Second League Cup semi-final takes place today

The League Cup may have lost some of its shine in recent years but Rangers and Motherwell fans will be desperate for victory today to book their place in the March final. Outgoing boss Walter Smith will want as much success as possible in his final season and new ‘Well boss Stuart McCall could quickly make himself a legend in the eyes of Well fans with a win.

The last time these two sides met, Rangers ran out convincing 4-1 winners at Fir Park and a similar outcome today would not be a surprise. Motherwell will be keen to avoid succumbing to nerves in the way that Aberdeen did yesterday but it is a big occasion for many players in the claret and amber today.

Rangers usually shuffle their pack in the League Cup and with a lot of games to play in February, there may be one or two changes made to the Rangers line-up. Rangers don’t have the biggest squad but there should be some flexibility to change things about.

Hampden will also give Nikica Jelavic another chance to get 90 minutes under his belt and Rangers fans can expect to see Neil Alexander in goals today. The keeper has had some big moments for Rangers in the League Cup and a good performance from the keeper today should be enough to see Rangers in the final.

As for Motherwell, they will be looking to bounce back from a midweek defeat against St Johnstone and have brought in a couple of new faces in the past few weeks as McCall attempts to stamp his own mark on the team. Motherwell are definitely the underdogs today but a spirited performance could help push the team on for a strong end to the campaign.

The match is on BBC Scotland so we can only hope its a good advert for the game, Scottish football could do with a boost at the moment.

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Great start…especially from Commons

Congratulations to Aberdeen for winning the League Cup semi-final and booking a place against Motherwell or Rangers in March.

Okay, now for all you readers that aren’t Craig Brown, Celtic blew the Dons away with a show of finishing that the Dons could not compete with. Yes, Aberdeen will look back at this game and wonder how they missed so many chances but with Celtic being 4-0 up on 40 minutes, it was always likely that Aberdeen would be the more fired up team in the second half.

Craig Brown had a bad habit of claiming bizarre moral victories when he was Scotland boss and it appears nothing has changed now he is at Aberdeen. Perhaps it is a tactic of his to take the heat off his players and keep them upbeat, if so, fair enough, he is long enough in the tooth to know what he wants to do but in reality Craig, Aberdeen froze on the big occasion and Celtic took full advantage.

Kris Commons got his Celtic career off to a wonderful start by flighting the ball into the top corner on 5 minutes with a goal that would have had any Rangers fans listening in or watching online raging. Yes, Craig Brown can say he never meant it but what a way to get your career at a new club up and running.

Commons was involved in the next two Celtic goals as his corners caused mayhem in the Aberdeen box with Mulgrew and Rogne taking advantage to nab headers. Celtic were 3-0 up on 20 minutes and there were a good few Aberdeen fans heading for the exit. £20 for 20 minutes isn’t that great a deal but clearly they had no belief in their teams ability to pull it back.

The Dons had already missed chances by this point, including a strike which rolled onto the post but lets not forget that Scott Brown came close a couple of times and Celtic had also struck the woodwork.

When Young needlessly handled in the box, Anthony Stokes sent Jamie Langfield the wrong way and finished the game before half-time. Yes, the two teams had to come out and play for a further 45 minutes but Celtic sat a lot deeper and played the game out almost like a training exercise.

Aberdeen got the goal that their attacking play merited when Scott Vernon nodded home and there were other chances, including two squandered after the ball had been dribbled around Forster in goals for Celtic. However, lets not forget that the last half an hour was played out with Celtic having two full-backs in the centre of their defence.

So…the Dandy Dons fans have their Glasgow excitement deflated again but Tuesday night gives a quick chance to rally against Celtic. The nerves that beset the Dons early on are not likely to come again and if Aberdeen can get their shooting boots on, they should be at least celebrating a goal or two.

When Celtic knocked the ball about cleverly, they looked very good and Commons settled in very quickly to the team. The loss of Thomas Rogne with an injury will be a concern for Neil Lennon but may increase the clubs activity before the transfer window shuts on Monday.

These two sides meet again on Tuesday….will Aberdeen bounce back or will Celtic continue on their winning ways (or will it be a draw…)?

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First of the League Cup double-header

It is hard to say who today’s semi final is a bigger game for.

