DMAA

47 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Walter Smith was a huge loss for the modern football club.

His success in his second spell was an incredible achievement. 

11 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

Of course, age, experience and recent performances might be factored into how we respond to what certain players say.  

It's the fact he was being praised by a lot of people for his honesty though, when we all know others would get crucified for the exact same words. It's irrational. 

2 hours ago, CammyF said:

Funnily enough, Tav and Goldson have said similar previously and got crucified for it........

Exactly what I said elsewhere. They would be absolutely crucified if they had said this. Just shows some players can't do/say anything right at the moment and others can do no wrong. 

4 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

We have to start somewhere.  

In order of weakest position to strongest, regardless of whether they happen to have been here for longer than a year.

5 hours ago, CammyF said:

As for their goal, I watched it back and if Dio had stayed with his man rather than trying to win the ball, it doesn't lead to a goal - think manager said similar. 

He was in between the two men from the start, that was the problem. He was second to the ball because of the indecision over whether to go for the ball or accept the 2 on 1. A ridiculous position for him to be left in. If he had stuck with his man, the other Benfica player would have likely gone himself and it would still have been a 2 on 1. If we are apportioning blame for this goal, I’d blame the manager first, then Dessers, then Diomande. Yilmaz was arguably slow spotting the danger too. 

43 minutes ago, Bill said:

In terms of football management and coaching, McCoist is a nobody who should generally be ignored.

27 minutes ago, compo said:

Ever wondered why ally’s a pundit and not a coach he’s in the Carragher Neville mold knows fuck all about being a successful manager or coach .

Doesn’t really matter. He was right on this. We allowed ourselves to be done by one boot up the field. 

Manager has to take some responsibility for last night’s goal. 1 punt up the field and we are left 2 on 1. There was no reason whatsoever to leave ourselves so exposed on 60 minutes when we were on top. McCoist was in shock and rightly so. 

5 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Thought Tav, Goldson and Souttar were all very good but once again Lundstram really led the team in everything we did.

I was surprised he didn’t get much of a mention last night because I thought he was excellent and consistent throughout the game. 

It’s just a sickener to lose due to a baffling tactic at corners. We had several warning shots and still didn’t act. McCoist was incandescent on comms. 
 

Lack of quality in the forward positions hurt us too of course but that is to be expected when none of our front 4 would start if not for injuries. 
 

I was crying out for subs from about 55 minutes and it felt like we waited till the game was gone before we made the changes. Roofe and Cantwell added quality. Raskin turned out to be a big upgrade over Dio. 
 

A sore one because we did a lot right but it feels like we brought the defeat on ourselves over the two legs. Having said that, an incorrect penalty decision hurt us too. 
 

At least our full focus is on domestic matters now. 

I got a bad feeling when I saw the 11 today. Injuries have really taken their toll in the forward areas. It should have been enough but a major error and clinical finish changed the whole game early on. And Motherwell really did turn up today. The game was a reminder that Clement is largely working with the same players Beale had too. 

On 19/02/2024 at 17:07, Rousseau said:

I do wonder where we'd be if we had acted sooner. 

The mistake was giving him the job in the first place. I was delighted but surprised when we did sack him. I thought it was to the board’s credit that they called it after 6 wins and 2 losses in the league (which was quicker than half the people who voted in this poll).

Big relief. Showed character to get that winner. Cortes and especially Silva made a real difference. Silva needs to start from now on and I think Cortes will be a starter soon too. 

16 hours ago, onevision said:

If our 2 centre backs leave a gap between them as wide as the khyber pass as they have done on at least 2 occasions this season already then i'm sure Miovsky will punish us.

I was very impressed with his goal at the weekend. Drove straight for goal and showed great technique. 

18 hours ago, Frankie said:

 

“I’m a striker. I live for the goals.”

