weebluedevil

I thought Madden had a good game - as refs go.

Knew today would be a walk in the park ?

Gerrard always surprises me with his selection. I don’t expect many changes apart from injury replacements - so I think The back 4 will remain, The midfield will be Kamari, Jack and Davis, with Arfield, Ojo and Morelos up front. I hope though, as others have said, Arfield is given a rest ahead of Thursday - an opportunity for Stewart perhaps? and Defoe is given a start - which he very much deserves. I’d love to trial Katic and Edmundson as the starting CHs but there’s a fat chance of that happening.

Davis for me, thought he was excellent and his goal line clearance just epitomized him yesterday. But I almost picked Defoe!! Jack, Morelos, McGregor, Aribo all worthy as well.

I think Tav looks a bit nervous now and would question if perhaps his lack of overall form is affecting his penalty taking, which is all about confidence. Is it time to give Alfie the opportunity (or indeed Defoe when he’s playing) to take the spot kicks? I’d vote yes.

Agree with your point regarding Ojo. He may Not have been hitting the heights, in terms of his overall performance, last night but we’ve been bemoaning that lack quality in the final third, someone that can step up and produce that one bit of magic that can win a game. So for that goal alone he’s worth his weight in gold.

McGregor was MOTM for me. But I could easily have picked Morelos, Jack, Arfield or Barisic. In fairness it was a superb collective effort where there were no fails, albeit some missed passes, missed chances. We don’t win a game like that without everyone firing throughout the entire 93 minutes. The desire and hunger were there and gave their best. On another night that could have been a 3 or 4-0 win. Proud of the lads last night and a great tribute to Fernando.

Champions League but no titles, ok might settle for that.?

You’ve got me in stitches

Yes, fabric of the team right there ?

But not too early for writing him off ? think that was the point of the OP

Davis and Flano only two with pass marks, but Flano takes it for me as I just felt Davis’s final delivery was over cooked on several occasions.

Once the dust settles, we realize it’s just 3 points and not the end of the world. Our last title was won during a season which saw us win 2 out of 7 old firms. We learn from this, we go again and who says we won’t be sitting above them when we meet again in December. Have we just been found out by a better team at last? Nah. We gifted it to them today. Bad timing for an off game, but that wasn’t us out there today. Fair play to them - their kick off was their signal of intent and they carried out their plan impeccably. But that was them at their best. They didn’t trouble us - we made a mistake and paid. The game was done by the second goal. Nobody got pass marks today but that doesn’t mean they’re not good enough. But they do need to prove that was a one-off - and NO more dropped points before December 29th. WATP

Poor, but in hindsight that was probably coming

No Keith Jackson prediction? Mark McDougall ?

I don’t think many can disagree - we have to be realistic but I’m going to be optimistic and believe this is a watershed moment in our history.

I think we now have a starting 11 that is close to picking itself in games like these. McGregor Tav Goldson Katic Flanagan Davis Jack Aribo Ojo Jones Morelos Flanagan should get the nod due to the head knock that Barisic took on Thursday night, but I’d be inclined to start Flano on Sunday anyway for his non-nonsense defending. Davis has been outstanding this season and that means Kamara will have to make way. Morelos starts - he’s on form and needs to end his duck against them and also show that his new found maturity can stand up against strong provocation.

Agree we need to cut him some slack - as SG Sid he played through the pain barrier and was decent second half. From early indications I thought Ojo performed better or the left, but we have Jones who’s come in and hit the ground running on that side so I hope Ojo can make a real success operating on the right. But as you also highlighted I think we need another option there.

Spot on there. Too many were meh about DC leaving, which I could not understand. It’s not a coincidence that Tav’s form has dipped since he left imo. We do need to find the right replacement - Docherty perhaps, but I don’t think Stewart fits that role - and doesn’t have the pace from what I’ve seen anyway. Hastie, if he pushes on could do that, mainly a right winger I believe - albeit left footed. Hopefully that’s a position we can look at in the January window.

Home end stealth mode it is then. ?

No harder a group than last season imo - I think we have a great chance. The travel schedule for the team and fans is best we could have hoped for, so I’m very happy about that first and foremost. Secondly, I was praying for Young Boys - as Bern is about 90 minute drive for me (max), so just need to get myself a ticket now somehow.

Well done Ryan Jack, thoroughly deserved. Just hope he’s not warming the bench and would be surprised if that’s the case.

Remember to buy it ahead of time if it's not part of your subscription. Caught me out last week.

Gerrard doesn’t tend to let anything slip out like this and keeps his cards close to his chest. But will also be as honest as he can. Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something in his latest admission /fear of losing a key player before Monday’s transfer deadline. Why else would he say it? However, unless we’re getting silly money (£25-30m , rather than £15-20m) for Morelos, it makes no sense to fork out c£10m on a replacement. The board won’t risk the downside (title aspirations and CL riches) for such a small profit. If they can cash £15m after replacing Morelos (with proven enough quality to minimize the risk) if he goes then they may well do. And that would be a big mistake that I’d find difficult to understand unless we are in trouble financially, which, from what we believe, is not the case. The new on-fire Morelos (I say that with fingers crossed) is required for us to have a chance of 55.

Healthy debate. Both Goldson and Katic can and will improve but neither of them should be guaranteed 1st picks every week. We have two other capable CBs waiting in the wings and will get their chances so this is the ideal and will spur both on, and why Gerrard has spent heavy on Helander. Goldson has been really solid, can sometimes just hesitate too much with ball at feet - and I’m not sure if it’s lack of confidence in those situations or complacency or over confidence if you like. Katic, more aggressive and quick to act but still not as comfortable covering from a positional sense if the full back is caught out of position. Both provide equal goal threat at the other end. I don’t think we need to rank players that play alongside each other in different positions. I’m happy with both those guys starting most weeks until Helander and Edmundson displace either on merit. We’ve progressed massively defensively each of the last 7 seasons but still much improvement still to be made - and include the FBs in that. Final third is I’m sure still giving SG more headaches when trying to counter low block teams.