Dundee United v Celtic

ah thatā€™s criminal. Ambrose has no business wandering off from the middle there. Left Matthews with no chance. But we had both our centre backs dragged really wide from a fucking throw in.

Clearly onside - fuck sake.

Absolute joke of a decision. How can you get that wrong?

Terrible decision by the linesman.

We should move Ambrose and Matthews on in January.

Matthews was okay bordering on decent a couple of years ago but heā€™s regressed to shit.

2-1. Griffiths.

I didnā€™t think we played too badly today, we were ok but had a lot of things go against us. Thought Scepovic and Griffiths did well when they came in.

Not sure how we lost that. We were both unlucky and wasteful with the ball. Had a legitimate goal chalked off, Griffiths obviously unlucky with his shot off the post, should have had a penalty too and a few other decent chances and scrambles around the box. But we were far from efficient for much of the game. Forrest did very little with the amount of ball he got and snatched at a few decent shooting chances. Heā€™s cutting inside too much I think - he hasnā€™t a great shot off his left and his passing and vision arenā€™t anything above ordinary.

But the real problems continue to be at the other end. Gordon was good (as usual) and Virgil was decent. Izzy had one really good intervention but only after heā€™d switched off in the first place. Matthews was an absolute horror show but even at that he couldnā€™t come close to Ambrose for incompetence. Badly need a couple of extra defenders. Iā€™d keep Matthews as a utility sub full back but we probably need one other but we definitely need at least one centre back, probably two or three if you factor in Virgilā€™s probable departure in the near future.

But apart from the individual errors, and there were plenty, the whole system and setup needs addressing. Thereā€™s no doubt weā€™ve improved immeasurably going forward but thatā€™s been the emphasis all season. I donā€™t see the defence improving much when the full backs continue to bomb forward at every opportunity. Maybe this will get better over time but we continue to look very vulnerable, particularly to the counter attack, and they had chances today other than the goals where they had men in yards of space in our box. That canā€™t continue if weā€™re to have any sort of consistent success. We conceded the most goals out of any team who qualified out of the Europa League group stages and more than any team in any position in 6 of the 12 groups.

There are definitely signs of progress, and the defeat today didnā€™t really reflect the balance of play, but that defence needs sorting out as an absolute priority. Even Guidettiā€™s signature should not take precedence over some defensive reinforcements.

Terrific for Ɖire football to see a side captained by Sean Dillon going so well.

[QUOTE=ā€œRocko, post: 1060306, member: 1ā€]Not sure how we lost that. We were both unlucky and wasteful with the ball. Had a legitimate goal chalked off, Griffiths obviously unlucky with his shot off the post, should have had a penalty too and a few other decent chances and scrambles around the box. But we were far from efficient for much of the game. Forrest did very little with the amount of ball he got and snatched at a few decent shooting chances. Heā€™s cutting inside too much I think - he hasnā€™t a great shot off his left and his passing and vision arenā€™t anything above ordinary.

But the real problems continue to be at the other end. Gordon was good (as usual) and Virgil was decent. Izzy had one really good intervention but only after heā€™d switched off in the first place. Matthews was an absolute horror show but even at that he couldnā€™t come close to Ambrose for incompetence. Badly need a couple of extra defenders. Iā€™d keep Matthews as a utility sub full back but we probably need one other but we definitely need at least one centre back, probably two or three if you factor in Virgilā€™s probable departure in the near future.

But apart from the individual errors, and there were plenty, the whole system and setup needs addressing. Thereā€™s no doubt weā€™ve improved immeasurably going forward but thatā€™s been the emphasis all season. I donā€™t see the defence improving much when the full backs continue to bomb forward at every opportunity. Maybe this will get better over time but we continue to look very vulnerable, particularly to the counter attack, and they had chances today other than the goals where they had men in yards of space in our box. That canā€™t continue if weā€™re to have any sort of consistent success. We conceded the most goals out of any team who qualified out of the Europa League group stages and more than any team in any position in 6 of the 12 groups.

There are definitely signs of progress, and the defeat today didnā€™t really reflect the balance of play, but that defence needs sorting out as an absolute priority. Even Guidettiā€™s signature should not take precedence over some defensive reinforcements.[/QUOTE]

Agreed on all that.

Iā€™m not as enthusiastic about Deila as others on here mainly due to the team structure points you raise.

Some individual players, like Ambrose, would cause consternation in any system but Iā€™d like to see more structure and cohesion throughout the team and a solid defensive base.

Teams create chances way too easily against us. A lot of the time in Scotland itā€™s a punt up the park into space vacated by attacking full backs. But in Europe teams were largely able to plot their way through us.

I think Brown getting back to full fitness has vastly improved the team as his presence helps to knit things together more and he provides some protection to the defence.

I also agree that we need to be more efficient/precise when attacking. Itā€™s quite frustrating watching moves break down due to a poorly weighted/timed pass or wrong choice of pass (Johansen a huge culprit in my opinion). We need to be much more clinical and assured.

Itā€™s still relatively early days and thereā€™s been positive signs too but we need defensive reinforcements alright. Surely it wouldnā€™t be any harm to play Oā€™Connell beside Van Dijk in some domestic matches too.

[QUOTE=ā€œColin Montgomerie, post: 1060313, member: 9ā€]Agreed on all that.

Iā€™m not as enthusiastic about Deila as others on here mainly due to the team structure points you raise.

Some individual players, like Ambrose, would cause consternation in any system but Iā€™d like to see more structure and cohesion throughout the team and a solid defensive base.

Teams create chances way too easily against us. A lot of the time in Scotland itā€™s a punt up the park into space vacated by attacking full backs. But in Europe teams were largely able to plot their way through us.

I think Brown getting back to full fitness has vastly improved the team as his presence helps to knit things together more and he provides some protection to the defence.

I also agree that we need to be more efficient/precise when attacking. Itā€™s quite frustrating watching moves break down due to a poorly weighted/timed pass or wrong choice of pass (Johansen a huge culprit in my opinion). We need to be much more clinical and assured.

Itā€™s still relatively early days and thereā€™s been positive signs too but we need defensive reinforcements alright. Surely it wouldnā€™t be any harm to play Oā€™Connell beside Van Dijk in some domestic matches too.[/QUOTE]
Yeah was going to make that point about Oā€™Connell. He may turn out to be a dud but we may as well find out now. Darren Oā€™Dea came off the bench for Blackpool yesterday and conceded a penalty in a hammering by Bournemouth but I cannot imagine heā€™s any worse than Ambrose. Thereā€™s very little point persisting with him, itā€™s not just that heā€™s poor in a McManus type of way, heā€™s also so brainless that itā€™s hard to know whatā€™s his fault because heā€™s stupid, whatā€™s his fault because heā€™s inept and whatā€™s the systemā€™s fault. Letā€™s get someone in who is merely inept and weā€™ll be closer to figuring out what we need to do.

Ambrose should be punted imo.

Fuck the HFA