2009/2010 season thread.

[Woodsinho]

Yep, looks like he's off to Burnley to spend some quality time with Gary Caldwell's brother.

[Guest Gladstone]

Mowbray has no idea what he's doing. He's totally out of his depth and he appears to be de-nationalising Celtic by falling into the Rangers trap.

There's talk of Danny Fox moving to the EP as well.

Yup, I was including Fox in the clearout (think it's mentioned in the McManus article).

Caldwell was our best defender - I don't care what anyone says to the contrary. Maybe a bit damning on the rest of the defence, but he was still our best. He's gone.

Signed a new central defender, but I'll be honest - don't know anything about him.

McManus used to be Mr Reliable, but has gone to pieces since being handed the captaincy. An experienced centre half alongside McManus all those years ago would have been the best bet. Something along the lines of Davie Weir, but obviously not Davie Weir. He's gone.

Danny Fox was the best left back we'd had for a long time. And Mowbray fucking signed him. He's gone.

We're left with Loovens, who's no better than Caldwell, the new guy - fuck knows if he'll be any better than McManus - many years have passed but he was rejected a move by Livi for fucksake. Hinkel's still there, and has apparently been coming onto a game, but he'll probably be sold before the end of the week just for shits and giggles. Is Naylor still there? Is O'Dea back from loan? We seem to be very very light on defenders. We shouldn't have been shipping these guys out - we should have been bringing in competition for their places because Caldwell, McManus and Fox are all good defenders in different ways, but we've just not been getting the best out of them lately. We should never have let Bobo Balde rot on the bench. That big scary bastard should have been in there all through the Strachan era, and he should still be there now.

[Moose]

Did anyone here about Salvador Cababas? He's a mexican footballer and he was frickin' awesome on FM2009! Yeah, anyway, he got shot. In the head.

Sky Sports | Football | Las Americas | News | Cabanas critical after shooting

[Alphas]

Caldwell was our best defender - I don't care what anyone says to the contrary. Maybe a bit damning on the rest of the defence, but he was still our best. He's gone.

Signed a new central defender, but I'll be honest - don't know anything about him.

McManus used to be Mr Reliable, but has gone to pieces since being handed the captaincy. An experienced centre half alongside McManus all those years ago would have been the best bet. Something along the lines of Davie Weir, but obviously not Davie Weir. He's gone.

As a Scotland fan, I was always concerned when I saw Caldwell and McManus names in the starting line up. I always felt that while they were never shy in the tackle or throwing themselves in a challenge, they both lacked pace and were a bit cumbersome. If we ever had our defence higher up the pitch then we left ourselves open to balls into the channels and over the top. Whilst I've never been a fan of Caldwell in particular, I reckon either would form a decent defensive partnership with a centre half with a bit more pace so that there were players with complemenary strengths at the back.

[Alkaline]

Yup, I was including Fox in the clearout (think it's mentioned in the McManus article).

Caldwell was our best defender - I don't care what anyone says to the contrary. Maybe a bit damning on the rest of the defence, but he was still our best. He's gone.

Signed a new central defender, but I'll be honest - don't know anything about him.

McManus used to be Mr Reliable, but has gone to pieces since being handed the captaincy. An experienced centre half alongside McManus all those years ago would have been the best bet. Something along the lines of Davie Weir, but obviously not Davie Weir. He's gone.

Danny Fox was the best left back we'd had for a long time. And Mowbray fucking signed him. He's gone.

We're left with Loovens, who's no better than Caldwell, the new guy - fuck knows if he'll be any better than McManus - many years have passed but he was rejected a move by Livi for fucksake. Hinkel's still there, and has apparently been coming onto a game, but he'll probably be sold before the end of the week just for shits and giggles. Is Naylor still there? Is O'Dea back from loan? We seem to be very very light on defenders. We shouldn't have been shipping these guys out - we should have been bringing in competition for their places because Caldwell, McManus and Fox are all good defenders in different ways, but we've just not been getting the best out of them lately. We should never have let Bobo Balde rot on the bench. That big scary bastard should have been in there all through the Strachan era, and he should still be there now.

Naylor is still there. Thompson looks like he could be quite good to but he's been chucked in at the deep end.

[Guest Gladstone]

As a Scotland fan, I was always concerned when I saw Caldwell and McManus names in the starting line up. I always felt that while they were never shy in the tackle or throwing themselves in a challenge, they both lacked pace and were a bit cumbersome. If we ever had our defence higher up the pitch then we left ourselves open to balls into the channels and over the top. Whilst I've never been a fan of Caldwell in particular, I reckon either would form a decent defensive partnership with a centre half with a bit more pace so that there were players with complemenary strengths at the back.

Same here actually. Although McManus has probably had his best games playing alongside Davie Weir who isn't what you would call pacy

The problem I saw with McManus and Caldwell playing together was that although both good solid defenders, and Caldwell is a good centre half, with a decent range of passing, who can win a header etc etc, they were both just too inexperienced to command the defence of a team like Celtic or at international level themselves. Caldwell will go onto be a very good defender I think, but in his Celtic days, he would have been a brilliant asset if he'd had an older, wiser, more experienced version of McManus, and with pacey full backs either side of them. Someone at the back who can read the game very well is more valuable than pace. It was McManus's lack of ability to read the game that let him down, rather than lack of pace. Admittedly if he was lightning quick, he would have got off with not being able to read the game sometimes, but there aren't that many fast centre halves out there are there? The best defenders are the ones that know where to be and when to be there. You know, like Titus Bramble or something?

[Lemonade]

I hate Rangers much more than I hate Celtic, however it is still funny as fuck watching Celtic completely drop the ball and just turn into a shambles, even if it does mean the huns are going to win the league. Either side of the Old Firm fucking up is a source of great humour to me.

Bring back John Barnes!

[Guest Gladstone]

I hate Rangers much more than I hate Celtic, however it is still funny as fuck watching Celtic completely drop the ball and just turn into a shambles, even if it does mean the huns are going to win the league. Either side of the Old Firm fucking up is a source of great humour to me.

Bring back John Barnes!

The Barnes era was ridiculous. I seem to remember that he had the best start as a Celtic boss since Jock Stein or something mental, then he actually got his teeth into the team, and it went really really bad...

Rangers are a total shambles just now, in terms of their financial situation, and their team is quite poor, yet Celtic are 7 points behind, because we've been so fucking pish.

I actually think Celtic will win the league this season, which is a pretty bold statement, but I've got a feeling we'll claw it back (more because I see Rangers dropping a lot of points between now and the end of the season than believing Celtic are going to start murdering teams week in week out).

[Moose]

Does anyone think the old firm duopoly could be broken this year in light of Celtic letting all the players leave? Rangers are really shit as well.

[Lemonade]

Rangers are a total shambles just now, in terms of their financial situation, and their team is quite poor, yet Celtic are 7 points behind, because we've been so fucking pish.

I actually think Celtic will win the league this season, which is a pretty bold statement, but I've got a feeling we'll claw it back (more because I see Rangers dropping a lot of points between now and the end of the season than believing Celtic are going to start murdering teams week in week out).

Aye, Rangers are a mess just now as well. I think the roof is going to cave in on them as well, Smith has already said any of his players can go if they get a good enough offer for them and if they have to punt McGregor, Mendes, Boyd, Davis et all they'll be shafted. And Celtic seem to be in a much better position financially than Rangers - they are only selling their players because their manager is a goon, not because they are skint.

[Guest Gladstone]

Does anyone think the old firm duopoly could be broken this year in light of Celtic letting all the players leave? Rangers are really shit as well.

I don't think it will happen this year. Rangers are totally rank but are still 7 ahead of Celtic and 11 ahead of Dundee United. If (relatively big "if" at the moment I know...) Celtic win their game in hand, they are 7 ahead of Dundee United. Not an unattainable number of points to catch up, but I think for a team to get into second place, they would need to be already ahead of Celtic or at least within a point of them to keep the pressure on Celtic.

Despite the fact both sides of the old firm are looking fairly pish just now, the team in second seems to very often up their game and have a good finish to the season, and often wrestling the title from the team who have been comfortably in the lead for months. It's happened the last couple of seasons anyway, and a few other times in the past 10 seasons or so I think (though can't remember exactly... O'Neill either delivered the title at a stroll, or lost it on the last day having thrown away a bit of a lead, Strachan caught up a 7 point deficit a couple of seasons ago and Smith did the same last season).

For United (or Hibs) to get second place, I think they'd need to go on a streak of not dropping any (or at worst, very few) points from now till the end of the season, and they would probably have to beat Celtic twice (can't see them catching Rangers now) - I see Hibs still have to play Celtic 3 times, so they'd probably need 7 points from that to catch Celtic.

I see Celtic have just signed that Brondby striker - I wonder if he can play in the centre of defence...

[Bigsby]

There may be method in Mowbray's madness, lets face it, the Celtic defence has been a shambles so shipping them all out is in theory a good move, if he can get replacements that are better.

[waltz]

Tony Mowbray is a fucking moron.

That sums it all up, I think.

[Lemonade]

Peterborough are being "destroyed by greed, skulduggery, tapping up and disloyalty from within" accordin to their chairman What a great quote. Nae happy because Preston are trying to nick his players.

Posh supremo launches broadside - Teamtalk.com

[Moose]

I don't think it will happen this year. Rangers are totally rank but are still 7 ahead of Celtic and 11 ahead of Dundee United. If (relatively big "if" at the moment I know...) Celtic win their game in hand, they are 7 ahead of Dundee United. Not an unattainable number of points to catch up, but I think for a team to get into second place, they would need to be already ahead of Celtic or at least within a point of them to keep the pressure on Celtic.

