Frankie

Edu again then - let's hope the lad gets his finger out....

Wait until you get a bunker like Bluedell's - then you can really have some fun.

Something tells me said person may be regretting their moment of madness...

Thank you bmck. How is your toothbrush moustache coming along?

Of course he's not a danger to children - just an idiot who obviously gets his sense of humour from minimal brains. What powers do the Bobby's have in such circumstances mate? Caution for Breach?

Well, I feel he did OK before Xmas in spells and if it wasn't for his eagerness in attack we'd have minimal or no creativity on that side. However, defensively he is a liability and has gone backwards at an alarming rate recently. I'd contend that every one of our players is playing for their future between now and the end of the season.

Apparently a Facebook page was set-up using the disgusting description you mentioned. It has been reported to the police by decent citizens.

IMO, before Xmas you could have argued that McGregor, Whittaker, Weir, McCulloch, Naismith and Miller were having decent seasons but now McGregor is probably the one one worthy of real praise. A few others have the potential to do well - Jelavic, Weiss, Diouf and Ness to name some. However, just because others have dropped their standards doesn't mean they are now rubbish. They're just off-form and need to find it again quickly.

Again, I don't mind anyone discussing the quality (or otherwise) of this forum and I certainly welcome any feedback/criticism but I think this can be done without calling people idiots or cowards. In fact, after posting a polite warning last week to everyone about such behaviour I'm extremely disappointed people feel they can continue to lower the tone. An Old Firm defeat is always going to heighten tension and people may say things they don't mean as a result. However, it is now Tuesday and there is no excuse for slagging off fellow bears and other members. Grow up.

You talk about others talking gibberish and then post that. Davis is not rubbish. Yes, he's possibly going through one of the most impotent spells of his career but he has shown that he's a very useful midfielder when on form; both here, in the EPL and in Europe. There is something wrong with him at the moment and he certainly lacks self-belief I think as well as the hard work one requires during such difficult periods of form.

Dialogue box removed...

That's your opinion and I'd prefer it was kept to yourself thanks.

I'm just testing a mod... Basically it makes it easier to select the text you want from individual posts rather than pressing the whole quote button then having to delete parts of the post you want. The dialogue box is annoying though so I'm trying to see if that can be removed as it slows down what is supposed to be an ease of use feature...

No-one is a bloody idiot on here thanks... We're all bears and some people need to remember that when they talk about the club. Honestly can't see why people can't have different opinions without resorting to name-calling.

Aye, he was again probably our most creative player - more so when he was pushed forward after half-time. Only slight issue he brings is that he often slows the game down too much but that is perhaps more to do with a lack of support to play the ball quicker than anything else.

Normally I'd enjoy a bit of vocalism but given the players didn't respond to the last Old Firm game, what makes them think we can believe them this time? This was why Sunday was such an important match - psychology wise we're on a downer, while Celtic are flying. I'm looking forward to what Smith has to say for himself after having as few days to think. Again though, there's no better platform to show our intentions than in Lisbon on Thursday evening.

Appreciate the rallying call but actions, louder, words etc...

Yep, a lack of pace is really evident throughout our side. We obviously have a few individuals who are athletic/mobile enough but generally we struggle to up the speed of our attacks. Even Diouf who is a fine player slows the game down and only Weiss (or the lesser spotted Wylde) can really be considered fast. That makes us easy to defend against and when we consider our slow defence, it leaves susceptible to the counters we seen Celtic make on Sunday. Like carmyle says, Smith built his team that way so it's up to him to solve the problem.

David Weir is not the sole problem here. His lack of pace certainly hinders our tactical outlook but generally he's not had a that bad a season - certainly no worse than any other player who has under-performed. However, I do agree that Thursday may be a good time to experiment with Bartley at centre-half to give us a more streamlined team. The problem is you're trading massive experience and knowledge for inexperience and rashness. Moreover, if Bartley doesn't work, what then? Back to Weir or do we move Papac inside - another player who has been less than convincing in the centre?

In some ways, planning ahead and being open is possibly correct but Smith should have learned from 1998. That season players lost motivation and it's the same again now.

Bartley's early booking actually affected our play I think. He was meant to hold the midfield and allow Edu/Davis to support the attack. But, because he was booked so early, he couldn't do this alone which meant we struggled to get men forward. Add in our poor form generally, it was a recipe for disaster.

I really don't see how the assistant to a failed attempt to retain the title can be given the job. Fair enough, he's been part of the success we have had and assistants don't always have as big a say as we'd maybe think in terms of changing bad spells but one of the biggest issues for me with the team is motivation. If McCoist can't motivate these players now, then he never will. The problem is, if he doesn't get the job who do we go for? Experience? Inexperience? A Rangers man? A foreigner? We all know we'll be limited by budget - firstly in who we can afford and possibly more importantly, what budget we can use to attract people. Just to compound matters do we really trust our AWOL leader to make the correct decision? And will we, as fans, have the patience to allow any new guy to do things his way? As ever there are more questions than answers.

Davis has been the biggest disappointment for me this season - along with Bougherra. They are both key players and, on form, there are no better players in their position in the country. However, this season I could count on one hand the good games they have had. Strangely enough Bougherra looked like he was coming back to some form in recent weeks but on Sunday simply could not cope with Samaras. His childish clapping of the official read like a plea to send me off - or at least book me so I can be suspended and absolve myself or more responsibility. It's not only his passport that has went missing this year! As for Davis, well he's all about hard work, good reading of the game, incisive passing and provision of a goal threat. Sure he's still provided some assists this term but generally he looks a shadow of the player that we know he is. You're lucky if he gets in the opposition box more than once a game, his set-pieces/crossing are embarrassing and he also abdicates responsibility by reverting to right back (or passing to Davie Weir) whenever he can. Quite simply he doesn't look like he wants to be here. Obviously, every player has had their faults this season and we should win and lose as a team but the under-performance of these two players is why we've not done the business lately.

I often find your criticism of Smith a bit OTT mate, you are completely correct when it comes to seeing more of our younger players. While the likes of Whittaker, Bougherra, Weir, Papac, Davis and Edu have toiled; talent which has looked pretty good when they've been called upon such as McMillan, Cole, Wylde, Fleck and Hutton have remained on the sidelines. Obviously it may not be as simple as playing them all the time but they should feature more often. Our tactical use of substitutions does seem difficult to explain sometimes.

Oh, I'm not giving up mate and I'll be cheering the team on as much as the next man come Sunday. For all they are supposed to be a great team, if we'd taken the chances we did have in the last two games (and played so badly) we still could easily have had several goals. A good result on Thursday would certainly help the morale and if I were Smith I'd let the team go out and enjoy/express themselves. We need to score so there's no point in sitting back. St Johnstone will also provide a good test on Sunday but a good win there will hopefully up everyone's confidence. We just need to take each game as it comes, hope we can improve and with a bit of luck perhaps Celtic will have a bad patch as the season closes.