“You’re no’ Rangers anymore!”

[pete 2,494]

If only we had bought Moult instead of Herrera and another good midfielder(M'Ginn?) instead of Pena and kept McKay then I think we would have been at least on Celtic's heels

[Uilleam 5,393]

I would take a Messi, before a Messiah.

(Of course, a player like that would become a saviour, financially.)

 

On a more serious note, there is a huge issue on the pitch, on the training pitch, and in the dressing room. Graeme Murty, a decent man, and a decent coach, lacks the authority to impose his will on the 'senior pros'. Therefore, formations are of secondary importance, behind selection, although the latter will seriously impact upon the former.

The late Bill Shankly famously remarked that football was a simple game, but that the players made it difficult. Any new man who takes up the role of manager/head coach will have to deal with the indiscipline in the ranks, tactically, and in terms of building and maintaining a cameraderie within the dressing room. The omelette will not be cooked without cracking a few shells.

As ever, it's the players.

[Darthter 542]

Are we maybe over complicating things on the pitch???

 

Listened to a lot of chat about last weeks game (didn't see it myself), saying that Miller was spending too much time in the midfield areas, rather than up front - this could of course isolate Morellos, and great holes in our attacking line. We also talk a lot about wingers abilities to track back & help defend (on a regular basis).

 

What happened to keeping the players roles simple??? If your a striker, you stay up front, winger - forward & wide, defender - at the back etc.

 

By making each position "multi-purpose" are we not making it more likely for positional faults to come into play - Remember the old adage "Keep it simple, stupid" (KISS). K Boyd got constant stick for lacking in certain aspects of his game (which is true), but he was a striker & he scored (a lot of) goals.

 

Over the past few years we have had McCoist, McCall, Warburton, Murty, Caixhina & Murty (again), all take on the managers post and we've need a boat load of players come & go in that time.....but we are still seeing the same issues time & time again - silly mistakes, stupid dropped points, not enough consistency, questionable fitness levels, poor finishing, sloppy passing, slow tempo, sluggish mobility....

 

I think it's time to take a step back, and look at the bigger picture. Football is not a complex game - score more goals than the opposition. If we have the ball, they don't. Get players doing their proper jobs, rather than trying to get a sparky to fix your plumbing.

[Frankie 8,114]

Darther:

 

We are to an extent and we shouldn't overlook the missed chances we had on Saturday. It's been very much fine margins recently and we could easily have been 2-0 at half-time.

 

However, that shouldn't detract from the faults - and these faults have been prevalent for a long time now. For me there are three or four main issues which haven't been addressed:

 

1. Miller dropping too deep

 

The guy is still a decent player but doesn't seem to have any idea of where he should be playing other than hanging about half-way and leaving Morelos isolated. Why not play behind the Columbian? At Murrayfield he did a few times and he scored twice. This also creates more space in midfield.

 

2. Windass

 

No-one can deny the positive, creative contribution Windass has but he took lacks positional discipline. He comes inside far too often - with and without the ball, leaving a gaping chasm on the left. I'd see the point if we had another player making the most of that but we don't and, more often than not, teams can counter us easily down that side.

 

3. Tavernier

 

Again, Tav is arguably our most dangerous player but he also leaves huge gaps on the right. Sometimes Candeias does well in covering but when we're chasing games, Jack has to do it, leaving gaps in the centre meaning teams can flow quickly right through us. It happens time after time and there has to be a better solution.

 

4. First XI

 

Any successful teams needs a solid core of players and the more guys play together, the better. However, you have to be able to change things now and again and we don't so when guys like Herrera, Nemane and Niko come on, they invariably lack sharpness meaning their introduction is in effective. Even worse when we don't actually change the system either when it's failing. For example on Saturday we were 0-1 down with Hodson struggling and Windass too predictable. Do we bring on Nemane and go for a 3-5-2 or even play him at full-back in the four? No, we give him three minutes after we go 0-2 down. What's the point of that?

 

5. Balance

 

When was the last time we had a good left and right midfielder? We seem to have one or the other but not both. As such we lack balance and are far too easy to defend against.

 

 

Now, all the above are on-field issues. but the fact they've been prevalent now for more than a year makes them the responsibility of the DoF and the board. If you or I can see the most basic of tactical problems then well trained opposition coaches and managers can too. And as we've seen many times, the players don't even need to be that good to play against us and get results from the analysis.

[Davie P 4]

I have said for a long time that 3 - 5 - 2 is the only formation that can work for the current set of players. We have been abysmal down the left hand side since returning to the Premier and yet we have continually attempted for Wallace (now John) to overlap the inverted left midfielder (always a right footed player, first McKay now Windass) who's natural inclination is always to cut in on his stronger right foot. It is no wonder that we are both predictable and easy to defend against. (I nearly fell off my chair when Windass put in the left footed cross - certainly took Hamilton by surprise too!)

