craig

Cmon madrid !!!!!!!!!!!

What is the rest of the interview saying Ian ? Looks like you cut it off.

Aye, a bit harsh on Kirk perhaps as he has had a solid season. However, he did make the mistake of 1) allowing McDonald to turn and 2) onto his stronger foot and 3) he made it easy for McDonald to decide what to do. I dont think that Bougherra would have allowed that to happen. The 4-5-1 vs 4-4-2 debate is, this season, one which you can use to support either argument. The reality is that we have played them 3 times this season; We have used the 4-5-1 once and gained one point. We have used the 4-4-2 and gained 3 points. There endeth that discussion, 4-4-2 wins. Ohhhhh, wait a minute.... in the last 2 games against them we have used both the 4-5-1 and the 4-4-2 once and gaines one point with the former and none with the latter. There endeth the discussion, 4-5-1 wins. Ohhhhh, wait a minute.... we have played them at Parkhead twice this season and used the 4-5-1 and 4-4-2 once each. With the 4-5-1 we gained 1 point but with the 4-4-2 we gained 3 points. There endeth the discussion, 4-4-2 wins. Statistics, got to love them eh ?

Is it humanly possible to offer less than zero ? :fish: I agree with you both - we should NOT be playing anything with "-1" and I had the same thought about the last OF at Ibrox S_A. Bougherra fit would have meant that he would have been covering McDonald and I doubt he would have made the same mistake Broadfoot did.

No but who would he trust in that holding midfield role ? I cant see him pitching Edu in and I cant see him moving Davis in one to sit beside BF and Mendes.

Thankfully I am too young to remember Berwick too. As to which one I would rather go through I am not sure. From a footballing perspective Kaunas are probably still a better team than Berwick were (Pete..... you were around for the wars so you would know.....) although I didnt manage to see either Kaunas game as I was travelling on business. From a financial perspective it would be beyond doubt which one I would have preferred. I dont always articulate properly but thankfully you see what I am saying regarding the lack of consistency in whether Smith is the reason we win and/or lose. Ironic that I argue that point because I, too, am disappointed and annoyed that he played for a draw against a poor Aberdeen team. I am probably even MORE annoyed that he played for a draw against a declining Celtic team that really was there for the taking. Even then though, WS would argue he was trying to win the game and that the 4-1-4-1 was the appropriate formation to achieve that. Had the team played the 1st half the way they did the 2nd then he would probably have justification for that because Celtic weren't at the races in the 2nd half. Sadly, neither were we at the races in the first half. 4IAR doesn't bear thinking about. I will say this, I am not really a WS supporter/defender and wasn't really that keen when we brought him back. In this debate I am somewhat playing devil's advocate. I do think he deserves credit in certain respects but I am totally convinced that he is not the man to lead our club forward. Sadly though, I dont think we have anyone at the top that are the "right men to lead the club forward". He came in when we were a mess, he steadied the ship and has us competing with THEM. I know you can only beat the team that has been put in front of you but this is Celtic's worst team for a decade too. Have we really progressed since WS came in, have Celtic declined to our level or is it a combination ? Yeah, it is obvious Kaunas seems like a watershed for you and, personally, I dont think anyone can complain with your attitude because it really was a terrible event for us. I think that WS could have played it better post CL exit had he been more forthright with just how bad a performance, ripped into the players and said his job could very well be in jeopardy - but then how many of us would say that in front of our employers ?

I am not a "lets give him endless credit due to Manchester, 9IAR etc etc" - would rather judge someone on what they are doing now. Was Kaunas worse than Berwick Rangers ? Not being facetious, genuinely interested if people think so. If WS was the architect of Kaunas due to his team selection, formation and tactics would it not stand to reason that a league title win makes him the architect too as it will be down to his team selection, formation and tactics ? IF we win the league by a point could we not also say "Smith played for a draw against Celtic at Parkhead" and therefore suggest we won the league thanks to Smith playing for the draw that day ? A league campaign is not the same as a UEFA campaing but you see what I am getting at ? There is much in the musings of WS that I disagree with (see the other thread about how he sheds the Tims (sorry MF) in a positive light). Manchester is now history, but so too is Kaunas - we can argue over the semantics of one being last season, one this season as long as we like but they are both in the history books. I was very disappointed too that he played for a draw in Manchester - just getting to the final should have been enough to say "screw it, lets go out and be an attacking team and try to win this". That is not acceptable for me either. Thankfully I didnt have to witness the Kaunas game as I was on a flight back home at the time. I did arrive at the rental car company just in time to hear Kaunas score the winner - bassas !!

Hehe, glad you didnt take me too literally. I didnt think he was that good at Hibs as an RB when I watched him play but I readily admit that I havent seen too much of him. I dont like his positional sense and he sometimes tries to do too much and could put us in danger. Not a bad player though but Broadfoot has made the position his own.

