der Berliner

Never seen Morelos that far back clearing the ball at his own penalty area either. But that's Colak for you.

You can see what they want to do, but we have again the beating of their defence, but too few real attackers. Tavs flanking to no-one and Kent so far unproductive.

Caught in transition, is the right phrase. Goldson posted missing for the clearance ... probably fearing another og?

At least Ridvan's crosses were accurately at the goalie ... Tav puts it out straight away ... 🤪

You could actually "see" that Goldson's mind was telling: "It's offside anyway!" ... so typically lackadaisical.

I'm a bit out of touch here. In what way did he annoy the "ultras" again?

Not before May 😈

Joel Piroe ... is actually a striker. Just in case anyone who doesn't watch Swansea that often wants to know. Joël Mohammed Ramzan Piroe of Dutch-Suriname pedigree, 14 goals and one assist in 36 games this season. 84 goals and 24 assists in 174 games (at this age not bad). I do wonder what Swansea will want, since he ain't bad and has a year on his current deal to run.

SFA Highlights

Very similar to the Hearts game, could and should have been more. Just keep it going!

After such a cool and sound performance, the only thing that gets you down is that these chaps were capable of it all season, but ... Then again, Raskin and Cantwell have been a revelation, driving the midfield on. Jack is back to his best and the defence is settled. Sakala and Colak form a fine striking partnership, Kent at his industrious best. Tillman and Hagi to come, if everyone's fit and we pick the right team, this looks good.

Time for young Kent to learn to shoot into the net. He'd be a smash-hit ... They play the open game Hearts tried and fully play into our strengths. We simply need to capitalize more, it should be 4 or 5-1 by now.

70 minutes well dominated, inbetween some truly dire stuff. Lundstram brought some stability and off we went again. We have 5 subs available, yet do nothing while the games slips out of our grasp. Then 3 in the last 90 seconds, fair enough to give Colak and Cantwell a well earned round of applause, but poor from any other angle. Hagi, Wright and Morelos might have been on much earlier, even Arfield. We all know that a big lead at half-time can stop the game in its tracks, but with so much potential on the bench, you can expect better game-management. So eventually "just" another 3 points in the bag and some fine 1st half performances to dwell upon.

REPORTED!!!!! 😱😱😈

You see Raskin, Colak, Cantwell and Sakala clicking and causing all sorts of trouble with their enthusiasm, invention, stamina, and all ... and wonder what made MB sent out Morelos, Lundstram and Kamara out last weekend ...

I take heart that Beale sticks with Sakala, so we have 2 natural strikers out there, while Cantwell and Raskin also look like proper attacking midfielders who like to shoot.

Kilmarnock is second from bottom, we are at Ibrox, so no need for any defensive 4-3-3, two DMs and but one striker. Play a proper attacking 3-4-3 with Jack or Raskin dropping deep in times of need, while Cantwell and Tillman track back (something they do anyway). Raskin and Tillman the driving forces in midfield. McGregor Goldson - Davies - Barisic Jack Cantwell - Raskin - Tillman Sakala - Colak - Morelos We can introduce our "veterans" once we are out of sight.

So Lawrence is out for the season and Roofe out for a while, from what is written there. A few bits and pieces in transfer targets, but we really need to look after some more steely folk for midfield. I really don't care whether they come from Asia, India, Scandinavia, the US of A, the English 3rd tier or something alike, as long as they can play through a couple of seasons and score 15+ goals, if the latter are meant to be "attackers" ... Some transfer murmurs ... All-action Gattuso 2.0 needs to be back on Gers radar after reported “positive talks” - Gustavo Hamer Plus three from the Greek league: Panathinaikos’ Dimitrios Kourbelis (29, DM, freebie this summer) and Fotis Ioannidis (23, striker, contract till 2024) Olympiacos’ In-Beom Hwang (25, CM, contract till 2025) And a goalie: Rangers eyeing move to sign Freddie Woodman for 3,5m (25, Preston NE, contract till 2025)

So Lawrence is out, where's the info regarding Roofe? Thread is back from November ... and he has played since.

Back in the day, my local ice-hockey team ruled the roost, snatching 7 out of 9 league titles from 2005 till 2013, including a nice streak from 2011 to 2013. During the last stages of that era, they handed their stalwarts long contracts (which is rare in ice-hockey, where deals usually last a season or two, with options). What happened was that these players couldn't keep up with the demands, and it followed a long dire spell up until 2021, when the next title was one (and followed up in 2022). There were some highs in the 2018 and 2019 season, but ultimately, those long contracts cost the club dearly. There are no transfer fees involved in ice-hockey, so who pays the highest wages, offers a route to success, glory, fame and thus to the NHL / Russian League (and really good money). You simply can't pay people off (unless you have that much money) or send them packing. When you go back through the years, not only did we sign enough players not fit for the tasks required, but also handed out long contracts to people who simply aren't good enough on a consistent basis. And as we have seen, even in the days when e.g. a Kamara was shining, no-one happened by to snatch him up. Same with Morelos. Same with Tavernier, or Kent. Going what dross the Scum sold to the EPL for scandalous money, you do wonder why no-one showed up with real interest in our superstars? You would expect that the lower half of the EPL and upper half of the Championship would walk over glass to sign someone of the caliber of Kent, whose talents are wasted in Scotland, but who could well run amok in England. Or maybe, just maybe, those idiots down there are wise enough not to perceive his and other Gers "stars'" qualities through our blue glasses? No matter the failures of managers past, the present is what matters. So far, MB has lost but one game in his time at Ibrox, yet, it was the second most vital game in his stay here - a cup final at that. And we have seen hardly anything that shows us that the future looks in any way different than what we saw beforehand. We paper over wrong tactics with better players, instead of utilizing our squad and change the way we play. You can clearly see that the old hands can't get out of their old habits or keep up with their own high standards, while the new hands are shifted about the field to accommodate this or that player. Hence, there is no cohesion in midfield and amongst the attackers. It's been obvious for weeks now. Yet, we toil on with it ...

Lots of teeth-gnashing it seems. Alas, yesterday, work called, and I answered - luckily so on both accounts. You see, I could repeat the mantra of the last weeks, months, even years. Our tactics and team selection has become far too stale, simple, and easy to counter. Choosing players no longer up for the task (if they ever were in certain games) and tactics inadequate for the Scottish game has seen us winning what, 2 trophies in 5 or more seasons? All the affectation about Europe simply papered over the small facts that in Europe, most teams don't know how we play or about our players, don't care, and every now and paid the price. Yet, in Scotland, after half a season under MB till SG, everyone knew how we play, set up, and how to counter players. We papered that over with better quality players ... and for a time, that helped. But soon it fell flat again and we just soldiered / toiled on. It has been very obvious that our "defensive 4-3-3" (no matter how people want to call it, it is exactly that) with but one striker and people who might hit the target every now and then is a blunt weapon, yet we didn't adjust. Once we do get into our rhythm (I can count our league performances regarding that on one hand) and press teams, we look the part and can easily take on the Hooped Horrors too. Yet, this season, it takes us 30 to 45 mins to even start playing any sort of cohesive football. Selecting folk who have shown time and again that they can't hack it any longer or on a consistent basis has to be put on the doorstep of the manager. And sorry, Beale has been around long enough and seen everyone (bar Raskin and Cantwell) to know that. Sure, the Scum had a monetary advantage over us for quite a while now, but likewise, the Aussie has signed players willing to give their all nigh every time they step onto the pitch. Whether they come from Europe or the Far East. And that application of work ethos and quality see them running away with it - no matter how we want to portray our performances as bad or they being poor. It is long overdue that people need to remind themselves that former glories or super-goal stats for e.g. a fullback do not count in the here and now. We had it all to win yesterday, but chose that safe-comfort non-attacking cozy line-up which fully enabled the Scum to play their game. We've seen it before and unless some radical change of thinking happens - and MB selecting players up for the game of the day - it will be another toil till the final day of the season. EDIT: We have enough players at the club to compete for players, quality players at that. IF anyone was disadvantaged as a manager, it was Gio and his injury list which made up a full first team line up for long spells of his reign this season.

Alas, I'm away at work. The less I see of that mob these days, the better!

I did before, but this was another game where he was full of effort and running (and sure contributed to the penalty "won by Morelos") and not much end product ... again.

In an open game, Tillman, Raskin, Cantwell, Sakala, Roofe, and Colak would wreak havoc. If only they were on the pitch alongside one another more often.

Well, wiry and tough Scots/British-born guys, more used to that plastic trash. Okay, we sure played well enough and truth be told, Kamara did well in the holding role next to the raf more creative Raskin. Maybe playing Kamara next to Jack and/or Lundstram keeps them all stepping on their toes and somewhat unsure? Cantwell playing more deeply today and spreading passes like Raskin (we really got a couple of good footballers here), Sakala always a threat ... though we generally played rather well. Would have been a nice game all round, had it not taken that long for the reassuring goals.