Current OF - how bad are they ?

[EasterRoad4Ever]

IMHO the current mob are are bad as I can recall in years.

If the Yams hadn't wasted all their dosh and had a decent manager they'd have had a real chance at the title this year. Equally, if Hibs had 3 more decent players ; a half-decent GK, a commanding CH and hard-man midfield ball-winner.. who knows ?

[bingo70]

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IMHO the current mob are are bad as I can recall in years.

If the Yams hadn't wasted all their dosh and had a decent manager they'd have had a real chance at the title this year. Equally, if Hibs had 3 more decent players ; a half-decent GK, a commanding CH and hard-man midfield ball-winner.. who knows ?

IMO Celtic still have good players, they'll run away with the title IMO.

Rangers though, i just don't see who's going to create things for them? i'm also amazed at the lack of depth in their squad, especially in defence. Unfortunately though they'll be well organized under Smith and will still finish miles ahead of the rest. They're much better now than when Hearts finised second.

[Hibercelona]

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They're much better now than when Hearts finised second.

Hate to disagree with you there.

I have to admit that if Hearts had the squad they did under burley.... Rangers would be in real trouble right now.

[ancient hibee]

I think Rangers will win the league.Celtic are weak at centre half where Mowbray can't make up his mind who to settle on(Martis arriving soon?),they have nobody who can control the game from midfield,McGeady and Maloney are being played out of position and no reliable goal scorer.All things for the manager to sort out.

[Hibercelona]

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I think Rangers will win the league.Celtic are weak at centre half where Mowbray can't make up his mind who to settle on(Martis arriving soon?),they have nobody who can control the game from midfield,McGeady and Maloney are being played out of position and no reliable goal scorer.All things for the manager to sort out.

No danger they will win the league.

Celtic have far better quality at their disposal.

Also... Mowbrays a far better manager than Smith IMO.

He has been playing their players out of position... but they are still at the top of the table.... That says it all for me.

[bingo70]

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Hate to disagree with you there.

I have to admit that if Hearts had the squad they did under burley.... Rangers would be in real trouble right now.

Why's that? i regularly talk pish.

Am i right in saying that when hearts finished second PLG was in charge at the start of the season? If so, back then, they had pish players, weren't organised, had no team spirit and certainly didn't appear to be motivated. Under Smith that'll never happen, IIRC rangers actually nearly caught them at the end of the season once he'd taken over*.


*my memory is rotten so there's every chance i've got my seasons mixed up, apologies for talking garbage if so

[ancient hibee]

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No danger they will win the league.

Celtic have far better quality at their disposal.

Also... Mowbrays a far better manager than Smith IMO.

He has been playing their players out of position... but they are still at the top of the table.... That says it all for me.

We'll see.

[Hibercelona]

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Why's that? i regularly talk pish.

Am i right in saying that when hearts finished second PLG was in charge at the start of the season? If so, back then, they had pish players, weren't organised, had no team spirit and certainly didn't appear to be motivated. Under Smith that'll never happen, IIRC rangers actually nearly caught them at the end of the season once he'd taken over*.


*my memory is rotten so there's every chance i've got my seasons mixed up, apologies for talking garbage if so

I'm not sure myself TBH.

But if you go back in time (to where ever it was ) when Hearts had Burley as manager and that squad at the time.... they would slaughter the current Rangers side.

[Jim44]

"Current OF - how bad are they ?"

Not very good but far too good for us over a season.

[weecounty hibby]

They don't look too good now, but I have seen worse Rangers and Celtic teams than these win the league. We still have miles to go to even consider ourselves as a threat to them. We are going in the right direction and so are they, from our point of view, but it will still take another few years of this for us to catch up.

[matty_f]

I think there's a big danger that we under-rate the OF just now.

They still have some cracking players at their disposal. Rangers get panned all the time, and I don't think that much of them, however they have a good keeper in McGregor, then Whittaker, Bhougerra (sp) and Papac would walk into most SPL defences (if not all of them).

Midfielders Mendez, Thomson, Davies are all good enough to get into most SPL sides, and while they're not the most rounded forwards, Novo, Boyd, and Miller would be on the wish-list of most SPL managers.

I think the key is that none of these guys are spectacular, and on a good day other SPL teams can match them. Over the course of a season though, they are much better than the other SPL teams, generally.

You could do the same for Celtc. Barring someone having an exceptional season, the OF will be top 2 by some distance.

[weecounty hibby]

I think we have been sucked in by the Old Firm media panic merchants who have seen their beloved teams pumped in Europe and no longer able to spend tens of millions of pounds whimpering about not being good enough. They are going to have to cut their cloth the same as all other clubs have done, but they will never have to go to the lengths that we have had to and sacrifice all of the top earners/players for 5 to 10 years.

[Mibbes Aye]

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I think there's a big danger that we under-rate the OF just now.

They still have some cracking players at their disposal. Rangers get panned all the time, and I don't think that much of them, however they have a good keeper in McGregor, then Whittaker, Bhougerra (sp) and Papac would walk into most SPL defences (if not all of them).

Midfielders Mendez, Thomson, Davies are all good enough to get into most SPL sides, and while they're not the most rounded forwards, Novo, Boyd, and Miller would be on the wish-list of most SPL managers.

I think the key is that none of these guys are spectacular, and on a good day other SPL teams can match them. Over the course of a season though, they are much better than the other SPL teams, generally.

You could do the same for Celtc. Barring someone having an exceptional season, the OF will be top 2 by some distance.

Had a conversation at work along exactly these lines today.

In my lifetime, Celtc were at their weakest in the early to mid 90s, Rangers in the early to mid 80s. They were still good enough to be top-half, usually comfortably. The vast majority of the rest of the time they have shared the top two spots, usually miles ahead of the rest.

Looking at the squads both sides should certainly expect to be far, far stronger over the course than anyone else. These are far from being the worst OF sides I can remember.

[s.a.m]

They have better squads than ours at their disposal, and they're both likely to finish ahead of us. But I can't remember a time since I started watching football when they both looked beatable (albeit only on a game-by-game basis).

Just a pity no-one seems well enough equipped to embarrass them.

[Beefster]

If we were as good as either side of the OF, we'd be delirious.

[Andy74]

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I think there's a big danger that we under-rate the OF just now.

They still have some cracking players at their disposal. Rangers get panned all the time, and I don't think that much of them, however they have a good keeper in McGregor, then Whittaker, Bhougerra (sp) and Papac would walk into most SPL defences (if not all of them).

Midfielders Mendez, Thomson, Davies are all good enough to get into most SPL sides, and while they're not the most rounded forwards, Novo, Boyd, and Miller would be on the wish-list of most SPL managers.

I think the key is that none of these guys are spectacular, and on a good day other SPL teams can match them. Over the course of a season though, they are much better than the other SPL teams, generally.

You could do the same for Celtc. Barring someone having an exceptional season, the OF will be top 2 by some distance.

Absolutley right.