I didn't hear or see any of the action of today's game but I'm wondering if its time we time brought Black back into the side. He seemed to be slated and condemned by many on here (somewhat unfairly in my opinion) for his red card against Falkirk and from what I'd seen of his performances he was way off the form he'd shown last season. Saying that with the loss of Wyness & Dargo our limitations up front are obvious all too see so surely the onus is on the midfield to contribute more. Surely its obvious to see that Black has more to offer than certain players that our manager continues to play week in week out. Still maybe suspension will rectify that  :006:

I agree kencar, Blackie was given too hard a time over the Falkirk debacle.

I'm a big Black fan and feel we need him in the team.

My midfield would be :-

Wilson, Black, Duncan and Rankin.

I apologise to Roy McBain who's been good in recent weeks but I'd like to see the above given a chance.

I think the midfield been doing just fine with Black out the team ! I've got nothing against Black but McBain and Duncan are bang in form and deserve their starting places.

That's part of the beauty of being of being a supporter RednBlackComeback its all about opinions - ultimately no one is 100% right

Saying that when your most potent goal scoring threats are unavailable you need a bit of creativity/class from midfiled

That's part of the beauty of being of being a supporter RednBlackComeback its all about opinions - ultimately no one is 100% right

I'm always right !  :004: :003:

In case its gone unnoticed it is the present midfield who've been scoring lately.

Personally I think that if Black was deemed to be up to the task he'd be in the starting team. None of us know what goes on on the training ground so dont really have a right to decide who should or shouldn't be on the park. I for one put my trust in the management team to recognise who deserves the starting places.

well done alex you win first place

now baagger off and unregister yourself or something.  the time will come to bring black back eventually, today wouldve been as good a day as any, unless youve got the charlie christie philosophy on team selection.

thats trial and error.  if we win a game we keep the same formation regardless of opposition, if we play ok and lose then we dont change, we have to lose several games in a row for a change to be forced.  one of the two main reasons we need a squad larger than 11 players is to offer flexability with regards to tactics for each individual game, theres no question black wouldve been right today in a 451 formation that wouldve forced us to play through them and given rankin the chance to get forward without leaving kingston free reign of the dance floor.

its worrying that somebody suggesting a different set up might get a strange reaction around here, which there wouldnt be if cc wasnt spoon feeding us the old 442 with the exact same players week in and week out until injuries or suspensions force his hand, as we'd be operating like every other club in scotland and mixing things up on a game to game basis.

I think we could do with Blackie back, he adds another dimension and can usually make a pass to someone in the same team.

If he was being punished for Falkirk then he should be rewarded for Celtic. Bring him back!!!!

wasnt at the game yesterday but on other games ive seen and been to we are better without black as we dont have to walk the tighrope of him getting a second yellow every game he plays

Why should black be back in. Do the other boys in the team not deserve their place after their recent displays. Black is a good player but at the moment our midfield has been playing well. Wot would it look like from Duncan's or any of the others point of view if they were dropped for black even though they have been playing well?

He has suffered from his bad behavior on the field. Got sent off lost his place in the team and now cant get back in it. Hopefully he might learn his lesson.

wasnt at the game yesterday but on other games ive seen and been to we are better without black as we dont have to walk the tighrope of him getting a second yellow every game he plays

Our midfield was non existent yesterday for large periods of the game. Hearts had one player in Kingston who ran the middle of park. It would have been interesting to see Black get stuck in on him and try and nullify the clear threat he was posing.

Wot would it look like from Duncan's or any of the others point of view if they were dropped for black even though they have been playing well?

True but I wouldn't say that Duncan or McBain have been playing great recently and other players have been dropped for less e.g. Caff for Dods.

Our midfield yet again got sucked towards the ball any time Hearts had it and left the whole team quite unstructured much like they were at Dunfermline. Given how organised and disciplined we were against Celtic it was disappointing to see the team go back to old habits.

Not so much small team mentality - more a case of CC stubborness. Get Black back NOW.

I would like to see him sit on the bench for a few more games in order to focus his mind on the need for self-discipline.  The reason that many fans were upset with Black was not only his red card at Falkirk but also the many stupid bookings that he picked up over a short number of games.

