Rousseau

I thought Murphy was anonymous today, but he scored. That must mean he should be dropped.

Aye, but Cummings has got that funny tattoo, and he's a really nice guy...

To be honest, I wasn't saying that; I was trying to capture the general mood. I like to see how players do first. I'd rather not play Miller, but like I posted above, I understand why he's playing in that position; there's no one else that naturally fits.

I would rather change set-up than accommodate Miller, but I understand why he's been put in there: Its a more natural swap with Windass; Cummings just doesn't fit there. We'd need to change set-up with Cummings -- to be honest, Murty is either not capable of changing that much (which is fair enough, as he's not experienced), or the pressure is dictating he goes with what he knows.

*Miller starts* Me: Why the hell is Miller in there? He's past it! *Miller Scores* Me: King Kenny!! What a player, what a professional!

Did they actually mention the club, or just say they rejected a significant bid? I just don't believe it. I think we fail, too often, to appreciate how certain players perform in certain systems. Caulker may have done well against Celtic the other night, but how do Dundee line up against them? Deep, tight block, on their 18-yard line. That's easy enough for strong defenders -- Alves would be a world-beater in that set-up. We just don't play that way. I have the same reservations about Kipre, but I'd take a punt if he's 21. He looked a bomb-scare against us the times I've watched him -- he can header.

I'm intrigued to see how we line up. For me, a front two doesn't work with regards to the opposition we face and the type of game-plan they employ, unless it's a 3-5-2, or 4-diamond-2; I think I prefer the latter, which would allow McCrorie to come in the midfield. I've said before I don't like Cummings in the #10 role. The 3-4-1-2 (or 3-4-2-1, depending on how the front three are oriented) is quite prominent just now, and I think that would suit us, but I cant see Murty trying anything like that; he doesn't have the experience to tinker much.

I can't believe we're so keen to drop a player -- or even get rid of altogether -- that has contributed to 32% of our goals? We're not so blessed with goals that we can just drop a player over the least wee thing. He's injured this weekend, and I think we'll miss him.

They allowed two of their best players to leave in January -- one of which was way better than Caulker; Caulker makes the third most key errors in the League; he's not in-form at all.

I really doubt that value. Why would they not sell at that?! Also, have you seen his performances? He makes mistakes constantly, and the stats back that up. We dodged a bullet there.

Ray Wilkins, the former England midfielder, has died at the age of 61. Wilkins, whose clubs included Chelsea, Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers and Rangers in a 24-year-playing career that spanned three decades, fell after suffering a cardiac arrest last month and had been in a critical condition in St George’s Hospital, in Tooting, south-west London. A winner of 84 England caps, he played at two World Cup finals. He became the fourth player sent off for England when he was dismissed during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico in a game against Morocco. Wilkins – known in the game by his childhood nickname “Butch” - played for 12 clubs and was on the coaching staff of several more, but is commonly associated with Chelsea. He started his career there and spent six years with the Blues, while also having numerous stints as assistant manager. On one occasion, he led the side on a caretaker basis. Wilkins also managed QPR, Fulham and Jordan. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/04/ray-wilkins-former-england-midfielder-dies-aged-61

Seeing the launch of the Gersnet Podcast like...

I went for 2021, but when I think about it: at our best this year we looked to be well above Aberdeen and 5-10 points off Them; that's not bad. If we can get some consistency at that level, with a good appointment, and continue our recruitment drive, we should be comfortably 2nd next season. Not sure about that jump to pumping them, though. It could take another year, perhaps more...

I'm extremely pessimistic at the moment, but that is coloured by recent results. A month ago I was optimistic as we were doing well. When you take an objective view, I think we're getting there. I thought it would take a good 5 years after promotion, and since then we've progressed, but not enough; I had hoped to really give them a go this year (which was my thinking when we got promoted), but we're not there yet. Warburton got us 3rd. Pedro improved us, and then it went to the dogs. Murty improved us a tad again, but we're still inconsistent. To be honest, I think Mark Allen has done the most to improve us; his recruitment was excellent, ellevating the quality of the squad, and allowing Murty to improve us that little bit. We've gone from being nowhere near Aberdeen, to getting close, to damn well expecting to be above them by a good 5-10 points -- that latter has not materialised but I would argue that's where this squad should be. I think we're behind a bit now, from where I thought we'd be. There has been progress, but it's not enough, and it's been in drips and drabs; too many steps forward then two steps back. We really need a decent appointment.

I think the Madrid fans applauded Messi at one point a few years ago. Sometimes players do things that you just have to sit back and admire. Like Bill says, if you can't applaud a fine goal, then football has lost its soul.

You bring up an interesting point with the possession-based sides; I think it requires a different style of 'keeper. Our 'keepers are not expected to be making saves every two minutes, but wonder saves a couple of times a match; it's difficult to be doing nothing for most of the game, then come up with a great save to shut out the opposition. Traditionally, our best 'keepers have done that. So, I'm not sure producing good performances at Berwick, where I presume he needs to make lots of saves, necessarily translates to playing for us, where he'd be doing nothing most of the game but being switched-on to make that one great save. I always like to see youngsters make the step up.

It's McCrorie. Promising young lad, but it's very difficult to break through as a GK.

Genius.

incidentally, I've got the Preston-Derby game on and Alex Neil has Preston playing some very nice, attacking stuff. They are a bit open defensively, though.

To be fair, I saw the logic: moving on from the prehistoric Pulis, onto a better brand of football, while maintaining that PL stability. Pardew was not a bad option, but he just wasn't able to get results. It wasn't a guarantee. Did he even get a transfer window? I note some are still touting Pardew as a good move for us. I don't see it.

Dodging 'Pardew to Rangers' links like...

I'm certain he got a bit of the ball...