ascender

Thank god that’s over… I couldn’t have taken another minute of that bloody drum. Another three points, another clean sheet, job done. Still wondering why on earth we start so slow and have whole halves like that where we just create nothing.

When the World Cup was on I was both thankful for the break from our football, but also couldn't wait for proper football to come back. Yet here I am a few weeks later and I'm utterly fed up of all the noise that comes from the other club in Glasgow - their fans, their cheerleaders in the press and even their manager playing to the gallery. It's so tiresome and seems to be infecting every piece of coverage of the game to the point where it's impossible to avoid. Even just the fact that its 2023 and we've still got Andy Walker commentating on games along with a bunch of pundits in print, online and on TV who don't appear to take any pride in their job and provide the laziest of analysis, whilst not even taking the time to understand the rules of the game. It's so disappointing that this is the standard we've come to accept in Scottish football. That's before you even look at the standard of refs, the governing bodies etc. Of course, if we weren't trying to self destruct the whole time (us v them, everyone else v us & them etc), maybe the collective fans would actually have a voice that would be listened-to.

I'd really like to see us give Tav a rest and play Devine at RB for a few games. He didn't look out of place at LB and Tav clearly isn't 100% at the moment.

I'm giving Beale the benefit of the doubt but it's hard not to be skeptical given how transfer windows have tended to have gone for us over the last few seasons.

Given how the league has gone, now we have Goldson and Davies back, should we not give McCrorie a run in the team to see if he is good enough or not? If he is, we've saved ourselves a fortune and have a #1 for the next 5 years. If not, we can let him go. Surely at his age we need to do one or the other?

Last season McGregor looked like a player who should have retired the year before. This year he looks the same, but another year slower. He may still have that ability to make the sort of world class saves that only elite keepers can, but how much do we really need that over a season? TBH, I've not even seen much of that this season. Its a bit sad really. Unfortunately his distribution is poor; he's not great with the ball at his feet; he doesn't come off his line (although he never really has); he doesn't come for crosses; he can't play that "sweeper keeper" role either. All of that has lead to a very shaky looking defence at times - often they don't seem to know whether to leave a ball for him or just clear it. There was a point last season where every team we played in the league was putting balls in to the six yard box because they knew he wouldn't come for them and it would cause utter confusion. But he must still be the best we have based on what he's doing in training. Again, its another sign of the poor squad management we seem to be suffering from.

Was it Nice or Lille who offered 12-15M euros for him a couple of years ago? I can't believe we turned that down given how erratic his form, fitness & attitude were. All the talk about how we should be holding out for more, it was a low-ball offer, he'll be worth 30/40M in years to come. Just another example of the poor decision making and squad mismanagement from those in charge.

I guess Colak and Roofe are just coming back from injury which is why we started with Morelos. Arfield is clearly best used as an impact-sub, but we were in the ascendancy and should have got a third goal with the players and momentum we had, so I can see why he was left on the bench. Someone said he might have been carrying a knock too? Lundstram was also playing through an injury... All of which just brings us back to our fitness, injuries, squad management etc.

Pretty depressing to end up in this position with Morelos, but to try and be optimistic about it, you have to look at what we paid for him and what we've had in return I guess.

I agree... that team, with those two subs should have been more than capable of seeing out the game. We had so many chances to clear the ball before they score, its just another one of those goals we should never have lost.

I do like his honesty and for the first time in a while it at least feels like he's watching the same game as us. I definitely get the feeling he can see everything that needs to change and is wanting to do something about it. WIth Gio I was never sure how much he was trying to paint a positive picture while knowing we were in a bit of a mess, or if he was genuinely quite happy with how we were playing so long as were getting results. If only we'd held-on today, that would have been five wins out of 5 and we'd have cut the gap. I'm still very optimistic for the future under Beale though.

Tav’s defensive weaknesses usually result in at least one good chance for the opposition in a match and often contribute to indecision in our back line. I know the RB position is a WB position these days, but we are just far too easily beaten down the flanks time and time again. Long balls over the top or balls inside our WB… or just our inability to deal with balls into the box from long, wide, corners etc. Its been like this for so long it’s genuinely baffling that no manager seems to see it or think it’s worth sorting. I was another who was willing to give Sands a pass as he’s been played out of position & in a team low on confidence, but wtf was he doing today.

That’s as depressing a finish as I’ve seen in a long time… I think its the hope that gets you. I really hope we move on from a few players in the summer who just aren’t good enough across a season or in the big games. Thanks for the memories McGregor, Borna and Tav, but we need a much better defence, not just in Europe, but in Scotland.

New manager, same old defending.

Couple of good goals and we’ve even defended a corner without conceding. 3 points and another clean sheet would do us good.

Absolutely agree, but I think fans of clubs will always have a romanticised view of what it would be like to play for your favourite club, so apart from the odd exception, its another reason we should be keeping the squad fresh to avoid things stagnating.

I don't doubt for a minute that there's lots of things about our game which just grinds players down over the space of a few years. Those pitches... playing the same teams 4-6 times a season... the constant negative tactics from some teams... etc.

I guess we should be looking at the initial sum we paid for the player and what they've delivered for the club during that time, so 6-10M would be a great return on investment.

100%. His distribution is as bad as it always was and we saw in the CL that if you just give possession back to teams from a kick-out from your keeper, they will punish you. We get away with it in the league, but even then, we often give possession away which breaks our rhythm and invites opponents on to us. He's a legend. But he also looks another year older and a wee bit slower that he did last year. Gio sticking with him after that semi-final at Hampden baffles me to this day.

I don't think he's the best goalkeeper we have anymore other than being the only one who has the ability to make those kinds of wonder saves that only the very top GKs can. We're at the point where his cons far outweighs his pros. I think McLaughlin is a much better all round keeper and probably has been for 2 seasons. He also fits our style of play much better and apart from that absolute horror show at Parkhead, I don't know why he isn't. Or why we're not giving McCrorie a chance - he's at that age where if he's not good enough to be our number one, he should be out the door.

We had too many central defenders, we had to free up wages etc, so it's another decision which makes sense if you don't then go and buy another CB with a bad injury record and keep the other one (Helander). It's the same as the decision to renew McGregor - it doesn't seem to make much sense when you look at our overall squad. It also doesn't fit the narrative that we didn't back Gio - just these few decisions have tied-up a significant amount of wage budget without really maintaining the quality in the squad, let alone actually improving it.

My son bumped in to Porteous in a local shop a couple of months back and while my boy isn't a Hibs fan, Porteous was more than happy to stop for a picture and also took the time to ask him about who he played for, what position etc, a general chat about football and by all accounts was a thoroughly nice guy. Make of that what you will. He's clearly had issues off the field, as have lots of young Scottish footballers, but thought it was worth mentioning as a counterpoint to a lot I see online about him which seems to just focus on the infamous incidents which have been in the press.

I think anyone we can get offers-for will go in January, especially Morelos & Kent.

I wondered if we had any recourse because our participation in the tournament was "leaked" by Celtic was it not?