Muz333

Delighted to be top. Not overly optimistic we can beat Hibs home and away to keep things tight. Thankfully the January window is closing in and if we can get even a single quality creative midfielder in then I’ll be a lot more confident of seeing the league out. Ideally we’ll get more than one quality player in though as we really need another striker in.

He didn’t overly impress me tonight but I’m definitely of the opinion he will become a great player for us going forward. Would like to see him get a string of games with Grezda ahead of him and back to the Katic - Goldson centre back pairing and no more chopping and changing the defence.

I genuinely don’t think we’ll have a chance to snatch the league this season. To be fair if you asked me before the league kicked off I’d have said the same thing. Frustratingly celtic dropping so many points means we could and should be leading the league thus far but we ourselves have dropped far too many ‘easy points’. I myself don’t feel that Gerrard is doing a whole lot right in management. I want him to do well but the constant chopping and changing of the backfour have changed our team from one that looked defensively solid at the start of the season, having finally righted the wrongs that Pedro and Warburton failed to, to a team that looks just as frail at the back as previous seasons. Thankfully McGregor has been an excellent signing and quite possibly the sole reason we are even still within touching distance at the top. Additionally I don’t feel Gerrard makes the right substitutions at the correct time to change a game. You can definitely argue that he’s learning and who knows maybe he’ll grow as a manager and overcome his failings, I certainly hope that he does. Even with all that said and stating that I’m a Gerrard critic I don’t think anyone is realistically calling for his head just yet. Another full on rebuild sounds like pure unadulterated madness. Gerrard absolutely deserves a whole season, regardless of what poor results are had from here until then and how painful it is to watch. The real time to judge him will be when this season is over and we can assess if: 1) he’s learned not to overly tinker with a squad to give some stability, which includes dropping players that don’t perform for longer than a single game (or in some cases indefinitely, looking st Flanagan here); 2) he’s learned how to react to a game not going to plan and make the correct substitutions; 3) identifying and signing the required players in the January window to add the creativity to break teams down we so desperately need and add depth to our attacking options with some quality, Lafferty doesn’t cut it for me; 4) finally we can judge where we place at the end the season and if we see a marked improvement after the January window and if we are capable of going on a winning run. Even if we finish second, as I expect we will do, if we see the team starting to take shape with promises of glory only being another transfer window away then I can say I’ll finish the season happy.

Stonewall penalty.

Cheers. I fired it into the RBS account from an older PM. ??

Remind me on Friday (payday for me).

I’ll be honest. I was screaming to get Lafferty on for the last ten minutes. Hands up I got that call wrong!

Tonight was about the only time he’s commentated in our match that I felt he wasn’t a twat. Butcher was the same when he commentates on our games. What is it about ex legends that become pundits and start to appease the Rangers haters?! McCann is the exception and I hope his managerial career turns around.

They’ve backed us as much as I would have expected. The frustrating thing is we are so close to having a genuine chance to take the league this season that I really want them to push the boat out. We need some quality attacking options and depth in defence and we will be in an excellent position. Then if we beat them to the league we deny them a chance at the champions league money that would massively hurt them.

They definitely have problems at the moment as the cracks are forming. I still think we have a chance this season but I would feel a lot more confident if we could fork out that little extra on some depth in defence and some quality attacking players, especially with Murphy injured. Sadly I think we will have to wait until January until we bolster our attack. As for next season, I genuinely think we are finally starting to build a solid foundation and I fully expect our team to stroll it next season. While they will invest if they aren't in the Champions League group stages I actually expect them to weaken overall as they try to cut down on player wages. I just hope they don't invest in a new manager next season as I think Brendan is going to get continuously worse as Gerrard puts pressure on him.

If I’m being honest with myself I thought we wouldn’t challenge under Gerrard until next season and this season was more about instilling some fight and defensive quality into the team. Admittedly after the start we had I got greedy and thought we might win the league as well. Given the choice though I’d take a close second in the league this season, a cup and a decent European run to fund the real challenge next season. Dont get me wrong though, I think celtic are on the decline and I haven’t given up the league this season. However I’m acutely aware of the fact we lack depth and quality attacking players. One or two injuries to our team could ruin any momentum we start to gain. I do t think whether or not we are in Europe will change this. I only see the benefits of the money and status from a good run that will help to strengthen the squad over the next couple of windows.

I want the easiest possible group as don’t forget there’s a bonus €570,000 per win and €190,000 per draw in the groups. Then if we finish runners up that’s another €500,000 and again another €500,000 for reaching the last 32. Throw in ticket sales which we’d sell out without the need for glamour ties, TV deals and we could look to really bolster our January transfer budget.

You’re forgetting we rigged the draw beforehand. ?

This thread has reeled me in.

Hahaha, check your messages before you hit post dad. ??‍♂️

So no left footed players on the left and having Candeias/Windass out of position is to our detriment. Which I think we all realised but good to see it portrayed by someone with good tactical knowledge.

I’ll wait and see if we make some quality signings or not first. Fear it’ll be a lot of kids on loans and signing aged has been a or players that haven’t been reforming recently and hope to get the best out of them again.

After so many false dawns I won’t have the ‘feel good’ factor until we have a much better team and are putting in a genuinely challenge. Arfield and McGregor is a start this window but if we only end up with a couple of free transfers and a few loans of Liverpool youth players then I doubt we will be capable of challenging.

James Beattie for one. More recently I really thought Barton would have strolled it up here.

Our only hope is if we get a reaction out of the players from a change of management and press the game from the start. We can’t defend so we can’t hold back giving celtic time on the ball to hit them with a counterattack, we’ve tried that and it doesn’t work. We need to press high and and force the errors from Boyata and we also need to flood the midfield and have Brown man marked the whole game. I only see us in with a chance if we get shot of Murty and the players then show some fight.

Unless we are going with three CB’s I don’t see how this could work.

Get home from nightshift at 10:30, have a one hour nap, watch the game and hope I get some sleep afterwards before returning to work.

Will Murty keep the job if we finish second? Yes. Will Murty keep the job if we finish third? Yes. Will Murty keep the job if we finish fourth? Yes. Does Murty deserve to keep the job? No.