It’s the centre halves

[ExiledWeegie123 1,236]

2 minutes ago, beararse said:

Bit harsh on Helander IMO.

His absence has probably cost us still being with a fighting chance in the league.

Not only was there less mistakes in him,  he also knew how to score with his head.

thats too much praise for Helander, hes not that good that we wouldnt have dropped at least some of the points we have, he also wouldnt have made our forwards score more goals or our midfielders able to break shite teams down.

hes decent but only decent.

[beararse 6,366]

1 minute ago, ExilledWeegie123 said:

thats too much praise for Helander, hes not that good that we wouldnt have dropped at least some of the points we have, he also wouldnt have made our forwards score more goals or our midfielders able to break shite teams down.

hes decent but only decent.

‘Decent’ is an upgrade on ‘shite’

[McEwan's Lager 30,511]

3 minutes ago, ExilledWeegie123 said:

thats too much praise for Helander, hes not that good that we wouldnt have dropped at least some of the points we have, he also wouldnt have made our forwards score more goals or our midfielders able to break shite teams down.

hes decent but only decent.

Key for me. For example celtic have scored something like 30 goals in 7 games against St Johnstone. We simply aren’t good enough going forward.

[bluenoz 30,687]

1 minute ago, McEwan's Lager said:

Key for me. For example celtic have scored something like 30 goals in 7 games against St Johnstone. We simply aren’t good enough going forward.

I agree, we are not doing enough to create easy chances but when we score two goals, I expect us to win every time.

[McEwan's Lager 30,511]

2 minutes ago, bluenoz said:

I agree, we are not doing enough to create easy chances but when we score two goals, I expect us to win every time.

We make it so easy for teams to defend for a start. We play with next to no width and cram up the middle of the park.

[beararse 6,366]

23 minutes ago, McEwan's Lager said:

Key for me. For example celtic have scored something like 30 goals in 7 games against St Johnstone. We simply aren’t good enough going forward.

but given our lack of goals, a more reliable defence is key.

plus a more experienced and trustworthy defence frees up the midfield to attack rather than worry about shoring up a leaky defence.

[murzo 7,446]

20 minutes ago, McEwan's Lager said:

We make it so easy for teams to defend for a start. We play with next to no width and cram up the middle of the park.

Alao, we don’t move the ball quick enough when we do attack. Something Kamberi has done the past 3 sub appearances, just wish the rest of the team were playing with the same desire and urgency.

[ExiledWeegie123 1,236]

8 minutes ago, beararse said:

but given our lack of goals, a more reliable defence is key.

plus a more experienced and trustworthy defence frees up the midfield to attack rather than worry about shoring up a leaky defence.

the problem is that a shakey defence needs the midfield to help out when the other team breaks but ours havent been doing that, it gets pumped upto our 2 centre halfs who are the only ones back there defending, they then fall over each other trying to get to the ball, if our defensive midfielder was able to get back and at least run in behind the 2 bumbling fools we'd have another player covering, or if our 2 attacking wing backs done their job and got back when we are out of possesion then they might also be able to cover for the centre halfs but none of this happens, the 2 of them are left exposed to fall over each other which regularly happens

[beararse 6,366]

Just now, ExilledWeegie123 said:

the problem is that a shakey defence needs the midfield to help out when the other team breaks but ours havent been doing that, it gets pumped upto our 2 centre halfs who are the only ones back there defending, they then fall over each other trying to get to the ball, if our defensive midfielder was able to get back and at least run in behind the 2 bumbling fools we'd have another player covering, or if our 2 attacking wing backs done there job and got back when we are out of possesion then they might also be able to cover for the centre halfs but none of this happens, the 2 of them are left exposed to fall over each other which regularly happens

Exactly....so a decent defence is key.

You win games by scoring, but you lose points by not defending.

 

[ExiledWeegie123 1,236]

I get what you mean if we had a strong defence the players dont need to worry about getting back but it should also be the opposite though, if we have a leaky defence the midfield need to come back and cover but they dont they still sit up there thinking their all attackers but when their up there all they do is play it side to side and backwards.

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,500]

What we badly miss is two centre halves with loads of games between them consistently, the likes of the first goal today, katic if he plays every week with goldson would fill in behind before he lost the ball in the air, meaning he can clear it plenty time

His constant chopping and changing of centre halves means they get no relationship built up, same with strikers, even our midfield 3 need to build uo a consistent game time

[Kitey79 241]

2 hours ago, STEPPS BOY said:

Folk can go on about the full backs but if two centre halves can’t deal with punts up the park then the ball is burst.

