Darthter

4 minutes ago, buster. said:

Morelos needs his arse booted. If he thinks being in the Columbia squad allows him to act the irresponsible Jeremy Hunt and risk our qualification, someone should have a 'quiet word'. I'd e tempted to start Lafferty in his place on Sunday.

On todays game, I'd say that  bit harsh on Morelos....never a sending off.   Overall, he does need to keep the heid more as it WILL get him into trouble & it makes him more of a target for the opposition.

Flanagans was also never a red card....but I'm not seeing any comments against him???

Well done to the players...great display of resiliency!!!

1 minute ago, Craigy1881 said:

why can he not keep his head.  idiot

Looked like he didn't realise the ref booked him for kicking ball away, then looked when he did hear the whistle, he said something the ref didn't like - 2nd yellow in space of a min.

Freddo just been red carded....

Has something changed in this situation???

Was the original objection to the Fans zone not from the local residents association???  or is that now an irrelevant detail??

We only see this as a "conspiracy" coz it's our games - any other team & we wouldn't be caring.

It is, what it is....nothing we can do about it.  All games have to be played one way or another.  No excuses.

wouldn't be surprised if Freddo starts on the bench for a wee rest.

3 hours ago, compo said:

Going on the assumption that the opposition gets stronger as we progress then this will be our biggest game under the new regime,  but with patient play and keeping it tight at the back we can win this tie and give us a chance to play in the league stage draw some attractive opposition and make lots of money to invest in the team .

Regardless of the opposition, these 2 games are massively important.  Therefore putting an extra level of pressure onto the players - We're face the EL group stages....something I don't think anyone honestly expected.

Looking at how teams over the past couple of years have handled high-pressure games, fans would be forgiven for being sceptical....however to date the teams performances have been excellent, and indications are that the extra pressure of these matches will not phase this current team.

2 hours ago, ian1964 said:

Probably more to do with costs, no need for groundsmen or maintenance?

The plastic pitches still need maintenance...just not to the same level.

There is also the fact that they can use it for training, therefore no requirement for a separate training facility - which I'd imagine will greatly reduce club costs.

38 minutes ago, forlanssister said:

Ok, what are the current % shareholdings of the "concert party" members and what will their % shareholdings change to post August 31st ?

FS.....you should have gathered by now that Bill is right & everyone else is wrong.  He is right because he says so, and that should be enough justification to close the matter.  No further expansion or evidence is required.

I think the pursuit of Lafferty should be cooled (if it's even still active).

Seeing the squad listed, we badly need some reliable cover in central defense - a couple of defensive injuries could see us REALLY struggling.

Jordan Jones could be a good shout though in the attacking area....has always given us problems & there was an attempt to purchase a few years ago.

Had a disagreement with manager about tactics, followed by massive dressing room bust up.  He then sacked himself & went home to watch Fight Club....

4 minutes ago, MacK1950 said:

Strange one considering we still need cover at full back in emergency.

Not really, when you consider that Halliday has been preferred at LB, rather than play Hodson.

Get him out on loan, and give him the chance to show the manager he's worth keeping.

Middleton has shown himself in a very positive light when he's played recently....If his mental state is of the standard required to play for a top team, he'll relish the chance of regular 1st team games & should improve his game.

54 minutes ago, pete said:

FFS don't say bust a gut. He probably will.

If he get someone else to lace his boots, then problem averted  

3 minutes ago, Craigy1881 said:

Did you watch his interview?  one thing about Gerrard is that if he has any constructive feedback to give he is not shy is mentioning it.  he was happy with last night.

Maybe didn't put my thinking across to well.

Overall, he'll be delighted, but I think behind the scenes he'd of wanted us to have more control over the game - as we had in the 1st leg & in other games.  Our level of possession was notably lower than previous, which ultimately puts more pressure on the defense & forces us to work harder.

I think the whole team will take positives from the defensive approach that they had to take & there were some VERY, VERY sweet bits of one-touch passing play.

The bottom line is that we walked away with a result that suited us, another clean sheet & still undefeated.

