The Scottish PL discussion thread

A Dub in Glasgo

Sounded like it was one of those games where we lacked composure in front of goal. It really is disappointing to drop those 2 points though.

Looking on the brightside, we will go top should we beat Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday morning.

PauloMN

eirebhoy wrote: »

Oh damn. A draw at Ibrox and 2 home wins is now very important to make up for this.

Poor poor result, but I don't think it changes things hugely. Before the game we were going to have to win both home OF games, and not drop points at Ibrox, and that remains the same.

I'll panic when it's out of our hands. Strachan needs to give the bhoys a good kick up the hole though after that.

Eirebear

Must resist......really........trying.......not easy.......

Ah feck it! Yas!
:D:D

Blackjack

Good result for Hibs tonight - definetly looking at a top 6 finish now, 3rd a real possibility. Need to get another 3 from Motherwell in the next game before the split to manage that. Looks like 3rd will be between ourselves and the Arabs, although if I'm to be 100% honest, I'd be putting my money on Dundee for that 3rd place.

kraggy

Was at the game tonight.

Firstly, have to say, Dundee Utd were very well organised. Didn't let Celtic create too many chances apart from the first few mins.

I think we need a large influx of new blood and serious pruning is needed in the summer. We're not imaginative enough when it comes to creating chances and seem to just come to a stop once we get into the final third of the pitch.

Don't understand what has happened McDonald. He wasn't at the races tonight. Hard to believe he's top scorer. Having said that, it wasn't all his fault, as again, there wasn't good delivery from midfield. Robson improved things though. I really like the look of him. His movement is class and he's very strong on the ball. Much bigger lad than I previously thought.

We need at least 4 very decent players to come in during the summer if we want to win the league next year never mind progress in the CL. It's Rangers' title now and I hate to say that. But the title shouldn't be decided as early as this. I can't see us beating them twice at home. I just can't.

The crowd were well frustrated at the final whistle tonight. And so they should be. The performance was poor.

Good tonight
Naylor
Robson

Bad
McDonald

McGeady got man of the match, I'm not sure I'd agree. Have to be blunt and say I feel he's massively overrated. His striking of the ball is very poor. His main party piece of running down the wings is getting more and more predictable. Hopefully he'll keep progressing at the rate he has over the last year or so.

Hesselink should be sold. He's too slow. Positional awareness not very good.

I know this might sound all negative, but we need to make decent changes come summer if we want to progress.

OhNoYouDidn't

I'm due to go over to Fir Park on Saturday. Can one of you Jocks stick your head out the window and give me a weather update?

Not looking likely the pitch will be playable!

Eirebear

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

I'm due to go over to Fir Park on Saturday. Can one of you Jocks stick your head out the window and give me a weather update?

Not looking likely the pitch will be playable!

Been raining in Glasgow most of the day...and for the last few.
That pitch is a disgrace though, god knows if it will be playabe in any real way for the rest of the season.

OhNoYouDidn't

Eirebear wrote: »

Been raining in Glasgow most of the day...and for the last few.
That pitch is a disgrace though, god knows if it will be playabe in any real way for the rest of the season.

Intersting that the SFA have now said that this will be the last groundshare they authorise.

In your humble, should I bother getting on a plane Sat at 8am?

Eirebear

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Intersting that the SFA have now said that this will be the last groundshare they authorise.

In your humble, should I bother getting on a plane Sat at 8am?

As i say, ive a feeling that there will be very few games cancelled at Fir park again this season because the pitch is pretty much fecked anyways.
Ill give you an update tomorrow and let you know.

KdjaCL

the "gretna" table situation.

Which of you will go to court for the points you won on the pitch?


oh and where are all the celtic fans last night? just showed highlights on bbc scotland and loads of empty seats.

kdjac

Eirebear

Motherwell and Aberdeen are more likely to do it first.
Dundee Utd have lost TWICE to gretna this season and it would put them in pole position for the 3rd place spot.

eirebhoy

KdjaCL wrote: »

oh and where are all the celtic fans last night? just showed highlights on bbc scotland and loads of empty seats.

