Scottish Premier League News 2007/2008

[Captain Shamrock]

Word on the street is Whittaker will play right mid, McCullough goes to left mid and Hutton keeps his place. For the time being.

Thanks for keeping tabs on Rangers progress, Captain. Safe to assume that you're concerned about retaining the Championship?

Buckfast,

Yes I'm concerned about retaining the championship, just like the last couple of seasons. When I look at our defense, I have reason to be concerned although Darchville, Nohope, and Boyd don't frighten me that much. Our defense is minging in the middle and we're average at the backs. I have a bad feeling Lee Naylor will be exposed for what he is this season......a championship player who had played at Wolves all his life. The preseason has looked that way. The right back position is still of concern too. I honestly really like the Celtic midfield. It can ONLY be a big improvement from last season. Donati and Brown in the middle with Naka and McGeady ou wide....will probably be the way to go OR Brown on the right.....that boy covers a lot of ground and can play a bit of football too.

Boruc is out for a couple of weeks with a shoulder injury so the other Brown will have to step up. The strikers are also a concern as JVOH looks slower than last season, Zurawski is shite, Riordan is lazy(more of a midfielder too), Miller is Miller.....Killen is similar to JVOH and McDonald might have to be the man to play off of JVOH or Killeen. It is difficult to say what will happen this season but Strachan often makes shocking tactical decisions along with personnel so it SHOULD be a tighter league this year if nothing else......

Depending on who Celtic draw, I'm not OVERLY confident at the moment that we can get to the group stages...........

 

[johnnybluenose]

If your rumour is true Bucky we are in for it...

The wee lamb is left out of the side because he faints in the heat!? It didn't look all that warm in Ibrox. Why did Wattie gie him 12k a week if he won;t play him!?

McCullough, Nacho, Burke, are all better than Whittaker at right half if that means Mutton gets in the side at RB.

Broadfoot looked alright though for the last half hour, didn;t have much defending to do, but looked tidy going forward(ish)

 

[Captain Shamrock]

If your rumour is true Bucky we are in for it...

The wee lamb is left out of the side because he faints in the heat!? It didn't look all that warm in Ibrox. Why did Wattie gie him 12k a week if he won;t play him!?

McCullough, Nacho, Burke, are all better than Whittaker at right half if that means Mutton gets in the side at RB.

Broadfoot looked alright though for the last half hour, didn;t have much defending to do, but looked tidy going forward(ish)

Johnnybhoy(),

The wee Fenian Burkie fainted in the 'heat' of Aberdeen a few years ago so he could HARDLY deal with the Glasgow heat on July 31st. A great tactical move by Walter the Thug.

 

[johnnybluenose]

now now, lets not get carried away with adding h's to Boys now...

I cannot believe I'm feeling a slight bit of anxiety about this season and Bucky has the blue tinted glasses on right now...

The forwards are a wash between the Auld Firm sides at the moment IMHO,
The Sellick MF is far superior to ours because of Nakamura alone.
But we have the better Core of Defenders, especially with Signing Whittaker.

 

[Buckfast]

Whittaker in midfield role

Hmmm, far superior Celtic midfield. Do you really mean far superior?

Hemdani, Ferguson, McCullough and Whittaker
vs
Aidenho, Nakerdmotor, Turncoat Brown and Italian reject

Help me understand far superior.

 

[johnnybluenose]

I feel they are superior.
McCullough is a Forward, not a CM.
Whittaker is a RB not RM

It should read
Beasly---Hemdani/Thomson------Bazza------Burke

McGeady is better than Beasely
Nakamura is vastly superior to any Ger
Brown, Donadel, are a wash with Hemdani & Thomson.

We have Barry, who doesn't seem to like to tackle anymore if the FK Zeta game is any evidence.

 

[Buckfast]

I guess you missed the recent conference call with Walter. Whittaker will be in the midfield.

