After the Ross County game I agreed with everything Neil Lennon had to say about the performance and was heartened that at least he recognised the deficiencies and was going to do something about it. He pointed the finger at Samaras and Fortune. So why the fck are they still playing on Thursday night. How bad is Daryl Murphy that he does not start ahead of either of them? Everyone knew that the defence was poor yet we are now weaker with two full backs that cannot defend and a new centre half giving an impression of a slow Bobo Balde. Hooiveld won’t do, if he was half as good as he thinks he is we would have a great player on our hands. The whole game just now is about pace, pace at the back and pace in breaking forward. Something that we just don’t posses in any of our centre backs. To be fair Lennon didn’t sign Hooiveld but every manager lives or dies by his transfers. Nothing will ever take away the fact Charlie Mulgrew was Lennon’s first signing.
I’ll cut Joe Ledley some slack at left back as he is being played out of position but first sightings are not great. No sign of us brushing of f Arsenal or Liverpool in signing him. It was Stoke.
Now Anthony Stokes is the answer to our troubles. It’ll be nice to know when we go to Easter Road that we bought the new stand.
The board have trumpeted asset management and whilst I cannot grumble at the money on offer for McGeady just where was the asset management in Boruc. Would it not have been better keeping Boruc for the final season as he is comfortably £1m better than Zaluskas and may well be the difference at the end of the season? He was a decent keeper and we have not replaced him with anybody better. Zaluskas is a poor Rab Douglas.
We have no leaders on the park. Never mind a captain, from 1 through 11 there is nothing. No spine, no commanding keeper, no rock of a centre half no quality in midfield. Defenders that can’t defend and forwards that can’t score. Doesn’t add up to very much does it.
I spent all day on Thursday telling anyone that would listen that I’d be disappointed if we go out tonight. I’m not only gutted that we did but the manner of defeat was the same old same old our defence cut to shreds at every turn and insipid attacks. What the hell happens when we sit our backsides on a plane at Glasgow airport? Why do teams suddenly forget how to play football? This isn’t the first time, I wish it was the last but I won’t hold my breath. At least Dundee United and Motherwell both managed to score an away goal in Europe and both managed results away from home that would have seen us through. Even wee Craig Brown put up more of a fight than our entire team.
I’ll take no pleasure in their humblings in the Champions League and quite frankly couldn’t care less. For all those that mock them, their money problems, their tax issues, their lack of signings just one thing.
What does it say of us that were second best to them?
