Rousseau

Of course, having excellent passers helps -- a lot -- but it's not the main reason Man City get in behind. Guardiola's positional play is all about ball retention, and having one more player spare, to overload areas in order to isolate the wingers 1-on-1. How many times do you see Man City go through simple passing triangles on one side, sucking teams over, then switching the play -- not always with one raking pass -- to isolate Stirling or play him in behind. It's not always deft passes. I don't think Stirling is the greatest of players, but his pace is unbelievable. If you combine that with Guardiola's tactics, of setting him up on 1-on-1's -- which he does at every club, and it doesn't always need blistering pace -- it's a potent combination. And, when they get in behind on the near side (not switching play), it's the third-man runs from the 8s that are crucial to getting in-behind. Of course, here a good passer would help, but I don't believe it's necessary if the players are well-drilled. I know you're not saying this per se, but, I don't believe that the 4-3-3 is some mysterious formation that only the best players in the world can play. Moreover, that we can't play it because teams are just defending against us. Teams defend against Man City. It's all about the right execution. You could put Stirling in for Candeias and it would still be sh*te.

Excellent post! Yes, in a 4-3-3, one of the 8s should be occupying that half-space -- watch Man City or any Guardiola side; that space is occupied. In our 4-2-3-1, I think one of the 6s should be occupying it. Jack drops to be a lone 6, with Kamara sliding into that channel. Arfield could, but I think he should be in the other half-space threatening runs into the box, to get on the end of a cross -- it would also pull the defense inside leaving space for the other winger. But, yes, in neither of those formations are those half-spaces occupied. I do hope that SG is learning and developing this side. There have been improvements.

The CL has been cracking this season. The Juventus-Atletico game was a nice tonic to our game.

Rangers and Aberdeen will play each other for the sixth time this season when they meet in their Scottish Cup quarter-final replay on Tuesday. However, it will be only the second time they have played at Ibrox, with Aberdeen winning 1-0 in their Scottish Premiership meeting there in December. Rangers manager Steven Gerrard said: "Any game against Aberdeen is always huge. The message from me is forget the semi-final. We have a big, tough challenge smacking us in the face and we need to go and perform at a level that is capable of getting us the right result. "I think it would be very naive of the players to think about Hampden. We have a job to do at Ibrox first and foremost." Aberdeen have won two of their encounters against Rangers this season, but manager Derek McInnes does not think those other fixtures will have a bearing on Tuesday's game. He said: "We won there the year before last as well. We went down there after the split and won a game that helped us get second spot again and we've had some decent results against Rangers this season, but I don't think it counts for much what's happened previously. "The perception for maybe being seen to be more equipped or more resilient to deal with games in Glasgow from the press there may be something in that, but we've always felt we can take on teams home and away. I think each game's different and what's happened in the past I don't think has much bearing on tomorrow night." Team news Rangers will be without Gareth McAuley as he continues to recover from a hamstring problem but Borna Barisic is available having had an illness. Aberdeen's top scorer Sam Cosgrove, who has 18 goals for the season, is suspended. Gary Mackay-Steven and Niall McGinn will be assessed ahead of the game. https://www.skysports.com/football/rangers-vs-aberdeen/406406

I think we need some Man City style shithousery. Any sniff of a counter and we should be getting stuck-in with niggly fouls. To be fair, none of our players have any real experience of a 'winners mentality' -- outwith McGregor, which I have relished; the saves, the fouls, the time wasting etc. How do you buy that? Can you buy that?

Oh dear. How sad. Nevermind.

One main difference I see is last season I couldn't believe we came away with 3 points (Aberdeen, Partick etc.), whereas this season I can't believe we don't come away with 3 points (Aberdeen, Hibs x2, Motherwell etc.).

Aye, I'd be be ok with that. I just hate that I need to keep looking at their scores.

I'm still furious. We've never been as good as we are now -- since the journey -- and I firmly believe if we were more clinical and stopped these stupid periods of complacency, then we'd be top. The number of stupid points this team has dropped is criminal. We are in need of more attacking options. Once again, when it finally looks like we've cut a decent gap between ourselves and the rest of the pack, we let them back in.

