The road ahead

[ranger_syntax 3,765]

If you are busy wetting your knickers about how many trophies Celtic will win then this thread is not for you.

 

We've suffered a defeat that we did not expect today.  Most of us thought that we would be able to beat them today and go top of the league.  We probably all imagined that we would be winning both of our home games against them and looking for at least one draw in Parkhead.  The rest of the league looks abject and our rivals are proven flat track bullies so these matches are vital.  The appropriate response is to accept that the task has changed.  We likely now need to go and get a better result away to Celtic.  In our last match at Parkhead we looked good with only 10 men and it was a close fought match.  There is no reason why we can't do better this season.

 

The manager made an unexpected selection by dropping Morelos and playing Defoe.  The manager probably thought that Defoe would be more likely to take a rare chance when it fell to him.  When the chance arrived, sadly, he did not take it.  When we drop Morelos we trade off the ability to retain possession up the pitch.  In retrospect this was a clear mistake.  The other possible reason for playing Defoe is that Morelos may not have recovered from Thursday night.  Again I think that this was a mistake.  There are plenty of good opportunities for squad rotation but this was not one.  I think that he should also reconsider his decision to play Arfield today.  It is clear that Arfield has been struggling for form recently.  It is also clear that Ojo was not up to it and, after the red card, there is a bit of a question mark over Jones.  I'm not sure what the better alternative would be here.

 

The individual players need to bounce back too.  We have a competitive squad so poor performances can be rewarded with time on the bench or in the stand.  Whatever it is that got in to Goldson today needs to be dealt with.  His passing was poor and we have a couple of alternatives available.  Edmundson, for example, has shown an ability to pass the ball well for a central defender.  Most likely we will see Helander get a chance though.  Aribo looked as if he expected more time and space.  He's good enough to learn and I expect more from him next time.  There are enough matches coming up to rotate these players so if one is dropped in the league then he could still play in Europe and rediscover form.  However the manager does it the players need to respond correctly and bounce back.

 

We lost today because of, I think, a mistaken selection, the wrong tactics combined with poor performances throughout.  All three of these things going wrong will not happen often again.  So there is every chance that we will fulfil the promise we have displayed up until today.

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by ranger_syntax

[RANGERRAB 3,254]

I think there also has to be a concern about the summer signings. About 10 signings & only 1 started today.

And I think letting Candeias leave & not having a suitable replacement could come back to haunt us too. Just not convinced about Ojo. 

[ranger_syntax 3,765]

6 minutes ago, RANGERRAB said:

I think there also has to be a concern about the summer signings. About 10 signings & only 1 started today.

And I think letting Candeias leave & not having a suitable replacement could come back to haunt us too. Just not convinced about Ojo. 

Yeah, as mentioned elsewhere, the Candeias thing is a bit of a nagging doubt for me.

 

I think that Ojo may well go on to contribute more goals and assists throughout the season.  Sadly he also appears to lack either the head or the heart for matches like this.

[Rousseau 9,361]

Candeias is not the answer. He would not have made a difference today.

 

I still would have kept him around, but didn't he want to leave?

[RANGERRAB 3,254]

4 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Candeias is not the answer. He would not have made a difference today.

 

I still would have kept him around, but didn't he want to leave?

He may well have wanted to leave if he wasn’t getting game time but he shouldn’t have been allowed to leave unless we were sure we had a replacement 

[Bill 13,717]

If we’re reduced to moping over the departed Candeias then things must be far worse than I thought. Keep an eye open for signs of Windassitis creeping in.  

[weebluedevil 1,169]

Once the dust settles, we realize it’s just 3 points and not the end of the world. Our last title was won during a season which saw us win 2 out of 7 old firms. 

We learn from this, we go again and who says we won’t be sitting above them when we meet again in December.  Have we just been found out by a better team at last? 

Nah. We gifted it to them today. Bad timing for an off game, but that wasn’t us out there today. Fair play to them - their kick off was their signal of intent and they carried out their plan impeccably. But that was them at their best. They didn’t trouble us - we made a mistake and paid. The game was done by the second goal. 

Nobody got pass marks today but that doesn’t mean they’re not good enough. 

But they do need to prove that was a one-off - and NO more dropped points before December 29th.  

WATP

 

[pete 2,499]

Come on guy's cheer up.

[ranger_syntax 3,765]

46 minutes ago, Bill said:

If we’re reduced to moping over the departed Candeias then things must be far worse than I thought. Keep an eye open for signs of Windassitis creeping in.  

Wouldn't say people are moping over him.

 

Last season I thought we would want to improve on him.

 

Now that we've changed personnel I'm just surprised to note that he might still have been of use to us today.

[compo 6,122]

I just wish we could have kept or bought young Kent but we just cant afford to spend decent money on players .

It's a true saying you only get what you pay for .