It’s schoolboy stuff.

Fucking embarrassing and just not good enough. Like you rightly say, if they can’t do the bloody basics then we’re fucked! 
 

Simply not good enough

[Jasper Blues 497]

2 hours ago, steven33jackie said:

Centre halfs are not helped by our formation and over reliance on our full backs being involved in the attacking play. In all the games we have lost goals the opposing team have played with two attackers either with three or four at the back. That effectively means our centre halfs are man for man. We also play a high line but neither of two seems to drop to provide cover for a long ball. First goal today Goldson jumps under the high ball and Katic gets caught out in 50/50 ball. Fact is both of them were 40/50 yards from goal almost level with each other. Second goal is even worse as we are winning and their only option is to attack but  a punt through the middle catches both of them level with each other and on the turn running back towards goal. No doubt both full backs would of been in attacking positions. It's school boy stuff.

Surely it's basic defending, like at Primary School, that, against long balls, the two CBs don't stand square, one drops off to cover any flick ons. I thought we had defensive coaches who would be looking at this. 

There needs to be a boss in the back line. Normally one of the CBs would be deciding who attacks the ball and who drops off. 

Simple stuff. 

 

 

[BILLYBOY50 1,638]

3 hours ago, bluenoz said:

Goldson to Jack to Goldson to Katic to Jack.  Does my head in.

Correct mate I'm bored reading that never mind watching it. Five or six passes to get to the halfway line. Other teams take three to go from box to box and score ffs. 

[KingKirk 25,605]

Would you give the manager another 6/7/8million quid to try and sort the issue.

I certainly wouldn't he's had 4windows already still hasn't sorted it whilst spunking millions on duds

[Gman36 3,455]

Goldson let's the ball bounce too many times. Dunno how many times I've seen him do it and thought just boot the fucking ball up the pitch or out for a shy

[docspiderman 1,224]

Overall we have lost 1 goal more than celtic but have gone from a goal difference of -1 to -20 since December. The problem is right through the team but I feel midfield is not providing for the forwards and is certainly not supporting the defence and that is what needs to change first.

[RAFREG 471]

We’ve had Goldson with Katic   
Goldson with Edmunson 

Goldson  with Helander 

All three are shite partnerships with one common denominator. It’s about time we dropped Godson an tried Edmunson with Katic or with Helander. 

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,500]

On 23/02/2020 at 20:23, Jasper Blues said:

Surely it's basic defending, like at Primary School, that, against long balls, the two CBs don't stand square, one drops off to cover any flick ons. I thought we had defensive coaches who would be looking at this. 

There needs to be a boss in the back line. Normally one of the CBs would be deciding who attacks the ball and who drops off. 

Simple stuff. 

 

 

Problem is that katic and probably the rest of the world, didnt expect goldson to step up about 15 yards and go under a high ball he was never even close to contesting nevermind winning, goldson at the first goal was a shocker and as much as katic should have humped it out the park, i doubt even he expected goldson to wander like he did

[Jasper Blues 497]

2 hours ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

Problem is that katic and probably the rest of the world, didnt expect goldson to step up about 15 yards and go under a high ball he was never even close to contesting nevermind winning, goldson at the first goal was a shocker and as much as katic should have humped it out the park, i doubt even he expected goldson to wander like he did

Agreed. 

No idea why an experienced CB would wander ahead of the ball like that. 

Can only think his concentration went. Still no excuse for it. 

We talk about the decision making of our front players but the decision making of our defenders is even more important. 

As a CB in the Juniors I was always told in no uncertain terms to clear my lines and buy some time. The opposition are unlikely to score if the ball is in row Z. 

Very very basic defending. 

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,752]

An area where we need an upgrade in the Summer.

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,752]

On 24/02/2020 at 10:25, KingKirk said:

Would you give the manager another 6/7/8million quid to try and sort the issue.

I certainly wouldn't he's had 4windows already still hasn't sorted it whilst spunking millions on duds

He needs to do better in the transfer market but with the exception of Grezda all the players he’s spent big on are massive players for us. Some of them might not be in the best of form right now, but they are.

Goldson, Barisic, Katic, Kent, Helendar - that’s his “high transfer fee” players.

The rest have mainly been free transfers, loans and nominal fees and although the recruitment has been poor when you are in that market it’s always a bit of a lucky dip.

Mark Allen as DOF didn’t help things in that regard either. I don’t think he was ever very good at his job.

