der Berliner

What is too difficult to understand in: "if the situation arises"? Polster can likewise play DM, so if Jack "bombs" forward, Polster may cover that role. As for 4-at-the-back with regard to more attack minded: 3-5-2 would have us with 2 strikers, two full wingers and a DM that might step forward a little, not least when the opposition digs in around its penalty area. ANd we would have essentially only three defensive players looking for any counter attacks. If that is not more attack minded, I wouldn't know what is. Anyway, as others have said, SG will most likely trial his 4-2-3-1 for the best part of the season, like he did last. As long as those on the park are producing, fine. We have seen though that once the players are not up for it, we toil hard for any goal and result. That would be the time to try a different option, earlier than the 80s minute as well. We shall see ...

See above. Polster and Jack, as I said (?) would have the license to go forward too, if the situation arises.

Thing is, Livingston and some other sides do not pose an attacking threat. Likewise, Jones and Stewart do work back when they have to, and not too bad either.

As I said before, time and again, at home against teams that pose no threat, go 3 at the back and 1 DM, the rest should be there to attack and hurt the opposition in their half. Also something I would actually utilize Polster (yes Bluedell, i know ? ), as he can play right-back as well as DM, so can cover that side of a back three in full ... or step into midfield, while Tav would usually and solely be found somewhere in a right attacking slot. Hence e.g. ... with Stewart and Jones tracking back and Davis being the anchor in midfield. Jack and Polster may step into a more attacking area too, if opportunity arises. McGregor Polster - Goldson - Katic/Edmundson Jack Stewart - Davis - Kent - Jones Morelos - Kamberi

IMHO, it is vice versa, as many seem to see more in Tav that there really is. Pointing this out is no dislike of Tavernier, just stating my opinion.

If you look at the actual tables now, we've drawn 2 games more (total 3) and lost 1 more (total 3) in the league. Over the course of 25 games.

I didn't see Polster NOT going down the flanks in case of opportunity, NOT putting in dangerous crosses, NOT showing some skill with the ball and outplaying defenders or supporting the defence, midfield or attack. In short, in his 2 full games of late, Polster did not do any worse than Tavernier, in fact, he did not make me miss Tavernier ... despite the commentators at games continued to lament the absence of both Morelos and Tavernier. Of late (sic!), IMHO, the impact Tavernier has on games is hardly worth the furor that is made about him. Hence, why not try something else/different?

Yep. Reasons as listed above. If Tav was anywhere near the quality of Barasic in terms of defending and crossing, there could be a debate. But he is not.

IMHO, the big problem is that he plays just one formation and while that was good when all were fit and firing on all cylinders, it comes off the rails when that's no longer the case. As soon as Morelos starts firing blanks or is suspended, we lack our most potent goal-threat by a long, a very long distance. Defoe ain't bad but he's injured right now ... as it happens. Kent for all his running, workrate and trickery, delivers too little from that flank. Yes, he scores the odd important goal, but of late the end product is simply not there. At least in a way that would help us as a team. Not sure he is best used as left winger or attacker. Tavernier lives of a lot of credit from his first season and the last one. But much like Kent of late, for all his workrate and running, he hardly puts in a decent cross, not to mention free-kicks or corners. His shooting from distance would be much lauded in rugby. He sure lacks a decent partner and here we have that tacictal problem. Before we come to that, Polster offered something that Tav didn't, some invention and trickery ... plus the fact that Premiership defenders do not know him well enough. For some reason, Tav seems to be undroppable though. The barren right flank. Ojo was okay there early doors, usually against open teams. His lackadaisical style which far too often slips back into EPL u23 - mode is not good enough though. Hand him the odd 20 mins to weave his magic, but not a straight starter. Aribo as well as Arfield are more central players, both with strengths and weaknesses. The former would be better used as a ball-winner or someone playing as a shadow striker, laying off passes or looking for scraps. The latter is better when workrate is required, as well as shooting from distance. Why we do not use Stewart, who had a good spell as a right winger at Killie and has trickery and shooting ability too is beyond me. Creative MF area ... for some reason, we again have our centre-halfs getting much of the burden of sending balls up the park, which usually does not come off. Why Davis wasn't used yesterday, at least later on, is anyone's guess. We did have a few runners in Kent, Aribo, Arfield and Hagi, but for some reason they did not pick up the right spaces or doubled up in the same area. But what do I know. We've seen that since the turn of the year ... with hardly any reaction whatsoever in terms of tactical and player changes. I have that bad feeling that we will still try to make Plan A better rather than e.g. have a go at Livingston with ... McGregor Polster - Goldson - Katic Jack - Davis Stewart - Hagi - Jones Kent Morelos Stewart and Jones will track back as they always do, Jack the destroyer in MF and Davis and Hagi the creative bit. If we have the ball, we'd effectively have 5 attackers plus Jack, if he pushes up a litte.

