Nicky Law

[andy steel 0]

Could the admin maybe provide us with a maximum word post size we can all stick to, lest big posts piss off posters?

[calscot 0]

No i didn't.

 

Sorry, I thought it was you, I got mixed up with a different post.

 

I'd prefer to use somebody like Mourinho as an example. the players who have played with and for him have all spoken of the same kind of scenario. He invests his time in working with the team, he's a born winner and doesn't accept failure. They weren't physically intimidated by him or scared of him but would walk over broken glass for him.

 

Fair enough I was arguing a different point.

 

You know the point I'm making but choose to both misquote me.

 

I think you've done me a disservice there. I don't deliberately misquote anyone. I don't cheat, I don't see what that gains. I do, however, make mistakes and I'm happy to admit it and apologise when that happens.

[stewarty 1,876]

Seems to me there's a mix of three key reasons why we're churning out such mediocrity.

 

1) Ally and his management team have significant question marks against them in terms of their ability to coach and develop players.

2) The players seem to be coasting as they've known for some time that the league has been won. Some of our early season performances were actually quite decent.

3) Our players are just not as good as those we are used to.

 

For all his perceived/actual flaws, I don't see Ally leaving until he's at least had a crack at the top league and under "normal" conditions. However, these question marks will not magic themselves away any time soon.

 

That said, when I compare the squad this season, with last, I see a far fitter and more organised side that has performed to a much more consistent level. We've scored 3/4 goals per game and not been beaten in the league.

 

Clearly the main focus of pre-season was to improve the fitness of the squad, which was severely lacking last year. Next season's evolution will be intriguing.

[calscot 0]

You'd have to hope that Ally had alarm bells ringing after the cup game and that the players will be getting a figurative doze of iced water in the face. It's more difficult to regain the urgency and commitment in the league when it's all but won, no matter how much motivating you attempt to do with both carrot and stick.

 

While the likes of Morinho is a genius motivator, I doubt there's a time when his team have been 23 points ahead and unbeaten, with a couple of wins away from the championship. So while there is no doubt he'd do better than Ally in that respect, you have to wonder how much even from him would penetrate the players psyche in this situation.

 

So while that's no comfort for the fans, the cup is still a completely different prospect and going out to Albion Rovers would have been a disaster with the reward of a home semi-final against DU on offer and about the best chance of winning the cup we could expect in our current stage of our path back to the top. Our fans would never have forgiven it and Ally would take the brunt with a huge blot on his copy book and a significant build up in the tide against his tenure.

 

The players would be forgotten about and so for them it wouldn't be the same impact. So I expect the riot act to have been read and hopefully a large reaction in the upcoming games. You would think the players would have more ambition and there shouldn't be a manager in the world that could prevent them or be needed to motivate them from playing their way into the semi against a bottom league side. There is certainly something wrong with their attitude and while a better man-manager might be able to fix that, fixing shouldn't really be necessary.

[Super Cooper 0]

The is is that while people like yourselves have a basic understanding of the concept of debate eg "change minds and convert", you seem to see it as something incredibly repulsive. The concept of perhaps being wrong or even mistaken and god forbid having someone change your mind to something different seems totally abhorrent to you.

 

Not at all, my mind has been changed twice already today in different threads. Thanks for your concern though.

[Frankie 8,151]

By all accounts the other week, the manager spent around 30mins tearing strips of players after the 3-3 Stenhousemuir game.

 

Since then, despite retaining the same group of players, the performances have not improved.

 

Ergo, he has to make changes to the team and drop people. If not, he just looks weak.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

You'd have to hope that Ally had alarm bells ringing after the cup game and that the players will be getting a figurative doze of iced water in the face. It's more difficult to regain the urgency and commitment in the league when it's all but won, no matter how much motivating you attempt to do with both carrot and stick.

 

While the likes of Morinho is a genius motivator, I doubt there's a time when his team have been 23 points ahead and unbeaten, with a couple of wins away from the championship. So while there is no doubt he'd do better than Ally in that respect, you have to wonder how much even from him would penetrate the players psyche in this situation.

 

So while that's no comfort for the fans, the cup is still a completely different prospect and going out to Albion Rovers would have been a disaster with the reward of a home semi-final against DU on offer and about the best chance of winning the cup we could expect in our current stage of our path back to the top. Our fans would never have forgiven it and Ally would take the brunt with a huge blot on his copy book and a significant build up in the tide against his tenure.

