BlackSocksRedTops

After the previous 2 games it was good to see more desire and grit. Not perfect but far better than the "shit" we've endured this week.

Goldson dropped. Dio back in. 

God knows why but I have a good feeling about today. Hopefully a week full of self reflection, Dujons presser on a loop and Naismiths snidey comments tacked on a wall will help us re-energise. If we don't concede within 50 seconds, we're gonna win. 

Tipping it down in Glasgow at the moment. Rain forecast for most of the afternoon so hopefully the pitch won't cut up too much (on top of yesterday's game). 

10 hours ago, WorthingBear91 said:

Borna is to passive invites pressure encourages opponents and has one weapon in his arsenal which he rarely uses, I would rather a youth player who has hardly played at least they would show some youthful desire and passion, if he does play I hope he makes me eat my words but borna hardly ever surprises with his performances nowadays, he checked out of rangers a long time ago.

Agree with all of that. Who would come in (youth player). Is it Robbie Fraser? 

Even if it means bringing in our serial Croation shitbag, we need Sterling in the middle or wide right. He gives us energy. 

I've got a feeling we might punt Butland to help finance any new signings. He's our biggest asset by a country mile. 

6 hours ago, lenny3k said:

One thing that was glaring last night, more than normal, is that we didn't have a midfielder on the pitch who was brave enough to take the ball and with his first touch, face the opposition goal. Everytime that the ball was played to Lundstrum last night, his first touch was towards his own goal. While that doesn't sound like its a massive issue, when we are building from the back, its fundamental to play quick. To play quickly, the first touch has to be a positive touch, otherwise the opposition get an extra few seconds to press and close down space. Compound that with the fact that Lundstrum is the deepest midifielder, you're stuffed because teams find it easy to set up against us. Dio was hugely missed last night (and on Sunday)as, while he sometimes can be erratic, he is always positive with that first touch which opens things up and has teams scrambling more.

 

The way to kind of mitigate this is to stretch teams with wingers, but last night we started with Sima and Silva, neither of which are out and out wingers with width. Matondo came on but always looks to come inside so, again, no width. Add to that, two right footers on the left side means the balance of our squad is some of the worst I have ever seen it.

 

There were many things wrong last night, but that was the most glaring things to me

I had the "pleasure" of listening to the game whilst driving and it was evident how bad we were playing by the amount of times Lundstram, Goldson and Souttar were mentioned. 

Apologies for adding a stat to compound our current state of mind-fuckery. If you compare Clements first 25 league games to Beales, the latter comes out on top with 61 points to Clements 60 points. Considering Beale was up against a Celtic team that didn't drop many points under Ange, it somewhat dispels the idea that Clement has worked "miracles". Don't get me wrong, I like Clement but starting Silva, Lawrence and Goldson tonight baffles me. 

5 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Lawrence and Dowell resemble mid-Championship players.  Not good enough.  

 

I still blame Beale for our problems up front.  

They don't resemble them. That's exactly what they are. 

Pretty gobsmacked to be honest. Had to endure the entire game via BBC Scotland as I was driving for 2 hours. Do you think there is more to this than bad form and few injuries? Soon as I heard Silva was playing I knew we wouldn't win. He offers nothing in a key area for us.

1 minute ago, Whosthedado said:

That team won't get anything at Parkhead so no, we have blown it

I get the fact that our recent record is rubbish but it's a one off game against a mediocre Celtic team. We are not playing Real Madrid for goodness sake. I think its definitely winnable. 

Before the game yesterday the general consensus was that we had to win at Parkhead to lift the title. This is obviously based on us (and them) winning all the other games. In that regard, not much has changed after yesterday as we still probably need to win at their place to be champions. The only thing that has changed is that we don't have the safety net of a draw at Parkhead. That could be a good thing IMO. Once again, I'm basing this on us winning all the other fixtures but the idea of going into a big game with the notion of a draw in our heads fills me with dread. 

3 minutes ago, RANGERRAB said:

Surely any decent manager must see our failings & try to do something about it.

I genuinely despair when we get a corner & see Tavernier going over to take it. If on the right it out swings too far away from the goal or doesnt clear the first or second defender 

we need a manager who’s going to change things which need changed

Why resort back to the dreaded outswingers after getting some joy last week from dangerous inswingers?

6 minutes ago, CammyF said:

We look incapable of beating anyone right now. 

Agreed but what do we do? We simply have to move on quickly. Go and beat Dundee and then take it from there. That leaves us 1 point behind going into the last 5 games. Anything can then happen.

Oh well. Before todays game, according to most observers we had to go to the pig sty and beat them. After today we still have to go and beat them. Getting maximum points in the other games might be the bigger ask IMO. 

Lammars got a double today in a 3-2 away win for Utrecht. 

While I get the disappointment over todays score (and performance), I simply don't subscribe to the notion that 3 points are a given for Celtic in the next OF game. Granted our record there is shocking but we will be going there with a stronger team than today and will have something massive to play for and hold onto. The pressure will be all on them. And of course this is all based on the premise that both teams will win all of the other games. Looking at how poor both teams were today, I simply cannot see that happening. 

Think the criticism of Diamonde from some is a bit OTT. He wasn't the worst player by a long shot and feel that he at least was trying to be positive (balls around the corner, turning on the ball). He improved in the 2nd half but genuinely he was let down by the players around him today IMO. 

1 minute ago, ian1964 said:

 

As much as Silva likes to be dramatic when under any sort of contact, why was this penalty up for debate? He clearly kicks him on the knee. 

1 minute ago, ian1964 said:

 

Like every goal, I was waiting for this to be disallowed by VAR.

3 minutes ago, alexscottislegend said:

How? There is no damage done. We could have lost the league today.

Agreed. Win the game in hand and its in our hands. I think we could go to their dump and not lose. They were bang average today (as were we)

For what it's worth, I thought Dessers was decent considering the poor service he was given. He wasn't wasteful and pressed for the whole game. Unlucky not to get a goal.

10 minutes ago, yuddie said:

These players are probably going to have to go to parkhead and get a result.

By then Sima will have more minutes in his legs. (Silva is not working IMO.) Ridvan may also be back. And we will have more space. Celtic barely got across the half way line in the 2nd half. 

Either way Tav and Goldson need a good shake. They were poor today. 

As much as a victory would have been amazing, a draw is a good result as it now remains in our hands. A draw considering we were lucklustre in the first half and were 2-0 down is even more significant. 

Dowell for Diamonde???