 

The current formation is a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1, with Miller dropping into the Defensive midfield role when we lose possession to make it a 3. (Isolating Morelos as neither Windass or Candeias are providing immediate support). As it is a position Miller is not accustomed to, invariably he gets in the way and creates confusion. Every opposition team will keep it tight in the middle of the pitch and sacrifice the width to Candeias, hence our 50 crosses against Hamilton. However, if Morelos is the only player in the box and he has a defender in front of him cutting out the near post crosses, unless there is a mistake, he has no chance of getting on the end of these. Every time (and I mean every time, I replayed the match to check - I am a masochist that way!) Morelos would attempt the near post run and Candeias - having no other option - would attempt to drill it into his general direction. Not once was Miller in the box to attack the far post, at best, the closest he got to the goals when Candeias was attempting to cross was about the 'D' on the edge of the box.

 

The only problem with a 3 - 5 - 2 is that we would need to lose either Candeias or Tav on the right hand side. Alternatively, we could attempt Candeias on the left in the place of Windass, at least until Wallace returns. I suppose we could then have the same challenge in deciding between Wallace and John. For what it's worth, this would be my team and formation (fitness allowing):

Fod

Cardodo/Alves/McCrorie

Candeias/Jack/Dorrans/Holt/John

Morelos/Herrera

[Dave M609 100]

I have said for a long time that 3 - 5 - 2 is the only formation that can work for the current set of players. We have been abysmal down the left hand side since returning to the Premier and yet we have continually attempted for Wallace (now John) to overlap the inverted left midfielder (always a right footed player, first McKay now Windass) who's natural inclination is always to cut in on his stronger right foot. It is no wonder that we are both predictable and easy to defend against. (I nearly fell off my chair when Windass put in the left footed cross - certainly took Hamilton by surprise too!)

 

The current formation is a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1, with Miller dropping into the Defensive midfield role when we lose possession to make it a 3. (Isolating Morelos as neither Windass or Candeias are providing immediate support). As it is a position Miller is not accustomed to, invariably he gets in the way and creates confusion. Every opposition team will keep it tight in the middle of the pitch and sacrifice the width to Candeias, hence our 50 crosses against Hamilton. However, if Morelos is the only player in the box and he has a defender in front of him cutting out the near post crosses, unless there is a mistake, he has no chance of getting on the end of these. Every time (and I mean every time, I replayed the match to check - I am a masochist that way!) Morelos would attempt the near post run and Candeias - having no other option - would attempt to drill it into his general direction. Not once was Miller in the box to attack the far post, at best, the closest he got to the goals when Candeias was attempting to cross was about the 'D' on the edge of the box.

 

The only problem with a 3 - 5 - 2 is that we would need to lose either Candeias or Tav on the right hand side. Alternatively, we could attempt Candeias on the left in the place of Windass, at least until Wallace returns. I suppose we could then have the same challenge in deciding between Wallace and John. For what it's worth, this would be my team and formation (fitness allowing):

Fod

Cardodo/Alves/McCrorie

Candeias/Jack/Dorrans/Holt/John

Morelos/Herrera

 

 

 

I agree Davie, I think with the players we have 352 or 532 would be the best option, with the current situation we find ourselves in I think playing a 433 or a 4231 is to expansive for what we have at our disposal, we need to be solid and hard to beat first and our team will evolve eventually, it will take time and patience though, and a manager will get time if we are winning, even if its 1-0's here and there, we need to get closer to them.

We can't really afford any luxury players either, we need workers, I would have no hesitation in dropping Tav, I really like him but Candias does cover for him a lot, and you know Candias will work all day long.

[der Berliner 3,213]

If only we had bought Moult instead of Herrera and another good midfielder(M'Ginn?) instead of Pena and kept McKay then I think we would have been at least on Celtic's heels

 

IMHO, we haven't seen enough of Herrera to be looking for "his" replacement. Morelos came in and tore teams apart because he was essentially playing football since March (if not earlier) in Finland. Herrera came back of a long Mexican break and simply hasn't been given a chance next to Morelos (or anyone else), as we simple go with one main striker no matter what. I wouldn't mind having Moult in January too, as you can bet your bottom pound that he'll sit suspended quite often - for he will not get away with his style the way he does with Motherwell.

BTW, should we get Moult, I wonder whether people will a demand 2 strikers (as I do now) or that Morelos shifts to the left attacking slot (as I also suggested and received some heavy FLAK), to make room for him as the central striker ...

[colinstein 294]

I wouldn't criticise any team for playing the ball early. That's what gets goals. Liverpool had great success in Europe by playing the early ball. We should be doing that

[Gonzo79 13,538]

The team lack aggression. I had hoped Dorrans, Jack and Alves would fix that but apparently not. Additionally, Miller is a waste of a shirt and Windass is a waste of something else.

 

Three new players and a good manager and we can get closer to the vermin. As it stands, we'll finish 3rd or 4th.

[Darthter 542]

The team lack aggression. I had hoped Dorrans, Jack and Alves would fix that but apparently not. Additionally, Miller is a waste of a shirt and Windass is a waste of something else.

 

Three new players and a good manager and we can get closer to the vermin. As it stands, we'll finish 3rd or 4th.

 

That's partly the point I was trying to make....we have lacked aggression for ages. Bringing in the likes of Dorrans & Jack, should have gone a long way to addressing that, but it hasn't....the issue is still there regardless of personnel.