When he signs I expect the CO to come back to that tackle.

Oof! I never thought of that, but that makes us look even worse!

Shinnie is an arsehole. We could use more arseholes in our team. Although, I think McGregor and Morelos are carrying the team just fine in that regard.

Clearly our deal is a joke. However, I'm not so sure more money would help. Look at the value countries such as Austria and Sweden -- even Switzerland -- extract from their deal: They have a decent brand of football, and their sides regularly get to the group stages of the Europa League. Rapid Vienna weren't great, but they got there [group stages], approached the game in a decent way and they're currently mid-table in their season. LASK are a much better team; Austria Vienna are a much better side. And that's not to mention RB Salzburg. We [Scottish football] are nowhere near that level. It's going to take a cultural change before we see real change.

Steven Gerrard looks to take Rangers a step closer to their first major silverware since 2011 as they go to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup last eight. The former Liverpool midfielder, who won the English FA Cup twice with the Reds, has seen his side win three on the trot, scoring 14 goals and conceding none. He cannot wait for the tie at Pittodrie on Sunday, particularly the hostile environment. "The players are in a good place, there has been a lot of positivity in our play in recent weeks," said Gerrard. "But we're aware that this cup tie is a big challenge for us. It's a huge game for us, a competition we want to do really well in, so we can't wait for the game to start. "You don't want to be remembered as just a good player, you want to be remembered as a winner. "That's always the challenge, but for me it's a wonderful game to look forward to as a player, to go to Pittodrie in that hostile environment, against a good Aberdeen team, that's got to be exciting for a player." Aberdeen trail Rangers by one place but eight points in the Scottish Premiership, and manager Derek McInnes feels it will take a big performance to knock Gerrard's side out. "Rangers are a good side but on the day we'll pick an 11 that we feel can do the job. It'll take a big performance but we are obviously capable of winning the game." Team news Scott Arfield and Andy Halliday are both doubts for Rangers going into Sunday's game, having not quite recovered from injury. Max Lowe, James Wilson and Gary Mackay-Steven are in with a chance for Aberdeen. Greg Halford, signed as a free transfer this week, is not match fit but could feature for the hosts. https://www.skysports.com/football/aberdeen-vs-rangers/preview/406305

I think I got the 'lies, damn lies and statitistics' line trundled out every time I posted stats. Stats are important. They can highlight the skillset of the player, what he actually does on the pitch, and how that compares to others in the league. It's one thing to watch him and think, 'Oh--he's doing well', but breaking it down like that provides a more objective overview; what exactly is it he's doing well, what's he not doing so well? Most of the statisticians identified Kamara -- along with Docherty, actually -- a couple of years ago because he had such high numbers in certain metrics. It seems like Kamara came out of nowhere, but he came to my attention last season because of these stats. For me, the stats were a trigger to watch out for him. Hopefully we keep looking out for these gems through their stats.

Celtic Fans: "Shocked", "Gutted", "Disgusted". Me:

As good as Kent has been, he does really need to improve his final product. If he does that, there's some player there.

Oh, yes, he's never going to be the first-choice striker, but I meant as a replacement, coming off the bench etc. He's been left out altogether quite often.

Agreed (the second part). We like a moan...

I feel Lafferty is so unlucky. He gets into so many good positions, and gets some terrific chances, but it always seems like does what he needs to do to score -- get a good connection, hit the target etc. -- but the 'keeper will save it, or there will be a deflection somewhere. And, because he's not getting that end product, he's been left out.

Sure, but I'm unconvinced it was as prominent, or the primary cause of fewer goals scored.

Sure, but it was unlikely that we'd have scored another 4; it doesn't work like that, no matter how we approach it. We caught them tactically, and dominated, and were clinical. They changed it second half, too, which negated that numerical superiority we enjoyed in the first half. Edit: I had a look at their results -- I did not care for it ? -- and they've done what we've done, several times: Running away with it in the first half, then not continued.