How many games is a blip?

[BeardyGuts 6]

 

Another thing that is alarming is that we no longer are pressing the ball high up the pitch. Saturday we allowed ourselves to sit very, very deep and put nigh on zero pressure on the ball in the opposing final 3rd. And I dont think that has much to do with Celtic' play. We looked like it was a deliberate tactic to not pressure the ball high, which was a mistake in my opinion - it allowed Celtic to play out from the back with no pressure and also meant their wingers didnt have to even think about assisting defensively.

 

 

If you look at the game on Saturday where as you say we weren't pressing them at all and giving them an age on the ball... but in reality the first two goals came from a corner and Kiernan's bloody awful distribution.... so the plan was working going by the score up until half time.

 

My biggest concern is that everybody always talks about the core of the team: Goalie, Centre Halfs, Centre mid. This needs to be strong but for us this is our weakest combination,. I have yet to see Barton play a decent game. Centre Halfs are not good enough in any combination that I have seen so far. But all the players have the ability of that i am sure maybe it is just taking longer than anticipated.

 

I didnt expect us to romp to wins in all of our games at the start of the season I was half expecting this to be honest. The first match against them definitely came too early and i still think we weren't 5-1 bad. Lots of new players to get settled into our way of playing. Using Barton as an example going from a counter attacking Burnley side to a team where you have all the possession most of the time is a big change.

 

For me the manager & team deserves our support until the end of the season then we see where we are at.

[Crimson Dynamo 128]

I'm more than happy to settle for a top half finish, a decent run in both cups and maybe qualify for Europe. Anyone that thinks we can achieve more is simply being unrealistic.

 

We are severely hamstrung financially at the moment to the effect that our board is still bailing us out with loans.

 

Yes it hurts we got gubbed on Saturday but we were still in the match until Celtic scored the 3rd goal. After that we should probably have shut up shop but I don't know how often I've watched games and the losing team does that, I've always said why not just go for it, you've lost anyway.

 

We went for it on Saturday and unfortunately it backfired.

 

But i'm glad we did I think it will have been a learning experience for the team and let's remember bar Miller and Wallace it was our teams first experience of an atmosphere like that. An Old Firm at Hampden is completely different to an Old Firm at Ibrox or Parkhead

[Rousseau 9,443]

The single biggest issue for me isnt necessarily the personnel. It is one simple statement that TB makes.... "Fast, free-flowing football". That is the problem. It has disappeared and I still dont think you can put that down to personnel.

 

Last season we played with high tempo all over the pitch both with and without possession of the ball.

 

This season that has stopped, disappeared, and we look a much weaker team for it.

 

You dont actually need pacy players for this fast football, you just need players who can control the ball quickly, move it on and then offer themselves in space quickly too. Which means there is no reason Barton or Kranjcar should be slowing our play down - they themselves arent fast but their touch is usually to a very high standard - which means one touch to control and then another to move the ball on.

 

Another thing that is alarming is that we no longer are pressing the ball high up the pitch. Saturday we allowed ourselves to sit very, very deep and put nigh on zero pressure on the ball in the opposing final 3rd. And I don't think that has much to do with Celtic' play. We looked like it was a deliberate tactic to not pressure the ball high, which was a mistake in my opinion - it allowed Celtic to play out from the back with no pressure and also meant their wingers didnt have to even think about assisting defensively.

 

So many things went wrong on Saturday - but that doesnt make us a bad team.

 

While I would certainly like to see us press high, I actually thought the low block was well-executed and was working well for us. We gave them little space with our 4-1-4-1 and they were forced to pass from side to side. Where they scored had nothing to do with our defensive structure. One was a corner and the second was a counter when the ball was given away from Kiernan's pass. (The third was also a break IIRC?) Then after we lost 2 centre-backs the defensive structure really goes out the window.

 

We keep bringing up this plan A cliche, but I think that how we set up defensively showed a change. He seems to have looked at their strengths (their pace in attack) and weaknesses (defense on the break) and set up to take advantage. We were tight in 2 banks of 4 to nullify their pace, and we conceded territory so when we won the ball back we had space to break into -- Incidentally, that's where your favourite man's (Windass) running ability could have caused a lot of damage. It's frustrating how we keep bringing out these cliches -- not you, Craig -- when things go wrong; lack of desire and passion seemed to be rolled out again, somewhat wrongly IMO. We made mistakes and we lost discipline. (We're not actually playing well at the moment anyway.)

Edited September 12, 2016 by Rousseau

[Frankie 8,173]

I think the manager and players deserve criticism but I also believe the end of last season and the start of this are very different situations so tricky to compare.

 

What is clear is that we're struggling. As such a win this Saturday is imperative - as is a good performance.

 

In that sense, the manager now needs to find his first choice XI and stand by it. Unfortunately, the players we'd nominally see as first choice and all performing badly so how many games do the likes of Barton, McKay and Wallace get before they're dropped?

 

Big decision ahead for the manager and the next few weeks are going to be telling in terms of his abilities.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Maybe all the screaming about our defence has knocked us off our stride

[Craigy1881 79]

It just seems to me that we have signed players that do not fit the system we want to play. We lost what 7-8 players at the tale end of last season? We have needed to replace them based on a tiny budget and it looks to me we have just had to resort to bringing in whatever was available which has especially impacted the heart of the team. I think if there was say any decent amount of cash available then we don't sign Barton, Krancjar, Hill or Senderos. Also Andy Halliday must be thinking what the hell has he done to lost his place in the team. By far deserves his starting place until the other prove they are fit enough and worthy enough of their places.