match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 0 - 1 Celtic

[craig 5,195]

6 hours ago, D'Artagnan said:

I agree Bruce, their various histrionics over the years have created this laxk of balance, resulting in dubious decisions falling their way with alarming regularity.

 

Only last week we are told Beaton apologised to SG for getting  a penalty call wrong - I do think someone should be calling out this regular occurence of officials seemingly terrified to officiate if the decision favours Rangers

 

Two critical decisions determined the destination of the trophy yesterday - one allowing a goal which re-runs show 3 Celtic players clearly offside the other showing a goalkeeper clearly of his line when a penalty was struck - on both occasions the officials got it wrong

You could say FOUR decisions - because Brown made contact with Morelos in the box and, technically, should have been a penalty - not given.  Then Christie pushes Morelos in the back to make a clearing header - again, blatant penalty, not given.

 

FOUR critical decisions and every single one went for Celtic.  Every single one.  And they say they even themselves out over the course of the season ??  In the last two games we have lost a Cup final and fallen two points behind in the league - some of it down to our own failings but it can't, or shouldn't, be ignored that much of it is down to awful officiating.

[craig 5,195]

5 hours ago, cooponthewing said:

Aye, coz missing countless chances in front of goal (including a penalty where Tav did shit it) lacking penetration again, not getting over the live again, and looking like we were a horrible parody of TB sides in the 90s didn't show a mental weakness.
 

Instead of spending your time trolling my comments RS, you could have addressed my point which was the critical nature the next few games. It seems you didn't take defeat as badly as some  others Yesterday?

Are you really STILL saying Tav shit it ?  Even after Gerrard said that Morelos was designated penalty taker ?

 

RS probably took the defeat as badly as you or I.... the difference between him and you is that he is also being pragmatic enough to see that we didn't ack mental weakness and dominated the game.  Not everyone has to be cup half empty after a loss.

[craig 5,195]

5 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

We were unlucky, in several respects yesterday but at the end of the day, you make your own luck.

 

A good performance and defeat against them is nowhere near as good as a poor performance and a win.

 

I think Kent's display yesterday summed up why I was baffled we paid so much for him.  Some terrific bursts of pace, cracking twists and turns but no end product. Hopefully he continues to improve on that front.

Were you also saying this after the Hamilton game or the Hearts semi-final ?  Or do we now need to assess on a game by game basis ?

 

I would suggest you take a look at the highlights again and watch whenever Kent gets the ball..... every time he got the ball he was was at least doubled up and sometimes trebled up.  Makes it difficult for him to have a direct impact on the game - but it does allow him to indirectly impact the game but opening up space for others.

[craig 5,195]

3 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

I'm taking positives from it. There has been talking of them playing badly on the day but I don't think they did, they have been in good enough form prior to this game. They simply looked bad because Rangers were simply too good for them. That's going to remain in their heads for the future.

 

We didn't take the cup on the day but I don't put that down to mental deficiencies or small margins. It was just one of those days where absolutely nothing went our way. The ball didn't go our way, they had a goalie playing the game of his life, (the goalie broke my heart comes to mind) and nor did the refereeing decisions go our way. Such a litany of bad luck can't be expected to occur repeatedly.

Aside from being more clinical in taking chances and getting this penalty taking thing sorted out I really don't see much that needs to be changed following this disappointment. Ironically despite winning they would appear to have more to be concerned about than we do. 

Wholeheartedly agree with this - and that was why I made my previous statement that this could help our season.  Much to be taken from the game - we didn't let them play, and we found the way we should be playing against them every game.

[Gonzo79 13,550]

7 minutes ago, craig said:

Were you also saying this after the Hamilton game or the Hearts semi-final ?  Or do we now need to assess on a game by game basis ?

I have been saying it since we paid that amount for him.  

[craig 5,195]

1 hour ago, Bill said:

A day's reflection often clears the head a little and if I were Gerrard trying to lift a losing squad I'd be trying to decide which of the positives from yesterday to emphasise first. I'd certainly be upbeat. We outplayed Celtic, we had better players all over the field and we were only beaten by an illegal goal. Sure, we didn't take the cup home but we should be going into every game now fully aware of these facts and in no doubt that our time is almost here. The support has to be part of that reassurance to and I'm sure I'm not the only one today feeling a mixture of disappointment, pride and expectation. Our upcoming trip to Parkhead is one to anticipate with confidence. I've always said if we were still in contention come January then this would be our year.

Spot on Bill.

 

Too many in our support see a loss and think the world has ended.  Since Gerrard has come in he has made us competitive against that lot again.  Prior to that you KNEW we would get humped.  We now are playing them off the pitch (when Gerrard gets his tactics right, as he did yesterday) - we have come a very long way in a very short space of time against a club who have had consistency for the better part of a decade.

 

There is much to be positive about, despite the result.  We now KNOW we can go up against this club and compete.

 

With Ross Wilson in, one can hope that we see us strengthening again, whether it be January or the summer.

 

What I will say, is that those players gave everything yesterday, to a man, and can be very proud of their efforts.  They deserve our support, not our criticism.  I could see criticizing them if they didn't show up or lacked character, but they showed both in spades. 

[craig 5,195]

4 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

I have been saying it since we paid that amount for him.  

So selective highlighting then ?  Gotcha

[Gonzo79 13,550]

1 minute ago, craig said:

So selective highlighting then ?  Gotcha

To be fair, I though he was overrated last season and believe we paid far too much for him.  Nothing has changed on that front really.

 

On another note, I think the atmosphere at these matches has diminished over the years.  It felt quite flat yesterday and I was surrounded by blokes  who didn't join in with a single song but were quick to criticise players often enough.  I think some need to read the definition of 'support'.  

[Bill 13,717]

26 minutes ago, 26th of foot said:

Before the final, I thought our tempo was paramount to possible success. The first 65 minutes, our tempo was spot on. Ra Sellik go down to ten men, we fail to score the penalty, and our tempo begins to slow down. 

 

Lennon identifies it during his post match comments. He lauds their ten men performance, recognising they struggled to compete with eleven men. Of course, they retreated into their last third. We were reduced to passing the ball sideways, relying on Barker and Tav' accessing the bye-line. Generally, our crossing became woeful. Both probing and threading stopped too, Kent was withdrawn into starting attacks from the centre circle. Tempo needs direction, it's dynamic.

 

Just saying, when Katic came on, I thought they will throw him up front. Jullien has to mark him, leaving Morelos and Defoe to feed on secondaries. Further, our midfield steps another few yards forward to feed on edge of the box secondaries. Anyways, after sixty-five minutes ra Sellik controlled the match tempo. Count the minutes lost to perceived injuries, cramp, bye-kicks, throw-ins, ........ etc.

 

Solve the question of maintaining tempo(in many cases where do you place the extra man), and we will continue to progress.

We've seen this same reaction to the other side going down to ten men several times before. It's a complete mystery to me why this apparent advantage has repeatedly seen us lose momentum.

[Bill 13,717]

22 minutes ago, craig said:

Are you really STILL saying Tav shit it ?  Even after Gerrard said that Morelos was designated penalty taker ?

 

RS probably took the defeat as badly as you or I.... the difference between him and you is that he is also being pragmatic enough to see that we didn't ack mental weakness and dominated the game.  Not everyone has to be cup half empty after a loss.

As you say, there's no way Tav bottled the penalty but I suspect there is a fairly widespread belief that, while Tav is a considerable asset, he's not necessarily the popular idea of a Rangers skipper. Hence the misdirected criticism on this occasion.