... armchair managers (me included), put your money where your mouth is and name the team you would play against Cellic this weekend??

Fraser

Tokely    Dods    Munro    Hastings

Duncan   

Wilson    Black    McBain  Rankin

Bayne

With Wilson and Rankin playing almost as second strikers, Bayne will have to work his erse off but he's used to that anyway :021:

I would go with that actually Gaz. I think that is an excellent set up. Use Wilson and Rankin as wide attacking midfielders like we used Bingham and Wilson when Robbo used his front 3 that had Ritchie as the main striker. Of course Bayne would take over this role here.

By having Duncan as a sitting midfielder that means we can afford to have Rankin and Wilson push further forward and when they do Black and McBain,when on the defensive, can drop a bit to the right and left respectively to fill out the midfield a bit more when defending.

I would go with that actually Gaz. I think that is an excellent set up. Use Wilson and Rankin as wide attacking midfielders like we used Bingham and Wilson when Robbo used his front 3 that had Ritchie as the main striker. Of course Bayne would take over this role here.

By having Duncan as a sitting midfielder that means we can afford to have Rankin and Wilson push further forward and when they do Black and McBain,when on the defensive, can drop a bit to the right and left respectively to fill out the midfield a bit more when defending.

Why thank you  kind sir, I put it down to years of Football/Champ Manager  :015:

As much as Black p!ssed me off with his shirt throwing antics etc, you have to learn to bite the bullet and use the best you have available.  IF he's been sidelined for his attitude as a punishment then it is a punishment the entire team is suffering from and I'm up for giving him a second chance if it's to the teams benefit.

Would like to see McSwegan given a decent amount of time on the park.  His fitness can't be all that far off, and even if he can only last the first/second 45 then I think we could make good use of a mature head upfront, someone to put a foot on the ball and either have a pop or lay off to Bayne/Anyone coming forward.

Thats the only weakness I can see in Chibbers formation, somone to lay balls off to or link up with Wilson/Rankin coming in off the wings.  Perhaps start with McSwegan behind Bayne and drop Duncan from the starting XI - if it's not working then take McSwegan off and put Duncan in as above.

Kinda just playing Devils Advocate here and would have no issue if we started as per Chibbers suggestion (i.e. would be feckin boring if we all just agreed with Chibber and he'd never get his head through the turnstile on Sunday  :015:)

Feck me, I'm going to have to agree with you here HC :001:

Good team aye, I'm just worried CC might want to give Rory one more chance!!

OK - Chibber is going to need the emergency gates opened so he can get in on Sunday - I agree with his selection too.

We are somewhat limited in our selection options because of injuries but a 4-5-1 formation would allow Black to get back in at the expense of Rory and hopefully make the midfield solid and creative. It would mean that Bayne would have to do a lot of work, but he does that every week anyway.

I think Black has paid the penalty for his petulance. He has come on as a sub in each of his last three appearances without picking up any bookings. He has even shown restraint when the opposition tried to get a reaction out of him in two of these games so perhaps the penny may be dropping. I think we would all agree that a creative Ian Black showing controlled aggression on the park is a tremendous asset.

Its a shame that Hart is still injured, McSwegan isnt fully fit and Paatelainen is cup-tied or I might have made a slightly different suggestion .... and if both Dargs and Denzil were fit I think most of us would have them in for Sunday

Changes in personnel are one thing but a change in formation just ain't going to happen.

With the current pool of players available I'd go for....................

                     Fraser

Tokely    Dods    Munro    Hastings

Wilson    Black   Rankin    Sutherland

           Bayne    McSwegan

I'll get at least 7 right out of that line up  :014:

P.S Everyone seems to assume Hart is injured but he isn't he is fit and available for selection

Hart ISN'T injured by the way

maybe not injured, but fighting his way back to fitness after injury is he not ?

If Hart IS fit I'd have him in for McBain.

I would love to see a different formation such as Harry's however i just cant see it happening. Personally i'd like to see Black and Hart recalled with Duncan and Roy dropped and McCallister dropped for Mcswegan. McCallister was given the chance of proving himself in the first team when it was clear he wasnt 100% fit so why not Hart and McSwegan?

If it were me in the hotseat i would line up with:

                 Fraser

Tokely   Dods   Munro   Hastings

                 

Hart     Black    Rankin    Wilson

                         

           Bayne  McSwegan

with rankin pushing forward to support the front two and black dropping deep to do the dirty work.

Hart ISN'T injured by the way

maybe not injured, but fighting his way back to fitness after injury is he not ?

He won't be match sharp after nearly 3-4 months out but he was always been a pretty fit guy and he's been back in training at least 4 weeks and lasted the whole of the last reserve game. Don't personally rate him but I'd pick him ahead of McBain every time

Hart ISN'T injured by the way

maybe not injured, but fighting his way back to fitness after injury is he not ?

He won't be match sharp after nearly 3-4 months out but he was always been a pretty fit guy and he's been back in training at least 4 weeks and lasted the whole of the last reserve game. Don't personally rate him but I'd pick him ahead of McBain every time

McCallister isnt exactly sharp either though and thats after starting the last few games!

just now i'd have hart in for mcbain purely for the reason that hart is a bigger goal threat and we desperately need goals just now.