True enough, though the omens look bleak. 14 games to go still and in the event that we beat them twice and win the game in hand, the difference would be down by 9 points. Going by our current form, how likely is that though? Important word is "current". Who knows what happens in 3 weeks time to us or them? But right now I'd only look forward to the weekend and block out the rest that is going on.

Our own shortcomings aside, that was another defeat that a referee actively had a hand in. The League Cup Final was an utter joke, today two vital, game deciding decisions went against us. Perhaps it is time to mark these facts in an active manner.

Now there is a disgruntled Bear.

Wylde was called a "one-trick-pony". Kent sure has more tricks up his sleeve, but he is not a real left winger. Against these defensive blocks, if you want some trickery, go with Hagi, Stewart, Morelos, Aribo et al. Kent and Jones IMHO are more for pace and directness ... against teams that play more open. Likewise, we have too many guys not playing quick forward passes, so the opposition's defense needs to act quickly and is forced into errors. Lovely early season pressing game. Killie pressed us 2nd half ever deeper and we did not cope. NOR did we play a decent long ball game to our attackers. Would have been cool to see Jones early on 2nd half, when they started to push up. BTW, Polster would also have added a bit of trickery to our right wing, as Tav once more toiled along and hardly put a decent cross in. NB: One major issue I had today was that there was no-one out there actually pulling the strings. Often it became hit and hope. Cried out for Davis ... but for some reason the bench looked on like the rabbit in the headlights and saw the drama unfold.

These are games that we got Stewart, Jones and Davis for. "Veterans" in terms of beating Scottish rabble. For all the fancy stuff Kent and Aribo and now Hagi does, the outcome in terms of end product is far too low. Likewise, for far too long have we relied on Morelos. It was essentially a "disaster" waiting to happen. We convert not enough chances and once Morelos does not come up with something special, we toil from game to game. January and February thus far have been a mixture of torture and toil. And as it happens, the Scum not only get vital decisions, but also waltz down anything in front of them. 14 games to go from here, but if things do not change soon, we might have another barren season ahead of us. It doesn't need much these days to put us out of the cup, as Hearts and Killie have shown. Anything but 12 points from the games leading up to the next Old Firm game will end this season early. And starting with Livingston at home, I hope that we shed this 4-3-3 garbage against teams that dig in around their area.

Hope SG looks at his faults first before blaming the players. The ref with his usual game-deciding (impartial) blunder ... but that Plan A has been rotting away for weeks now. Robbed of the first silverware this season. The second is fast slipping away. Who knows what awaits in the cup ...

No matter what statement had been written, people would dislike it. I don't and I think it is good enough. I for one think you know exactly what it is good for.

Against Hibs, that only made the referee giving them even more leeway. Scottish referees are a breed of their own. And you only want them to be impartial. We are too slow in the build up, even though Killie rarely lose their shape. We can play in front of them all day long. Dangerous on the counter (and linesman looking the other way). Too much passing till we get a shot away, Arfield did the right thing. Note the commentator say that each time Morelos "fouls" someone, one of the Killie guys tells Beaton about it, nice conditioning. Morelos not yet firing but in a seemingly fiery mood, hope he keeps calm.