I don't think SG will be happy with that performance last night....compared to recent games we didn't control the match as much & weren't pushing forward as much.  This almost invited Maribor onto us.

However, the flip side of that being that the defensive performance was excellent.  They did manage a couple of close chances, but for the most part we coped very well - especially Shagger!!!

bring on the next round, which I'm pretty confident of negotiating well.

49 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Bids made for our players are always going to provoke discussion though

...and still comes under the (broad) banner of transfer rumours & activity...

10 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Come on now, 46 of Morelos's 73 goals were scored in Finland, and the Euro goals all in qualifiers, most against very poor opposition. The Finnish league is roughly equal to the Irish league according to UEFA's coefficient. 

 

Dembele's goals were in Scotland and the English Championship and 3 of the European goals were against Man City and PSG.

 

Lets not get sidetracked here comparing our players with theirs but this comparison doesn't really help us value our player, Morelos.

Where the goals were scored & against what teams are ultimately irrelevant.  I would guess that managers become initially interested potential players based on stats that are put in front of them - and Morelos' stats are generally better than either of the Ceptic pair.

As Gaffer says, we should be talking up the quality & value of our players....

13 minutes ago, Stevie - 4lads Blog said:

Rangers won’t entertain Morelos offers unless they are talking £10m 

I would suggest "at least" is missing from you comment

7 minutes ago, buster. said:

Regards Morelos and Dembele

 

Tally up the games missed through injury.

 

One hardly misses games and the other has hamstrings that are like strings on a cheap guitar.

So, Freddo is:

 - Young

 - Prolific goal scorer (scores every 1.8 games on avg)

 - has 3yrs left on contract

 - Excellent work rate

 - Physical presence

 - Rarely injured

......and some folk are happy to sell him for £3.5m????  ??

8 minutes ago, buster. said:

I'd agree with much of that although whether he gets to a "very high level" will depend on his mentality and will to continually improve his game.

 

To come from Columbia and do what he has in Finland and Scotland at his age shows a willingness to adapt and improve based on natural ability. We need him to focus and continue down the path of improvement and yes, he could develop into a top level forward. 

 

However, bottom line.........it's about how the mgmt team see it, do they trust him, would they prefer someone else.

It's fair to say his indiscipline may have already cost us two points.

Rubbish....we were all over Aberdeen in that game, until they got lucky in the dying minutes.

Not only can Freddo score goals, but we works hard the entire game & is a solid physical presence.  He's also not greedy, and willing to hold the ball to allow others into the game/play.

I enjoy it....It's not radio, I can see who's passing to who, and who put in a "crunching" tackle etc.  The commentary goes hand-in-hand with the video coverage, and it's good to hear stories about past players etc while watching the match.

Should we make it into the EL group stage, and Freddo puts in some good performances (2 Euro goals so far this season) .....Why wouldn't he be valued at £10/15/20m???  It's always claimed that the stupid valuations for Dumbelle were ultimately down to his Euro performances, so why should that not apply to Freddo.

Compare Freddo's stats to Ceptics new bhoy Odd-one Eddiebard or even Dumbelle

...................................................Played...Goals....Euro Goals.....Value(£)

Morelos.......................................137.........73................6.................?????

Dumb-bell...................................155.........69................8...............£400Bn (  )

Odd-One.......................................52.........16................3...................£9m

Looking at the above comparison....why should we be excited about accepting a bit of £3.5m?????

1 minute ago, buster. said:

What is without doubt, is that we need several players in due to the lack of decent cover in certain positions.

 

I tend to think that SG&Co have been pressing for this to happen asp given the August timetable but for various reasons we've needed to/been forced to/decided to hold fire............That said, the board delivered quickly on what seemed an opportunistic buy (Barisic).

 

Something we need to keep in mind is the number of players already brought in & the associated costs - We can't simply expect to exit SG's 1st window with a FULL squad of players at the level we would like.  It may be a case of we have a strong 1st 11, with some good backup, some adequate.  Lets see where that takes us.