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There are two 'Manager of the Year' awards. The first, and most prestigious, is the PFA Scotland Manager Of The Year award. This is voted on by professional players and coaches and is seen as the ultimate recognition by your peers. As I understand it you can't vote for a team mate or your own manager. The second award is the Scottish Football Writers 'Manager of the Year'. This is voted on by the sports hacks and scribes who follow the Scottish game. There is no doubt personality and overall popularity play a part in these awards, not just ability. I've heard it said that some players will vote based on who they supported as a kid (and indeed still support), but the majority tend to vote based on who they feel has been the best over the season. As for the football writers I suspect personal preference and some toadying up play a big part too. It's hard to look past Gerrard and Tav for manager and player double currently, but it's only January and a lot could still happen. I don't get the impression either are unpopular with their peers and behave like complete professionals at all times. But as has been eloquently expressed in this thread already, who really cares. There's only one prize any of us care both of them winning this season. If Martindale can steer Livingston into the top 6 and win a cup then you have to say that's been a pretty impressive season for him. With their resources and considering their position when he took over and all the background noise about his past, he's done pretty well. Taking 4 points off Celtic in the space of a few days and reach the League Cup Final should see him get the trophy for this month I'd have thought. But Gerrard's presided over continual improvement for 3 seasons now, each time getting better and better until we see where we are now, and all through the liberal use of Nescafe too apparently. Perhaps he should get a Michelin star as well as Manager of the Year.8 points
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Easter Road provides stiff test for Gerrard and Rangers as they make final push for title. Easter Road is not a ground new to the concept of being an important venue in Rangers’ attempts to stop Celtic winning ‘ten-in-a-row’. It was there on 29 March 1975 that Rangers secured the league title for the first time in nine attempts and stopped Jock Stein’s Celtic from amassing ten consecutive titles. Rangers arrived on that day knowing that if they avoided defeat the title they so badly craved would be theirs. However Eddie Turnbull had created a formidable Hibs side, which had actually mounted a title challenge of their own – sitting ahead of Celtic in second place towards the end of the season. Rangers went behind after 19 minutes thanks to a goal from Ally MacLeod. Hibs were dominating and Rangers struggled to get any rhythm to their game. To compound matters, Sandy Jardine missed a penalty after Bobby McKean was brought down by Hibs’ keeper Jim McArthur – hitting his kick against the base of the post. But then came the moment that every Rangers supporter craved. Sandy Jardine drove past two Hibs defenders, laid the ball out wide for Bobby McKean who sent in a great cross which Colin Stein bulleted in to the top corner with a fantastic header. With the 1-1 result came the title and an end to Celtic’s dominance of Scottish football. Although Rangers won’t have the opportunity to win the title on Wednesday night there is a feeling that victory here will be another huge step for Rangers in their attempts to replicate that feat of the 1975 side. As things stand, Rangers are 28 points – or nine games – away from confirming their status as the champions of Scotland. After the depths the club has plummeted in recent years, it is hard to believe that they have reached the single figure mark in terms of the number of wins required. But the mood at Ibrox is not one of celebration. If anything, Steven Gerrard and his players seem more focussed now than ever in maintaining the levels which have put them 23 points clear and a position of considerable strength. The demolition of Ross County at Ibrox on Saturday was latest statement of intent, and one that was so impressive it even had Staggies boss John Hughes gushing in his praise. “We were up against a top class team,” he said afterwards. “I hope all my players come back and say ‘that’s how to play football.’” But Easter Road is always a tricky venue for Rangers and Gerrard’s record there – one win in four attempts – shows victory in Leith is far from a foregone conclusion. The sides fought out a 2-2 draw there in September in a game which had a nasty edge to it. Rangers, rightly, felt aggrieved with a poor decision which allowed Christian Doidge’s offside equaliser to stand, then Ryan Porteous exchanged words with Alfredo Morelos, James Tavernier and Steven Gerrard at the end of the game. Regardless of how timid Hibs were in Saturday's defeat to St Johnstone in the BetFred Cup semi-final, Gerrard knows his side will need to be at their best if they are to secure all three points. “Easter Road is always a tough challenge and probably one of the toughest away fixtures you can get in the schedule”, the Rangers manager said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “They are a good team, they've got good players and a good manager. I think our performances have been really good at Easter Road and maybe we haven't got the results we deserved. “We have had a couple of draws there where we have had