starchief

ROOOOOO -- oh!

Not many chances for Rooney but he's making himself a handful and holding things up well. Doesn't look out of his depth which surprises me. It's still going to be a tough shift. ICT controlling the match.

Hayes v Mulgrew. Yes! Yes! Yes! Samaras and Fortune up front. Yes! Yes! Yes!

A good player. 32 mind you, so no chance of recouping any cash. Was instrumental in getting Paul Sturrock sacked from Soton, then was crap at Everton but generally a good career. Will do well.

Going to be tough to get out of there if he doesn't like it. Spartak will want a good chunk of the money paid back. Given that he's probably only worth, what?, around ?3M IMO, that's a big ask. Should have been Scotland/Ireland's answer to Ryan Giggs but refuses to work on the easy stuff, like crossing or looking up.

The fact that he didn't go earlier, when the Liverpool and Celtic jobs were free, probably suggests something more recent happened than just the sell-to-buy.

The timing's a shock. My guess would be that he wasn't getting the full Milner transfer fee to spend.

Who are you and what have you done with the real Renegade!

I rate Boyd but not with MacDonald (who I also rate). That partnership of similar styles is doomed to failure. I know some will say MacD runs more, or Boyd scores more but it's like having a McCoist/Lineker partnership (of lower quality) for a Great Britain XI. Two good strikers but it just wouldn't work as a partnership.

I watched Rangers v Newcastle today and they looked very impressive. Their big problem is so few players. But a solid defense and midfield. I expect more 1-0 wins for them without Boyd but can't see them losing many. Celtic are completely dependent upon Hooper. If he can score, then Ledley and Juarez look as though they can provide. If not, they're vulnerable in defence. The Old Firm clashes will be a complete clash of styles. It may all come down to who can avoid injuries.

Esson McCann Tokely Proctor Gillet Duncan Cox Ross Odi Shinnie Rooney Odi deserves to stay in. From what I gather, Gil isn't performing at left-wing but Shinnie has been decent there. Tokely off at half-time for Golly as he's the lynchpin without Munro or Innes. Can't have him injured. Likewise, give Rooney an early rest too for Sutherland.

Difficult one though. Bingham was good but Wyness scored most goals. Stewart was unbelievably consistent but Dargo scored regularly in the SPL. Brewster was a great player for us (grit your teeth and be honest), whereas Ritchie had a wonderful strike rate. Can't play them all... ...well, maybe Renegade could! (only kidding!)

Italics = still here Bold = could have kept if we acted quick enough Strikethrough = didn't want to stay Subscript = weren't good enough when they left (even though they may have been earlier in their careers) So, on that, Black's the only one really missed that we might have kept (I'm talking if we offered a contract well before the Xmas one). Rankin's good but now we have Foran, I think it's 50:50.

It's the Scottish way though - lump the ball into the channels and run after it. That said, pretty passing will only get you so far though (The John Hughes Law). You need to have the players to be able to execute this and we just need to accept that our players aren't as good as those from other nations. I don't know why we have such a hard time understanding this. I think Hibs do have, that's why it's so frustrating. A better manager (I don't think Hughes is bad, just not good enough) and a small investment (pretty disgraceful that he doesn't get that after all the cash brought in) could make Hibs serious contenders. Under a more patient system, de Graff, Rankin, Miller and Riordan should be a far better midfield than is, with Stokes sticking them away. As it is, bang it in to the wings and get someone to run for it. Surprise, surprise we lose heavily - even to teams whose players wouldn't get into our Scottish clubs.

Oooh, unlucky Celtic. Only lost on goal difference!

Nah, that's just stupid. Still 45 minutes to go, so only need one goal every nine minutes. I mean, they already have Hooper and Samaras playing and can bring on Murphy, Rasmussen and Fortune as strikers.... ...on second thoughts, I guess they are out! Seriously though, strange match. They're both defensively weak and offensively strong on the same side, so everything's getting played down Celtic's left hand side. Hooper looks like he can hold the ball up, go wide and play others in. Trouble is, that's what all the Celtic players can do. What they need is someone that never looks up but just hits the ball to goal every time, even if that means numerous shots wide, GK catches or blocks by the defenders. Mulgrew again looks like a potentially good wing-back getting poorly played as a full-back. Brown as ever is buzzing around doing very little. Jaurez has had some nice touches. But that's it. No consistency whatsoever. Ledley looks lost but is probably going to be Celtic's best at the end of the season. The whole system needs a complete rethink. An attacking 5-3-2 if he's asking me.

Brown Tokely - Mann - Dods - Hastings Wilson - Black - Christie - Rankin Dargo - Stewart Subs: Calder; Golabek; Cowie; Robson; Foran; Bingham; Wyness

Scored on his debut. Put to bed the Indian sign Aberdeen had over us. A regular in the SPL. When injury put him out of the side, we ended up getting relegated (how we could have used those prolific goals). Part of the squad that got us promoted from the SFL at the first time of asking. Got an SFL1 club to the Scottish Cup Final. Dumped a multi-million pound Celtic on their posterior, even though he was spearheading possibly the worst team in SFL1 history. I don't see how anyone can overlook... Andy Barrowman! I still miss him to this day :_argghh:

I think Hinkel (I know he'll be gone soon) and Mulgrew could do really well with a 5 at the back system. Allows both to get forward with covering for defence. Their central defence ain't too solid either, so another good reason. Mind you, that's not much good when you need to score 4 goals!

Butcher publicly stated Esson was #1 when Tuffey signed. You got to remember Tuffey was only playing in the SFL1. He's still quite a long way to go before he merits being a first pick for anything above that. If he can oust Esson (let's face it, even GK's get an injury), then that's another step up the ladder. He's got to prove himself worthy of a starting place in the SPL (where he's never featured) by performing in training and taking his chance when it comes. Still a rookie though and shouldn't be sweeping aside an established player.

Nah, way too early for Wilson. I doubt he'd have been first pick for Rangers and he'll struggle to get anything other than a 'squad' game for Liverpool (a CIS cup or whatever it's called or some meaningless game before a Euro tie). I'd like to have seen Riordan in the squad.

That could be a difficult team to beat if Levein plays a more (unfortunately) negative game. McGregor Hutton - Berra - Webster - Whittaker Robson - Fletcher - Thomson - Adam - Dorrans Fletcher McGregor the first choice keeper at Rangers and better than Marshall, so gets the gloves. Thomson is better in the holding role than Brown, so gets the nod. He also isn't attacking enough, so Charlie Adam gets his chance. Fletcher in the lone striking role but Dorrans and Robson can both get forward, as can Adam. I'd bring on McFadden and Boyd to switch to a 4-4-2 at half-time. Got to get to know players and system for a friendly, rather than all-out to win the game.

He seemed to become an essential player when played in defensive mid last season. I'd like to see him and Cox be that partnership long-term (although I wouldn't just drop Duncan but there will come a time...) I think if we ever switched to five at the back, he'd make a terrific sweeper. Just wish we'd tried that with Tokely and LDZ as the wing-backs.

Eagle was probably on the cusp of a new deal. He looked better than Hayes in pre-season but he'd never actually played much before so the standard/fitness dropped. I think if he played regularly for a season, he would be a genuine contender for a first team place at ICT (not that I think he'll be back but hypothetically).

You've dropped Munro? Any reason why?