pete 2,499 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Another well written and produced article from John. It is interesting that while we come to the same conclusion (I believe we will win the title and have put my money where my mouth is), I disagreed with his assessments of many of the players he discusses, with the exception of McKay who I think he gets spot on. Thats what makes it such an interesting story for us this season, as we dont really know what yet what the manager believes will be his strongest 11, if he will rotate the squad more than he did last year other than just with subs, who we may get in on loan at the end of August when teams look to offload their bright young stars to get experience, what striker/defender we will bring in before the window closes, and who out of the new players will maintain a good level of form and who may be disappointing or not fit in. All that is before we find out if he will change the shape for the tougher away games, and if he will change the shape to either push for a winner or close out a slender lead, basically if he has learned from the mistakes of last season (not that there were many). As with players, we want the manager, still relatively inexperienced, to progress and develop as well. We simply must hit the ground running, and win our first 4 games to go into the first OF game with at least a 3 point lead due to their ridiculous situation of cancelling a league game to play a friendly. If we do that the likelihood is that we will be more than 3 points ahead as the bheasts have a tough opening 3 games before we go to the San Giro, and all the pressure will be on them, more so after the SCSF, and if they havent made the CL groups they will be under pressure from that as well. All very interesting and it is great to be looking forward to a season with such anticipation and positivity. Warburton has already said he will not have a proffered 11 and that he will rotate the squad more than last season. That can be taken with a little pinch of salt though for even if the manager normally says what he means I think he will have a proffered 11 for the top games. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhunter 0 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 No the back 4 aren't good enough and we won't score enough goals 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
onevision 1,454 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Yes. We know we have defensive frailties but so does every team and if we can find the right combination between Hill / Keirnan or Hill / Wilson or indeed another centre back coming. I'm confident that no matter what we will, more often than not, score more goals than our opponents. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,442 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 The CBs' will get more protection with the likes of Barton/Rossiter 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whosthedado 1,519 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 No the back 4 aren't good enough and we won't score enough goals Great to read such positivity! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whosthedado 1,519 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 I am quietly confident. I'd like to see another striker in, but I think Waghorn will be fine. I worry if, like last season he picks up a bad injury. It's early days but I think the signs are very positive. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iger 0 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 I think there is a decent chance for us to pull it off, we are good going forward and our midfield should protect the back line up better than last year and hopefully we can get a better cb in as well. Unless celtic have improved by a fare amount which i would say they haven't we are in with a good shout. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMc 2,483 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) Realistically Celtic are still favourites. In Griffiths they've a striker who can score against anyone in Scotland, if they can keep him fit they'll challenge all season. However, they're very dependent on him, he scored more than a third of all their league goals last season, and if he picks up an injury or loses form they've got a big problem, of course they might sign someone else before the season starts. We're different, our top scorer only contributed 18% of our goals, that's unlikely to change this season. Unlike Celtic our goals come from all over the park so losing Waghorn for example whilst a blow isn't as difficult for us. Again we might also have signed another forward before the season starts. Half the SPFL are of the same quality as we faced last year, they're no better than Falkirk, Hibs or Raith Rovers and we should be able to deal with them home and away. The other half will pose us different challenges. Hearts are a big strong physical side, they'll be an interesting side to face, they're direct and robust and will be unlike any side we've played under Warburton so far. We're a small, light team, some of the new guys will add some height and strength but we're still built for speed and movement and sometimes in Scottish football you need to win the physical battle first. Aberdeen are also a big side but I feel are more of passing team. They'll compete with us toe-to-toe at first, at least at home, but they're good on the break and have experience in their team, I'd expect to drop points to them over the season. There'll be a couple of other SPFL sides who'll put a run together, there always is. As St Johnstone showed us early last season a well organised, disciplined defence combined with the ability to counter-attack can cause us problems and we can expect to face that from a few sides. If we don't get an early goal sides will be happy to sit deep and wait for their chance. As for Celtic, well who really knows. I can't decide if Rogders is a good manager or a balloon. He's done well at some clubs and not at others, he tries to play passing football and keep possession and Celtic to have some good players. They have a huge squad though, too big, and a little unbalanced in my opinion. But they have height and strength and that will cause us problems. So, yeah, we can win the league but it will be difficult and we'll need some luck along the way. Edited July 28, 2016 by JohnMc 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFK-1 1,677 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) Interesting dissection but doesn't address what is apparently the feeling among others out there who I wont call a majority or anything near it but rather a contingent using the noun sense of the word. a group of people united by some common feature, forming part of a larger group The common feature of this particular contingent is apparently an assertion that Rangers will struggle to be top 6 which puts us in the same bracket as say Dundee and what are the chances of them going for the title? How long will it take before we can ever have a rational discussion regarding the merits of our team with anything outside our own fans? Will realism creep into any discussion when it becomes obvious that belief is absurd? Or on the other hand are the proponents of this absurdity so far down the IQ scale that absurdity doesn't register? Edited July 28, 2016 by JFK-1 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,293 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 No the back 4 aren't good enough and we won't score enough goals I'd agree with what you say about the back4. We've still got the same back4 as last season which lost too many goals towards the end of last season. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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