BREWSTER AND NICULAE

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

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 ??

[davieB]

From memory, Brew never picked himself against the OF.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

But would you not agree that if we palyed one up front that Brew would be the fitter, the most mobile and the more creative ?

[davieB]

He played very well today, I agree.

As I've said before, Marius plays a similar role, and today I got the impression that the instructions were 'get it to Brew', regardless of what else was on. And Marius seemed to be the worst culprit for it. He passed up on a couple of good shooting chances, selecting the pass instead.

I don't see the sense in playing two target men up front. I'd imagine Dargo would be the ideal type of player to play off either of them, but unfortunately he's not here any longer, and we don't have any forwards with any pace at all.

A lot depends on Brew's legs I guess!

[Mee]

But would you not agree that if we palyed one up front that Brew would be the fitter, the most mobile and the more creative ?

:019: :019: :019: We're doomed!!!!!!

The commentators on the radio said Niculae had passed up a few shooting opportunities so he could pass the ball to Brewster - WHY??????  :019: :019: :019:

[Johnboy]

Brewster had never seen Niculae play until Tuesday's cup tie with Arbroath...

Partnerships take time to come to fruition (just ask my partner) I thought Niculae looked very promising on Tuesday - even given the standard of the opposition - He is going to have to work on his fitness, but who better to help him with that than Brew...

Shame Brew didn't take the penalty today... It certainly sounded on the radio that we deserved at least a draw...

Certainly isn't time to press the panic button yet...... :rolleyes02:

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I'll get feckin shouted at fer this MEE but it wasnt cos he wanted to pass it to Brew - he simply is also very left foot favoured. He had two clear chances on his right foot but pulled out. Brew got the pass becos of his movement not because MN was trying to suck up. Brew simply made Marius look second class.

[Guest eliza]

The ball was being played to Brewster because he very obviously wanted to make headlines by scoring in two consecutive games against Hibs but with two different teams.    Several chances were lost because the players had been instructed to pass the ball to Brew, rather than try a shot themselves.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Eliza - we must have had twenty plus shots at goal and fecked the all up.

[Mee]

I wouldn't shout at you honey  :018: I prefer to be more physical  :001: :001: :001:

I was only passing on what the commentators had said, both during the match and in summing up. And having watched us play under brewster before I knew EXACTLY what they were talking about  :017:

[TSTtiger]

thought they both linked up exceptionally well for their first game together.some of the passing today was out of this world.we were just unlucky in front of goal thats all. got the makings of a great partnership.first half marius looked a class act and and the lucky penalty save seemed to knock his confidence a bit but he's progressing with every game i think.on that performance today dont see the need to change much for celtic

[CaleyD]

Brewster laid off as many balls for Niculae as Niculae did for him.

Both were possibly guilty of trying to make one pass too many on a couple of occasions, but it wouldn't have taken much of a change in fortune for either of them to have stuck away a goal or two.

Brewster made the absolute right decision in playing himself today of that I have no doubt, and it was done for the right reasons which I will cover in the match report.

[tm4tj]

I agree D, nothing worse than back seat drivers

Stop the bithing and go and watch your so called team playing, you know you like it, and once again the Hibs game provided us with the best entertainment yet.

Brew & Nic played well together, I did not see any of this.....give me the ball shite, they played brilliantly together as a team and were unfortunate on a number of accasions.

get real and stop this incessant mindless and **** stirring attacks

[Mee]

Sure you're on the right thread Don?  :015: Maybe you should let Mrs M4TJ finish the bottle eh?  :023:

[tm4tj]

FoF??????????????????????????

I can't work out if you were at the game today, enlighten me.

mee......... the bottles all mine, are you watching the tennis???

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I think I have discovered a new psychological phenomena called the Marius Complex - it produces a form of blind adulation in which the perceptions of the individuals involved are unconciously altered and the brain washing of hype, hysteria and hero worshipping cloud all sense of critical judgement.

As fer me - when he plays well I will adulate - it is just that he still does not come over as an international, an exceptional talent - he is about feckin average so far.

[Scarlet Pimple]

I listened to the commentary today. Is Niculae deferring to Brewster  because he is scared to overshadow him or scared to try to dominate  in case Brew gets the wrong impression?

And if his subbing was merited  do you think this may be the salutary shock to Niculae that he might need ...i.e... it is time to get fitter, more "hungry," more direct and more pacy and relentless?