You know the answer, but as I wrote: When it is a poor statement, people come out lamenting it. When it is a good statement, people come out lamenting it. As per usual.

Dunno whether we actually tried. Thing is, that he is a Rangers player on a certain wage. He hasn`t played that much either, so who knows. We and he are between a stone and a hard place here. Now that Murphy is away, he`ll have to be content with a role alongside Middleton in the development team. Hope they get some tough opponents and keep up to competitive fitness. It is not ideal, but I do not really get the bother thrown at them from some corners. All that "deadwood" / "useless" stuff. Pretty pointless, not least since only SG and Co. see them on a daily basis. We have 3 goalies too and only ever use 1, bar injury. By default, 2 are deadwood too. Thing is, they have a different angle, as wingers like Middelton and Barker - when thrown in - are put under the microscope and have to produce near wonders to get a pass mark. Despite their time being limited and often more cases of need late in the game ... and against the brick-wall brigade too, against whom all other first teamers toil week in and week out.

When it is a poor statement, people come out lamenting it. When it is a good statement, people come out lamenting it. As per usual. And put certain words under the microscope et al. IMHO, we acted with caution here and the statement is good enough. It speaks volumes that no-mark Spiers saw it fit to criticise Traynor and the statement`s wording, rather than say a word on the topic itself. On a sidenote, has it been established who was responsible for the Morelos interview and its supervision and translation etc.?

Haven`t seen a slow motion since the game, but I would assume Goldson went down trying to block/head it behind and was sure stretching his arms out to stop hitting the plastic turf face and chest first. As anyone would do. That`s probably the way both linesman and ref saw it ... even though I also thought that it was a clear hand ball at first. Didn`t know the "support the fall" rule before either.

Funny that all the BT / BBC experts were going on about the penalty without actually knwoing the updated rules. BTW, when Kamara made that last ditch tackle to deny the Accies counter attack, he toe-poked the ball to McGregor, which was a back-pass all day long. The goalie should have booted it away instead of picking it up. (Unless they changed the back-pass rules too ... )

Probably the wages are a bit steep for some, if he wants the money he got in Arabland? Played his last full game in April 12019, and then 36 mins last September in 2 games. Was not in the squad for the last 11 games bar these 2. Maybe there is a reason. 30 now and good stats, but played for years in a not-exactly-competitive league. I see people saying Murphy is better than Jones and Barker, as is Weiss (from distant memory). Barker has thus far failed to deliver, even though he has been given little chance to express himself on a continuous basis. That good performances won't get you a starting slot ahead of "veteran" squad members can be seen with Polster (Tav was back to his mediocre best against Accies). Barker, Murphy and Jones have Kent ahead of them and unless the latter is injured OR we change Kent's position, they will have a hard time looking for minutes. I reckon we tried to loan Barker out, but there simply was no interest. Murphy's talents are well known and IMHO it is good to get him competitive football to get him back to his best. Great option in games were trickery and skill is more needed than pace and direct running. Which are the attributes of Jones. If we play the brickwall brigade, I'd have Murphy on the bench, if we play more open teams, it would be Jones. Both won't replace Kent though.

The new season ... did not start. Postponed: RWFC v Queen’s Park THIS afternoon’s SWPL Cup tie against Queen’s Park has been postponed due to safety and travel concerns. The Gers were set to welcome the SWPL2 side to the Hummel Training Centre for the opening game of the 2020 campaign. Information on the rearranged fixture date will be announced in due course. https://rangers.co.uk/news/women/postponed-rwfc-v-queens-park/ Scheduled next game was away to Dundee United on Sunday 14th, KO probably 14.00. Rangers Women fixture list: https://rangers.co.uk/matches/teams/ladies-senior/

Going by the looks of these new lassies ... I reckon some Bears (male version) will actually go to the games for more reasons than football ... ?