defence does these days, if all players are fit anyway. You simply cannot ignore the scoring prowess of Boyd and Miller has had a very commendable season thus far – complementing Boyd well, linking up with his partner well and also chipping in with goals, especially when Boyd isn’t – it seems if one isn’t scoring the other is which can only bode well for us.
As we are in the early game this Saturday 3 points is important as it would heap nothing but pressure on Celtic ahead of their game against Dundee Utd, a game which is, like ours, no formality. Should we win in Perth and extend that lead to 13 points who knows what could happen a couple of hours later in the East End.
