Smith leaves his spine at home again...

[craig 5,199]

Isn't that attempting to control how a player plays?

 

He cant control is a player plays well or not is what I am saying, not what position he plays

[Union City Blue 0]

I also agree with those who say that Lafferty shouldn't have started. The guy has been off-form.

 

Problem was, with Beasley and Miller out and Novo being preferred in the wide-left position it's difficult to see what else he could really have done up front. Fleck up front would have been a massive gamble because he's not been making any kind of impact when he's been playing.

 

Personally I would have put Novo up front and possibly (& reluctantly) Fleck wide-left but I can understand why he wanted to keep the shape with Novo at left-mid.

 

It's a shame that Rothen turned out to be a waste of space because we got a guy there who could have solved this problem but for some reason it's not worked out - which may or may not be Smith's fault.

[Gazza_8 233]

He cant control is a player plays well or not is what I am saying, not what position he plays

 

But Walter Smiths instructions to players can have a huge impact on how well or how poorly they play.

[craig 5,199]

But Walter Smiths instructions to players can have a huge impact on how well or how poorly they play.

 

Dont disagree. So do you think that he sent them out there to play shite in the same formation that they had been doing so well in for the whole month of December ?

[Gazza_8 233]

Dont disagree. So do you think that he sent them out there to play shite in the same formation that they had been doing so well in for the whole month of December ?

 

I think he sent them out with a totally different game plan than he has done recently.

[craig 5,199]

I think he sent them out with a totally different game plan than he has done recently.

 

OK, fair enough. So you dont think that the fact all of his more mobile, pacy personnel being out had anything to do with that ?

 

The games we had been winning throughout December were much to do with the speed at which we broke when we were in possession and the fluid movement we had due to mobile, quick players.

 

They were all denied us yesterday.

 

I dont think using a different game plan is necessarily wrong given the players coming in were different types to those who were out.

[Gazza_8 233]

OK, fair enough. So you dont think that the fact all of his more mobile, pacy personnel being out had anything to do with that ?

 

Of course, that played a huge part. I still believe WS sent that team out to defend for 90 minutes. He had no intention of going for the win yesterday. Like I said, shite performance, great result.

[Super_Ally 0]

Of course, that played a huge part. I still believe WS sent that team out to defend for 90 minutes. He had no intention of going for the win yesterday. Like I said, shite performance, great result.

 

Or he sent them out exactly the same but a depleted line up and a complete lack of pace and a highly motivated Celtic side prevented us from playing that way. Might be less palatable, but equally as likely to be true.

[gisabeer 409]

OK, fair enough. So you dont think that the fact all of his more mobile, pacy personnel being out had anything to do with that ?

 

The games we had been winning throughout December were much to do with the speed at which we broke when we were in possession and the fluid movement we had due to mobile, quick players.

 

They were all denied us yesterday.

 

I dont think using a different game plan is necessarily wrong given the players coming in were different types to those who were out.

 

Craig im sorry for going of on a tangent from my original post. I got mixed up with a couple of posts and things i was going to write about.

 

On sunday we never had a game plan outside our own 18 yard box. go back and watch the performances through december and compare them to the debacle on sunday. In the games that we won we chased the game and took it to the opposition. We never gave them an inch. we ran at them when we had the ball and hunted them down like dogs when we didnt. we were rampant. on sunday we stood around like fucking manequins and let the mhanks do whatever they pleased. people can make all the excuses about key players being missed and i do acknowledge that they were a big loss but their absence is no excuse for those imvolved to stop playing. Why couldnt steve davis chase down the celtic defence the way he did against dundee united for example? does he need kenny miller to hold his hand? no he doesnt. and nor do the rest of them.

 

i have no idea what smiths gameplan was about but ill hazzard a guess and say that this was another of his dont lose at all costs games. weve seen it all before from our cautious manager, especially when the bigger games come up. rather that take the game to the opposition he tries to counter their tactics and snuff their game out. The bit i really dont understand is why we had to give every celtic player three yards to make a pass or cross. No harrying or digging at their heels. just lots of time and space. and it wasnt just one player. Everyone of them stood back and ball watched. Why were we not getting in amoungst them? Why were we not fighting tooth and nail for every ball, or any ball for that matter?

 

That game for me was every bit humiliating as Kuanus knocking us out of the CL. and i find that very hard to stomach. I left peedo park absolutely fucking seething at our performance and i forked out 108 quid for the privelige.

 

Most telling statement of the day? after half an hour my seven year old son turned to me and said after 30 minutes : Dad if were as bad in the second half as we are now, can we go home early? (he really did say that!)

 

but thats the thing with kids though, they tend to tell the truth and tell you whats in front of them. No bullshit or papering over the cracks. So we adults shouldnt accept the medocrity that smith and the players have been serving up for the better part of this seaon so far. And we should let them know when they do.

[calscot 0]

I think he sent them out with a totally different game plan than he has done recently.

 

As it was a totally different type of game he'd be an idiot if he didn't have a different game plan. Derby matches and OF matches in particular are different and that's why the form book goes out the window.

 

It's difficult for anyone to explain why a team plays well and why it doesn't - the fact is it's not darts, golf or snooker, you have the opposition actively stopping you playing the way you want to and pretty aggressively at that.

 

Everyone has good days and bad days and sometimes it just doesn't seem to be working for you - ask Man U and Liverpool even against lower league opposition, never mind your arch nemesis.

 

I think it's obvious that Walter sent his players on with a plan which they somehow couldn't follow. Once they cross the white line there isn't that much he can do. The difference in the second half shows that his one chance to talk them into doing it his way worked.

 

We WERE lucky but that's football - as with any sport you can't always play your best every week and that counts about 10 times in a grudge match as big as an OF game. Celtic adapted to the temperament of that game better than us but we fought hard enough to not let that count.

 

You can't win them all and in the end it's the team who have the most points who are crowned champions regardless of how those points were won, when they were won and against whom.

 

Judging a manager on one game after a fantastic run, where he still gains a point and the gap doesn't close is pretty non-constructive and has little to merit it. If you enjoy being angry then it probably works for you but don't expect everyone to join in.

 

Playing crap without losing to your nearest rivals is considered the signature of champions and this result could be pivotal to where the trophy goes.