BearInTheToon

Have to say, Bacuna hasn't impressed me too much but he does have real moments of quality and is capable of seeing passes others don't. And for that reason, I'd start him and this would be my team too. A bigger concern for me is if you take Bacuna out and instead put either Itten or even Sands into that lineup (and even move Arfield forward), I think we might have a team that's short on ideas and is just passing it about, without anyone taking real responsibility. That's where Kent, Aribo, Alfie and even Hagi are so important for us. Zero need for Kamara and Sands, that's way too cautious and I'll be disappointed if he goes with that.

Yeah man, I’m not saying he won’t come back as good a technical player. Chances are he will. It’s more the fact that if we’re frustrated by his lack of pace now/see it as a stumbling block to going up another level, he’s got no chance on that front going forward.

What a shame for the lad. An ACL is an absolute cunt (I know, I’ve done it twice). Thankfully, given he wasn’t a tricky player/dribbler, he won’t have lost that. But, whatever pace he did have (very little)/had developed this past year or so, he’s going to lose. He’s going to be even slower in future. Aside from the personal impact on him, I can see him struggling to ever regain his place back in the team or for us to get anywhere near the kind of money we could’ve for him. Such a shame

I think he will make a 'miraculous' recovery tbh. Their whole game plan rests on getting him fit in time for the game against us. It's all smoke and mirrors I reckon. Also, because he was never called up in the first place, the domestic ban on international withdrawals won't come into play.

Yeah, I think that’s all smoke and mirrors with Kyogo. They supposedly requested that he wasn’t called up as he’s not currently fit. So I fully expect it’s a ploy to get him fit and available for us. We should be telling Roofe and/or Jamaica to do one about him being called up. Time to put us first for this run of games.

To be honest, I don’t think it’s someone ‘getting stuck in’ that we need, or that that’s what people really mean. I think it’s more we need midfielders who we can rely on with proper leadership, presence and bravery on the ball to step up and dictate play. Kamara’s classy, but he just doesn’t have that confidence/personality/balls to do it. Jack and Arfield are perennially injured and Lundstram’s shite. We need Davis and Aribo back pronto, and a new signing. If Kamara and Aribo go in the summer, we’re looking at replacing an entire midfield, which should never have been allowed to happen.

If it’s Roofe, Kent and Sakala up top for the mhanks game, then they seriously need to be on it with holding the ball and bringing the midfield into play. Also, with their pace, absolutely destroying the cunts when the chances arise.

Knew this would happen. We're going to start to feel some serious pressure soon, especially if we drop any further points between now and the mhanks game. Missing Alfie and Joe are two massive losses. There's just a wee sense of the tide turning here and we need to make sure it doesn't.

I'm still ragin' and at a loss from last night. Shambolic performance and shit tactics which meant we had zero spark, intensity or desire to dominate them (which we should be doing every day of the week against that mob). Our front 3/4 players being unable to hold up, keep and be productive with the ball is way too often a recurring theme in the tougher away fixtures. On top of that, our midfield totally lacks leadership or proper presence when the likes of Davis, Arfield or Jack aren't there. Players need to get their fucking fingers out and Gio needs to not repeat such tactics again. Wishful thinking but I'd love to think he'd be asked in this week's pc why it was so negative.

Me neither. I’m amazed Boyd joined in with the usual Sky agenda of pushing it as a stick-on

Said it earlier, and I’ll say it again. We played the occasion, not the team. We should’ve taken the Tynecastle approach and we would’ve demolished them. I’m proper raging with all of that

Not liking this Gio interview at all. He’s bent himself over and just taken it. Tactics and that interview. Not good enough, Gio.

We need another proper central midfielder. Too often we’re looking weak/powderpuff there. We’ve got real problems coming our way there. David, Arfield out of contact/almost past it, Jack fucked, Lundstram pish and the likes of Aribo and Kamara potentially going, this needs addressed fast

I’m raging with that. What was Gio thinking with those tactics? Woeful. Absolutely woeful. But fuck me, Clancy is an outright cheat.

Clancy’s a cheating cunt. We’ve made a howling cunt of this though. The tactics and the players themselves. Woeful

We haven’t turned up tonight. Really disappointing. Way too defensive and now where near enough forward thinking. Really poor

Really quite disappointed with our lack of control here. We’ve played the occasion rather than the team. We should be much more on the front foot and playing them off the park. Nowhere near enough control middle to front

This.

For me, Bacuna and Sakala on, Lundstram and Hagi off

Our finishing is generally pretty rank today. Defoe scores that every time

We’ve had more chances in this first 28mins than in entire games this whole season. Good to see the Gio effect. Just need to score one now

Fuck sake, over playing or what?!

Alfie seriously needs dropped and to get himself fit. His sluggishness and attitude are nowhere near where they need to be. Shame on Gerrard to be honest for letting that happen.

Nothing’s sticking. Causing our own issues here. Aribo and Alfie are fucked and offering nothing now. Gotten really sloppy

In terms of the best form/highest level we ever had from a Dutchman, it has to be Mols for me. Pre-injury, he was pretty much world class (in the Champions League as well) and was genuinely on course to be up there with Laudrup and Gazza as best ever to play for us/in Scotland. I remember being fully devastated when get got injured. Loved Numan and De Boer, both of whom had great spells of form. But neither hit the unplayable level that Mols did.