Gribz

I thought about this not long ago and just done this team off the top of my head so I may be back with another XI later. Letizi Bollan Konterman (bar one screamer) Prodan - although unlucky with injury but never kicked a ball. Mo Ross Maniero Mlandanovic Rothen Capucho Gayle Jeffers

Gav's mate has a differing opinion to mine. He is also a Bear who has been working a bit between here and australia and watching a lot of the Aussie league. He was delighted when we signed McKay and says he is Brisbane's best player and will be a cracking signing for Gers.

A player with loads of talent, should have got back in the team after his spell out especially when he showed the right attitude by going up to Forfar away on a Tuesday night. Considering half the duds we have seen Buffel would have been a wonderful player to have. A bit like Ortiz and others he found it tricky to adapt to the 'punk and kick high ball SPL'

Craig, Santos is a left back so they only got 1 centre half in. They got Park Chu in upfront who is highly rated so thats him and Gervinho. They also paid highly for the Costa Rican striker but sent him out on loan which I was surprised about as he had a good couple of games in the Copa America. I still feel they needed another centre half as Vermaelen is injury prone. So I hope they go back in for Cahill in January plus another creative midfielder like Hazard as Benayoun is only on loan.

I'll have some of what Kenny is smoking.

I agree he shouldnt be sitting on the bench but he should have been playing far more in the first place. His chances were being diminished due to poor management selections. Edu was absolutely rank last season and McCulloch has been injured. If the new signings dont play well and Edu and McCulloch continue with last years form then there is no reason he shouldnt be playing. Same goes for Ness.

Would be quite happy if this is true especially with Hutton. I wouldnt let him out in the first place after showing a lot of promise. Its a shame for the lad that he seems himself dropping down the pecking order for new players who havent played yet plus the 2 dumplings (Edu and McCulloch just in case anyone was wondering )

Thats worth a new thread for discussion.

Would be disappointed to see Hutton go out on loan. Id rather he was in the team than Edu and McCulloch.

If this offer came 2-3 weeks ago giving us time to replace him then Id take around 9 million for him. But if we sell him today and dont get a replacement then Id go as far as saying as its giving the title away. I think Jelavic is a professional despite his body language (I think thats his style of play TBH) and if he is here come Thursday morning he will still give his all and score 15 goals by Christmas. He is under contract, we pay his wages therefore unless someone comes back with a silly bid then he should stay. And Leciester wont be going up this season anyway, Ive been watching the Championship for few years and quite a few games this season, they were played off the park by Reading.

Maloney?? Jeez no way! He is Celtic's Chris Burke.

Your right that the squad personnel cant be compared but I still stick to the argument that management team can be compared. That is quite an unbelievable squad BTW and would snatch at that now if the chance was there. Everyone at their peak then it would be tricky to pick the best XI from that but here goes so we can compare it to the current team....(obviously the McGregor then wasnt the McGregor now). ______________________Klos_____________________ Ricksen________Moore_________Amoruso_____Numan Reyna________De Boer________Ferguson_____McCann ______________Caniggia______Mols_______________

Agreed. Coming to think about it those sides in Denmark, Norway and Sweden are fielding XI technically decent players who play together who are organised, motivated and know their tactics, while our problem (The SPL) is mixing a few technically good players with the rough and tough SPL players and the 2 just dont match. Thats probably a fundemental problem of the demise of Scottish Football....its like fielding two different 5-aside teams together and expecting them to do well while the opponents are 1 group of 10 outfield players. No wonder unknowns can beat the likes of Dundee utd and Motherwell year in year out and this season the OF. Therefore its maybe a bit harsh blaming the foreigners all the time if they cant adapt to the style of play, they want to get the ball down an play yet have no chance of that when balls are just being punted up the park. Going back to the 70s and 80s when Scottish sides were capable of going far in Europe the teams usually consisted of XI Scots who all had the same style, even our 1992/93 Euro run was mostly Scots.....The 3 foreigner rule was the first nail in the coffin in the Scottish game.

I see what Danny is saying, it does remind me towards the end of McLeish's time when everything was flat. The comparisons are that there isnt that experienced guy in the management team, I said the same when Andy Watson was there. The thing that is missing is that authoritive figure, just like Souness, Walter and Advocaat had.

As I posted the other day, when everyone is fit the squad is as big as its been for as long as I can remember but doesnt exactly thrill anyone with excitement as its still 3 players from last season that are the real quality - McGregor, Davis and Jelavic. That might be a tad unfair on Bedoya and McKay until we see them. There are still promising players like Wylde, Ness and Hutton but if the likes of Edu and McCulloch get picked ahead of them then they wont flourish. The only thing I can think of with the Cuellar deal is we desperately needed defenders who could play straight away as we had almost zero options before signing Goian, Bartley and Bocanegra. So if Cuellar did also sign we would be left with maybe 1 too many in that department when everyone is fit, yet id have no problem with that especially when its quality like Cuellar coming back. To put it into perspective, signing Whittaker on a high paid long term deal was a top priority and then we pulled from the Cuellar deal.....I cant get my head around that business. Its worse than signing Beattie last year rather than giving Novo a 2 year deal.

His stubbornes over 4 or 5 transfer windows to address the defence has now taken effect. He has 3 days to sign 5 players or risk not finishing in the top 8, even the top half. That team wont win games at the likes of Bolton or Stoke. Going forward yesterday they actually didnt do too bad, they had 15 shots on target. The first goal was a joke defensively then Van Perise misses a pen to make it 1-1. It was the embarrassing defence that cost them and the lack of a steel midfielder. He needs to sign Cahill, Samba, Arteta, Hazard, Bellamy and another IMO if they want to even get near the top 4.

