port_bear 86 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 All I keep hearing from people on the forum is that "Walter has done a great job". "It's not his fault we have the fixture congestion, injuries and suspensions", "We can't blame Walter if we are running out of steam". I'm sorry but I’m not having that. Dont get me wrong what Walter has managed to do (so far) this season has been nothing short of a miracle and I'm not trying to sound ungrateful, the guy has done a tremendous job. However a few things that really annoy me, firstly his constant persistence to play players out of position just to accommodate his 4-5-1 formation. Secondly his fear of making tactical substitutions in vital games, when things need to be changed or freshened up. Finally his stubbornness to play his favourite players, despite their poor form and then run them into the ground before he will freshen things up and that IMO, is why we are running out of steam. With the size of squad Walter has had at his disposal, even with the growing list of injuries and suspensions, we should still have plenty of cover. On Sunday we had three players, 2 on the bench and one in the stands (Buffel, Boyd and Gow) who were all fully fit, who have played only a handful of games between them in the last couple of months and yet neither of them got on the park. Instead Walter opted to play (again to accommodate his 4-5-1)... an out of form Hemdani (who has been shi.te pretty much all season) Broadfoot who has been an accident waiting to happen all season Dailly, who IMO should never be at this club To then top all that off he brings on one of the worst players I have ever seen at the club in the form of Amdy Faye (a midfielder) to play at the back when Papac has played centre half all his career. Yes Walter has to be praised for what he done with the season so far, however he also has to take some of the flack for NOT utilising his squad to its full potential and his stubbornness to ignore certain players for whatever reasons! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearsrus 12 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 it was clear in the first half yesterday hat we can play attacking football with some degree of success and i just cant understand why we reverted back to the defensive midset after showing how well we can play. the game was there to be won yesterday but because we went back to the usual sitting back and deep we blew it, there is a time and a place for 5-4-1 and it's not for every game and i just walter would see that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delparlane 6,010 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Well said, both. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbm26896 995 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 All I keep hearing from people on the forum is that "Walter has done a great job". "It's not his fault we have the fixture congestion, injuries and suspensions", "We can't blame Walter if we are running out of steam". I'm sorry but I’m not having that. Dont get me wrong what Walter has managed to do (so far) this season has been nothing short of a miracle and I'm not trying to sound ungrateful, the guy has done a tremendous job. However a few things that really annoy me, firstly his constant persistence to play players out of position just to accommodate his 4-5-1 formation. Secondly his fear of making tactical substitutions in vital games, when things need to be changed or freshened up. Finally his stubbornness to play his favourite players, despite their poor form and then run them into the ground before he will freshen things up and that IMO, is why we are running out of steam. With the size of squad Walter has had at his disposal, even with the growing list of injuries and suspensions, we should still have plenty of cover. On Sunday we had three players, 2 on the bench and one in the stands (Buffel, Boyd and Gow) who were all fully fit, who have played only a handful of games between them in the last couple of months and yet neither of them got on the park. Instead Walter opted to play (again to accommodate his 4-5-1)... an out of form Hemdani (who has been shi.te pretty much all season) Broadfoot who has been an accident waiting to happen all season Dailly, who IMO should never be at this club To then top all that off he brings on one of the worst players I have ever seen at the club in the form of Amdy Faye (a midfielder) to play at the back when Papac has played centre half all his career. Yes Walter has to be praised for what he done with the season so far, however he also has to take some of the flack for NOT utilising his squad to its full potential and his stubbornness to ignore certain players for whatever reasons! i agree , apart from Dailly , i think he has done ok Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldC 0 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 it was clear in the first half yesterday hat we can play attacking football with some degree of success and i just cant understand why we reverted back to the defensive midset after showing how well we can play. the game was there to be won yesterday but because we went back to the usual sitting back and deep we blew it, there is a time and a place for 5-4-1 and it's not for every game and i just walter would see that. We retreated into our shell as soon as Barry was hacked down by Hartley in the 35th min. After that we didn't keep posession well. I don't think it was a conscious decision to start playing defensive, it just happened. We were then disrupted supremely when Weir was injured, and after that we created very little, probably because we were playing with unusual personnel. The only thing I believe Walter got wrong yesterday was to play Faye instead of Hemdani or Papac at centre half. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledWeegie123 1,424 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 tbh im not going to moan about systems,manager or shear knackeredness what i will moan about is a shockingly stupid challenge from broadfoot(inside the box or not) that cost us the game,and a disgraceful ref and linesman who helped along the way Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancedeangers1 287 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I was so frustrated after Thursday nights game as it genuinely was the most negative and guttless approach and performance i have seen from any team. However i can accept the defeat to raceltic easier because at least we had a go. Ok there were some culprits in our side but for the first time in ages we were brave and assertive. Broadfoot is a nice guy and all that but he is the worst player at the club and shouldnt be anywhere near our first 11. He is awful and Walter must stop persisting with this big donkey. The penalty he gave away was a surprise to no-one. As for the formations and personnel he is persisting with, i hope Thursday nights game has been a lesson because i truelly think the clubs reputation was severely damaged that night in front of the worlds media and audience, not because of the result but it really was an awfull approach to a game. I was so annoyed i actually wanted us to lose. I have calmed down now though. I know we have injury / suspension and fixture conjestion problems and if we fail because of that then i can accept that as most other bears would, but for f***sake have a bit of courage and retain our respect. I really felt for all the fans who forked out money to go to a euro semi final, they must have felt so cheated and short changed at the display put on. Lets have the same Real Rangers like attitude we showed at porkhead for the remainder of the season and if we win nothing else at least we'll have kept our dignity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
docspiderman 1,310 Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Basically we have vastly over achieved this season, we have ridden our luck on so many occasions when we have allowed teams to attack virtually without a challenge from our midfield. The team has ground out results by character and effort rather than skill and in many cases ability. We have been playing a bottom of the spl or 1st division standard central defender at right back, a 2nd choice right back from mid table team at left midfield on sunday, a striker as defensive cover for the right back because the right back could not be trusted to cope with McGeady. Now we are bringing in players, who have been out in the cold, for the most important part of the season, one of which is a reject from Charlton. Age is catching up with Weir and Dailly and our luck with injuries and suspensions has evaporated. We are not running out of steam more like falling apart at a great rate of knots, hopefully with more luck we can crawl to the finish line in first place but I would no longer bet on this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooper1989 0 Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 ffs! After reading these posts, I'm ready to slit my wrists! A few mediocre results, and now we're sh1te, Walters' sh1te, the world is falling apart? Cmon Bears.... we will win this league.. And.. we might give la Viola a surprise on Thursday. We were supposed to get hammered by Pana, Werder and Sporting? Remember? ok a wee bit of bad luck.. that's all. It ain't over! Far bloody from it in fact! We are the People! No Surrender -- ever! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delparlane 6,010 Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 ffs! After reading these posts, I'm ready to slit my wrists! A few mediocre results, and now we're sh1te, Walters' sh1te, the world is falling apart? Cmon Bears.... we will win this league.. And.. we might give la Viola a surprise on Thursday. We were supposed to get hammered by Pana, Werder and Sporting? Remember? ok a wee bit of bad luck.. that's all. It ain't over! Far bloody from it in fact! We are the People! No Surrender -- ever! M8, I love your attitude and agree 110% that we keep fighting to the end. Just frustrating that when we attack we see we can seriously worry a team, like we did having a go at raShellfish. What's frustrates the life out of me and many others is seeing us play so well, then take the foot off the pedal, defend deep, and again invite them and a host of worries onto us. Also, pressing an attack 3/4 of the way down field, only to have certain midfielders turn 'round and pass it back to our own keeper?!!! Ffs, how about getting some movement inside the box for a change and try to create things instead of being so deadly conservative. We do have players who can think on the ball, but WS for the most part seems dead set against using them. Don't get me wrong - I love and respect Walter Smith to the rafters, but sometimes his decisions (or lack or inspiration) make me want to bang my head against the wall. We have no choice now - we HAVE to go at each remaining game hammer and tongs to get results. Sitting back at this point for draws is only going to get us 2nd place, if we're lucky. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts