Tannochsidebear

Let's think of the travelling fans for once and get this moved to Jan 2. Thousands of bears from all over the UK will struggle to get home and should we win it curtails the celebrations when most have to get home for their traditional family Hogmanay parties. Doesn't bother me at all either way, but, just for once, let's put fans first.

Even more ridiculous if that was the intention Barca72, but thanks for the info. Sounds like something the GB do regularly, have a display with a republican slogan woven in slyly that has nothing to do with their team. But then UB are just GB wannabees, so perhaps not so surprising after all. If TMBTW was nothing to do with the banner, then I look forward (sic) to hearing just WTF the UB were trying to say.

Where to start with that today? If I was to analyse everything from team selection, tactics, quality of play, substitutions, it would be longer than War & Peace, so I will just do a brief player ratings; Gilks 9 Superb, must be retained as number 1 keeper. Hodson 7 Solid, defended well. Didn't get forward but that wasn't his role today. Wallace 4 Shocker from skipper including fault at goal Hill 8 Commanding CH performance, organised everything and done his own job well. Kiernan 6 first half was his best in our shirt, but said at HT I knew he would fall asleep once and it cost us a goal. Had too many chances, needs binned. Halliday 6 done most things well but doesn't concentrate for 90 mins and his errors are usually costly in terms of chances. Offers nothing going forward. Holt 7 good performance and our main goal threat. Thought he was striking the winner and only great defending from the Tim they tried to punt on deadline day saved them. Windass 2 shocker. Started tims 3 best chances of first half by giving ball away inside our half. Easily shrugged off ball, game passed him by. Only MW knows how he came back out for 2nd half. Looks like an Accrington player. Tav 5 was it a winger role or a double full back? Either way did nothing defensively and offered nothing creatively. Huge blunder by MW to use him like this. What must Harry, Joe, MOH, Waggy be thinking when Tav plays RW in a cup semi ahead of all of them? Miller 3 typically useless display from our Kenny. Not once did he get in their box in space in 65 mins. Gave ball away countless times. Only in side due to how poor others are, waste of a shirt as per. McKay 5 the current fav boo-boy leaving Hampden today. lack of proper pre-season for him & Wallace very noticeable. Nothing working for him and needs rested. Subs: Garner 2 I'm going to say it, this boys a total dud. £1.8M spunked away on absolutely nothing. If this was a McParland recommendation he needs sacked. Clearly needs a strike partner so shouldn't have been signed to play lone striker. Dodoo 2 another dud. Lacked heart for the fight, looks like he is at too big a club. Waghorn 3 looks like last season was his level, has been really poor so far this term. Doesn't help that we keep playing him wide when he has always done his best work from a central role. Warburton 1 Wrong starting 11, wrong tactics, wrong formation, wrong subs. Seems happy we only lost by 1. Completely convinced by everything he is doing behind the scenes, completely unconvinced by his match day work this season.

I thought it was pish, WTF was that supposed to mean? Our heart is on fire? Does anybody even read that back before that gets the go-ahead? More smoke, more explosions, Rangers end the quietest I've ever heard it in 30 years.

It has to be our strongest side that starts, no matter if MW has been giving game time to fringe players in the earlier rounds. This is an OF game, not just any old game, and after capitulating last time round, there is no way we can go into this with anything other than the team that gives us the best chance of winning, whatever that is! The only time to play anything other than your strongest side in an OF game is when we already have the league won and have a dead rubber match to play against them at the end of a season.

There was no point putting this info out there in the run up to a big OF game, giving the opposition a boost. Keep it quiet if you can and let them prepare to play against Nico if at all possible. Obviously someone in the squad has went blabbing their mouth off to Andy Devlin, to the detriment of our chances on Sunday.

Is football rivalry and banter now not allowed? Tims are the most gloating, obnoxious set of fans in world football when they win, so it is always going to happen that fans of other clubs who are sick of them give them a bit back when they get humped in their own midden by a team who hadnt won away from home in about 30 years. We had it against us in the 90's.

One thing I would say is that if Toure goes to shield the ball out like that and gets robbed by say Waghorn on Sunday, Thompson will give them a foul immediately so we would be denied the goal that BMG got. I'm absolutely convinced of that. Absolutely every major decision will go against us, so we have to be at least two goals better than them to win the game. It's not paranoia, simply reflective when you have the mountain of evidence that Thompson makes so many "honest mistakes" in a big game involving Rangers. Funny how the number of "honest mistakes" that we get the benefit from when he is ref is miniscule compared to the other way round.

I didnt watch their game last night, I was watching the goals show on BT and it moves from game to game when anything interesting happens. The game at the piggery got about 6 clips all night, that tells you it was a borefest. I was content enough with my tenner at 8/5 on BMG to win, easy money to be had when the tims play in Europe! I could see in the 5-1 game that they are still rotten, we were just absolutely garbage and gifted them every goal they scored. If we had any sort of defence at all we should be confident of a result. Unfortunately, MW has a blindspot with Wilson/Kiernan and continues to play at least one of them despite the volumes of evidence that they are completely rotten defenders. That is what makes the tims favourites for the SF, especially when coupled with the fact that we cant score enough goals to allow for our defensive lapses. I am much more confident going into the game with Holt - our main engine in midfield - and Nico now fit and in form in midfield which we need to dominate to have any chance. Halliday will be right up for this as well.

