Diamond Scot

Do you mean Champions League game?

Who are the 40 just out of interest?

Both Aberdeen tops are belters.

Correct, they play with inside forwards who start off on the wing and can go past defenders on the inside or outside. They can also play centre forward. All things that McGinn has never done and cant do. At an elite level he has no pace and no tricks. He has literally no attributes that would allow him to play as part of a front 3 for Liverpool. McGinn is an attacking midfielder, somebody who can use his body, can see a pass, can link play, hold up the ball, chase people down and ghost into the box to get shots off. Thats where he plays best for Scotland and where he played best for Villa before they bought somebody better.

Liverpools wide men have pace and the ability to go past a defender. McGinn has neither. If he played out wide all a defender would have to do is not commit but get close enough to stop the cross. The reason that McGinn is so good in a more central role is that his base is strong and he is good at linking play. He is a similar style to Shakiri when he was at Liverpool or Coutinho. Neither of whom were successful playing on the wing. I suspect the reason he may now be available is Villa's purchase of Coutinho who plays in McGinns preffered role and clearly is seen as an upgrade. Id like to see him move to Spurs as they dont have anybody obviously better in that position.

I think its all relative. 4.5 million for Liverpool is about the equivilent of 250k for the Old Firm. Nobody would bat an eye at the Old Firm buying a young prospect for that, even if they are never heard of again. Its pretty much a no lose situation for Liverpool. Bring him in and see how he progresses. If he doesnt meet the standard then theres a good chance he will go on loan to a championship club or league 1 club. All of whom could easily pay a couple of million to turn into a permament deal. Absolute worst case scenario they lose 4.5 million which wont make a dent. However if he goes on to become a good back up to TAA then 7.5 million is a steal for their budget. If he becomes good enough to become 1st choice then they could move TAA on for 60 odd million and will have won a watch. Likewise for Ramsey its pretty much a no brainer. Even if he never gets 1 single minute for the 1st team he will have a very healthy career and be a wealthy man.

Was having a discussion on here at the end of the season about Rangers actions not being consistent with their stated business model and most wete saying they were confident Arfield, Davis and McGreggor wouldnt be resigned. Add in Goldson as an unexpected signing and that rewlly blocks the pathway for the likes of McCrorie, King and Lowry. Think McCrorie will probably push for a move but King and Lowry will stick around for at least another year to see what happens.

I dont neccesarily disagree but you only have to look at the uproar on here with McTominay playing RCB to see the issues. I do think fans underestimate the level of detail that goes into the game nowadays. I played at a decent level but was lucky enough to spend some time with a coach at a big club recently who showed me a typical training session. The level of detail and prep blew my mind. It was more like American football with a playbook. Ie if the ball goes here then player x goes here, player y goes here etc. Different scenarios for different outcomes etc.

Hard to tell on this place at times lol

He would need to learn the discipline needed for CM. Not saying he couldnt it indeed he might already know how to play it. One of the strange but good things about his LCB role for Scotland is that he doesnt actually need to be that discplined as he can move forward knowing there are still 2 CBs. He would need to choose his runs much more carefully as a CM.

On the left of a 3 with somebody like Gilmour right and a holding mid like Jack sitting? Of course I could be wrong but I just cant see it. Doesnt fit in with any of his main strengths.

Fixture scheduling isnt random and never has been. There are lots of criteria programmed into a computer and then the fixtures from that point on are random.

Just out of interest where would Robertson / Tierney play in the formation? Tierney isnt a centre mid so couldnt play as one of the 3. Would you be suggesting he plays as one of the 2 off the striker with McGinn as the other 1? Ive heard people suggest tierney plays as a holding mid however his best attributes are tacking and attacking. The best holding mid rarely tackle as such, they intercept and never really attack.

Read the rest of the post. A players current wages will affect the selling clubs ability to realistically turn down an offer. The same way the length of contract remaining will affect the selling price. If you think transfer fee is based solely on ability then you are deluded.

The transfer fee has little to do with the squad status of the buying club. The reason Patterson went for double (other than the points raised above) is that he will have been on at least double the wages and Rangers could afford to hold out for much more money. If Everton bid 5 million for Patterson ans Rangers turned it down then Patterson couldnt really complain / cause problems as he would already be getting the wages of a 5 million type player. Ramsey at Aberdeen wouldnt have been so the 1st thing his agent would have been saying to Aberdeen is, if you think he is currently worth more than 5 million then we expect a new contract reflecting that. Thats how football works and given Aberdeen wouldnt be able to afford said wage, they have no real option but to sell for the best price they can get.

Its funny how people see things differently. Watching at the time I thought it was Ralstons fault but I was already annoyed at him for his role in the 1st so before I posted I watched a couple of times before just to make sure I wasnt being harsh, then thought if anything it was more glaringly his fault. We all see things things differently though so totally respect others views.

I have zero desire to return to the solid defensive setup and tey and steal a goal if possible approach. As poor as the last 3 games have been, Scotland have played some of the best football ive seen them play under Clarke. During large spells against deceng teams we have looked the better side. Rather than chop and change the manager we should be working on firstly getting back to that, then progressing to how to dominate games but also know how to manage then during the spells in games where the other side have abit of the ball. The only other thing that should be a priority is deciding what to do when Tierney isnt playing.