Aberdeen have been starved of silverware for so long and their fans are travelling down in big numbers to see their team fight for a place in the final. Whenever things look even remotely bright for the Dons, the optimism level of the fans goes sky high but then again, it is the same for every fan base in football.

Craig Brown has certainly awoken the Dons and the fact that the boss was unhappy with the performance on Wednesday night, after a 2-0 away win, shows you the expectations that Brown has placed on his Aberdeen side.

Aberdeen did have a man advantage for most of the game but there was still a job to do and the players did it.

One manager that was delighted on Wednesday night was Neil Lennon and with good cause. Lennon had watched his team demolish the hyped up Hearts and the 4-0 score line flattered the Gorgie side in the end. It was a vast improvement on the nervy showing against Aberdeen in the league on Saturday.

Last week’s encounter won’t count for too much, today will be a completely different game but Aberdeen should take some confidence from their showing. The press went overboard in praising Aberdeen for pressing Celtic, they had very few chances in the game but the Dons showed they can contain Celtic and impose themselves upon their opponents.

If they get a bit of luck or the ball bounces right for them, there is no reason why Aberdeen can not do the business today. They will have to do so with Nick Blackman though, the striker being cup-tied for this tie.

As for Celtic, they should have their tails up after a great performance and surely the players will be bursting a gut to reach the final. The League Cup gets criticised but both these teams have a great chance to win a trophy in the competition and both sets of fans have plenty of reasons why they want this trophy lifted.

Celtic are missing Jamie Forrest, Dan Majstorovic and other long term injury victims but are able to add Kris Commons to their squad after his signing during the week. With plenty of players to choose from, Neil Lennon may decide to spring a surprise in today’s line-up. Or he may not. That’s his options!

Hampden will no doubt be buzzing for the game at 3pm today, who will make it to the final?

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Interesting to see the reasoning behind the length

The SFA have announced that Celtic boss Neil Lennon will be banned from the dug-out for 6 matches. This is the first time the Celtic manager has been in front of the SFA disciplinary panel as a boss and the punishment is far in excess of what is customary handed out to other managers.

Either Neil Lennon was unbelievably out of order at Tynecastle, and if he was, the SFA are duty bound to state what the manager did or this is a completely draconian punishment handed out by the SFA to punish Lennon for other issues.

The standard initial punishment for any manager is a two match ban and then when they next offend, a two match ban plus an additional two matches (making four) is the punishment. There was the likelihood of a 4 match ban being handed to Lennon due to the complaint made by Craig Thomson but a 6 match ban was not foreseen by anyone.

The ironic thing is that television evidence, not for the first time this season, proved Lennon to be right when Thomson badly ignored a blatant handball by a Hearts defender. Celtic were trailing 2-0 at Tynecastle and this award would have afforded Celtic an opportunity to get back into the match.

However, even the fact that television evidence proved Lennon correct did not excuse his actions. The manager lost his top, like many other managers and was rightly sent to the stand, exactly the same as any other manager would have been. Jim Jefferies and Mark McGhee have been notable casualties from the dug-out this season.

If the extra comments made by ref Thomson in his match report were deemed valid then again, Neil Lennon would have been correctly punished by a 4 match ban.

However, a 6 match ban once again proves the problems at the SFA and the lack of transparency in everything they do. This decision will have made a lot of people happy as there has been a baying for Lennon’s blood throughout the campaign but the reasoning behind the 6 match must be outlined.

Otherwise, the actions of the SFA are likely to cause greater ructions in Scottish football.

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Exclusive interview with ex-Scottish referee

Well, when we say “exclusive”, we mean nothing of the sort and “interview” means a classic old tune from Matt McGinn.

Still….enjoy:

A little bit of light relief but it’s clear that we are nowhere near the end game for the Scottish refereeing situation and theres much more to come.

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Games off next weekend?

A man walks into a bar says….

Aye, alright, we’re not the world’s greatest joke tellers at WeKnowSFA so we’ll leave the rib-tickers to the BBC and the SFA.

“BBC Scotland has learned that officials are concerned that their integrity is constantly being questioned”

The fact that it has been proven that a referee has told lies to a club manager this season, that the referees manager told the same lie to the media the following night and the press officer at Hampden Park spread lies about the reasons why Steven Craven wanted to resign….its not as if the integrity of refs and the SFA is in question. Everyone knows they have no integrity left.