Despite the fact both sides of the old firm are looking fairly pish just now, the team in second seems to very often up their game and have a good finish to the season, and often wrestling the title from the team who have been comfortably in the lead for months. It's happened the last couple of seasons anyway, and a few other times in the past 10 seasons or so I think (though can't remember exactly... O'Neill either delivered the title at a stroll, or lost it on the last day having thrown away a bit of a lead, Strachan caught up a 7 point deficit a couple of seasons ago and Smith did the same last season).

For United (or Hibs) to get second place, I think they'd need to go on a streak of not dropping any (or at worst, very few) points from now till the end of the season, and they would probably have to beat Celtic twice (can't see them catching Rangers now) - I see Hibs still have to play Celtic 3 times, so they'd probably need 7 points from that to catch Celtic.

I see Celtic have just signed that Brondby striker - I wonder if he can play in the centre of defence...

An impressive analysis! I have never been good with following the stats in football. I think you are right though. Rangers can't be caught now but I can't imagine Celtic doing brilliantly, comparitively, after losing so many important players. The whole chemistry in the team will be kaput, but they are still Celtic and this is still the SPL. I think Mowbary will actually earn his stripes if he can keep winning enough games after the idiocy he is showing in the transfer window. It takes a great manager to win games without a defensive line...

[Lemonade]

For United (or Hibs) to get second place, I think they'd need to go on a streak of not dropping any (or at worst, very few) points from now till the end of the season, and they would probably have to beat Celtic twice (can't see them catching Rangers now) - I see Hibs still have to play Celtic 3 times, so they'd probably need 7 points from that to catch Celtic.

I see Celtic have just signed that Brondby striker - I wonder if he can play in the centre of defence...

I could have seen United doing it had they not lost their manager halfway through the season, they were really cracking on under Levein and the upheaval of changing managers is bound to have an adverse reaction on the team. Hibs could still do it, but they would have to go on one hell of a run, which I think they are capable of because they have a great squad at the moment, and a strikeforce of Stokes and Riordan are always going to score goals. And people called me foolish for wanting John Hughes to replace Calderwood....

[Guest Gladstone]

An impressive analysis!

You know the drill.

[Alkaline]

There may be method in Mowbray's madness, lets face it, the Celtic defence has been a shambles so shipping them all out is in theory a good move, if he can get replacements that are better.

I disagree. They worked well under Strachan and I still rate McManus and Caldwell.

[calum]

And people called me foolish for wanting John Hughes to replace Calderwood....

Aye, why the fuck didn't McGhee sign Stokes and Miller?

[Bigsby]

Aye, why the fuck didn't McGhee sign Stokes and Miller?

Money talks. I'm still confident McGhee can do more with Aberdeen's meagre resources than Hughes could have.

[calum]

Money talks. I'm still confident McGhee can do more with Aberdeen's meagre resources than Hughes could have.

Precisely.

[Lemonade]

Money talks. I'm still confident McGhee can do more with Aberdeen's meagre resources than Hughes could have.

Precisely.

Well I hope so, but I still think John Hughes is a very talented young manager who gets his teams playing brilliant exciting football, and I think he could have done well with the players we have. I really think he would get the best out of the fast skilful players like Mackie, Foster, Aluko and Maguire, instead of us trying to lump in high balls from 30 yards like we're doing just now.

[Soda Jerk]

Peterborough are being "destroyed by greed, skulduggery, tapping up and disloyalty from within" accordin to their chairman What a great quote. Nae happy because Preston are trying to nick his players.

Posh supremo launches broadside - Teamtalk.com

He wants more players? He's just landed Danny Welbeck on loan. What more does he want? Tipped by Sir Alex himself in 2008 to start upfront with Wayne Rooney for England in South Africa. He's fast (because he weighs about 7 stone) and two footed (two left feet). 1 goal every 6 games against Carling Cup opposition. His plane ticket to the World Cup is as good as booked.

[Woodsinho]

He wants more players? He's just landed Danny Welbeck on loan. What more does he want? Tipped by Sir Alex himself in 2008 to start upfront with Wayne Rooney for England in South Africa. He's fast (because he weighs about 7 stone) and two footed (two left feet). 1 goal every 6 games against Carling Cup opposition. His plane ticket to the World Cup is as good as booked.

He's going to be the 2010 version of Theo Walcott, I cannot wait to see him occupying the subs bench at the World Cup.

Speaking of subs bench, ours is mostly going to comprised of members of the 'boro under 19s team thanks to a ridiculous number of injuries to first team players. Hope at least one of them makes the most of whatever chances they're given.

[Soda Jerk]

I imagine he'll sneak along, like in the films, where they travel the whole way in the boot of the car, then it results in a "What are you doing here?!?" scenario, followed by "Well, since you're here, you might as well be in my starting 11..."

Capello will be mad, but if Welbeck pops a Mento in his mouth, all will be forgiven