BTW, the current midfield has done fairly well in this year, I don't think Black would add much to it.

going back to the point of my first post, its clear that people on here dont view team selection as a weekly issue but rather a stuttering long term thing, people saying 'dont bring back black because duncan is playing well' have no football brain at all.. theres games where black will obviously be a better choice in the middle (like yesterday).  its not even like keeping the same 11 for several games at a time is going anywhere, theres no obvious development in consistency or teamwork and we seem to go in cycles of playing well and playing sh1t.  no player should view their place in the team as a 'reward' for doing their jobs well, but thats exactly what getting picked for this side has become.

as fans we've been ruined by ict over the past year by cc, we think that a side who beats dundee united at home in the cup one week should be good enough to put on a show away to hearts in the league, despite the opposition and competition being completley different.  thats why we were poor yesterday, the players on the park were not set up right to deal with the changes

if black plays against motherwell and does very well, that shouldnt automatically put him on the teamsheet for the following week, as it shouldnt for ever player.

So you are wanting us to be like Hearts?  :017:

But is it not the same formation and roughly the same players(except wyness and dargs) who had been playing well over the past month or so, against different opposition. Should we not be trying to play our own game instead of changing the team every week depending on who we play.

How many times do you hear managers complainin about injuries and lack of consistency in their team? Then why would CC change his team, who were playing well, for no reason. They might not have had a good game at hearts but that was because the under performed not because black wasnt playing. If they had continued their recent form they probably would have got a result.

For me when black got sent off and duncan came in, the team seemed to be playing better football and have been ever since.

Whilst our main strikers are out, I wouldn't loose any sleep if Baz played up front. 

So you are wanting us to be like Hearts?   :017:

I can't see anything in the above post that suggests adopting a Hearts like strategy of rotating about 4 or 5 players each week more than minor tweaks might be needed to counter the opposition at times.

United last week had one up front. Hearts this week had 2 and played Driver behind the front two. Our midfield stayed the exact same in terms of personnel and structure. Driver was pulling ourplayers all over the place as witnessed on a few occasions when gaping holes were left in our midfield as players were dragged far out of position chasing the ball.

G - Unit was also owning the centre of the park and no one was close to closing him down for large parts of the 2nd half.

I thought these were areas that could have been looked at and changes made as the game unfolded.

Who would be a manager??

Bring back Black into the team last Saturday - 2.15 and he is red carded-  all the posters on here would be slagging CC for lacking foresight by putting Black into a 'BIG' game knowing he was suspect under pressure!

Don't play him and the same posters offer 'he would have been the saviour'

I accept that the thread asks for a future opinion but the content seems to offer what would have happened last Saturday.

Bring him back? Of course - he is a wee topper - but hook him as soon as his ill nature shows through.  I would start with him, give him a good run and play it by ear, have him accept he is on only as long as he offers the team something positive and make him realise that having the team play most of a game with 10 men is not positive.

I've always been critical of his inability to "keep the heid" but I have to say he always give us 100% and he can make the odd decent pass....

While Dargo & Wyness are both out he should get a chance to show what he could do up front.....

Better that, than sitting around on his erse....

Bring back Black into the team last Saturday - 2.15 and he is red carded-  all the posters on here would be slagging CC for lacking foresight by putting Black into a 'BIG' game knowing he was suspect under pressure!

That's a very hypothetical scenario. What if he scored a goal and won us the game?

Don't play him and the same posters offer 'he would have been the saviour'

No one is saying he would have been a saviour but he might have been a bit more effective than one or two of the players used on Saturday.

Is Blackie really as good as he's often hyped up to be? His goalscoring / assists record isn't exactly worth getting excited about is it? His crossing is poor, he doesn't make very many good runs off the ball, and defensively he doesn't exactly bust a gut tracking back. Not to mention the number of stupid free kicks he gives away.

Not sure if Black would have added anything on Saturday - in fact the way Kingston created space for himself might well have tempted Black into one of his late challenges. I thought all of the midfield did OK, in particular Duncan, who would be the obvious choice to make way for Black. HOWEVER, given that Rory didn't seem to have much strength or imagination up front and McSwegan's probably not got 90 minutes in him, does anyone else see any wisdom in giving Wilson a run up front against Motherwell, pushing Rankin out wide right and restoring Black to the middle? Wilson did OK for a few games up front in our first season in the SPL, and under Pele a few seasons before that.

THE FUTURE IS BLACK.  :024:

pushing Rankin out wide right

*splutter*