The reasons we have fallen behind

[gj923 1,457]

2 hours ago, Thermopylae said:

This squad of players was assembled quite cheaply and I wonder if the one thing you have to pay that bit extra for is players who are already winners? It probably does make sense to buy up and coming players and try to make them into winners but perhaps psychologically if they just don't have it then they just don't have it?

In Europe especially after Christmas we do tend to be the underdogs and that's much easier in terms of the mentality because it's almost a case of anything is a bonus rather than the pressure of being expected to win
 

Psychologically they don't have it not because of how much it cost to buy them but because of them. Our captain admitted they are mentally weak when people get in their face and Goldson was pathetic in the defeat by Hibs in the semi. That will permeate the rest of the squad and its why we have only won 1 trophy in the last few years. 

[the cry was no 3,035]

1 minute ago, folkestoneger said:

How much of that swing was after the changes ?

The biggest single influence on this season was that decision.

We were 9/9 for the second phase of fixtures including winning at Hibs, Hearts, Motherwell and Livingstone. We had Pittodrie with them missing Brown and then the piggery with them missing half a team and dead on their feet

By the time we played these fixtures both were stronger and we were missing key players. 

We lost momentum while they bought time for players to recover, others to rest and brought in 4 new players.

They told us that the reason was that we absolutely couldn't play without fans and three days later played a full round of fixtures without fans

It's second only to winning the league by a rigged vote for shameless SPFL corruption

[Hilly86 709]

Abandoned a style of play that worked, instead choosing one that blunted us and gives any opposition a chance. Only rivals picked a way to play that's almost guaranteed to succeed in Scotland, with players buying into it completely.

Too many losing the same intensity or interest at the same time and it's understandable.

[Hilly86 709]

2 minutes ago, the cry was no said:

They told us that the reason was that we absolutely couldn't play without fans and three days later played a full round of fixtures without fans...

...which, completely coincidentally, they played away from home while Ibrox was empty. Who would have thought they'd have got through a Covid-affected season with full home crowds and gate receipts?

Still waiting on Robertson not being found wanting on that one.

[ianferguson 2,619]

3 hours ago, JCDBigBear said:

We have too many players who lack strength of character.    The will to win factor is either weak or entirely missing.  However that isn't the only problem we have.   Team selection and tactics are also a serious issue.   Yesterday Aribo shouldn't have been on the park at all.   Roofe up front on his own was another serious error.    We also have to look at the squad of players as well and Ross Wilson's input.   We could and should have made significant changes last summer.   I know that I'll get criticised on here but I'd have sold a fair number of players at the end of last season.  My sales list would have been Hagi (too slow and lacks stamina), Kamara to get the best price for him at that time, Kent for best price at the time and because he can be extremely erratic, Goldson if he refused to extend his contract, Barisic if he definitely wanted away, Itten as his style was totally wrong for our play.    Use some of the proceeds to lower the debt and the rest on new players.    Having said that I wouldn't trust Ross Wilson to bring in decent replacements.   I don't rate him at all.  The list of players brought in under his watch is hardly inspiring.   Hagi, Bassey, McLaughlin, Kamberi, Balugun, Roofe, Itten, Zungu, Simpson, Wright, Sakala, Ofoborh, Lundstram, Bacuna, Sands, Diallo, Ramsay, Zukowski.   We will now struggle to achieve decent transfer fees.    I'm was not impressed by the previous DoF (Mark Allen) as his list of players is also littered with failures.

To be fair dof at Ibrox is a tough gig. You need high standard players yet can not offer them anywhere near the riches of England. 

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,611]

45 minutes ago, bluenoz said:

To what extent have we missed Hagi? I know he can be hit and miss but he creates chances when we need them the most at times.

One thing hagi imo seemed to have was he never hid, aye he'd have bad games, but he'd never change his all or nothing style just because it was safe and less of a risk

Too often when faced with opponents that are willing to go toe to toe with us and fight us, our players will completely change their style, aribo for example, kent, kamara and tav, 4 players who when we need bottle suddenly lose theirs in a massive fashion

[JCDBigBear 10,830]

6 minutes ago, ianferguson said:

To be fair dof at Ibrox is a tough gig. You need high standard players yet can not offer them anywhere near the riches of England. 

I'm no fan of DoF as position.  We have had two of them and both have brought some shocking players to us.  We have 5 assistants for the manager and they should be sufficient.   God knows what all 5 of them do.    We seemed to have signed players just to make up the squad numbers.  The previous DoF Mark Allen was as bad as Wilson.

[Bears r us 30,829]

7 hours ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

No its because they cant handle the pressure of being favs to win, europe its a free hit everygame now, they arent expected to do anything, 

I have no doubt this is exactly what the problem is and why we have had only one trophy since 2015, yes a great one to win but I feel the stars aligned for us last season in the league.

The fact we got dumped out of the cups so easily in the same season shows our team has no real desire to win, and win again and again. 

[sausagetrunks 6,039]

first thing that needs addressed is our defence. 

[Moody Blue 9,412]

Refresh last summer, move some on and fresh blood / quality in, strengthen from a position of strength. Mismanaged from last March. 

[evenstevens 892]

5 hours ago, bluenoz said:

To what extent have we missed Hagi? I know he can be hit and miss but he creates chances when we need them the most at times.

We haven't. 

I've been waiting for him to become better the longer he has been out. 

He's a good kid, cares a lot and tries hard, but if he's called James Hague from Paisley and came thru the Academy, he's nowhere near the team. 

IMO

[r.scott93 9]

Another thing against diddy teams they do. Is just hammer the ball in the box with pace. We pass pass hoping to find gaps but let opponents regroup. They do it because they know they have better players than the dross and win most of the dead balls in the box. That’s were the goals come from. 
 

ive seen us do it once v hearts and it paid off. I think the slow build up play style is an habbit for our shitebags too

[Thermopylae 15,287]

19 hours ago, gj923 said:

Psychologically they don't have it not because of how much it cost to buy them but because of them. Our captain admitted they are mentally weak when people get in their face and Goldson was pathetic in the defeat by Hibs in the semi. That will permeate the rest of the squad and its why we have only won 1 trophy in the last few years. 

I think it says it all that we only got one booking on Sunday in a must win game against our moist bitter rivals ... what is it they used to say teams of nice boys don't win anything

[JoeTheShow 24]

Sold Patterson and spent hardly any of the money. The money we did spend was 500k on Mateusz Żukowski, 2mil on Ramsey and whatever their weekly wages are as well as Diallo and Itten.

How much a week are these 4 ? Should have used money in Jan to strengthen the team and get the title over the line. Get Wilson to fuck. 

 

 

[Thermopylae 15,287]

On 03/04/2022 at 18:02, SkylineBlue said:

The biggest issue is that we don't have a core of players who are winners by nature or mentality. 

I think there is a lot of truth in this ... what is it they say about a strong spine right through the team and we just don't have that 

[gj923 1,457]

52 minutes ago, Thermopylae said:

I think it says it all that we only got one booking on Sunday in a must win game against our moist bitter rivals ... what is it they used to say teams of nice boys don't win anything

In fairness we had no bookings in the first game which we won and more bookings than them at the piggery.

We have had daft cards like that idiot we signed from kilmarnock who got sent off trying to act the hardman

They got more bookings on Sunday from memory for a few cynical tackles breaking up a promising movement....dont know what they where all for.

We had a game plan for about 5 mins and then meh

[Thermopylae 15,287]

1 minute ago, gj923 said:

In fairness we had no bookings in the first game which we won and more bookings than them at the piggery.

We have had daft cards like that idiot we signed from kilmarnock who got sent off trying to act the hardman

They got more bookings on Sunday from memory for a few cynical tackles breaking up a promising movement....dont know what they where all for.

We had a game plan for about 5 mins and then meh

I just feel 1 card 1 goal sums up how far short we were on Sunday 

[CXB 4,423]

53 minutes ago, Thermopylae said:

I just feel 1 card 1 goal sums up how far short we were on Sunday 

We scored very early and then let them come back at us, as said earlier in the thread we did not have the will to keep attacking them or the killer punch and the will to win, when let them equalise the writing was on the wall.

[leam_baw 166]

They’ve landed lucky with their manager, that’s the real reason. If he wasn’t there we would be champions or close to champions already. 

[The Blues 375]

Too many players off form and none of the new signings/fringe players have really made themselves a starter apart from Lundstram and Bassey

[CoplandRoad83 3,307]

Shoehorning players into a wide 4-2-3-1 who werent really suited to play at their maximum potential in that system, and succession of poor transfers who havent improved the starting 11.

Over the period domestically the change in system has generally made us less of a goal threat and more easy to play against, and we've filled out squad rather than signing quality to take us to next level.

[Sunglasses Ron 2,503]

Time and again, when it comes to the crunch and the pressure is on, this team have come up short. They have shown they do have the ability when the pressure is off, so 100% for me it’s a mentality issue. Too many coasting it and/or with their minds on their dream EPL moves. 

[Zappa6995 3,666]

Maybe some players thinking they are better than they actually are, pish tactics and a bad attitude.

[Gaffbear 4,096]

No aggression , greegs looking like he's lost that spark to command the area , goldson putting tools away., lack of communication at the back, losing helander early doors and no proper investment .

That's just my opinion.   

[BlueKnight87 17,318]

38 minutes ago, CoplandRoad83 said:

Shoehorning players into a wide 4-2-3-1 who werent really suited to play at their maximum potential in that system, and succession of poor transfers who havent improved the starting 11.

Over the period domestically the change in system has generally made us less of a goal threat and more easy to play against, and we've filled out squad rather than signing quality to take us to next level.

Key one for me. The focus in the summer should have been adding quality that takes places in the 11 and challenges other to fight for their spot. 

We added more sqaud players something we've done too many times. 

Look at the 11 on Sunday. Only Lundstram and Ramsey from our last 2 windows made the 11.