double figures in terms of chances to win the game, so we have actually been a little bit frustrated and disappointed in the outcome of them.” One positive going into the game is the return of Ryan Jack to the squad. The midfielder made his comeback as a substitute against County on Saturday, managing to score within a few minutes of his introduction. Kemar Roofe has also returned to the squad and Scott Arfield’s rehabilitation continues well, which is good news for the Rangers boss as it increases his selection options at a time when he is looking to make that final push domestically, whilst preparing for the reintroduction of European football next month. For Hibs, the bright early season form has dipped somewhat. Two wins in their last six league games represents a miserly return for Jack Ross’s men. Add to that the aforementioned 3-0 defeat on Saturday to St Johnstone and you could easily describe their current run of form as poor. Not that anyone at Ibrox will view that as a reason to assume victory. On the field Gerrard continues to adopt a ‘one-game-at-a-time’ policy, but off the field plans are already afoot for the longer term with the announcements that Scott Wright has signed a pre-contract and will move to Ibrox in the summer, and that Kai Kennedy and Nathan Patterson have agreed extensions to their current deals. Gerrard appears keen to show there is a pathway to the first-team for academy players at Ibrox if they want it, with Patterson being the latest to benefit from this with a substitute appearance in the latter stages of Saturday’s win. “Ross [Wilson] and I have discussed our plan with Nathan for the incoming 18 months and have made our expectations clear”, said Gerrard. “Nathan is a strong example of our player pathway for those who are training with the first-team and in our Academy.” The expectation on any players stepping up through the ranks will be to be part of a squad and club that consistently wins titles. That has not been the case for a number of years. Victory on Wednesday will take Gerrard and Rangers a step closer to addressing that.6 points
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The old adage of "sticks and stones" doesn't work anymore. Words are the way prejudices are carried forward, and we only just watched how one monosyllabic idiot with power can whip up a crowd and get them to try to overturn democracy.5 points
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All these are comps are selling out very quickly. @DMAAhas already bought 60 tickets for this one it seems!4 points
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Yeah, nothing wrong with homophobia and let's criticise those who have a problem with it. ?4 points
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When Scott Wright arrives at Ibrox, immediately he must be supplied with an Expresso machine and a Toaster.3 points
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I just wish Rangers players hadn't played the snowflake and leapt on the "upset" bandwagon so readily. It's all a bit cringeworthy.3 points
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Does anyone actually think the MOTY counts for anything or that Gerrard and Rangers give a monkey's who gets it? Everyone knows how Scottish football operates, there are no surprises.3 points
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Unbelievable. In the Metro: Chelsea star Kepa Arrizabalaga was ‘baffled’ by lack of tactical instructions from Frank Lampard All the idiot had to do was catch the ball and not get beaten from 30 yards as often - how tactical did it need to get for him?3 points
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Massive game. I hope the team are up for it, I am sure they will be. I think we are all confident anyway, but win this game and I will be even more so2 points
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Scott is to be a Bear. His preference will be Marmalade toasted sandwiches; rough cut, Seville bitter orange of course.2 points
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Surely Bookies wouldn’t open a book on Benitez just to tempt gullible folk to give them money, would they? Must be a genuine option.2 points
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Four games left to play. Celtic had a disastrous March. Lost three out of their five games - and in succession too.1 point
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we had a hard Jan on paper. This is the last part of it if we can get a win it will have been an epic success.1 point
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really good read. How many games were left when we got that draw with hibs?1 point
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The irons up to fourth place its been a while since they last won four league matches on the trot1 point
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A win at Easter road tomorrow will be nice forget Hibs dip in form they will be up for it1 point
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Thanks for that. I enjoyed that wee trip down memory lane. I was at the game but couldn't remember the finer details1 point