Because defending isnt just about the final act. Hanley and Hendry and both in good positions. They cant press the passer as he is in midfield, they cant push out as it would leave 2 much space in behind and they cant drop deeper as generally thats not a good thing to do in the context of a wider game. Yes, when the ball is played Hendry could and probably should have turned abit quickly but at that stage its always a reaction thing. It was Ralstons man, in that phase of play. He is lazy when tracking / doesnt recognise the danger and then just gives up the ghost / hopes somebody else will bail him out. Not tracking a man is criminal at any level. Its so hard to play CB when the rest of the team arent tracking as its almost impossible to position yourself accodingly. Fact is, if Hendry had reacted better then at best theres a chance the goal would have been prevented. If Ralston gets goal side and stays goal side when the guy gets off the floor then its not a goal. Its probably unlikely the ball even gets played. Go back and watch it again and concentrate in the scorer from the point the GK humps the ball forward.

Problem with these types if players is that they will be on good money at the Old Firm. They wouldnt get the same amount if they were to move to another Scottish club now, especially if the Old Firm wanted any kind of small fee for them. Career wise as long as they are playing then theres no real harm. Ie Middleton has played alot of football and has still been getting his Rangers wage. Leave now and he would be getting the same football but probably half the money.

2nd goal. The goalscorer is lying on the ground about 40 yards out when ball goes into the midfielder. Ralston is standing right beside him. Guy gets up, starts a gentle run, Ralston makes no attempt to get goal side, midfielder gets on the ball, guy starts running faster (not a sprint), again Ralston just matches his pace whilst behind him, gut then sees the pass and increases his speed. Ralston just stops, leaving the guy a free header. Ralston had 3 opportunities to stop that goal. Even if he had continued sprinting then the finish becomes harder. All Hendry does is get caught under a very good pass, nothing he can do about the run at that stage. 1st goal was a classic "Barosic" against Celtic type where the players just dont deal with it and are unaware the players coming in behind. This is less Ralstons sole fault as there were 3 of them but Ralstons the nearest the ball, its on his favoured foot and he is flat the the goal rather than facing it so less chance of an OG. He just doesnt deal with it. McGinn could have done the same but he at least has ths excuse of Ralston being in front of him and it being on his wrong foot.

Totally agree and with what Cal Craig said. No idea how to double qoute. Kingsley at Hearts has been mentioned. Ive not seen enough of him to rate his quality but he plays in a similar way. 1 thing we have seen from Interntional football is that structure is almost as important as quality so playing a "lesser" player to keep the same shape and style of play might be the way forward. I think most agree that theres no point playing the likes of Cooper or McKenna as an attacking, ball playing LCB. One thing ive been very disappointed in these games is how slowly our "best" centre backs are at shifting the ball. Hendry and Soutter in particular are labelled as ball playing CBs however even with zero pressure on them they have no idea of the picture around them until they receive the pass, take a touch and look up. Then the pace of the pass they do play is very slow rather than the more crisp passing you see from better players. I wonder if thats partly because of the standard they play in at club football.

Worst performance and result for a long time. Attitude and ability both shocking. Funny to see the different reactions on here though. McTominay and Robertson in particular seem to be getting the brunt of it. Robertsons been very poor, McTominay not so poor imo but also not good. However guys like McGinn have been a waste of a shirt. Ralston is so far out his depth its unreal. The 2nd goal is schoolboy stuff. Even McGreggor has been very poor.

We need to be careful about making changes for changes sake. For example the majority said Hickey was horrible at RWB and shouldnt play there again. Ralston comes in and plays well against a very poor Armenia side and all of a sudden he is the fans favourite. He then costs the 1st 2 goals against better opposition. Theres a reason he doesnt play in Celtics big games as he gets found out. Similar to McTomminay at the back. Hendry comes in and again has a really poor game when asked to step up. All our best players are out of form atm. McGinn has been as poor as ive ever seen the last 3 games. Some guys need a rest but we need to not replace them with guys who are clearly nowhere near the standard required to take us forward.

I dont disagree but like most things it about finding the right balance. Cooper was really poor against Ukraine and I dont think he is particuarly comfortable on the ball so I wouldnt play him LCB again. If he is to be considered it would be in the CB role. Id be more than happy for McKenna to get a run at LCB if Tierney isnt available. Hanley I think was ok against Ukraine and actually has been really good the last few years. There was a time when he was a bombscare for Scotland but he has been solid for a while now and imo deserves to keep his place. I cant think of an appropriate word but my big fear about McKenna is that he isnt "smart" enough to be a top defender. By that I mean that he has a tendency to get too tight, hands on etc. Good players will "win" multiple fouls from him every game even though he isnt actually fouling them. In the EPL he will need to learn that very quickly or he will be a liability.

Its always difficult to judge a player on games like tonight. Ralston looked good but he has looked good all season against lesser teams, its against equal or better teams where he has looked lost. People saying Hendry was solid. He got pushed off the ball when they really should have scored. All 3 centre halves moved the ball so slowly it was painful and that simply doesnt cut it against better teams. Every single time they received the ball it was a touch to control it, then a look up to see what pass to play, then a slow pass. Say what you want about McTomminay but the 1st thing he did when he came on was recieve a pass, touch and fired the ball out wide all in the 1 motion. Gilmours another who does it. They already have the picture in their head even before receiving the ball. If the opposition had anything abkut them tonight we could easily have been in trouble.