Brewster looked like the international today and Niculae like a 40 year old. His touch, movement and workrate was well in front. Niculae hasnt impressed me as yet and I thought today would be the day. Shurely he has got more about him. He was MINCE.

And did anyone else notice a) how often Brew and Marius got in each others way b) Both made similiar movements but Brew always got there first c) how Marius misread two classic Brew flicks and a Bazza dummy and d) how the players markedly targetted their passes at Brew.

Brew and Parky have a tete a tete on the sidelines and hey presto Marius is hooked and probably had been on the park 20 minutes longer than he should have.

BOTTOM LINE - Brewster and Niculae CANNOT play together. The selection against Cellic will be very interesting. Will it be Brews decision or will it be taken out of his hands. Niculae actually looked shocked to be hooked.

On footballing terms it simply has to be Brew - in political terms ??

Marius took a head knock just before he was hooked and afterwards was using an ice pack to above his right eye.

Stop slagging the guy!  

Yep. He had a collision with Jones the Ceiling - the big daft threepence. It is always difficult to tell about diving, but the radio men thought it very poor that MN was carded for going down...untheatrically, they said. Maybe the ref thought Romanian=simulation. I hope he doesn't go that way, but it is endemic in their game, I read. Break the habit, Marius!

Sounded to me that CB and MN played well together, but Craig may want to ring the changes. I will be very very happy when Dennis gets and SPL goal, as they have been in short supply since he came back.

I will be very very happy when Dennis gets and SPL goal, as they have been in short supply

I'll be happy for anybody to get a feckin SPL goal

Jhesus - the last thing Marious needs is a break after all his injury worries. Are you all inacapable of reading between the lines.

" I have been disappointed with Marius as he has come nowhere near my expectations as yet. He is getting highly paid and should be performing AND entertaining at a higher rate. He came here as a fallen pro with a background of significant international potential. He came here to prove that he can play in that arena again. He is obviously a very talented individual but he aint set my heather on fire in the least. People keep on saying - "give him time" - With Brew on board that time has now probably been elongated."

I am also trying to point out that he may be more cautious and/or take more time to get fit due to his past injuries.

You however CANNOT compare Niculae with Rankin.  :018:

Brewster and Niculae combined very well, especially in the first half.  Brewster was immense and I thought Niculae had a decent game as well.  He hit a poor penalty but if we combine up front like that we will cause teams problems.

Come on Chris - dont sit on the fence - did Marius take your breath away ?

Ooh, what I would give for Marius to take my breath way!......  Or any player scoring some goals for ICT in the SPL this season. :023:

Come on Chris - dont sit on the fence - did Marius take your breath away ?

He was good in the first half, especially when we were on top.  he has excellent touch and is a clever player, much like Brewster.  I didn't see anything that suggests he won't be an excellent player for us when he gets his sharpness up - he only played ahandful of games last season and didn't get any pre-season games.  As my mate said yesterday we might see the best of him until Christmas.

has to be Wyness + one , when played to his feet there is no better at running at defenders. The ten mins or so he got yesterday he caused Jones and co plenty of problems. What does worry me is that our highest earner and our player-manager will be first pick regardless of form and goals scored. 

Brewster played at Celtic Park a couple of years ago with Denzil and even set up the goal for Denzil that put us one up.  Could be the way to go again.

SP - the first man to get my drift - I have been disappointed with Marius as he has come nowhere near my expectations as yet. He is getting highly paid and should be performing AND entertaining at a higher rate. He came here as a fallen pro with a background of significant international potential. He came here to prove that he can play in that arena again. He is obviously a very talented individual but he aint set my heather on fire in the least. People keep on saying - "give him time" - With Brew on board that time has now probably been elongated.