Scottish refs previously threatened to strike in 2008 over demanding increased pay for their part-time hobby but the strike threat was averted when a pay increase was offered to them. There has been no improvement in quality of performance so you would think that the paymasters would be looking for some money back.

Both Hearts and Celtic have went public with criticism of officials this season and off the top of our head, we can think of a time when every SPL boss (bar Danny Lennon or Colin Calderwood) has made criticism of officials. We’re not saying Danny Lennon is an angel but we never paid too much attention to his remarks when he was at Cowdenbeath…sorry Danny! and we had no interest in the lower reaches of the English League where Calderwood was building his reputation before coming to Easter Road.

So, it appears if the incompetent men in the middle get their way, there will be no football action in Scotland next weekend. This will be letting down a lot of people, costing a lot of clubs money and harming the game in the eyes of the sponsors and TV cameras.

Players and managers are criticised when they get things wrong and with referees now consistently making game changing decisions, they should not be above criticism.

There is a need for big change at the SFA, there is need for transparency and the SFA needs to learn that respect is a two way thing…merely demanding respect will not bring about respect, it has to be earned.

If the referees feel so strongly about this, they should talk together with their union and determine their plan of action.

That’s the right of any worker and not one we would argue with the refs considering. However, before the refs and the SFA start blaming everyone else, it would be of considerable benefit if they started putting their house in order.

It’s not a pro-any club issue, it’s not an anti-anyone agenda but the standard of refereeing in Scotland is at an extremely poor level and the idea of refs attempting to argue they have integrity at the moment is quite concerning.

Is this a warning shot or are the refs set to bring football to a halt next weekend?

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White lies and mistruths

The friendly against the Faroe Islands is shaping up to be an inconsequential affair but for the players who get their first taste of international football, it will be a major event.

Equally, it gives those who live in the North of the country an easier trip to see their national team but it is a bit of a smack in the face to see such unfancied opposition and quite clearly a second-rate Scottish team on the park.

It’s a match of many conflicts and this can be seen in the sound bites Levein has delivered to the press and in his squad selection.

When initially asked about the game, Levein said;
“It’s important for me to try and get as many players as we had on the field against Spain in the last game back together again.”

We accept Rangers have played games in the Champions League (although no more games in total that Celtic and less than Motherwell) but with 6 Ibrox players in his starting line-up against Spain, Levein has gone strongly against his own words.

Perhaps the initial statement was to drum up interest and sell tickets for the clash. Perhaps he changed his mind and decided he wanted to bring in new players to see how they do on the international arena. Or perhaps Levein was encouraged to rest the Rangers players…and as a balancing act, Levein has dropped Shaun Maloney from the squad as well – who knows the reason for the following about face;

“I have decided to give them a bit of a break but it kind of fits in with my policy for this match anyway.”

The two quotes direct from Craig Levein couldn’t be further apart but it is not as telling the truth is in fashion at Hampden Park these days.

Let’s hope the new players do themselves justice with a performance which will put them in contention for future squads

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Hampden draw gets the tongues wagging

The quarter-finals of the League Cup had some notable moments with the two games on Tuesday not being decided until right at the very end. Alan Gow broke the deadlock for Motherwell against Dundee United with a few minutes on the clock and Aberdeen have a debatable penalty to thank for dispensing with Falkirk in the regulation 90 minutes.

Wednesday night saw the big Glasgow sides in action and Rangers were able to make a couple of changes to their team for the trip to Kilmarnock.

Killie created some chances but the Glasgow side looked in control and the 2-0 score-line was a fair reflection of the match.

Celtic won 3-2 at St Johnstone but that doesn’t get anywhere near in telling the full story. 3-0 up in 13 minutes, Neil Lennon’s side looked in complete control before a Glen Loovens error gave the home side a way back into the match. A cracking goal from a corner gave the Saintees a great chance but to be fair, Celtic dealt with everything the Perth side could throw at them.

It took a wonder save by Fraser Forster on the 90th minute to keep Celtic ahead but they got through, which is the key factor in the cup.