 

The players would be forgotten about and so for them it wouldn't be the same impact. So I expect the riot act to have been read and hopefully a large reaction in the upcoming games. You would think the players would have more ambition and there shouldn't be a manager in the world that could prevent them or be needed to motivate them from playing their way into the semi against a bottom league side. There is certainly something wrong with their attitude and while a better man-manager might be able to fix that, fixing shouldn't really be necessary.

He's called Mourinho.

 

Also, what you don't seem capable of grasping is we have been playing dire football for years. We have been getting dreadful results in the cup for years.

 

The only thing new about yesterday is the excuses.

[Super Cooper 0]

Actually that's not strictly true. McCoist played professional football for 21 years, starting in 1979 and retiring in 2001. Smith was his manager for seven of those years and was assistant to Souness for a further five years. The other 11 years McCoist had a variety of managers plus his managers at international level.

He also worked with Smith at Scotland and again with us as an assistant manager. I agree Smith has probably been the most influential person in his professional life but it's inaccurate to overplay that. McCoist had been a professional for seven years before he encountered Smith as a coach, those early ones in particular must have been formative in many ways.

 

One thing Smith was always able to manage at Rangers was a strong team spirit. We rarely lost without it looking like it hurt, I'm not sure you can say that about this current Rangers side.

 

In what way is it not strictly true? You go on to prove me correct! I said "most of his professional career has been spent working with Walter". Which cannot be argued with. Also McCoist first encountered Walter after only 4 years as a professional for the Scotland Under 21's, not 7.

 

Allys professional career is 31/32 years long. 79-01 as a player and 04-14 as a coach and manager.

 

First worked together in 83 for Scotland Under 21s when Ally was picked by Walter to play against Belgium.

 

12 years working alongside him at Rangers from 86 - 98.

 

3 years together at Scotland as Walters assistant.

 

4 years under Walter as asst at Rangers.

 

That makes 20 years of his 31/32 in the game spent working alongside Walter Smith, that is not overplaying it, it's stating a fact. Most of his career in the game has been spent working with Walter Smith. Which is all i said.

[amms 0]

In what way is it not strictly true? You go on to prove me correct! I said "most of his professional career has been spent working with Walter". Which cannot be argued with. Also McCoist first encountered Walter after only 4 years as a professional for the Scotland Under 21's, not 7.

 

Allys professional career is 31/32 years long. 79-01 as a player and 04-14 as a coach and manager.

 

First worked together in 83 for Scotland Under 21s when Ally was picked by Walter to play against Belgium.

 

12 years working alongside him at Rangers from 86 - 98.

 

3 years together at Scotland as Walters assistant.

 

4 years under Walter as asst at Rangers.

 

That makes 20 years of his 31/32 in the game spent working alongside Walter Smith, that is not overplaying it, it's stating a fact. Most of his career in the game has been spent working with Walter Smith. Which is all i said.

 

Good point about the under 21 role. Your original post got me thinking and so when I checked I was surprised how much time McCoist had spent away from Smith, that was the point I was trying to make. You're quite right that he's been with him more than any other individual and he must have had a big influence on him.

In McCoist's autobiography, from memory, he cites John Brogan as having the biggest influence on his playing career.

 

In total I reckon McCoist was managed by Alex Stuart and Alex Rennie at St Johnstone, Alan Durban at Sunderland, John Grieg, Jock Wallace, Graeme Souness, Walter Smith with us and Bobby Williamson at Kilmarnock. For Scotland he played under Andy Roxburgh and Craig Brown however I think it was Alex Ferguson, who was interim manager after the death of Jock Stein until after the 86 World Cup, who gave him his first cap.

 

I imagine all of them had/have influenced McCoist in different ways but I agree that Smith will probably have been the biggest influence.

[ranger_syntax 3,776]

That makes 20 years of his 31/32 in the game spent working alongside Walter Smith, that is not overplaying it, it's stating a fact. Most of his career in the game has been spent working with Walter Smith. Which is all i said.

 

It's not really all that you said though. You inferred that because McCoist has spent most of his career working with Smith that this is all he knows. Given the variety of other managers that he has worked with this is clearly not the case.