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,752]

13 minutes ago, Rangers_no1 said:

Being massive players is one thing, but are we getting enough out of the fees we paid for those five? Think it's fair to say the money we spent on Helander could have been better utilised.

Considering you have posted saying CB is an area we must improve in the summer and then you mention 3 CBS as being massive players for us, tell's it's own story!

So what do you suggest then we just give him no more money then because the only way we are going to get better is by signing better players and better players than what we have now are going to cost money.

We have to “shit or get off the pot” you can’t do both.

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,752]

8 minutes ago, Rangers_no1 said:

I suggest he sticks with the current 4 CBs. You can't spend not far off £10m on four CBs and then just decide to spend numerous millions more in that area because you're not capable of finding a solution.

Any combination of either 4 should be more than good enough to work in a weak SPFL. He could switch to a 3-5-2, but the problem is he's stubborn like you have mentioned, similar to Warburton and it's costing us. Alternatively he sticks to a partnership and does not change it like he has at random times over the last two seasons. Katic has to look at himself, but Gerrard critcising him publicly and dropping him has clearly had a negative impact.

Gerrard could also do some small tweaks defensively, in central midfield and at full back. I think both CB's are exposed at times and Davis is not a player who can cover the full backs, doesn't cover enough ground. Jack is prone to being advanced these days. Brown does a sitting job, we need that protection in certain games, but we also need to be more positive with the other two players in midfield. Jack, Davis and Kamara are all too similar, the former is just better than the other two.

Some don't like mentioning the wanker across the city, but he has been versatile and has changed to a system that has benefited the scum in 2020, people like to bring up Lennon took over a successful Rodgers squad, which is a fair point. However, it's also fair to state that Rodgers team only played one way and that side were used to that one formation, yet he has been successful making the formation change, why can't our manager? Lennon has had to make changes. Bain, Sinclair, Boyata, Tierney and Lustiq were first 11 regulars, but there's a growing number on here who like to suggest the ginger tosser has had the same 11 players that was winning treble after treble under tranny.

Unless Gerrard becomes more versatile, tactically astute and less stubborn he's going to fail again domestically next season. When the transfer window closed in September, you would have been lucky to find a handful of people who would have stated our squad was not good enough to compete for the league title, the manager said so himself, now posters(yourself included) are resorting to looking at what the taigs have been doing, rather than focus on our short comings which is in no way connected to them. 

 

I’ve acknowledged our shortcomings plenty of times so I’m not “resorting” to anything. 

Infact I’ve baiscally said everything you’ve said there at various points over the past few weeks myself

 

[teddybear1975 2,012]

36 minutes ago, Rangers_no1 said:

I suggest he sticks with the current 4 CBs. You can't spend not far off £10m on four CBs and then just decide to spend numerous millions more in that area because you're not capable of finding a solution.

Any combination of either 4 should be more than good enough to work in a weak SPFL. He could switch to a 3-5-2, but the problem is he's stubborn like you have mentioned, similar to Warburton and it's costing us. Alternatively he sticks to a partnership and does not change it like he has at random times over the last two seasons. Katic has to look at himself, but Gerrard critcising him publicly and dropping him has clearly had a negative impact.

Gerrard could also do some small tweaks defensively, in central midfield and at full back. I think both CB's are exposed at times and Davis is not a player who can cover the full backs, doesn't cover enough ground. Jack is prone to being advanced these days. We need that protection in certain games, but we also need to be more positive with the other two players in midfield. Jack, Davis and Kamara are all too similar, the former is just better than the other two.

Some don't like mentioning the wanker across the city, but he has been versatile and has changed to a system that has benefited the scum in 2020, people like to bring up Lennon took over a successful Rodgers squad, which is a fair point. However, it's also fair to state that Rodgers team only played one way and that side were used to that one formation, yet he has been successful making the formation change, why can't our manager? Lennon has had to make changes. Bain, Sinclair, Boyata, Tierney and Lustiq were first 11 regulars, but there's a growing number on here who like to suggest the ginger tosser has had the same 11 players that was winning treble after treble under tranny.

Unless Gerrard becomes more versatile, tactically astute and less stubborn he's going to fail again domestically next season. When the transfer window closed in September, you would have been lucky to find a handful of people who would have stated our squad was not good enough to compete for the league title, the manager said so himself, now posters(yourself included) are resorting to looking at what the taigs have been doing, rather than focus on our short comings. 

Good post mate.👍