Where do I start?
OK, the good news is we can count ourselves very lucky that Celtic dropped 3 points and we have somehow opened up a 4-point gap over them.
The bad news…where do I start!
Can we finally say we have a problem?
Ever since the game against Slavia Praha it has been clear we had to get a replacement for Ryan Jack, ASAP.
And it was also clear that our midfield is just a total mess.
That is six months we have been screaming to those at Ibrox to sort this out, and we warned everyone that we would not be ready for the Champions League (we were knocked out), and we would struggle in the Europa league (did anyone see the result last week?).
Am I wrong to say that our team was better two years ago?
So, the question I want to ask is, is this all the fault of the players, or is it now the fault of the management?
The management team have had six full months to make improvements, but we at IN still cannot see any sign that our players are doing anything different.
Is it the fault of Kamara that he spends so much time ball watching, and not looking around to see where everyone is?
Or, is it the fault of the management for not pointing it out to him, and giving him a huge kick up the bahookie every time he makes a tactical mistake?
Could the management team have promoted one of our younger players up into the team to give them game time in the Rangers senior team, to give us more options in midfield?
Could the management even have used one our central defenders in the midfield slot to give the midfield some extra competition, and help beef up our defence?
For god sake our defenders are some of our best goal scorers. I for one can see no problem in adding a defender into the midfield role. Half the time our central defenders are playing in this region of the park anyway.
Gerrard delivered us 55. For that we will forever be grateful.
But that is now in the past, and we need to damn well get our act together, or we really will lose all six matches in the Europa League, and we will struggle to win the Premiership.
And just now there are huge massive holes in the midfield, and that is a position Gerrard should know better than anyone.
So, why isn’t he being as vicious to those who are failing to deliver in midfield? We all know if these players were up front, or at the back, they would be dropped in an instant.
There are solutions to the problems we are facing. Some are easier than others, others are now too late to implement.
Our feeling has been for a long time that Gerrard is just too nice to certain players, and he really does not need them work hard for their place.
But now it seems that not only do they condone lazy play, but the management team are also not addressing problems that anyone with any tactical knowledge can clearly see on the park.
Or are our players just ignoring instructions, and the management team are all OK with that?
If so, then we really do have a massive problem.
Yes we do have a problem , complacency , uninterested few individuals, we all know who they are . Continual selection of people who need to be given a wee boot up the arse, poor dealings in the close season . Let’s not sugar coat this it’s the SPFL , it’s poor fare and we need to get serious and bury this lot and get the league, CL spot and as many cups as we can . That won’t happen unless we get this wake up call. As you mentioned earlier the rotten mob may get better, perhaps .
We have been lucky to get a few of the points we have accumulated this season and for a few games last season. Being blunt, we are playing a very unattractive, predictable style of play. Everyone knows us inside out before we take to the pitch and then it is magnified by the fact we have players who don’t know what wearing that crest means. Our 4-3-3 is stale, rank rotten garbage. Apart from the joy of taking all 3 points in the OF the most I have enjoyed watching was the Dunfermline match when a few regulars were left out. Time for Gerrard to try something new tactically surely and drop the players who are misfiring. We have wasted the point of having an academy by not showing faith in our youth players. We all hear about these up and coming players to watch out for but realistically they are more likely to take the English loan route only to end up punishing us later at teams like Hearts, Hibs, St. Johnstone and Motherwell. These are the kind of players who come back to haunt you by dumping you out of the cup.
Yes we have a problem. I think it stems back to pre-season and guys returning from summer tournaments at different times with different levels of fitness. I believe that has led to a staleness, lack of form and subsequent loss of confidence. Having said that none of that excuses lack of commitment and effort and there’s been a bit of that too. I’m sure we’ll rediscover ourselves soon and get into our stride. The question is how much damage we do before then.
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