DMAA

There’s certainly a potential upside but the risk is big so I’m nervous. With the right appointment we could get a real bounce and a freshness to our tactics, but that is a best case scenario.

This is Ross Wilson’s biggest test yet.

You would certainly think not. I just worry that Gerrard wouldn’t go without him.

It looks done

Would Gerrard join Villa without Beale in the middle of a season though? Surely it would be too big a gamble for him to just go and make do with who they already have, with whom he has no relationship. Implementing his style of play would be very hard without his current team. If it was the summer, he would have an opportunity to get a new team together but he doesn't seem to have that. That's my worry.

I think Aston Villa is exactly the level of club he will be looking for to be honest. At this stage of the season you would hope he wouldn't though. I very much doubt he would go anywhere without taking at least Beale with him. That would be fine in the summer but disastrous for us just now. The optics wouldn't be great either. The first few months of the season has been really poor and there's a serious challenge from Celtic. To jump now wouldn't look good for him at all. On the other hand, unless he is fully committed beyond the summer I would be worried of the impact it could have on the team. Teams do not perform well when they know the manager is leaving at the end of the season (97-98 one example), it would be a hammer blow psychologically.

Yes, I would hope he has a shortlist of up and coming managers who I'm not even aware of that is realistic but also ambitious. That's his job. I can't even speculate on who it could be because I barely follow football outside of Scotland anymore.

Kent for the goal. It isn’t easy to come back from injury and make an impact but that’s an assist and a goal now. Long shots haven’t been a strength of his, with a couple of notable exceptions, so if he can chip in with one like that every now and again it would be brilliant.

@Bluedell, what’s your take?

Tonight is another failing I’m afraid. A team who are 6th in their league, 13 points adrift of a team Celtic out out after only 14 games, we needed to win really and we’re up against it to progress now. Some positives to take from it maybe but Gerrard needs to sort us out, we still still look like we did in the second half of 19/20.

We’ve been much more positive since the subs.

Yet another stupid, inexplicable goal conceded this season.

Looking at the stats, Lundstram looked very similar to Arfield so I was expecting the same. I don’t watch the EPL so I hadn’t seen him at Sheffield United but I wonder if he has maybe lost a bit of his mobility in the past 2 years and had to move further back the pitch as a result. Yes, Bacuna was brought in to play a similar role, I’m sure Gerrard alluded to it. I’m not going to write him off yet because he does have something, although his start has been inauspicious.

Fantastic weekend. Here’s hoping that could be a turning point in the season. Celtic had won 5 in a row and nobody expected them to drop points without scoring at home to 3rd bottom Livingston. A 6-1 win goes some way to restoring a our fear factor. Delighted to see Arfield getting a run out. We have badly needed a midfielder who can break the lines and contribute in attacking moves. Sure, he is winding down but he is still a player who can offer something different.

Hopefully for Sakala’s next hat trick, Hakainde Hichilema makes it a congratulations video, wearing a Rangers top.

You can’t not give it to the hat trick hero. Especially when we have been lamenting wastefulness in front of goal all season. A big confidence boost for him and hopefully he can kick on from here.

I wasn’t aware that Celtic’s chance creation had been trending down. I feel better after their draw today and after reading through this thread.

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When I mentioned that we are "staring disaster in the face" if things don't change, this is the disaster I was referring to. Unless things change drastically, we are looking at a very low points total this season and Celtic are trending towards a very high points total. People are still underestimating them, perhaps not realising they made some good signings very late in the window. And yes people like to mock these kind of tables but this time last year they were the ones mocking them and very little changed from October/November to May. Celtic have a much easier fixture list ahead too so it really is going to be challenge to find form.

It can be harder to put in a 6/10 performance when the rest of the team are 4/5s than to put in a 8/10 performance when the rest of the team are at that level too. So I think “least bad” votes do have value.

Whilst I agree, like I said a few weeks ago I can't help but think we just need to mix it up with a new formation to bring fresh energy to this team. It's gotten so stale. It's been months now and we aren't even getting better, that's three home draws from our last four league games. And Hibs had an early red card in the one we won by the skin of our teeth after going behind. That could easily have been four winless home league games in a row.

I agree. As much as I don't want to "drop" Tavernier, Patterson would offer a real threat with his runs and he would provide some fresh impetus. His runs mix things up and cause a bit of chaos. We really badly lack players who will take guys on just now, it's often the best and easiest way to break teams down. Far too often it's side to side passing and there have been occasions recently where it seems we have broken away on a wing, only to slow down, turn around and pass backwards and before you know it the ball is back to Goldson! It's infuriating.

I am worried. Our form has been poor all season. Celtic are in full flow and have looked a better team than us for a while now. Gerrard needs to sort this out. We have much more difficult fixtures ahead.

I should have got that one to be fair.

I don’t get the reference