I will start us off with 24, of which only 8 will actually be given as fouls, and the yellow coming after 80 mins. Any advance on that?

We're doomed, doomed I tell you! The only thing worse than that would be CT pulling up injured and the cheat McLean taking over.

Kaizen is the practice of continuous improvement. It would seem to be a worthwhile philosophy for any footballer to follow.

I thought I explained it pretty well the first time, but the shot was not hit with great pace from around 25 yards out on an angle, making it more like 30 yards. If Wes has a better starting position, he gets across and saves that no problem. It would have been a good save, not a great one. Thats the way I saw it. I'm not blaming the keeper for the goal, my point was good keepers have that bit extra in their game that they save shots like that at that point in the game and save their team a point.

Taking away the silly headline, that was a great read Rousseau, thanks for that. Personally, I dont think Wes is a good keeper, and I dont think he has had a good season at all this year. There may not have been any absolute clangers, but there have quite a few that a "good" goalie would have got to, the two goals at Dolly being good examples of this where he allows the onrushing striker an easy pass into the only part of the goal he can hit it into, followed by very poor positioning for the second which although placed well was not hit that hard and came from a distance that no "good" keeper should be getting beaten from. They are not errors, but good goalies stop them. What we have been spoiled with since the Chris Woods era until McGregor left is a conveyor belt of very good/great goalies, who not only were capable of some fantastic saves, but they made these saves in the big games that really mattered to the fans. Old firm games, cup finals, European ties, title deciders etc. Until Wes is MOTM in a winning OF game or a cup final, as many of his predecessors were, he will never be able to be called a "good" goalie at Rangers. Woods, Goram, Klos, McGregor all won many big matches just about on their own. What we have had since with Alexander, Bell, Wes, Gilks etc are decent pros but they are always going to be judged against their predecessors and that is an awfully big pair of gloves to fit into. Hopefully big Wes (or Gilks depending on who plays) has that type of career-defining game on Sunday as they keep out the bheasts and lead us to the league cup final.

I was convinced this game would be moved to the Monday, 2nd January, with a lunchtime kick off. I am amazed it has been kept on Hogmanay. I can only think it has been done so to avoid the tims having to stay quiet when we remember our fallen from 1971, or for Lawwell not to have to choke on the Loving Cup.

Some players just dont settle in at a big club. MOH looks so out of his comfort zone and depth, when he shouldnt be, as he is no less skillful than Forrester or Waghorn in that wide position. The two players MW has spent a big chunk of cash on look like they would be better players in a different formation, and both are defended by fans as needing a run of games, but the manager keeps going back to others instead of these two. It is very baffling.

I respect your post but I saw it quite differently; Miller : good first half apart from making a mess of a simple pass that would have put Tav clean through, anonymous second half. Wes: not convinced, made a hash of a high ball and got a lucky foul given to save him. Kiernan: was at fault for allowing two free headers which should have been scored. Must not be allowed any more game time, he costs goals (or simple chances) every single game. I'm seriously looking at MW judgement by continuing to pick him. Hill: has improved every game, not brilliant but solid enough. McKay: good first half, usually against two defenders, not back to his best yet but improving. Holt: brings the drive from midfield we sadly lacked earlier in the season, unusually poor finishing last night but first name on team sheet for me. Waggy: had a shocker, we don't get the best out of him when he plays wide. Must be played central. Tav: improving his defensive work every week, to the detriment of his attacking play but that's now the right way round for the team. Subs: as usual our subs weaken the team and we lose momentum. MW use of subs is his biggest failing apart from CH. Be interesting to read other bears thoughts too..........

At least from this statement we can start to deduce what is going on. Here is my Miss Marple tuppence worth; A week suspension for the bust up with Warburton. During this period the club receive word from SFA re the betting charge and immediately suspend the player until the hearing date, which they were expecting last week but only convened this week. Barton then throws a curve ball by asking for a postponement to prepare his case, meaning the club have to extend his suspension again tonight. It looks like if he is found guilty by the SFA and doesn't appeal he will be sacked and if he is cleared he will return. This now gives the Tim-backed SFA a difficulty. If they throw the book at Barton, they save us money as we sack him. If they clear him, they look like fools but we then have to keep and pay a player we clearly don't want.

11 goals in 9 league games is a dreadful return, we need to find our shooting boots, and very soon.

We survived!!!!!!!!!

1 min left, all ICT now

We get lucky again, Kiernan mucks up his header, Wes comes out and fluffs it, gets a free kick. 3 mins left

Halliday takes a sore one from an elbow off the ball. Move along now. 4 mins added, squeaky bum time.

Another free header for ICT, that was an absolute sitter, Kiernan again going completely to sleep and losing his man. He seemed too busy telling others to mark up and didn't bother marking himself.

Sloppy again by us giving ICT another chance, routine save from Wes.