The Daily Record's 'Rangers blogger' Jonny can't hide his bitterness. This is classic stuff, ticks all the boxes JONNY reckons Scotland have a habit of selecting players based on familiarity, history and proximity rather than the here and now. NOT since 2007 in the same country have we seen such a deflating, depressing Scotland performance as we witnessed last night. A guileless display highlighted the inadequacies of our system when faced with teams that don’t let us counter attack. Scotland have proven to be effective on the break but when we have to dictate tempo against a Georgia team with nothing to gain by piling forward, it was extremely ineffective. While I think Gordon Strachan is a very good football manager, his lack of established plan B is a serious flaw in his work. Friendlies should have been used to trial a more expansive system for nights or even phases of games where we needed to push forward in search of goals. With 15 minutes to go we needed options but as the time slipped past there was a quiet realisation that we were in a footballing check mate. A lot of people have been championing the cause of Leigh Griffiths as an answer but he remains completely untested at this level. The poverty of standards of the Scottish Premiership nowadays means it’s no longer possible to use form for Celtic as a barometer of how players can adapt to the rigours of international football. In Scotland we have a habit of selecting players based on familiarity, history and proximity rather than the here and now. A player like Ross McCormack who is playing in the English Championship, a level far beyond our own top flight, is a far more credible selection than Griffiths. It’s also hard to make a serious case for Scott Brown, out of form against the likes of Jamie Hamill while James McArthur is cutting his teeth against Matic and Fabregas or while Darren Fletcher is getting raves for West Brom. These guys are at the sharp end of world class competition every week while Brown is gearing up to play minnows like Partick Thistle and Inverness. When Rangers return to the Premiership next season, I have no doubt it will signal a step change for Celtic. The sharpness will return, standards will improve and more money will be pumped into the team. Maybe then we can have a top flight that produces players ready for the rigours of international competition. Until then, we should stick to the guys whose performance is clear and measurable in the English divisions, not the backwater our leagues have become.
I read it today as well. No mention of Steven Fletcher being utterly dreadful for multiple Scotland games yet continually starting, no, the big problem is Leigh Griffiths getting 15 minutes at the end. He basically singles out Celtic players for fault and mentions **** all else. Nothing about Hutton owning the RB spot yet playing hardly ever for his club in the last 3 seasons, and nothing about Marshall's awful positioning for the Georgia goal. ****ing hun clown.
Ambrose - (Tanzania V Nigeria 5/9/2015) Boyata - Bench V Bosnia, (Cyprus V Belgium 6/9/15) Izaguirre - 90 minutes, scored a penalty V Venezuela, (Ecuador V Honduras 8/9/15) Bitton - 90 minutes, scored V Andorra, (Wales V Israel 6/9/15) Rogic - 62 minutes, scored V Bangladesh, (Tajikistan V Australia 8/9/15) Johansen - 87 minutes V Bulgaria, (Norway V Croatia 6/9/15)
That's why I said it ticks all the boxes Just surprised Mulgrew and Maloney never got a menshy, or the other Celtic players who were on International duty whose own Managers seem to think the SPL a decent barometer. Lustig would also have been called up if he were not injured.
And more Lamb straight from the Scotsman, sounds as if he's watching Barcelona. RANGERS are rampant. Victors in nine consecutive games. Destroying every team in their path. Notching goals like other teams rack up bookings. Playing an expansive, easy-on-the-eye style that leaves you wanting more even after they have bludgeoned any competitive edge out of the game. And the most impressive thing about this team is that they may not yet have reached their peak. On Saturday they slammed five goals past a shell-shocked Raith Rovers. Usually when one team beats another so comprehensively, especially when the two clubs are in the same division, there is an equal amount of finger-pointing at the losers as praise for the winners. Not this time. Rovers were not at their best, but they were not a 5-0 defeat type of awful. The hosts were just too good. That is why after the game, instead of having a face like thunder, Ray McKinnon retained a glint of positivity in his eye. He knows their season will not be defined by how they perform at Ibrox. He also knows there is an even bigger margin of defeat waiting for another Scottish Championship side at the hands of a relentless Rangers side that is programmed to attack until the end. There were still 27 minutes remaining when Martyn Waghorn dispatched his second penalty of the game and Rangers’ fifth goal. Instead of playing the match out and conserving their energy, the hosts continued to pile forward and missed a couple of great chances to extend the margin of victory further. It is exactly how their manager wants them to play and, according to him, there will be no letting up as the season goes on. “That’s what we’re all about,” insisted Mark Warburton. “We have to be positive. We’re at our worst when we slow the ball down and don’t be positive in possession. The last minute of the game we’ll always be going for more goals. We’ll never take the ball into the corner, ever. We’ll never put the ball into our [row] X for the sake of it, we’ll never ever do that. It’s about being positive and showing good quality.” Even the Rangers centre-backs buy into such an ethos. Danny Wilson may be tagged as a defender, but on Saturday he spent more time at the halfway line, looking to launch the next attack. It is a style of play the defender is comfortable with from his previous time at Ibrox and last season with Hearts, but this incarnation of the Rangers squad is taking it to a new level and Wilson is more than happy to be a part of it. “That’s how we want to be. We want to be on the front foot all the time if we possibly can,” said Wilson. “We want to enjoy our football and the fans to enjoy it too and that only happens by putting the ball in the net. We keep going until the very last whistle.” Part of the relentlessness comes from the enthusiasm of their attacking young players. This could not be more true of on-loan Spurs winger and rainbow-flick enthusiast Nathan Oduwa. Making his first league start, the 19-year-old tormented the Raith Rovers back line and produced two terrific runs which brought a pair of second-half goals.
Really hoped the days of writing vomit inducing ****e like this would be over. Seems a few are hoping to arse tongue their way back into the fold.
It may be accurate - its not for me to say - however no context has been attached, ie the standard of opposition or the two (count em, 2) penalties. Where I do have to laugh is comments such as "Destroying every team in their path". Not the sort of triumphalist pish one would expect from a mainstream newspaper but as I've already said, it does seem as if Succulent Lamb is on its way back and the hacks have learned nothing
Oh aye, puir ****tting maself over some loanees, journeymen and free transfers. Imagine how good they'll be when Dave opens the fabled warchest next season.
One of my Hun pals was round for the Scotland game the other day. Tried to say Tavernier was worth £6m. Even the other Hun there laughed at him.