Feeling very optimistic at the moment. 
- Lawrence and Jack back in the team and getting game time. I’ve changed my mind on Jack getting a new contract because I owed him my ticket today via a family member. And Lawrence can be a key player when we are struggling to break teams down. Even today I felt he added creativity. 
- Fabio Silva, I’ll say it again, I believe will be very good for us over the next few months. A very good player. 
- Cantwell has now scored 4 in 6. Phil is getting him back to his best. 
- Great to get Cortes straight in. I’m positive he will score plenty goals once he settles. Great to strengthen that position (hopefully). 
- Diomande is still to come! Hopefully a very good player.

Meanwhile Celtic are going in the opposite direction. That's 7 points more than us they have now dropped since Phil came in. 

1 hour ago, Tannochsidebear said:

While Dessers has had a good game or two recently

A goal every 99 minutes in the league since Clement joined mid October. 

3 hours ago, Frankie said:

Today is vital in terms of the title race. Silva, Diomande and Cortes in so far which I'm enthusiastic about as it stands. But the striker question remains a fair one. Dessers has found some form but can we genuinely rely on him alone? Surely, we need another but at what cost?

 

Do we opt for a loan or a permanent deal? Does Dessers need to go before we do that, leaving the same one striker gamble? Do we risk selling someone like Ridvan to finance any transfer?

 

It really is a huge question and I'd have to concede I'll be disappointed if we don't strengthen the position.

Fabio Silva is a striker so can rotate with Dessers. We could certainly do with another for depth, but I would say the wide forward positions need it even more. As things stand, Matondo and Scott Wright will play often in the second half of the season. 

32 minutes ago, lenny3k said:

On Jefte, I'm beginning to think this will only happen if Barisic or Ridvan leave. If neither leave, possibly sign him at the end of the season when Barisic leaves

Possibly. It’s also possible we bring him in to give him an easy 6 months of settling in, ready to compete for a place next season when Barisic moves on. Rather than taking him in with weeks to go until qualifiers. 

17 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Not sure if there's much in the Dessers links back to Italian football but whilst the manager might be tempted at the right price, it would leave us well short in terms of our Euro squad. The league is our priority but long term injuries means we can't afford to move on too many.

 

General thinking seems to be we can make three changes to Euro squad. Balogun > Davies, Diomande > Cifu and Silva > Lammers could be the sum of those; still leaving us without Ridvan (if he stays), Cortes (if he signs) and any possible Dessers replacement left out of squad.

 

It may well be the manager thinks he can get back Davies and Sima for at least the 2nd leg of our last 16 tie in March but likes of Ridvan, Jefte, Cortes and any new striker(s) could miss out on the EL squad. Again, league remains priority but next 36 hours will see our ambitions clarified.

That’s a good point. 3 changes is very prohibitive. I think it is incredibly unlikely we sell and replace Dessers at this point in the window, even less likely when it weakens our Euro squad. 

2 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

isn't it 2 this season?

Yes, 13 last. 

2 hours ago, the gunslinger said:

Shankland just scores loads of goals. 20 this season so far. 

 

47 in 77 for hearts. 

 

I am ok if we don't go for him but like Boyd i do think he could deliver titles. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-pen goals per 90 is a far better barometer, and he's in line with Dessers in the league this season (who barely even got started with us until Clement came in). Shankland has scored 15 penalties over this season and last and that makes a huge difference to his numbers. 
 

He's clearly hit a great run of form recently but there is literally no indication at all we are interested. The Silva signing pretty much sealed it for me because he will not have been cheap, his wages will be high and there was probably a fee too, and I never believed we would bring in two expensive strikers in one window. 

3 hours ago, yuddie said:

We've been looking at Cuypers apparently.

That was fan generated nonsense by the way.  

2 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

Strange conflation.

 

I don't want Shankland (certainly not at the prices mentioned) and don't think Silva in a No.9 either.  

It isn’t really. All through January there’s been a massive clamour for Shankland among Rangers fans and every single one of them don’t seem to think Silva is a striker. Clement has signed him to play and I think it’s very unlikely he’ll play him out of position. Maybe left forward if needed, but he confirmed himself he signed him to play CF.