17 Mar 2026 23:40:10
Just checking ladbrokes to see if olsen to beat a man is on a bet builder
18 Mar 2026 05:57:07
Not the player we thought. The low blocks will get the blame once he's back in the sun. Thought he was the 2nd coming of Laudrup, myself.
18 Mar 2026 06:05:43
Just don't see him taking to Scottish football. Doesn't look like he would take a tackle.
18 Mar 2026 06:25:45
That's why Laudrup imo, mate. We should be looking closely at players who are capable of playing for Rangers in the Scottish league. ? We should be signing talent from our league and stop this snobbery, and that's why Connor Barron, for me, absolutely deserves to be part of our midfield, no doubt about it at all. ? ??
18 Mar 2026 06:47:57
Sir Walter, are you related or something? It's almost every thread now. ?
18 Mar 2026 08:12:02
Kaiser, I agree. I like Barron, but I'm now finding myself hoping he is dropped for the next game because of this constant onslaught. ?
18 Mar 2026 08:32:23
Kaiser, he does this all the time when someone has a different opinion. Again, nothing to do with snobbery because someone doesn't rate a player. ?
18 Mar 2026 08:35:26
We are aware Coops likes Barron more than others. He may not be dropped due to Dio being out, or may be on from the bench as he works his way back.
18 Mar 2026 08:47:02
Kidding aside, Sir Walter, who else from our league would u like us to go for? I really like some of the Motherwell boys. Longelo to give competition to Rommens? Just a goal-scoring midfielder? And, if Skov is £8m+ or Moore is £20m quoted, would Maswanhise be a better option, can play anywhere across the front line? Any others ud like?
18 Mar 2026 11:23:19
Kaiser, they aren't many at all, that's the issue with that.
18 Mar 2026 12:00:14
There are players like Maswanhise and Brag in our league and countless numbers in other leagues who could be better options, but can they withstand the demands placed at our club.
It's the classic "heavy shirt" syndrome- where the weight of expectation actually changes how a player performs.
You can scout technical stats at a mid-table club all day, but you can't easily measure a player's psychological "floor." When someone moves from a team where a draw is "fine" to one where a draw is a "disaster," the pitch starts to feel smaller. That fear of failure almost always manifests in exactly one way: the safe pass.
The logic becomes: "If I pass sideways, I didn't lose the ball, so I didn't make a mistake." It's a survival instinct. They stop playing to win and start playing not to lose, which is death for a creative player.
The "blame chain" is the real killer- where a player is hammered for a minor foul that leads to a goal three phases of play later. Very few people can perform at 100% when they feel like they're walking a tightrope every single Saturday.
How many of us could truly give our best with that type of expectation on our shoulders each week?
18 Mar 2026 13:20:42
Good post Angus, very true, mate.
18 Mar 2026 14:45:57
BB4, I have been trying to do a lot of reading on it for ages. Our players have obvious (and not so obvious) ability, but something means they don't display that.
We all talk about the mental part of the game, and I understood that to an extent, but not why it would be such an issue.
I tried to put it down without too much of the jargon and technical stuff, as I am not 100% sure of it yet (or ever will be), but it does all tie in with that 'weight of the jersey' thing and even 'not understanding the club or the league' elements.
18 Mar 2026 17:09:49
Kaiser, I like Elliot Watt, Elijah Just and Maswanhise, all from Motherwell. I like the look of Barney Stewart at Falkirk. I like Braga at Hearts, all players who've proved they're good in our league. ?
18 Mar 2026 18:54:40
Stewart needs another year at Falkirk. Coops, Watt is a no for me. Maswanhise I would take, and Just, but I am wary of Just because Motherwell plays to his strengths; I don't think we do.
Angus, I agree with your post about passing the ball sideways, etc. That is one of my things about Barron; his passing stats will look good because of this, imo.
18 Mar 2026 20:37:19
Storm, I don't think Barron is as bad at the sideways passes as you think. SofaScore has arrow diagrams on a pitch, which seems to confirm that.
However, his role, I think, is to recycle the ball quickly to those inventive players, so you may be looking for something he isn't being asked to do.
Not comparing them as players, but to explain, does he perform the water-carrying role which Deschamps did for France and Juventus?
So, is his role to win it back and pass it on quickly?