He's pish.

But is that not being contradictory ? An appalling loss in Europe is down to the manager whilst a league win is down to the players ? Is that a fair statement ? It also gives the players something to hide behind when they play poorly and lose games - must be the managers fault. Yet whilst they win.... hey, we are the mutts nuts. I know there is more to it and I am being simplistic here but there is no doubt in my mind that the two go hand in hand. Smith is not the ONLY reason we failed against Kaunas. If we are stating that Kaunas are a pub team then our players produced performances of sub-pub team calibre. Surely they therefore need to share in the responsibility of defeat ? Likewise if we win the league by a couple of points then, it could be argued, that Smith's decision to go 4-1-4-1 away to Aberdeen and Celtic would be justified (not to me, but you can see how it could be) and that would make him a part of the reason that we win the league - the players obviously deserve the credit too. I just think that it is harsh that Smith would get no credit for positive outcomes but gets TOTAL blame for negative ones.

Hilarious my man !

March 16.... hmmmmm, anything to do with an OF final on March 15 and ths distinct lack of appetite for a 4-1-4-1 formation ?? :fish:

Me thinks that this article requires a darkened room and a steady supply of coffee. It will no doubt be a meticulous article as usual. I look forward to reading it tonight Barry.

So it isnt just the 1st team that gets poor officiating ???

The thing is, when WS came in we were a complete and utter shambles from top to bottom. Now, we are still a shambles at the top but it can't be debated that on the playing field WS actually has made us far more competitive than we were under PLG and Eck's last season. Under PLG we were heading nowhere fast on the pitch (even though I was a PLG supporter) and WS has come in and at least has us competing for trophies. He deserves respect for that no matter what. He also, on the other hand, deserves criticism where warranted. He should be to blame for our CL exit this season (along with his squad) because he blew all his transfer budget on 3 strikers and didnt strengthen the midfield that needed it. We need to take off our biased glasses in both directions and see that he has been both good AND bad for us but, generally speaking, he has taken us in the right direction. I personally dont know who else could have done that for us.

Yeah, when I saw the headline there is that immediate thought of "why is he being so negative". But those two words are crucial to the headline. Frankie, I presume that is BBC and not Chick's fault seeing as it is an RSS feed? However, even in the main article, WS is being honest with his statement that he thought 7 would be difficult to overcome but sometimes I think some of his statements are positive reinforcements to Celtic and negative to his own team. He continually talks about Celtic's consistency over the years which, whilst true, really should do nothing more than have Celtic players thinking "yeah, he is right and we can go on a winning run again". Does that help us ? No. I am sure it doesnt have much of a bearing but at this stage of the season we shouldnt be offering any compliments to our foes.

Is that really one of Rangers managers actually showing signs of confidence ? "we still have a squad more than capable of getting a victory." When was the last time we actually heard WS say something like that ?

Was that when he was leaving the Jambos ? Vidmar and Konterman did a job but I dont think there is any doubt that Davie Weir would have been a far better acquisition than either of them. Seemed to get better with age - he STILL has the quality, it is just that father time is rapidly catching up with him. Would be fitting if he retired (I know he doesnt want to) with us with a domestic clean sweep !!

And you honestly believe it is the last ever Kris Boyd thread ? Or just the last ever for today ?

Yep, he would make a great role model for the younger players on how to have a long and fruitful professional career. Consummate pro and one who certainly deserved to wear the Gers top and seems like a classy guy. As was said, just a shame we didnt sign him earlier.

Shall I lock the thread now that the judge and jury (duke box ?) have decided ? :devil:

I dont think Weir will be worrying about financial security. But a pay as you play deal would only really suit the club. Weir will want games and on a pay as you play deal he isnt guaranteed those starts. I agree Re Papac, I wouldn't even consider him a CB anymore and would be quite worried if we had to play him there. Same Re Broadfoot, actually did OK at CB when Bougherra was out (Ibrox OF aside and even then he had a solid game but for one lapse). My point really there was that we do have cover so we "shouldnt" need Davie Weir to act as cover, especially if he isnt playing but is picking up even 10k a week in wages. If Webster could get fit then I see no reason why he couldnt be either the "new signing" or one of the cover positions instead of Davie Weir. That way we would lose Weir's wage but not lose a player in said position (seeing as Webster isnt really in the squad right now so he would be like a new signing anyway).

I would like him to stay as a squad player but would that be justifiable given I suspect he is on a decent wage with us. Would it be worth his wages if he only played 10 games ? Or should we simply try to get a replacement and then utilise the younger players ? Don't forget that we do also have Broadfoot and Papac who are genuine CB's. Now, not for a minute am I suggesting we would want either to play there but we do have "cover".

lol. Just me being pedantic my man !

Not so sure he can, you not been paying attention for the last 15 months :devil: