Celtic's form is making things seem worse.

Lennon made a tactical change to go 3-5-2 during the winter break. They've been on easy street since then, blowing sides away. We came back with the same old 4-3-3 that everyone knows how to counter. It's hardly surprising that they're pulling ahead at a rate of knots.

The same old 4-3-3 that got us into the position we were in prior to the return from the winter break you mean? The formation we used all season, that only saw us drop points on 3 occasions? Now, I agree we lack flexibility in certain games but to completely disregard all of the work prior to our dip in form is mental tbh.

This reductionist and revisionist version of events is what bothers me. We dropped 7 points before the winter break. We've now dropped 7 in the 2 months after it. Not acceptable. Blame the formation, blame the manager, blame Mick Beale, blame the fitness coaches, blame Dubai and blame the players if you want. It's probably got elements of all of that in there somewhere.

It does not change the fact that the mentally challengeds have pressed on at a rate that quite frankly none of us predicted or saw coming. Despite some of the evidence being quite plain to see, that they were more than capable of doing what they are doing right now. I believe many on here, were predicting a Lennon meltdown and player led mutiny by this point for them at the start of the season.

So aye, unless that's around the corner in the near future then I don't see how we catch them, without further strengthening of ourselves first. The 'collapse' or 'timplosion' isn't happening from them this season. We've collapsed not because everything about us is shite or being done totally incorrectly but because we simply aren't there yet. It's shite and it is frustrating but it's the lay of the land.

All of the normal measurements and metrics of gauging footballing success is in their favour at the moment. They can outstrip us financially and they've had the luxury of building upon title winning squads year on year. We are still very much a side on the rise, young players and young manager. A side still missing a few of the crucial ingredients to be a title favourite though. It's not as simple as tinker with the formation, play the fringe players and drop the guys out of form. I wish it was but it just simply isn't.

Edit: I mean this in the nicest possible way but a team with Andy Halliday or Jon Flanagan or Matt Polster as their back up Fullbacks isn't a title winning team. It's a contender.
 
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Forgive the obvious title.

Our own performance this year, points wise, is fairly typical for title chasing and winning Rangers teams.

However, Celtic have hit an unreal run which is about as relentless as weve ever seen this season. I think, from memory, their consecutive dropped points to Livi and Hibs in October are the only points they've dropped to any of the others the whole season. That's almost unprecedented and there's nothing we can do about that other than attempt to keep pace.

Aye we've blown it from a decent January position but, bigger picture, their form is making folk get angrier as its meaning any dropped points is a disaster for us. Most other seasons we'd either still be top, but in the process of squandering a huge mid season lead, or be second but still in with a huge shout.

It's almost impossible for them to do better next season. We need to reveal tolerance and sanity here.


been saying the same for about 2 weeks now but no one listens or can see it , played 28 won 25 drawn 1 lost 2 ........ title winning form irrespective of who it is
 
Neil f.cking Lennon leading Celtic to 9 in a row and a quadruple treble is unacceptable having given our manager millions to spend .

we are looking at being even further away from them this year .

no rangers manager should survive being 0/6 over two seasons
Totally agree.
Gerrard winning the Scottish Cup is an absolute MUST.
 
The same old 4-3-3 that got us into the position we were in prior to the return from the winter break you mean? The formation we used all season, that only saw us drop points on 3 occasions? Now, I agree we lack flexibility in certain games but to completely disregard all of the work prior to our dip in form is mental tbh.

This reductionist and revisionist version of events is what bothers me. We dropped 7 points before the winter break. We've now dropped 7 in the 2 months after it. Not acceptable. Blame the formation, blame the manager, blame Mick Beale, blame the fitness coaches, blame Dubai and blame the players if you want. It's probably got elements of all of that in there somewhere.

It does not change the fact that the mentally challengeds have pressed on at a rate that quite frankly none of us predicted or saw coming. Despite some of the evidence being quite plain to see, that they were more than capable of doing what they are doing right now. I believe many on here, were predicting a Lennon meltdown and player led mutiny by this point for them at the start of the season.

So aye, unless that's around the corner in the near future then I don't see how we catch them, without further strengthening of ourselves first. The 'collapse' or 'timplosion' isn't happening from them this season. We've collapsed not because everything about us is shite or being done totally incorrectly but because we simply aren't there yet. It's shite and it is frustrating but it's the lay of the land.

All of the normal measurements and metrics of gauging footballing success is in their favour at the moment. They can outstrip us financially and they've had the luxury of building upon title winning squads year on year. We are still very much a side on the rise, young players and young manager. A side still missing a few of the crucial ingredients to be a title favourite though. It's not as simple as tinker with the formation, play the fringe players and drop the guys out of form. I wish it was but it just simply isn't.

Edit: I mean this in the nicest possible way but a team with Andy Halliday or Jon Flanagan or Matt Polster as their back up Fullbacks isn't a title winning team. It's a contender.
Sadly correct. You put it well but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to take.
 
I would imagine after we beat them before the winter break they were having serious doubts about winning the league.
If we had started the league campaign in late January, the way we ended it in December, it would have been interesting to see how they would have handled the pressure.
But with us imploding it’s taken the pressure right off them.
 
its not just the dropping of points, its our entire team suddenly losing form, our defence is a joke, our midfield practically non-existent and Morelos suddenly loses form

there has to be a reason we don't know about
I personally think Gerrard has hammered them physically on the winter break like a pre season and it's totally drained them.should've rested them and just kept them ticking over
 
I personally think Gerrard has hammered them physically on the winter break like a pre season and it's totally drained them.should've rested them and just kept them ticking over

this makes sense

should have flogged the fringe players and just given the rest 3 weeks off
 
No title challenging side can afford the slump we have incurred since X-Mas. Celtics form is irrelevant unless we can sustain an adequate challenge.
 
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