As far as McCullough is concerned, your Upper Deck player card may say "striker" but he won't be in that position unless Boyd shits the bed. Darcheville, Boyd, Novo, Buffel, Sebo and possibly Cousins/Naismith available up front. Nope, McCullough will have more impact in the midfield. So, the midfield will look like this:

Whittaker Ferguson Hemdani McCulloch

Spare me the Nakamura love in. Vastly superior to any Ranger? Unless there's 90 minutes of direct free kicks around the box, he's no fcukin' world beater. If he was that fcukin' wonderful, he wouldn't be playing at Celtic.

Cheers,

Buckfast

PS - Burke in the first XI? You're having a laugh.

 

[Buckfast]

Whittaker is a RB not RM

by Darrell King

WALTER SMITH today confirmed that new £2million signing Steven Whittaker will be used as a midfielder this season.

The Hibs man arrived this week and is equally adept at filling the right-back role.

But with Alan Hutton in decent form, Smith is now set to combine the pair in a powerful and pacy new look to that side of his team.

The Rangers manager said: "Coming into the team at the present moment, it's more likely Steven will play in midfield than at full back.

"But we know we've got someone who has the capability to do both at a high standard. That's why I'm delighted to get him in.

"He drives forward from whatever position he plays. That will be a great quality for us because we're looking for someone who can carry the ball forward from deeper areas of the pitch and make good use of that possession.

"I've always liked Steven and had more opportunity to see him at the time when I was Scotland manager. I was impressed with what I saw.

"Alan Hutton has been excellent for us since we came here and we hope putting Steven in the other position will give us a level of strength, both physically and in terms of ability, on that side.

"Both are forward-thinking players. Alan was a centre-forward before becoming a right-back and he's happy enough going down the touchline as well."

Whittaker revealed that Smith took him aside after training yesterday and told him what he wants.

The 23-year-old said: "He's already told me the areas I need to work on so I'll take that on.

"Walter called me into the Scotland squad for the Ukraine game and that was the only time our paths had crossed.

"He treated me brilliantly that time. He took me aside after training and had a long chat with me.

"He could have ignored me and spent time with his established players but he didn't."

 

[johnnybluenose]

I know what Smith is saying, I simply disagree.

Burke earns(sorry, my bad...gets paid) 12k a week.
If he is not in the first team then he should be sold on the a Championship side post haste. We cannot afford those kind of wages for a player on the bench...Isn;t that why we missed on Brown?! We could afford the transfer fee but not his wage packet, those are Murray's words anyway.

Whittaker can play in the midfield, I know that. But his first position is RB, and Hutton is crap as far as I'm concerned...I (My opinion) believe we need him at Right Back more than we need him on the Right Flank. just my $0.02

I know McCullough is just as adept playing in the Wide Position as he is up front...But wouldn;t you rather see guys brought in to play their positions rather than having the Prso's, Novo's, McCullough's of the world brought in to play their position rather than being played out of position?

And on Nakamura, He is not the most skilled, he isn't the best all around player, but there are few that can match his overall presence on the field in the Scottish Pub League. He is lethal from Free Kicks, his crossing in unreal, and he plays killer balls that make most of Barry's passes look like school boy balls.

If Boyd could learn to graft on the rest of the pitch a little better I would be more comfortable, But I see nobody in this lineup that can replace Dado for sheer presence in the opposition box and that can hold the ball up like he did when Walter insists on playing hump-the-ball-up the park rather than neat-o clever passing football.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

I guess you missed the recent conference call with Walter. Whittaker will be in the midfield.

As far as McCullough is concerned, your Upper Deck player card may say "striker" but he won't be in that position unless Boyd shits the bed. Darcheville, Boyd, Novo, Buffel, Sebo and possibly Cousins/Naismith available up front. Nope, McCullough will have more impact in the midfield. So, the midfield will look like this:

Whittaker Ferguson Hemdani McCulloch

Spare me the Nakamura love in. Vastly superior to any Ranger? Unless there's 90 minutes of direct free kicks around the box, he's no fcukin' world beater. If he was that fcukin' wonderful, he wouldn't be playing at Celtic.