It's always like that for these games. Poor weather and lack of faith in Strachan being the main reasons. There's thousands of season ticket holders in Ireland too.

KdjaCL

eirebhoy wrote: »

It's always like that for these games. Poor weather and lack of faith in Strachan being the main reasons. There's thousands of season ticket holders in Ireland too.

the irish fans have a certain block tho? or did when i went over with someone from Naomh Padraigs season ticket. cant see those seats on tv.

lack of faith in strachan


kdjac

eirebhoy

KdjaCL wrote: »

lack of faith in strachan

The majority want him gone. That was the case months ago. After yesterday I'd say it's a large majority now. tbh I'd be happy if he went if Celtic didn't win the league. He'd leave the club with plenty of talented players though and was very succesful obviously.

OhNoYouDidn't

KdjaCL wrote: »

the irish fans have a certain block tho? or did when i went over with someone from Naomh Padraigs season ticket. cant see those seats on tv.

45,000 at a midweek league game isnt bad to be fair

KdjaCL wrote: »

lack of faith in strachan

Part of is the inevitible fact that he is replacing O'Neill and the shoes are big to fill. Mostly to do with inept tactics, some woeful signings and trailing to a fairly poor currant bun side who are grinding out results celtic simply arent. Like last night.

Eirebear

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

fairly poor currant bun side who are grinding out results celtic simply arent. Like last night.

Music to my ears....well eyes...:D:D:D

kraggy

KdjaCL wrote: »

the "gretna" table situation.

Which of you will go to court for the points you won on the pitch?


oh and where are all the celtic fans last night? just showed highlights on bbc scotland and loads of empty seats.

kdjac

They've yet to decide what will be done re Gretna.

Rangers have played them 3 times, and Celtic 2. Won't make any difference to who wins league as the points gained off them will probably just be subtracted from every team and each team will end up with 3 games less played.

Though that hasn't been confirmed.

PauloMN

Cuellar and McGregor (aside from his kicking) were Rangers best players tonight. Bremen were very unlucky not to at least bring the match to extra time, they had so much possession and so many corners.

Rangers predictably played the 11-behind-the-ball stuff, but that's what's getting them results. Call it anti-football or whatever, but one thing is for sure, Walter Smith has them well organised. Hate to say it but we could do with a bit of that.

Broadfoot deserves an Oscar for his diving performances tonight. He's rank rotten.

As for Celtic heading towards the end of the season, I have to admit to being disappointed in Scott Brown since his signing. He was a big, high-profile signing at £4m plus, and was bought primarily to boss SPL midfields about, which IMO he's not done. Aside from his discipline, he's not been consistent enough for my liking, and all I've seen is some flashes of potential in amongst a lot of mediocrity. I hope he improves on a large scale if he's going to be around next season.

eirebhoy

PauloMN wrote: »

Rangers predictably played the 11-behind-the-ball stuff, but that's what's getting them results. Call it anti-football or whatever, but one thing is for sure, Walter Smith has them well organised. Hate to say it but we could do with a bit of that.

Maybe it's just me but I would really, really, really hate to see Celtic play that football. As I've said a few times I wasn't happy with the way we won the game against Shakhtar. For me it's how Celtic are viewed around the world that's probably most important. Rangers will not have a good reputation around Europe playing that stuff.

Badabing

eirebhoy wrote: »

Maybe it's just me but I would really, really, really hate to see Celtic play that football. As I've said a few times I wasn't happy with the way we won the game against Shakhtar. For me it's how Celtic are viewed around the world that's probably most important. Rangers will not have a good reputation around Europe playing that stuff.

They played that way in the ninties remember, Celtic had a smashing team we lost one game 95/96 season and still finished second, thats how Smith plays soak up the pressure and hit on the break with a sucker punch.

A Dub in Glasgo

Todays game has been called off

Motherwell are an absolute embarrassment, it has not really rained in the West of Scotland since Thursday!

Dempsey

Groundsharing will never happen again

eirebhoy

Ridiculous. :mad:

Also, you won't find many Eircom league games postponed at this time of the year because the pitches have hardly been played on. That's why we should have a winter break. A few weeks to fix up the pitches.

