MJC

Shields on for Tierney.

Another problem is yet again as soon as we go 1-0 down the heads drop and we look as though we have no answer. Barring a miracle this game is done and it’s only a matter of time before Aberdeen score a second imo.

I’m genuinely concerned about us now after that first half. We have offered nothing in attack, our ball use is yet again woeful and we can’t even do the basic stuff right, like actually pass the ball to our own players. McKinstry and Tierney are offering us nothing and look out of their depth. We are a poor, poor side and this group of players would struggle to finish top six in the Championship never mind the top league.

To describe this as dugmeat would be doing a disservice to dugmeat. We’re like a pub team playing with zero confidence and zero quality.

Saved by VAR this time thankfully. Early days but this is looking grim.

No complaints about that, correct decision I’m afraid.

Looking at that line up I just can’t see where the goals are going to come from today. As I said the other day we are going to be relying on a set play or an own goal to get anything today because I’m certain we will concede.

Injured, as he has been for the best part of the last five years sadly. He’s done.

Tierney starts today, Shields on the bench, Moult still not involved.

Yes that’s true but it’s still been the case that games against Rangers especially at Fir Park always seem to follow that frustrating pattern of self inflicted errors, missed chances and zero luck on our part. Indeed we wouldn’t even be talking about going 20 years without beating them if two home games in the 09/10 season had gone our way way which they should have. Jim O’Brien took an awful penalty at 0-0 in the dying minutes of the first one and in the second FP game that season we were 1-0 up, comfortable and then are robbed of a perfectly legitimate second goal by a ridiculously bad offside decision and then Mark Reynolds sold the jerseys with ten minutes to go and it ends 1-1. Even two season ago in the 1-1 draw shortly after Alexander took over their equaliser was offside but it stood. That’s what I mean, nothing seems to go for us in that fixture. (btw the 2012 League Cup debacle finished 2-0, not 3-0 but it was still an embarrassment nonetheless).

That’s what is so frustrating about our record against Rangers in the league in the last 20 years, they have rarely embarrassed us by beating us playing fast flowing football and scoring great goals. There have been the odd exception, especially under McCall, but games against Rangers particularly at Fir Park tend to be tight, scrappy affairs where we shoot ourselves in the foot losing preventable goals, missing good chances, refereeing decisions going against us and every single break of the ball in either box falling for them.

I would give him until the World Cup break. At that point he will have been here over two months and if he is not up to the required fitness levels then we should part ways. We all know he has ability but we also know that he has serious injury issues. We cannot afford to keep pinning our hopes on him suddenly regaining fitness.

Ian Baraclough sacked by Northern Ireland. Can we get him back in just for games against the Old Firm?

You would certainly hope the club would have insisted in some kind of break clause in the deal given the gamble it was to bring him in. And going by Hammell’s comments about Moult seeking medical advice for ongoing injuries then it doesn’t sound too promising. I’m starting to get Ross McCormack vibes about Moult if I’m honest.

I’m not convinced Morris would offer much even at left mid, but I agree that that’s where he should play if he does play. As for Moult, if he can’t get up to the required level of fitness then we should be terminating his loan as all he is doing is taking up space on the treatment table.

Absolutely the first goal is crucial. We get it on Saturday and we’ve got something to work with but if they get it we’re done.

Exactly and if that is the club’s view on games against the OF then they should deduct them from the season ticket prices and save everyone money as well as the time and effort to go to them. This “we’re punching above our weight” mindset goes all the way back to Terry Butcher. He was one of the worst for coming out with self defeating talk before games against either of them, especially Rangers but you never heard him talk like that when he was at ICT.

This outlook runs right through the club up to the very top imo. It’s no coincidence that so many managers, players of the club come out with this same old line and excuses. The only ones that didn’t were Baraclough and Robinson when he first took over but even Robinson came round to the club’s “we can’t compete” viewpoint and mindset after a year or so. It’s also no coincidence that our only victories against Rangers in the last two decades came under those two managers, ie. two men who were outsiders to the Scottish game.

Unless either of our top scorers van Veen(pen) or o.g. deliver for us we’ll get nothing from this one. 0-3 Aberdeen.

It’s not just that we struggle against the OF, we rarely even lay a glove on them and that’s the biggest issue for me. Rangers were there for the taking on Sunday yet at no point did we look as though we believed we could take them and last night we were beaten before the game started and lucky it only ended 4-0. I know we are not going to compete against either of them and will lose the majority of games but it’s the manner we lose them that is most galling. There is definitely some kind of mental block on our part in these games nowadays.

The sad reality is that the majority of the squad are of a poor standard and some of them are painfully out of their depth at this level. When you are pining for Joe Efford to get back to fitness then you know you are in bother. We need to avoid relegation and then have a massive (and by massive I mean almost the entire squad) clear out and allow the manager the opportunity to try and rebuild.

No I didn’t know that at the time, but thanks for letting me know. I should pay attention more I suppose.

We’re in a horrible run of fixtures against the city clubs but losing becomes a habit which is hard to get out of. Another loss on Saturday could well be a hammer blow to our confidence, so we really need to get something.

We’ve been absolutely done over by a much better side, that’s the main thing here and it won’t just be us this happens to this season against Celtic. They are significantly better than us and a great deal better than every other side in Scotland. That’s just a fact I’m afraid. However from our point of view our long standing failings are still letting us down. We are too slow in attack, weak in defence and as soon as we go 1-0 behind we are basically beaten. We were never going to get a positive result tonight so we need to put it behind us and focus on Saturday against Aberdeen, which is crucial for us.

As soon as this team falls behind the heads drop. It’s not just against Celtic or Rangers this happens it’s against everyone. Depressing and worrying.