Tannochsidebear

Morelos starts without a doubt, the big question for Murty is who does he play with him? By my reckoning Morelos & Cummings have only started 2 games together and we have scored 10 goals in those 2 games, which is impressive at any level. If we take as a given that we will play a back 4 with Goss & Docherty sitting in central midfield mostly a bit deeper, it leaves 4 attacking spots in the team between Morelos, Cummings, Candieas, Murphy, Windass. Every one of them will rightfully be upset if not selected. My preference for leaving out would be Windass. His home form is truly awful (only 2 goals all season and numerous stinkers) and he has often went missing in tough games. If we were playing away I would play him as his goals tally in away games is excellent. Horses for courses and all that. Of course there is not a hope in hell Murty is not going to start Windass, as he seems to be his absolute favourite, so we'll say he is due a good home performance in a big game and hopefully that will be Sunday. I think Murty will play Candieas and Murphy wide with Windass supporting Morelos, and Cummings, despite the hattrick, on the bench. Very harsh on Cummings but thats the way I see Murty going. If Murphy is not fit to play, perhaps we will see the same formation (with a couple of changes at the back) as yesterday which mostly looked like a 4-2-3-1. The other option is we flood the midfield by playing Holt alongside Goss and Docherty, and Candieas and Windass supporting Morelos in a 4-3-2-1. This is more negative on paper to try to ensure we dont get hammered and to try to ensure we can double up on their wide danger players which we done to very good effect in December. It could come done to one or two chances each and see if we can take one this time. We absolutely positively cannot play Halliday at left back if we want to have any chance of keeping a clean sheet. He is not a full back in any shape or form and definitely will get singled out and attacked and this will be our weak flank for certain. If John is not fit, Wallace has to be thrown in. It has been a long time out but he doesnt need to be bursting up and down like he used to, he can concentrate on defending the left flank and will be a much better option, if a bit of a gamble, than playing AH. It does make you wonder why we didnt just release Hodson in January if he isnt considered better than Halliday as a left back? At centre back it has to be Alves & Martin for me. Big Bates has been ok but is prone to silly mistakes and losing goals, another one yesterday to add to Tuesday. I think perhaps he needs rested as his form is nowhere near as solid as it was around the last OF game. Experience will matter. I think Murty will play Martin & Bates however as that seems to be his preference. I have absolutely no expectation of pegging them back in the league so a victory is not as important to me as it will be in the cup SF, but I think we are all expecting a much better effort than we have managed against them since our demotion (SF win aside). Yes, we played better at the dump in December and while we could have sneaked it, we could also have lost it by 2 or 3 in the first half alone which some seem to have forgotten. The one thing I will say is that, unlike under Pedro, I am no longer going to turn up and expect to be humped. So there is improvement right there!

Perhaps Peter got him the gig in return for his "you've been cheating "us" for years" tirade during the meeting with McCoist & Green and others when discussions about our sentencing were ongoing? One thing is for sure, Rod will always look after his beloved hoops in front of his employer, so this appointment should be challenged by us to the fullest extent of our powers.

Very interesting stats there from DMAA, thanks for that. I did get the impression that Dolly are very consistent against the other sides, especially the lower sides in the league, and this backs that up, but I perhaps didnt realise just how consistent and impressive they have been. Obviously much has been made of their constant capitulations against us/them, but it shows you they have got the job done against the "diddies" which we have really struggled to do over the last 2 years.

I dont think John missing out is too big a loss, unless it is Halliday or Hodson coming in for him which seems likely. Hopefully our captain can come back into the team straight away, he has the character to handle this even if he might not quite be at the pace yet. I personally would bring Bruno back in ahead of Bates. The young CH is decent cover but mistakes are creeping in and sometimes you have to take these guys out for their own good and development, and with Bruno being fit again I would be interested to see a Bruno/Martin partnership. While i dont think Martin is a very good defender, what I have been very impressed with is his organising of the back 4 line. He is always talking to the other 3, reading the game very well and prompting them into good positions. Wee Docherty is improving with every game, I have been impressed with his contributions so far and hopefully he can continue to develop. Murphy is settling in well now but really needs to work on his left foot. He always wants to cut back onto his right and defenders are too easily working him on the outside. It is worth pointing out that two of his goals have come when he has been over on the "wrong" side of the pitch. I would like to see him on the other side, but the Tav/Candieas partnership is the best thing we have in the team just now so it would be wrong to change that. Someone told me on Saturday when Windass missed another sitter that 13 of his 15 goals have come away from home. While his goals have been unexpected and most welcome, he does throw in too many games like Saturday when he is worse than useless, and how he wasnt hooked after an hour was painful for all concerned. I would like to see Cummings & Morelos play together to see if they can build a partnership, but like most I dont see this happening anytime soon. Perhaps they will get the chance on Sunday as another one-off. Heading up to Perth tonight in confident mood, hopefully a good solid win and continue to build. However we havent had a hiccup in a few games now so one is almost certainly coming soon given our last couple of years, therefore we have to ensure we are right up for the battle as our hosts most certainly will be.

