Frankie

Looks like I'll be doing the St Johnstone one then... Think S_A is in Spain so hopefully he'll get his finger oot when he gets back!

Come on folks, get yer name in!

TB: Everything you say above is good news and I hope it becomes the norm which would only help the club in any future representations they have to make to UEFA. I will also say that our government should be doing much more. If these were holidaymakers being routinely assaulted and disrespected, your damn sure the Foreign Office would be active.

I guess Utd won't be loaning any of our players again any time soon...

Unsure what to make of Bain's actions of late... Sure he seems to have improved his game but is that because he genuinely wants to or because his highly paid job is under threat if a new owner comes in. I'd much prefer actions over words but I also won't ignore the improvement we have seen.

Quite a lot of new posters recently and while we welcome new people with open arms and enjoy opposing opinion via debate, we do have a few small but important rules for everyone to follow. As such if everyone can read the following post, then we won't have any complaints when I start handing out yellow cards... :box: http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/vb/announcement.php?f=3

Of course which is why I said the infrastructure needs to be better and stronger when necessary. If the team are not performing then the manager is ultimately responsible. As such, pressure should be brought to bear by the Board when this happens. If that means pressurising Smith to change his staff then so be it. Why should they stand back and watch the team get worse? Much better to be proactive and, if the manager can't accept such criticism, then that would also tell us a lot. Like you say, none of this will happen, but it is way beyond time people need to become answerable at our club for poor performance. For too long we limp along doing the bare minimum because staff aren't challenged to do better.

I'd certainly say we need new coaches... What has been clear since Walter returned is that we lack too many virtues of the game to provide consistent quality. Our set-pieces are poor, our passing below average, our shooting dreadful and our tactics inflexible. From that perspective, while the manager is also to blame, if we can't remove him easily enough then replacing his assistants is perhaps more readily achievable in the short-term.

Well said TB...

That's my take on matters as well. I'm foaming at the performances we've seen lately but I fail to see how a change of manager would provide immediate improvement from players who seem unable to motivation themselves consistently enough. We're also still top of the league (with an away win at Tannadice) so there's no way the club Board would sack Smith.

Boycotts are unlikely to happen unfortunately as Utd will just sell the tickets on their website and loyal bears will snap them up.

If you manage to precipitate change at SPL level to ensure this doesn't happen again then you've been successful enough for me mate. A great example of what supporters can achieve to change the game to benefit the biggest investors in it.

I don't disagree which is why I was similarly critical of Eck at the time and Walter now. Every manager will go through a period of struggling with tactics, their players and achieving success. All the more reason why the infrastructure of the club has to support them during such difficult times. Ours doesn't which concerns me more than the odd bad year under whatever manager you care to name.

Sarcasm will get you nowhere here so I'll politely request you stop being so obtuse. No-one, least of all me, said he deserved credit for finishing third. He deserved nothing but criticism and he paid for it with his job. As he should have and, as every manager, IMO, should when we don't win the league. However, looking back, IMO, there were aspects of his time as manager which were agreeable. And, since then, he's sued those positive aspects to build himself a decent career away from the club after what must have been a huge confidence blow to be sacked from Rangers.

Looking back on Eck's tenure it possibly was a bit better than many gave him credit for at the time but when he did eventually leave it was definitely the best decision for all. To be fair to him since then he's impressed firstly at Scotland then by taking Brum out of the Championship and (looking like) keeping them in the EPL. No mean feat so perhaps he's learned from his mistakes at Rangers?

Nope this pub stramash seems to be an isolated incident thankfully...

It is a decent reply but, like I said in the other thread, actions (like the Nithsdale's) speak louder than words... Time for the club to do more to stop the exploitation of our fans.

Good luck with that mate... Utd's actions are anti-social at the very least and if they can't handle a bit of valid criticism in that regard without resorting to cheap shots then they don't deserve the financial consistency of our fans' attendance at their disgraceful wee ground. I was pleased to see Bain retort to the above but actions speak louder than words.

Fair points by the guy and the ongoing form of the team (or lack of it) coupled with the obvious problems we do have should concern every fan - Walter Smith supporter or not.

I'd imagine every club has their fair share of such minor incidents but our reputation and our national media means undue attention is placed upon us unfortunately.

Our manager's cautious nature is definitely an important contributory factor as our defensive tactics of the 2007/08 season are still clearly affecting player decision-making now. Add in his erosion of genuine wide/creative players then we're extremely one dimensional and rather easy to play against. Walter Smith is very much a percentage gambler and, domestically at least, that has served him well wherever he's managed (even at Everton one could argue). As such, it is difficult to criticise all that much when, no matter how bad we're playing, we're still a game in hand off top spot. The problem is that Celtic are likely to strengthen further, are starting to string some good results together and we have a run of difficult matches culminating in an away game at Celtic Park to begin 2010. I'm extremely worried we don't seem to be anticipating the above. I'm extremely worried we seem unable to motivate ourselves for any game - never mind the tough ones. I'm extremely worried that we're struggling to react or are flexible enough to improve. I don't see many easily workable answers unfortunately.

I don't disagree - the way we stand off teams is really quite strange at times - particularly when we allow opposition players the time and space to cross balls from dangerous areas. However, the reason we suffer from allowing space is two-fold: 1. David Weir - I love the auld guy and think he's been an excellent addition over the piece. Without his experience and positioning I doubt the likes of Hutton, Papac, Cuellar, Bougherra and Wilson would have developed in the same way. However, his lack of pace means we have to compensate to avoid balls in behind so we sit very deep leaving gaps between defence and midfield for good teams and intelligent players to exploit. 2. Our creative edge (or lack of it) - Because we often lack genuine width and/or forwards who can take in the ball, shield it and bring midfielders into the match; no player is confident enough to make decisions outright. Everything is reactive instead of anticipative so players are hardly ever in the right position. The amount of times our midfield are caught out of position because they're unsure whether to sit deep or support the attack is obvious in many games. Meanwhile, using central players in wider roles (such as Fleck, Davis, Lafferty and Naismith) means they come inside too often and leave gaps in wide areas. If unqualified fans like me can see this, then real students of the game in managers and players will be rubbing their hands whenever they play us. Apply the general malaise of the club where we appear unfit, slow and physically weak; then that explains our inconsistency. When we do score a couple of goals, we do look quicker, stronger and play better football. Yet, we can't appear to retain that throughout the same game, never mind take it into the next one. Even after wins over Celtic and good results elsewhere, we seem to be back at square one for the next match. I believe we have a distinct mental problem at the club.

M�©nage � trois

http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2765554/Rangers-fans-in-riot-hell-police-were-lashing-out-at-anyone.html

Hi Curly. Miss you on Corrie but those new detergent adverts are great!