LA-Don

But do we have the personnel to play that way? Rooney Stewart and OConnor lack the pace to play high pressure for any length of time, Christie GMS McLean are powder puff in midfield, and Shinnie possibly lacks the discipline. At the back Considine and Arnie lack the pace to play higher up the field. I think McKenna is a little faster but no race horse. Agree that it’s obvious how to play Celtic but I don’t know if we can, BUT I’d like to see us try! We have a manager who believes we cannot compete with them which kills me. Sends a terrible message and develops a lack of believe, the opposite of what Fergie did - but Fergie had much tougher players. On the other side of things, Celtic show the rest how to play us. Pressure us and be physical and we shit it. Hearts were physical but didn’t apply high pressure so gave us possession but we didn’t threaten much.

Watched the whole game on red tv. Rooney should have scored and McKenna should have scored a header. Hearts keeper had a couple of big saves, but, as mentioned, Hearts had better chances despite our superior possession. Thought today showed how shit Rooney is. Other than in and around the 6 yard box he provides little or no threat. To get space wide it really helps to have a threatening center forward who makes a defense stay more compact. I hate to beat a dead horse but the difference between Rooney and Moult for example is night and day. Our attacking play is predictable, but having no serious threat from a center forward other than his poaching hurts us. As a result we go sideways and backwards a lot, or have penetrating midfield runs, but because we have no serious direct threat we allow teams to get back and get organized. We didn’t threaten Hearts that much as a result and had few serious scoring chances.

In an ideal world Shinnie is our left back but then, in my eyes, we need two new central midfielders. For the hearts game though Shinnie has to be in midfield or we’ll get over run from the start.

So if Considine is out what is your solution? Totally agree about your Hearts physicality comment which is why we need Shinnie in midfield. A midfield of GMS Christie Stewart McLean will get blown away by the north wind and O'Connor looks like he's running in sand. Shinnie is huge for us in there. If we dominate in midfield Reynolds is less of an issue. Obviously adding a new left back and a strong central midfielder this window would be huge...

I may get pelters for this and I hate the endless juggling of line ups and formations but if Considine is injured I’d be tempted to go 3-5-2. Think this is a game that requires Shinnie in midfield, plus we’re better with him in there anyway. Hearts will be physical/aggressive and I’d not blood Harvie for this one. Either - Lewis Logan Arnie McKenna considine AOC Shinnie Christie Stewart GMS Rooney Noted it won’t happen as McLean won’t be dropped. Or Lewis Arnie Reynolds McKenna Logan McLean AOC Shinnie GMS Christie Rooney The 3-5-2 is harsh on Stewart being man of the match against thistle but he can’t be a wing back with his mobility, and Christie doesn’t track back as well as GMS. Regardless, 2-1 us, Christie and Rooney.

So odds on Maynard being punted and McGinn being #10 for the St. Mirren game? I’d say pretty good.

So is Nicky Maynard giving him his number 10 shirt back since he doesn’t use it?

My reaction too. Delighted to have him back and I expect a motivated McGinn to have a clear influence on the team. Too long of a contract though, but I guess that shows how badly we need him, and it took that to get him ahead of the Edinburgh clubs. Good signing!

Merry Christmas to you all! Not even 10 on Christmas Eve but the baby is in bed and I’ll be passed out within an hour. Here’s my xmas wish list - Shay gets his old form back A new central defender to partner McKenna, a cross between Miller and McLeish A 2018 version of Lee Richardson A left back, anyone like McMaster, Rougvie, even David Robertson Stewart gets pace Wright gets consistency Shinnie gets cloned McLean gets to fuck McInnes gets balls Maynard gets 30 goals between now and May! McGinn gets re-signed

It’s not simply Scotland, I teach and coach in the US and it’s such a pussy generation. Gone are the days of teams with hard as nails McLeish, Miller, Rougvie, Cooper, and Simpson for example. That’s 5 true winners and leaders in one team. Other than Shinnie, who displays that tough mentality/quality? That’s a winners mentality to me, and key positions like central defense and center mid must have that. We have Reynolds and McLean ffs. I think we’re a mentally weak team that when we get roughed up or face pressure we struggle. Up to a manager to sign players who can handle that. Problem is our manager doesn’t really display it either, we’re a nice team with a nice manager. I’m a fan of Lennon, that’s a winner in the Miller mold to me, bit of a cunt but confident, big balls, and a true leader!

I think what made Willie so special was desire. Hard as nails and refused to lose regardless of who we played. DM take note.

I believe it was injury and illness that led to May Logan and McKenna all being left out but I don’t think tactics would have changed had they been available. Read a little of DMs post match interview which talks about luck. In my opinion luck means fuck all, you create your own luck, Celtic got the breaks because they attacked for most of the game. We defended for large parts and as much as they got lucky on goals they missed chances too. In the hour I watched I think we had one Stewart shot. Going to win fuck all with that regardless of luck.