Cheers,

Buckfast

PS - Burke in the first XI? You're having a laugh.

Right enough, Bucky. Nakamura is average. That is why the players and reporters picked him as player of the year. Obviously just because of his ability to take free-kicks. He is the best player in the league. End of.

Celtic's midfield is better than Rangers. The defense of Celtic is a little weaker I would say...... and the strikers are a stalemate.......Boruc is a better goalie than whoever the Huns put in goal.......IT will come down to tactics this year more than ever and Strachan certainly isn't a world beater in that area. As for Smith, he will just tell them to kick the **** out of the opponent and hope the SPL refs do what they normally did during his reign......nothing.

 

[steve1234]

I feel they are superior.
McCullough is a Forward, not a CM.
Whittaker is a RB not RM

It should read
Beasly---Hemdani/Thomson------Bazza------Burke

McGeady is better than Beasely
Nakamura is vastly superior to any Ger
Brown, Donadel, are a wash with Hemdani & Thomson.

We have Barry, who doesn't seem to like to tackle anymore if the FK Zeta game is any evidence.

Bucky has this fella lost his Hun handbook, ( this point forth to be refferred to as HH) Sort him out. He is quite perceptive though

 

[Rangerforever]

I see that fcuking Ned, who picks when he does and doesn't get into crunching tackles, did OK today eh?

Couple more results in Europe and games like this at hame = Fun for the Fall.

Come on you 'Gers.

 

[Buckfast]

Steve-o, I think JBN is Alikira-ak-bar in disguise. Hence, the missing HH and Nakamura knob polish.

Captain..... and his evil twin, JBN, for that matter.... no denying Nakamura's a good player. But he's no second coming of christ. If he so vastly superior, as described, he should win POY on the trot, no? Would anyone like to put a wager on it? I'll match whatever you want to put up.

Time will tell as to how vastly superior Celtic's midfield is. I think you will be in for a surprise. Rangers strength up the middle will build confidence through the ranks. BTW - Cuellar looks a top candidate for signing of the summer.

As you all know, the Teddy Bears won easily today. However and unfortunately, tomorrow's headlines won't be about Rangers' performance. I'll let you piece together the rest.

C'mon on Killie!

Buckfast

 

[johnnybluenose]

No, I didn't see the game this morning, I am in Kelowna on a bit of a Vacation now.
By the looks of things the Gers looked well tidy today, and sheesh, they had a wingers with pace and a class final ball in Beasley in there...

Cuellar does look a class player (didn't see him today obviously)

well done Gers...that has been a tough venue for them over the last year

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Well done, Huns. Congratulations on winning the league.


I'll have to comment on the game when I watch it tomorrow night when I get home.


Good start for Satan's Eleven. Something they couldn't do last year so maybe it's an omen..................

 

[johnnybluenose]

0-0? A well Organised Killie defense!? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

 

[Buckfast]

I blame the superior midfield. Donati will be a flop. You heard it here first.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

I blame the superior midfield. Donati will be a flop. You heard it here first.

Oddly enough, it wasn't the midfield's fault.........no finish from the strikers to be honest........but there are still 37 games left.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Bucky,

I don't think this weekend's results will matter at the end of the day anyway.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywXR_l8z9yI]YouTube - nvuenvu[/ame]



Imagine that......sectarian singing from Rangers supporters? Mind you, it's only a minority and I know none of the TTP Rangers' supporters have ever said or sang anything sectarian.

 

[Buckfast]

Yup. What a shame.

But do you for one fcuking second believe it's a one way street?. I decided not to post the reports from Newcastle after Celtic's recent friendly. Why? Glass houses.

Let's not go down this road, eh?