True. The Kenny Miller one is the sorest for me, cant help thinking we'd still be in europe had he signed back. Goian looks a decent defender but id be far more looking forward to seeing Cuellar coming back next month had we got him more so than Bocanegra.

Fiver on Ortiz to get a hattrick and 2 assists today then

Formations dont make players, its players who make formations. Always depends on the personnel you have available, then you should get your best XI out with players in favoured positions. We dont seem to know our best XI at the moment and we consistantly play players out of position. I like 4-3-3 which can be switched back to a 4-5-1 but Id rather have a partner for Jelavic to get the best out of him, thats why I still think 3-5-2 can work if played properly. Also only 1 upfront in the SPL would be ridiculous so if it was a 4-5-1 it would have to include 2 players who would get right up there with Jelavic. Id be happy to give 3-5-2 a try as we have good options at centre half now plus I wouldnt have Whittaker in the team at RB anyway. We have good numbers in midfield now with McKay, Ness, Hutton and Davis all good options for the middle of the park plus Naismith could have a free role. Ortiz would benefit in a 5 man midfield IMO and Im looking forward to seeing Bedoya.

The thing that I find is really lacking and costing us at the moment is a presence and leadership, more so from the management than the playing team. WS had a presence about him in abundance and therefore could get away with his style of play because it brought success. At the moment it still seems like the management team are 3 young boys without their parents. There has been a call by fans over the summer for AM to bring in a experienced assistant like Ray Wilkins to lend that bit of cool advice when needed like ââ?¬Å?its time for a sub Allyââ?¬Â or ââ?¬Å?change this.....ââ?¬Â. I respect AMââ?¬â?¢s decision to stick with his guns and feel his team is the right one but IMO iââ?¬â?¢d have preferred to have seen a Wilkins type guy in there. AMââ?¬â?¢s decision might pay off over the season if he brings home the title. I canââ?¬â?¢t complain about our SPL away form, it is good, but are we papering over the cracks after some dismal home performances so far? On the park Naismith has a bit of presence because he is a mouthy pest to the opposition, but I find this effective especially when he is in his correct position of midfield. What I have noticed about McCoist is a change in style. As assistant he was out there on the touch line every week in his shorts and t-shirt screaming at the players for 90 mins, yet now he has a more reserved place in the dug out and this means the more quiet Kenny McDowall is doing more of the instructions. I personally would still like to see AM being his own man and getting the shorts and t-shirt back on and screaming at the players. His tactics seemed to have changed also. For the last 3 seasons he has been in charge of the team in domestic cup games where we always went out on the attack but he has opted for the more flat defensive 4-4-2 with Edu and McCulloch still being preferred for some bizarre reason, this irritates me as I believe we have some good footballers in the team and capable of much better. We saw towards the end of last season how good Rangers can be when on the attack so why we donââ?¬â?¢t make this our approach all the time is beyond me. Whilst missing out on first choice targets in the transfer market we still have managed to bolster the squad and boast good numbers ââ?¬â?? see below. I canââ?¬â?¢t recall our squad being so good on numbers and options covered for a few years now, this after last season when we couldnââ?¬â?¢t fill the subs bench. However there is still a lack of that extra quality that Davis and Jelavic can offer. But Iââ?¬â?¢ll reserve judgement until the new guys have had 10-15 games plus Bedoya and McKay have settled in to see what they can bring. McKay has been one of the top performers in the Aussie league so I am expected him to be a good signing. So the current squad is like this with a number of players being vertisile. The only position I think needs changing is upfront. Id prefer to get Beattie off the books and bring in a striker. Millerââ?¬â?¢s return would have been perfect but that wasnââ?¬â?¢t to be. Young Hemmings is someone id like to see partner Jelavic. In midfield I still think Davis is the key man when in centre midfield but needs a bit of steel behind him of someone who can break up play and still pass a ball. McGregor / Alexander Broadfoot____Goian___Weir____Papac Whittaker___Bartley___Bocanerga___Wallace McMillan____Perry Bedoya_____Davis____Ness____Wylde Naismith____Edu___McCulloch____Ortiz Hutton___McKay Jelavic___Lafferty Healy___Fleck Hemmings__Beattie

I can see Arsenal struggling for top 6 unless they sign at least 4 players. They need 2 from Cahill, Jageilka and Samba at the back. 2 from Arteta, Schweinsteiger and Ribery in midfield. Upfront they should go for Anelka and/or Bellamy.

Giving Whittaker a 5 year deal on 25k / week is probably the worst bit of business Ive ever seen. Oritz and Goian are very promising and Bartley back is a breathe of fresh air. Kinda glad we missed out on Goodwillie. Weiss and Cuellar would make it a good day in the office.

Respect your opinion I like naismith wide right but wouldnt play him automatically. Miller just scored in 92nd min for Cardiff to win at West Ham...wanker!!

Quite simply? Not quite! Its an opinion game and your opinion doesnt win. Only can be decided if the team takes to the test...and its not going to happen. Your saying if Naismith isnt in the starting XI then its not our strongest team? Let Naismith prove that one please! Yes, I'll give u the point about Ortiz isnt proven but Wallace is. But Wallace has trickier colleague to dispense. Papac hasnt done anything wrong, so why remove him? Or is it a case of "lets play someone because of who they are" with Wallace also?

Thats what I was thinking Taxi for Zappa......