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In Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea are pivoting to a kind of anti-Lampard The tactical modernist is very different from his predecessor at Stamford Bridge but could be just what Chelsea need now @barneyronay Tue 26 Jan 2021 09.02 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jan/26/in-thomas-tuchel-chelsea-have-pivoted-to-a-kind-of-anti-frank-lampard According to the Thomas Tuchel playbook, managing a football team is “something you need to learn and understand, not a thing you do because there’s nothing else left or because it seems like the logical next step after 400 professional matches”. Tuchel wasn’t talking about Frank Lampard when he said these words. Although it would surely make his likely arrival at Stamford Bridge a little spicier if he could rehash this statement for his opening remarks at the unveiling-station – ideally while wagging his finger and brandishing his economics diploma, his youth coaching medals, and all the other evidence of a coaching hinterland, a life spent outside the inner circle, that separates him from his immediate predecessor. What does seem certain is that should Chelsea end up recruiting Tuchel they will, by accident or design, have landed on a kind of anti-Lampard. Exit one underqualified celebrity appointment. Enter the gangling Bavarian uber-nerd, tactical modernist and obsessively-minded details coach, a man whose stated hobbies include nights in drinking orange spritzer and “an interest in furniture design”. All managerial hires tend to oscillate between extremes to some degree. Lampard is a superstar. Tuchel was no kind of player at all. Lampard was already being touted around as a manager by his uncle before he’d even taken his first steps. Tuchel believes in coaching and management as a kind of vocation, something to learn and understand, an intellectual discipline as much as a function of status and personality. And yes, it is already possible to hear the knives being sharpened, Lampard’s friends in the media taking pre-umbrage at the presence of this outsider, who has already upset a few people along the way and seems certain to have his early collisions and wrong turns. But there is plenty of good sense too in this pivot towards a Tuchel-type figure. Where Lampard was a tactical blank, a manager still working out how he wants his teams to look, Tuchel is very clearly associated with a way of playing, with direct links to the current hot headliners of the German school of gegenpressing, rapid transition and all the rest. Another point of contrast: Tuchel is demonstrably qualified to do the job. In fact he is an upgrade on pretty much every professional level, with the exception of one key quality: he isn’t Frank. And this kind of thing really does matter at Chelsea. Lampard’s sacking may have arrived with startling speed, the executioner’s block wheeled into place with that familiar brutal efficiency, but it was, in the end, a victory for the circle of life. Lampard returned to Stamford Bridge with an idea of reasserting the basic Chelsea identity, the Chelsea of his own playing days. In which case – job done. The end may have arrived with a merciless swish of the blade, but this was in itself a reassertion of the deep Chelsea culture of the Abramovich years. This is the model. And in a commendably ruthless fashion the model has now done away with one of its own favourite sons. And so we go on. The circle of life demands fresh meat for the shredder. Tuchel looks, in outline, the best Chelsea hire since Antonio Conte, and before that Carlo Ancelotti, 11 years and seven empty chairs down the line, albeit one who arrives with a degree of uncertainty over his own trajectory. At this point it is worth recalling how Tuchel first announced himself. Rewind 21 years and Tuchel was playing under Ralf Rangnick at Ulm, a club in the process of a transformative rush up through the divisions. A cartilage injury forced Tuchel into retirement aged 24, and a spell in the wilderness. He worked as a barman in Stuttgart. He raged at his bad luck. He settled into a youth level coaching role under Rangnick, groomed as an awkward, clever, challenging coach in the making. Tuchel got his break at Mainz in 2009, following on from Jürgen Klopp. He trimmed his squad, refocused the players, and did well enough to create a kind of wonderkid buzz around himself, a persona that propelled him on to Dortmund in succession to Klopp once again. Tuchel was a success at Dortmund: he brought Christian Pulisic through, he experimented with positions and roles, and he ended up being sacked three days after winning the club’s first trophy in five years following disagreements with assorted levels of the club hierarchy. Paris Saint-Germain followed, a weird appointment in itself: PSG is a star project, Tuchel is a systems manager who demands the players act as a collective. But he won a lot of games, won the trophies he was supposed to win and took that team to the Champions League final. At the end of which nobody really knows what Tuchel’s ceiling might be. He’s done quite well, without ever looking the ideal fit in his environment. There are some obvious advantages at Chelsea. Through Rangnick – an early mentor of both Timo Werner, the player, and Tuchel the manager – he has a direct line in to how to get the best out Chelsea’s £50m striker. No excuses here: Tuchel looks like the ideal choice for a player who needs to be used in a specific way to replicate his Bundesliga form. Rangnick is also a huge fan of Kai Havertz, who he once described as Cruyff-like in his all-round game. Should Tuchel get the job it is to be hoped the odd long chat with his old boss is in line. Otherwise Tuchel will make Chelsea’s players fit his pattern, with obsessive drills, and a very clear idea of where he wants them to be on the pitch. The Tuchel style is based on running, hard pressing, and speed of thought and deed. In Germany this playing style was considered at one point to be classically “English”. So much for the good news. There is also plenty that will be picked away at and used to beat him with. Tuchel does not suffer fools, speaks brusquely at times, and has some quirks: no use of surnames, and an insistence players look into each other’s eyes while saying good morning; an obsession with good manners and punctuality. There is plenty to work on here if, or indeed when, things start to go bad. For now, should he get the job, he has a blank slate: a hugely powerful squad, a natural tactical fit with some key players, and even the added benefit of an empty stadium into which to ease his awkward frame. Over to you, the anti-Frank.1 point