Eirebear

i wonder did ONYD get his 3am plane? :eek:

The SPL should be sending gretna to play at Raydale for their remaining fixtures, possibly outwith the celtic game as i doubt it would be able to handle the crowd...that would alleviate the pressure on the pitch.

A Dub in Glasgo

That is the problem, there is no real concern for fans who travel. Calling off the game with 3 hours to KO is just crazy especially when you see the pitch. They should have and could have called it off yesterday.

Eirebear

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

That is the problem, there is no real concern for fans who travel. Calling off the game with 3 hours to KO is just crazy especially when you see the pitch. They should have and could have called it off yesterday.

normally i would agree with you, but with the fixture problems this season, especially where Rangers Celtic and Motherwell re concerned they will do everything in their power to get the game on....at this rate it will be July before the season finishes.

A Dub in Glasgo

Motherwell are now saying that the pitch will be unplayable for the next 4 weeks!! Looks like Celtic will not be playing Gretna next week at the stadium. New venue needed, this is just farcical

Eirebear

The Hammer has scored on his debut for Clyde!

Ahhhh the memories

eirebhoy

I didn't even know he signed for them. Can't believe he's still playing.

Eirebear

Aye, signed last week till the end of the season...he was playing for some German 3rd division side and ran into someone from Clyde while he was over here visiting.
hes 37.....could be a good replacement for Charlie Adam!

EDIT: John Browns their manager and Andy Goram their goalkeeping coach!

PauloMN

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

That is the problem, there is no real concern for fans who travel. Calling off the game with 3 hours to KO is just crazy especially when you see the pitch. They should have and could have called it off yesterday.

Had a feeling the game would be called off. More embarrassment for the SPL. I completely agree with Strachan and what he said about the league needing rebranding etc. - it needs new management and to stop pandering to clubs looking to bend the rules also.

I'm disgusted they allowed this to happen to the fans, especially those who travel over for games. Did nobody in there have the sense at the start of the season to figure out that fixture sharing on an already crap pitch combined with a Scottish winter would lead to this? :mad:

Dougie may as well be walking through f**king quicksand:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7296123.stm

Blackjack

Bit of a Disaster with fixtures alright.

Good day for the Hibees though. Back to 3rd (where we belong!) - need to make sure we get results now to consolidate that. Played reasonably well today but had more in the tank I would expect.

Jambos need to beat the Bairns next week to have a hope of finishing in the top half, otherwise you're pretty much looking at the top and bottom 6 arrangements for the split as things stand. Go Falkirk.;)

Eirebear

Some things never change!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t2otoWkG-mQ

Eirebear

Well hopefully the three year drought ends today with the CIS cup.

Im pretty sure Dundee Utd will give us a game today, especially if De vries hits some form, but i can see us getting through it relatively unscathed.

Got a ticket late last night too....woohoo!

A Dub in Glasgo

Dundee United 1 up and deservingly so. Stone wall penalty against Rangers not given :eek:

Edit 1 - Kerr presses the self destruct button to hand an equaliser to Rangers with 4 minutes to play

Edit 2 - What a goal from De Vries

Edit 3 - Dundee United throw it away again - 7 minutes to play

Edit 4 - Rangers win the shoot out after some dreadful penalties from United

Eirebear

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Dundee United 1 up and deservingly so. Stone wall penalty against Rangers not given :eek:

Edit 1 - Kerr presses the self destruct button to hand an equaliser to Rangers with 4 minutes to play

Edit 2 - What a goal from De Vries

Edit 3 - Dundee United throw it away again - 7 minutes to play

Edit 4 - Rangers win the shoot out after some dreadful penalties from United

:D:D

Can you feel the hurt?;)

Blackjack

Can't understand what Kerr was thinking then. United threw it away in the end.

Eirebear

Blackjack wrote: »

Can't understand what Kerr was thinking then. United threw it away in the end.

yeah, he did have a bit of a rush of blood!