I have been doing this at £2pw for several years now since I was invited to the Thornton suite to watch the CL final on the tv screens by the Former Players Benevolent Fund, and a wee talk given by Colin Jackson. The commissions from my £2pw go to the aforementioned fund which I am quite proud of in a small way. The players that served us with distinction that didnt earn fortunes but need medical and social care now that they are in their later years is a magnificent charity to support. While I agree funding our future generations is important and the work Colin does there is outstanding, there are also other very important reputable Rangers charities to consider for bears who are fortunate enough to not miss a couple of quid a week. If Gersnet do one with the commission going to Rangers youths you can count me in.

I'm fairly certain I know how this works out, it has been the same throughout his career. He will come on as a sub, play well and probably score, thus making it easy for the manager to select him as a starter next time out, followed by several weeks of utter dross. What I will say for Miller is he has always been supremely fit and this enables him to come back quickly from any injury he gets, not that he is injured very often either. If he could pass that attitude on to other players at the club I would be most grateful.

Our club (board, interim manager & players) hasnt really deserved the numbers of supporters that have turned up to watch us every week. Another home sell-out despite us dropping 19 points in 13 games at home would be headline news in a country with a fair media.

The point I am making is if they think this is anywhere in the top 100 list of things to spend money on, what does that say about how you can trust them to make good and big decisions on anything else. So instead of additional donations, it makes you wonder if you should be trusting them at all with any money. (I am quite sure I have already ticked the 100% share purchase option, but thanks for the reminder, I will check it out)

Dear Club 1872, While you continue to advocate spending money on safe standing, you will get not one additional penny from me. I currently pay two DD's to C1872 each month, one for £11.25 that used to go to RST and one for £18.72 that used to go to RF. Both of those payments will be cancelled if one penny of this is earmarked for safe standing. So instead of me giving an additional donation towards the share purchase, which I would be happy to consider, you might be losing my £359.64pa if you continue with this nonsense. I am sure I am not alone in this way of thinking.

While I will admit I watched this at the X6 speed (as I was out for my sons birthday dinner and recorded the game to watch when I got home) and it was still slow and turgid at that speed, I really cant get all the criticism of Nico last night when there were plenty of others who were worse. Halliday looked like Highland league was pushing his ability to the limit, Cummings, Holt, John, Hodson, Cardoso, were all much worse than Nico, who had a few nice touches, good vision, and won a few headers in our own box as well. Yes his legs dont seem to be lasting matches, but if the likes of Windass ever gets to the talent level of Nico I will be absolutely amazed. Anyway, I came on to post that I am getting more and more worried with every passing game we play against defensive teams that we really have no clue as a club how to break them down and get into good goalscoring positions. Given we play most of our league games against opponents of this type than not, we simply must find a way to do this. For all Murty can set a side up defensively not to get beaten, and we seem to be able to raise our game against better opponents, with Thistle, Ayr, Hamilton, all coming up after Hibs on Saturday, we will see if we can find a new way to win these easy games easily.

Loved that article, it hits the nail bang on the head in so many ways. The only bit I disagree with is any support for safe standing at all, which I am absolutely 100% against in our current climate and financial state. Come back to me in 15 years when we have everything else done and we can look at it again. For us to make a stand to be the club we should be, this is the type of pioneering priority we should be looking at, way ahead of memorial gardens, standing areas, fanzones etc. This should be our number one priority for fan safety, comfort and basic human decency. It is not a cash generator, but would make such a bold and forward thinking statement that it could be the catalyst for others around the country to take a look at their own efforts. If we need to throw some C1872 money at a project that helps fans and our club's profile, this should be well above anything they have suggested thus far, and certainly a million miles ahead of safe standing for a minority of supporters who already stand anyway. I dont know how anyone can argue otherwise.

Murty's post match interview on Sky was interesting. He notes (ad did JC when interviewed) that Cummings is not up to 90 minutes yet, but Murty is looking forward to seeing them play together, saying it was exciting (or words to that effect) and he thinks they will work well together. What does that say about our system that Murty's intention is to play twin strikers? 3 at the back, or lighter in midfield?

For a game we were so in control of, we were clinging on at the end. I will gladly take the 3 points but it's another alarming dropoff and more focus on our continual missed chances when we'll on top. Onwards and upwards bears! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I meant the pen shout. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ridiculous penalty to County, handball against Martin, scored by Ngog 2-1. MAybe not game over! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Shot from just outside the box, slight deflection into bottom corner. Game over!!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Cummings 2-0 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This is where having a youth coach in charge instead of a proper manager can hurt us. The subs should have been made at 55 mins when County were on top to get a grip back on the match, we are now lucky to be still ahead. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

County started 2nd half much better than us, had a few stramashes in our box already. Must get back on top and get this killer second before we end up losing our lead. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

HT 1-0. Comfortable enough, hopefully kill it off early in the second half.

So close, great cross from Tav, glancing header from Murphy, good save from keeper. 40 mins gone.

Some good dead balls into the box from Goss from free kicks and corners, County are strong aerially in central defence though Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Decent chance for County there, John fast asleep and let his man in, cut across goal, Wes missed it and Bates cleared it. County looking to play this more like an away game, trying to break fast down the flanks when they get the ball in midfield. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

No, that's has been sung about AH since he arrived. Agreed though re poor songs for poor players, AH, Windass, Cordoso songs all cringeworthy efforts.

Morelos broke well there, got past the defender, but shoots wide with only the keeper to beat. 27 mins gone, it's all us.