If Hart is free of injury, then at worst he should perhaps be on the bench as he is undoubtedly not match fit and this is not a game where you put players in the starting lineup to increase their match fitness !!!

I will defer to those who have seen him play this season, but listening on the radio when he has made appearances from the bench he has certainly been in the thick of the action and commentators have said his contributions have been excellent. Much like Ian Black gave the side a lift on Saturday when he came on, Richie seemed to do the same in at least a couple of games earlier in the season.

At the end of the day, CC will pick a side that he thinks will win the game, regardless of what we think or say. I think we are likely to see only 1 change with Black coming in at the expense of Duncan and the forward line remaining unchanged. However, I would prefer to see HC's 4-5-1 with Duncan remaining in the side, or if we must play 4-4-2 then swap Rory for McSwegan. I dont feel particularly happy slagging off Rory but a striker's job is to score goals and 2 in 18 appearances this season or 3 in 36 all time is not a happy stat.

I dont feel particularly happy slagging off Rory but a striker's job is to score goals and 2 in 18 appearances this season or 3 in 36 all time is not a happy stat.

What's interesting is that actually compares favourably to Wyness' goals in the past season or so. We seem to have hit quite a lean spell not just in the last couple of weeks but past few months!

As far as i'm aware both Hart and McSwegan played the full 90 minutes of the last reserve match which would indicate they are fit enough for 90 minutes of football.

We have been struggling in front of goal since losing Dargo and Wyness and i think fielding Hart who has a more attacking side to his game would give the team a more attacking impetus. I think with regards to Rory that he's had needs to keep his head down and work hard on his finishing but for now mcSwegan should be given a chance, after all thats what he was brought here for. McSwegan was brought here as back up for our main strikers if they became injured, they are now injured, rory isnt cuttting the mustard just now so why not let mcswegan play. If not then what was the point in signing him?

For what it's worth........

                  Fraser

Tokely  Dods  Munro  Hastings

                 

Duncan  Black    Rankin    Wilson

                         

            Bayne  McSwegan

Should Hart be available I'd take him on for Barry if he gets knackered, with Rory on for McSwegan once his batteries run out.

I dont feel particularly happy slagging off Rory but a striker's job is to score goals and 2 in 18 appearances this season or 3 in 36 all time is not a happy stat.

What's interesting is that actually compares favourably to Wyness' goals in the past season or so. We seem to have hit quite a lean spell not just in the last couple of weeks but past few months!

Cant compare these two as easy as that Andrew, Wyness is a proven goalscorer who we know can and will score goals for us, Rory on the other hand is youngish, has had a good few chances to shine and has'nt shone or scored!

Dont think Hart is all that fit, so maybe a sub?  Sweggie should start against Tic, far more experience than Rory, and Black should be on from the start.

Who to take out is CC's choice.

Starting XI - Calder, Teasdale, Golabek, Mann, McCulloch, Hastings, Sheerin, Tokely, Wilson, Christie, Wyness.

Reckon HC has called this one right...

I take it Dargo is definitely not going to play. I just wondered if CC was playing some mind games when he ruled him out a few weeks ago?

   

Cant possibly play Hart in this game after so many months out. If Christie feels he has got enough fitness back then he should be on the bench and put on near the end if we're searching for a goal or to waste some time if we're winning!

We could play Ian Stewart as a triallist and tell him to goal hang. He would be bound to score at least one goal.

fraser

roscoe - dods - munro - hastings

black

wilson - rankin - mcbain

bayne - gary mac

for the next league game and

fraser

rpscoe - dods - munro - hastings

black - duncan

wilson - rankin - mcbain

bayne

for the emerald erseholes

Have to agree with HC as well  :010:

Think we need need Duncan, McBain and Black to all start in this one and hopefully the more attacking play of Rankin and Barry will make up for the loss of a striker.

Question is would Charlie go with a 4-5-1?

                                     Fraser

         

           Tokely      Dodds          Munro     Hastings

                       

                                     Duncan

       

     Hart (Sutherland 75) McBain                           Rankin

             

               McSwegan (Wilson 75)  McAllister (Bayne 75)        

Richie Hart would be a good suprise package. He's the kind of 'up and at em' player that would tear Naylor (one of the laziest left backs I've seen this season) to pieces.

McAllister was absolutly outstanding against Celtic last time around - so get him in there surely!

The hun McSwegan would wind up the more excitable weegies, and use his experience to win plenty of free kicks for Rankin. Plus McManus isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, a wily old fox like Swegga should give him the slip and poach a goal nae bother.

We need to use subs to exploit their tired legs - (especially after AC Milan) Bayner and the wee man would cause them all kinds of problems.

I'd like to see the players try to wind Gordon Strachan up - possibly blasting the ball into the dugout from close range early on. His psychological instability is surely a liability that we should try to exploit.

                                   

McAllister was absolutly outstanding against Celtic last time around - so get him in there surely!

He was hardly outstanding, he was just less gash than usual!

If I remember rightly, he spent the first 20 minutes on his arse, a result of being easily brushed off the ball every time it came near him. After that he was ok, hardly anything special.

Why should we play 4-5-1? The formation we play has served us well since we've been in the SPL (especially against the bigger teams) and changing it for such a big game would very risky.

If Blackie comes back then it should be as a straight swap for Duncan.