In other words, man this is NOT Romania but the cauldron of Scottish fitba and you had better realise that only effort and not so-called reputations count in Brew's world of work?

International class?--maybe, but this baptism of fire must be quite a shock to him especially if he gets that sad scary feeling that a man over 40 is upstaging him  and life is real but not guaranteed by any means.

And at Parhead he may find out what it takes to be noticed by  the top teams of which he aspires to be part. An how on earth can he allegedly be so unfit at this stage?

Hmmmmm-just asking? :024:

Comments?

[Guest Glen Mhor]

Should Brew have taken that penalty himself ? Was he worried that he'd look a glory hunter ?

[+Wanderer]

Excellent game! Many positives and well worth travelling around the world for :011:

Outstanding work rate from the whole team (nae worry IHE, I'm getting help with my Marius Complex) and it's hard to imagine that Brew will improve these fitness levels. If anything it was the gaffer himself who looked the first to tire.

Defensive line looked as dependable as at any time I've seen them. Roscoe clunky as ever but rarely fails to position himself in the right place. Munro looked comfortable as captain and even though he bawled out Caff on at least one occasion the pair seemed to have a good understanding.

In a crowded midfield (Collins was constantly trying to get his wide players out to the touchline) I thought Black was the class act. Made himself available and I only remember one howler in a difficult area of the park. Just shows you really need to get to the games and make your own mind up about the team.

There was one good passing side on view yesterday and one counter-attacking team. We just didn't allow Hibs to play for long periods. If ICT can maintain this standard then we'll climb the league table.

Well done to the team!      

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

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.

Wanderer - How the feck did ya get back to China so quickly ?  :001: Marius, Wilson, McGuire, Wyness and Watt can all benefit from the Brew regime - especially Marius.

As SP also pointed out it is games like ParkDread that Marius has come to Scotland to play him. On paper we should go there as a 4-5-1 and Brew is the 1 at the moment. If he plays Marius then it is another definite Cometh the Man scenario.

[Mee]

mee......... the bottles all mine, are you watching the tennis???

Was listening to the tennis, disappointing but then he's just back from injury so wasn't expecting too much from him. Oh to be blessed with a channel showing ATP tennis!

Back to Niculae - was it my imagination or did he get a card for diving yesterday?

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

To be fair it did look like some contact had been made but he just tried to over elaborate the tumble. Feck me MEE he's not even in the same international diving bracket as Juanjo was !!  :rotflmao:

[Mee]

Juanjo just wasn't very good at diving, thats why he kept getting caught!  :001:

I only asked as the commentators did say there had been some contact but my reception blipped out so I didn't hear anymore.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Possible reasons for Niculae's slow progress ??

"His injury problems began with reconstructive surgery to his left knee, and he still has two pins in his right foot after a Wayne Rooney-esque fracture of his fifth metatarsal. "

"No7 has been far from lucky for Niculae. Since joining Sporting, he has been bedeviled by injuries. On 22 December 2001, he received a knock to his left knee which was only resolved after surgery and seven months on the sidelines. Then he began to pick up injuries in his right foot, missing several months of last season. He was sent back home to recuperate this summer, but the injuries persist."

From Sporting Lisbon fans - Soccerpulse.com:

Hmm it's been a while now since he was in Portugal...he came in under Laszlo Boloni. He was a good finisher, powerful. I think he would suit the Scottish game, put it that way. He didn't always look technically adept enough in the Portuguese league but he was respected.

He was a nice player but failed to live up to expectations.... He is VERY injury prone and failed to stay healthy for any long period of time.... If he has fond a way to stay on the field he could do well for you but if he has not expect him to look nice on the bench lol

Yeah I remember him being at Sporting but sadly for the wrong reasons. He was always injured...

 

[Sir C the 3rd]

Give the guy a break.  He's not going to be a 1 man team,  I thought we'd just got over that with John Rankin.  People expected him to come in and be driving in shots from 25 yards every game and was totally criticised till he scored 2 goals against Falkirk.  What changed there I don't know.  But we all accept Rankin is a reasonable player now.  So give Marius a break,  from what i've seen over 3 or 4 games is that once he's totally fit (remember he's not had a full pre-season and only played a handfull of games at most in the past year) he will be by far our best player.  I just think its a shame he's a striker because he is the only one that looks like he could create a chance out of nothing.  Everything else so far has been graft and long ball!