But, i honestly think Rangers were just about worthy winners in the end.
To come back from behind on 2 seperate occasions is something that a rangers team would never have done over the last two or three seasons, and in the second half of both normal time and extra time we pushed hard for those goals.

There was a few Rangers players who werent on their game yesterday (Chris Burke im looking at you ya wee fairy) and that coupled with Dundee Utd putting in a fantastic team performance made it very tough for us.

Penaltiess a tough way to lose any final and i felt for Dundee Utd by the end of it.

EDIT: and a special mention for the Arabs fans who were excellent throughout...many even staying untill the end to applaud the Rangers team (something i dont think i could have done if it was reversed!)

kraggy

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Motherwell are now saying that the pitch will be unplayable for the next 4 weeks!! Looks like Celtic will not be playing Gretna next week at the stadium. New venue needed, this is just farcical

Dempsey wrote: »

Groundsharing will never happen again

Actually, I've been reading up on this debacle and there hasn't been any more games played on Motherwell's pitch than before as since Gretna moved in, Motherwell's reserves have been playing off-site. When the reserves did play there, there were just as many games played on it.

It's a poor drainage system which they are going to replace the summer. Not just gonna dig up the soil. They're going to do the whole works.

Eirebear

Sheepshaggers up 1-0 at parkhead in fron of about 50 fans :eek::D
EDIT: Oh no wait theres no need to edit...stayed 1-0!

eirebhoy

And I thought we started so well. It seems if they don't score after 20 minutes they're under pressure.

Eirebear

eirebhoy wrote: »

And I thought we started so well. It seems if they don't score after 20 minutes they're under pressure.

I certainly wasnt expecting this tonight...the sheep are a real jekyll and hyde team this year though.

I was really looking forward to the idea of an old firm final too.

One question though....Why oh why does Strachan keep playing JVoH over Samaras...its obvious that hes twice the player venegorr will ever be.

Mr.Nice Guy

Top performance from Alan Maybury tonight.

besty

Bloody hell Celtic were toothless tonight. A couple of decent chances but the quality wasn't there. As someone who doesn't watch much of Celtic, I was disappointed with Nakamura who's always been quality when I've seen him in the past.

Agreed with MNG - Maybury kept McGeady very quiet.

Eirebear

besty wrote: »

Bloody hell Celtic were toothless tonight. A couple of decent chances but the quality wasn't there. As someone who doesn't watch much of Celtic, I was disappointed with Nakamura who's always been quality when I've seen him in the past.

Agreed with MNG - Maybury kept McGeady very quiet.

Not according to Strachan's post match comments. "Aidan was terrprising their full back...."

eirebhoy

There's just too many players lacking confidence atm. Naka played alright but he's a much more dominant player when at his best. Donati got more scared as the game went on. McDonald isn't anywhere near as good as he was 2 months ago and Jan hasn't been great for most of the season. Naylor and Caldwell are very nervous. Hinkel shítes himself when there's a player running at him.

I'm just waiting for the season to end already tbh.

besty

Eirebear wrote: »

Not according to Strachan's post match comments. "Aidan was terrprising their full back...."

I think Gordon has confused Aiden having alot of the ball (and not doing anything of note with it) as opposed to him consistently giving Maybury the run around and making a real impact, thus terrorising him. Big difference IMO

Eirebear

eirebhoy wrote: »

There's just too many players lacking confidence atm. Naka played alright but he's a much more dominant player when at his best. Donati got more scared as the game went on. McDonald isn't anywhere near as good as he was 2 months ago and Jan hasn't been great for most of the season. Naylor and Caldwell are very nervous. Hinkel shítes himself when there's a player running at him.

I'm just waiting for the season to end already tbh.

But why no Samaras? The guy is the only player on the celtic team at the moment who truly worries me.

eirebhoy

Eirebear wrote: »

But why no Samaras?

Don't know. Maybe Strachan thinks himself and McDonald aren't suited to playing together as they both like to drop off. Keane and Berbatov can work though and neither are out and out strikers.

Eirebear

Could be, but Samaras' power in the box completely eclipses anything JVoH can offer IMO.
In fact he reminds me at times of Mark Hately the way he plays.