Watched the game for an hour but had to deal with a baby so didn’t see the last 30 mins. I thought some players played well but I thought tactically we got it wrong again. We sat far too deep too often again and let Celtic knock it around. Dropping to the half way line is one thing but it still means we’re chasing the game and it’s physically and mentally draining. Other than a ten/fifteen minute spell in the first half it was Celtic possession, attack, win it, and we struggle to keep possession. At times we weren’t bad but still so much long ball which is shit. We didn’t press Celtic enough to scare them. We didn’t have a go. Very disappointing yet again as they are not that good. I suppose I’ll add that from what I saw Ball did ok, no better or worse than Shay. Stewart and GMS looked lively. Shinnie worked his bollocks off as usual. If only we had 3 Shinnie’s in the middle of midfield.......ignoring the yellow cards. Didn’t think the back 4 in general were bad but don’t think we get much from OConnor McLean or Rooney. These are such important positions yet are our weak links. Long ball to Rooney doesn’t help but we get little link play from him and OConnor and McLean are mean to be heavily influential in the positions they play and simply are not.

I don't agree regarding Rooney but you do have a point about personnel. In my eyes, the way to press high is to get the two wide guys to push up and press the full backs forcing the ball centrally - GMS and Wright have the pace to do that, as does Stevie May. The midfield is tight marking and closing space, McLean and Shinnie can, but O'Connor is limited. Our defense has to push up too and not sit too deep, and then Considine could get exposed for his lack of pace. If you are asking Rooney to press the entire back 4 he doesn't have the pace for that but who does? He's capable of playing this system if his job is to be responsible for the two central defenders. I'd say we're vulnerable if Considine plays, but if you move Shinnie to left back to compensate then we're definitely weak in central mid, especially with Christie unavailable and Tansey injured. Based on this, I'd go with - Lewis Logan-Arnie-McKenna-Considine McLean-Shinnie Wright-May-GMS Rooney Considine is clearly the weak link but you have Shinnie and GMS to help. I think this is a game we must have Shinnie in midfield. Never seen May in that role but his pace, effort and aggression would help there.

This has been the case for the last 2-3 years. Pressure them high up the park, limit time and space, and they’re vulnerable. It’s no secret and Levein is no genius. Celtic have dropped points in 6 of 18 premier games, they are there for taking advantage of. However, DM pretty much always within the last 2-3 years, with the exception of the Scottish cup final, goes with the opposite approach and it fails every time. We give them time and space and try to absorb pressure. Again, no genius, it doesn’t work.

Was never really a fan. He’s not a Christie, I’d say he’s more of a GMS. At 31 what does he offer than we don’t already have? We’d be paying too much for a guy on a downward turn in his career. If we had the choice, I’d much rather have McGinn back.

I think it’s better for us that the Patrick game is Celtic’s bounce back game. However, our game is all about our manager, our tactics, and our preparation. The players need to believe they can win and need the tactics to win. We know what to do, plenty of teams have shown Celtic’s weakness, especially hearts and anderlect recently. The cup final performance showed were capable, and we’re a better team than most, if not all teams who have taken points off Celtic this season in the league.

There is pretty much nothing to suggest we’ll do well in this game. DMs tactics against Celtic are awful, too defensive and generally shite, sit back and let them play, only to get a beating. The only time I’ve been impressed with a Celtic game in recent memory was the cup final. Our efforts over the last couple of years have been awful, why would it be any different? It kills me seeing our tactics against the old firm, Rangers are wank and a number of teams have exposed that, plus Celtic have dropped points in 6 games so far this season, they aren’t that great. If we had a go we are capable. I’ll go for 3-1 them, McLean with the goal.

Hate to say it but I miss snow. 85 degrees here, dodging the fires! Apocalyptic here!!

Worth a look? A flair midfielder and with us losing Christie and Stewart surely this is the type of player we should consider. See he’s linked with Celtic, think we can one up them by stressing that Christie and GMS went there and look what happened. I see him kind of like John McGinn and Stevie Mallan, players we should have gone in for when we had a chance, worth the risk.

Fragile in the sense they need constant approval and reassurance. They post pics online so that they get likes, positive comments and compliments etc. Kids are known to remove their pics pretty quickly if they don’t get instant positivity. But then they get destroyed when the get negativity, insults, or no feedback at all.

Online bullying is worse than bullying was in our day. As kids we’d get picked on, names etc and a fight in front of a few people, maybe word got round the school. In the current generation kids live their lives online, people are more self conscious, fragile, and craving attention. So many live their lives seeking approval, who likes their pics on Facebook, how many people respond etc. it’s awful but very real and very serious. Image is everything and when you get attacked, put down, and humiliated on social media it is, to some, like putting it on tv, in an ad, and advertising to the whole world. Public humiliation in front of millions. I live and teach in LA. Online bullying is very serious and I see the damage it causes. Way worse than in our day. Our generation doesn’t really give two shits but it’s very different to this generation. Fucked up I know.

This is one thing that drives me nuts about DM. No way Ball or Maynard should see the field, their spots should be given to youth. Punt them and sign a needed player! Don’t know what the fuck happened to Craig Storie but since he’s still at the club it suggests we see something in him so play him before Ball. Maynard is gash, he’s done nothing, no clue how people defend him. We’ve got Frank and Seb Ross, as well as Scott Wright who can definitely play as badly as him, if not better!

A priority for you but no way a priority when you look at the team surely. Logan is off form but excellent on his day. Can’t say that about Considine, McLean, O’Connor, Tansey to date, and GMS, Stewart, and May have yet to play a great game. Surely other positions take priority before we sign another right back?? I definitely agree in regard to a central defender as mentioned, someone to pair with McKenna. Something up with Arnie plus he’s 35 anyway. While I’d prefer experience the boy Jack Hendry sees to be rated??