More pictures of anguish and woe. Hopefully on Friday I will be posting pictures of joy, off a famous victory or of even a goal.
That would be a start and an improvement.
As usual click on the picture above to reveal the delights of defeat.
Share this article
0 comments
Comments are closed.
I’ve thought rather a lot about the events of the last 10 days or so. My initial kneejerk reaction was similar to what I’ve read on a lot of the blogs and, realizing that this was probably unreasonable given how young the season is, I’ve neglected to comment.
I know you’ve said this before. We have no God given right to win every single game. It’s completely unrealistic. The gap between the perennial top two and the rest of the league has significantly narrowed since the break up of the Seville team. SPL teams now put out a side and a formation that, essentially, prevents them from getting absolutely humped. On a good day when the team selection is correct and we get an early goal it’s a foregone conclusion that we’re going to win comfortably. When we go out with the attitude that we’re better than everyone else, take a non-chalant stab at a penalty and then neglect to up our game, the opposition smell blood and we draw or lose. A combination of bad player attitude and the manager being forced into unorthodox formations/player selection in certain positions has completely hamstrung us in the last two games. As you’ve pointed out, with our “best” 3/4 players out, the squad depth is not what we thought. Any good team struggles in that situation. I fail to see any formation or selection of players in certain positions that would change that.
There is definitely a distinct lack of creativity and vision in the current best fit 11. In the absence of injured players we are not good enough to continually pass the ball laterally in the hope of finding the killer pass. We don’t even excel at that at full strength. Our current 11 are too ponderous and allow teams to get back and play their preferred 9-1-0, especially in the SPL. Our best performances last season came from direct football that is defined by quick, incisive passing, rapid counter-attacking, accurate crosses (Izaguirre) into the box and the clever interplay between Hooper and Stokes. We didn’t throw everyone forward, the centre mids mostly played very deep, kept possession, protected the defence and played the sensible ball to initiate an attack or prevent a loss of possesion. As Lennon did in his day. Now all of a sudden we’re throwing Ki forward because he can shoot.
I am absolutely in favour of giving Commons a few games on the bench (and a chance to get fully fit/off the McDonald’s dollar menu) whilst giving McCourt a chance to shine..in the hole or up front. Totally agree with the comments from Celtic Daft, Mark T and Seanbhoy in that regard. It’s an absolute no-brainer in my book, but I understand Lennon’s reluctance, to some degree, as it is something of a gamble..but, at the end of the day, come on we’re not the stoic side from the other side of the city. I agree with you, the way we employ him is absolutely insulting. We’ve talked about this before, use him the correct way and he’s a player. I’m a fan.
Anyway, a few thoughts. If you didn’t fall asleep before the end, feel free to vociferously disagree everyone. Having lived in the US for 8 years now I have mostly shed my genetic Scottish morose pessimism, so my comments may be slightly tainted 😉
I very much enjoy the contrasting opinions on the blog and the levity in the face of adversity. Keep up the good work mate. Hopefully I’ll make it back over Christmas to take in a game and perhaps a jar with some of the bloggers/commenters.
Cheers
I will answer fully when I’m not rushing out the door with jnr but thanks for the kind word. The coomentors make the blog I just give them the platform and a poke. 🙂