der Berliner

This game and the next one in the EL are bonus stuff. If we start to believe anything else, we are kidding ourselves. Obviously, we need every penny from the EL now, probably any coefficient point too.

I was under the impression that you could add players to your EL squad by now, since Helander and Itten would be available again. I reckon we will set up defensively, with the wingbacks asked to support counter-attacks. Likewise, up top, I reckon we will start with Sakala ahead of Roofe, as the latter is quicker ... so maybe he and Kent may grab us another - "routine by now" - penalty. McGregor* Balogun - Goldson - Bassey Lundstram Tavernier - Kamara - Ramsey - Barisic Sakala - Kent *Because he won`t be replaced ...

Aribo shouldn`t be anywhere any starting XI right now.

Kent on the wing, Roofe and even Itten through the middle, Sakala on the right. Ramsey behind them. It`s St. Mirren, so Balogun, Goldson and Bassey at the back, Lundstram ahead of them. Pick your remaining midfielder at your leisure. Or play Sakala next to Roofe and Diallo on the right. Make them suffer early on, hit them on the counter later. Stop this one-striker trash against packed defences, stop this terrible kick-about at the back and DM.

Part of SG`s heritage. People call for Gio`s head when SG would have changed exactly nothing. We`d still play a non-scoring chap on the left side (who does have excellent stats for a left winger, but not a attacker we need) and some makeshift attacking guy on the left instead of Hagi. With Sakala, we instantly got a threat on that right flank, something we missed all game. And in many games before. Whoever came up with this one-striker trash must have had a fine squad and the correct players in mind. We have no such players for that system, and like it or not, Morelos scores from 1 in 4 or more chances, which simply hasn`t been good enough for years either. You would have hoped that Makaay and Co. would have seen that, and any of them cool tacticians before. A blind man on a dead horse can see our lack of attacking firepower ... due to inadequate tactics.

Again, there is no suggestion whatsoever that SG would have used different players or tactics had he still been in office. He never did that before in his three seasons and the only player of note who came in was Ramsey. He`s IMHO the instant pick for a No 10, even though I still prefer 2 wingers and two strikers. Dunno how some people look "lost" when others stand at the sidelines doing or looking exactly the same though. Maybe imagination tricks people here? More generally ... We have been treated to Tavernier, Kent and Morelos so long now, that we can`t see past them - and that day will eventually come anyway. One of the heritages of the SG era. We should have long gone beyond that though, not least when it became clear that the 4-2-3-1 is not suited to the Scottish game. And one that simply didn`t work if Kent or Morelos were off form or injured. And instead of seeing the obvious, "we" lay into anyone who are not "a Kent" or "a Morelos", when in fact we should have adapted the squad and system to the opposition at hand. How many laughed at Warburton`s "making Plan A better", yet ever since we tried exactly that under SG and now Gio, and de facto fell short in 4 of 5 seasons. That is some inverted learning curve. It ain`t that difficult to see that what works in Europe is not necessarily also working in Scotland - and as we see time and again, it isn`t working. People may still have fond memories of 55, yet, the reasons why we achieved that were manyfold, and 2 of the main ones were us being able to see out low-scoring games without conceeding silly/late goals (which we did the seasons before and now) as well as the Scum falling apart after the turn of the year, with TLB being made a scapegoat and we laughed heartily and his demise. This season, we still suffer from the same ills, the Scum have not only spent enough to see a CL return next season, but also got more than a helping hand from compliant referees (to the amount of 10 to 15 points). While McGregor alone has cost us half a dozen points this year alone. Given how the Scum play these days and our current form, it is hard to see is clawing back 7 points (given their goal difference), and while the fat lady hasn`t sung yet, she`s already waiting behind the curtain. Maybe we can save a bit of face with a cup win or another EL scalp, but I`ll toast that when it happens.

Having done stewarding in the early 2000s in Germany, I am utterly amazed how bottles, tennis balls, streamers and whatnot make their way into Scottish football grounds.

Under SG we never played THIS Celtic team. Under SG we played the very same style and very same players, with e.g. Aribo being shifted from here to there, as to this date, we seemingly can`t find hs best position (which should be No. 10, but Ramsey is better). Beale, Culshaw or not, we hardly changed the system or the players, no matter how they performed or not. Under SG we never had such blunders from McGregor or godlson, yet toiled along to break down the brickwall brigade and only seemed to play well enough against team which either didn`t know us and our players, or who played open as well. It is the players - the very same who played most of his years under SG who surrendered at the Scumhut and as far as I know, a manager still can`t whip his players for not performing. Yes, on the field of play we failed massively, another post-turn of the year collapse. And if you want to hold anything against Gio and his men, it is that he promised to swap and change tactics and hardly ever did so. IMHO it is more telling that the support backs certain players to the hilt and lays into others like there is no tomorrow, while failing to see the glaring tactical errors week in and week out. But that`s nothing new.

Anyone who`d think SG would have done anything different to Gio is IMHO kidding himself. SG has played the same style and players throughout his reign. It were the players who threw the games away big time, namely McGregor and Goldson ... while our striking drought was never addressed. Ramsey is and was a spark, yet we removed him and let Aribo and Kent do nothing. The day we introduce another striker and a couple of decent wingers (which we have) will be the day we start challenging again. We have talked about the rot for ages, blamed players and coaches alike, yet the most glaring thing is never changed.

When you play -for ages now, the same missfiring people in the front line, hoping that they have a fine day ... matchday after matchday, month after month, year after year, you get what you deserve. Kent an empty jersey, Aribo too, no real service to Roofe and some spark when Sakala arrived. Calamitous defending at their goals ... I for one won`t be missing Goldson, given his passing today. We throw away minutes of game time with these pointless passes at the back, usually ending up defending, as we can`t handle a good pressing game. Would have been good to top our 150th year with a title, as it stands we hand the Scum a direct entry into the CL group phase and money to pay their paedophile charges, if any. Can`t say we aren`t generous ...

Right, but Roofe didn`t get any balls to hold up ...

Roofe is getting hardly any service and truth be told, what would Morelos have done differently? Bite Starfelt`s backside? We play ourselves into trouble time and again at the back with utterly unnecessary passes and woeful clearances. The Scum showed us from the 35th min onwards how to play it quickly over the top et al. Far too slow from the back. That being said, we rode our luck with their counter attacks, but with both goals the balls fell perfectly for their players. As assumed Aribo not getting involved as he could be, we need more direct people on that flank. Yet, I can envisage that we will get Kamara and Arfield on first ...

So that`s McGregor Tavernier - Goldson - Balogun - Bassey Lundstram - Jack Aribo - Ramsey - Kent Roofe Subs - McLaughlin - Helander, Barisic, Davis, Kamara, Sands, Arfield, Diallo, Sakala Let`s just hope that Aribo is switched on for this game and if he isn`t, we replace him as early as possible.

As written above, I´d play him on the right, Kent on the left and Roofe through the middle. Roofe isn`t the bustling Morelos-type of chap, but hand him a chance and he will put them away more clinically than all others that we have. It is all about supply.

Referee - William Collum 😱 Assistants - Graeme Stewart and David Roome Fourth Official - Nick Walsh Missing - Nnamdi Ofoborh (heart),Ianis Hagi (knee), Alfredo Morelos (muscle) Live on - Sky Sports Football and Rangers TV

Kamara, Lowry, Arfield, Aribo ... well, maybe. But I would rather see us getting intae them from early on and calm our nerves straight away. Likewise, Roofe needs supply up top and that will sure come from the three behind him, whom he also can set up well enough.

Okay ... now I need the rest from the C & P - marathon.

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