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The way it was worded wasn't that way, IMO. But I did take that into consideration. They denied Celtic a further 4 points but only "took" 2 points from them Either way, I am sure that neither you, John or myself will be complaining about it1 point
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I believe more and more people are seeing it for the worthless bauble it is. It has been of absolutely no value in my eyes since 2005, when it was jointly awarded to John Hartson & Fernando Ricksen. Hartson was about the 3rd or 4th best player in the tims team that year, and Ricksen probably 5th or so best player for us. I'm pretty sure neither player won their own club's award that year.1 point
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Gunslinger is correct. The reason it has been raised is because once again, the first source to highlight the possibility is PQ. We have registered it for posterity, if Gerrard is not the recipient, we know it's another trolling point thought up in the Gang Hut and articulated by Michael Stewart. The last piece on BBC Scotland's weekly trolling shows how far they are willing to take it. Cosgrove's convenient false memory on the '98 League Cup final is alarming because it was not corrected on a football show. I don't know if McBreen was playing that day, I know he didn't score because Saints scorer was Dasovic. I know the game did not go to extra time and penalties. Albertz scored what proved to be the winner before half time. Is it because Cosgrove is about to enter his eighth decade, or is he at it? In terms of context, Cosgrove was again garrulous on the back of St Johnstone reaching the final and another guffawing conversation about face painters. In new, modern Scotland; Cosgrove finds his necessary oxygen in the past. He doesn't enjoy today's air.1 point
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I think we know these things are always conducted for reasons other than football. It is what it is, best ignored completely until the day we can actually do something about it.1 point
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he says he called him a fanny. The suggestion was he said Faggot or fairy depending what source you believe. either of those should certainly see you banned for a lengthy period. As i say it seems witnesses are less sure of what went on and certainly do not want to testify against him so the right decision has been made here.1 point
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If Gerrard delivers our first title in a decade then he will win manager of the year. You get the impression that Martindale loses a few games and will stick the napper on someone.1 point
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Witnesses didn't want to give evidence. sounds like we aren't sure what was said.1 point
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Yeah! I can just see him going there for a Scottish record transfer and us pocketing 20% of the transfer fee for developing him!1 point
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Absolutely correct @Gribz That's exactly what I meant but did not phrase it as well. He will be back in a heartbeat if the regime there changes. Steve Bruce gets quite a bit of sympathy on this thread, but as I said before, he is universally disliked both for his tactics and of course he was Sunderland manager between 2009 - 11. ? I think he'll be gone soon if they drop any nearer the relegation places.1 point
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Odds on. I hear Peter has lined up £150 million transfer fund for Frank's rebuilding. That won't include a centre back or goalkeeper however, as Frank is happy to stick with Duffy & Barkas.?1 point
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Gilmour will not be taken anywhere ASIL. May go out on loan though unlikely to be to Sellik.1 point
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Hagi for me, he was everywhere. Look at Jack’s goal as an example, he is involved from our box to their box with nice simple crisp passing and moving. Kent was more like himself, Aribo was sublime, Borna got 2 assists and his quality of crossing was back to his normal standard, and I thought Helander was superb at snuffing out a lot of their attacks before they begun. He is top quality and I hope we keep him fit till May now. The trick now is to repeat this level at Easter Road.1 point
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Scottish Politicians won’t touch the Celtic BC child abuse scandal for fear of losing votes. That’s the real problem1 point
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