The draw for the Scottish League Cup semi final is as follows:

Aberdeen v Celtic
Rangers v Motherwell

And we all know what the talking point is:

The fact that the big two clubs have been kept apart will be greeted with no surprise from fans outside the big two who will no doubt see this as a “stitch-up.” The opportunity for the big final is there…but it also provides two opportunities for a shock and you can bet Mark McGhee and Craig Brown will not be conceding their League Cup dreams are over.

The ties are not scheduled to take place until February 2011, which frankly seems ages away…but this has been the case in the past few years for this competition. Well……that was the original date but in a break from the norm, the league cup ties are behind held on a Saturday and Sunday this year…so its January 2011 instead!

Dates for ties: Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th January 2011

This will see the SPL fixture card decimated that weekend. The affected fixtures in the SPL are:
Kilmarnock v Celtic
Aberdeen v Hamilton
Motherwell v St Mirren
Rangers v Caley Thistle

The sensible approach would be to play these games in the midweek originally scheduled for the cup semis. This should ensure a bit more exposure and hopefully bigger crowds for the semi-finals. Not a crazy move to be honest so you can see why this decision was taken.

With the final set to place on Sunday 20th March, just one win is all that is required to put a team within reach of Hampden silverware.

Is your team going to lift the Cup?

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Fighting spirit was good to see

On a night when no one really expected to get anything, going so close and in the manner they did, is going to make it a hard result to take for Scotland fans. After Friday night, some fans thought Scotland would do well to get nil tonight but as so often happens, when the nation doesn’t expect….the team can come so close to delivering.

At half-time, 1-0 was the right result even if the way it came about was a bit sickening. So close to half-time and fans and players minds no doubt starting to drift, Steven Whittaker switched off and allowed a ball to drift over him. He then compounded this error by raising his hand which saw the assistant referee make the decision that a handball had been committed.

When they go against you its painful, if the other team commits that foul, you scream blue murder for a penalty.

Anyways, David Villa stuck the ball to his right and although Alan McGregor moved quick and far, the ball squirmed beyond McGregor and the Barcelona striker moved level with Raul on 44 goals for the Spanish international team.

Of course we are interested in the Scottish viewpoint but its hard not to drool over the skill of Iniesta. Aside from always looking composed on the ball, his strike for the second Spanish goal was a thing of composed beauty. Messi may be the main man for Barcelona but Iniesta is a phenomenal player.

And at 2-0 and just when you were thinking it was all over…Kenny Miller peeled out wide and delivered an outstanding cross which Steven Naismith nodded home for his first international goal. And if the atmosphere was buzzing in Hampden then, the noise when Gerard Pique could only divert a cross behind Casillas to make it 2-2…well, it’s been a few years since Hampden witnessed that during an international game.

Sadly, Spain stepped up a gear and Llorente rifled home after Stephen McManus misjudged the flight of the ball leaving the sub all alone six yards out. With Steven Whittaker red-carded near the end, it was a sad end to an evening which threatened to take off around the hour mark.

The game summed up one of the fears we had about Craig Levein getting the job as national team manager. We all know what Scottish football is like, results and performances against Celtic or Rangers are always weighted more than other points. Levein was capable of getting at least and sometimes both of these elements against the big two but often struggled in lesser games.

There was a spell when Levein’s United would outmuscle and outfight Gordon Strachan’s Celtic in midfield with a spate of draws but find themselves in the back pocket of Billy Reid’s Hamilton Accies. When it comes to motivation and tactics against the big boys, Levein is a good coach. Ask him to do anything with an ounce of imagination though…and that is where he struggles.

Tonight and tomorrow is not the night for recriminations. For all the fans at the game and those watching, listening or waiting on text updates, it was about giving them something back after Friday night. Scotland definitely did that against Spain and should take great joy and pride from the performance. With almost a year to the next qualifying game, there is plenty of time for Levein, Houston and the backroom and coaching staff to dissect the four qualifying games and judge the rights and wrongs.

Okay, let’s end on a positive note. Alan McGregor delivered an outstanding performance and was largely responsible for keeping Scotland in the game before the revival happened. He was unlucky at the penalty but with saves from his hands and feet, the stopper deserves every bit of positive praise and column inches his performance should earn him.

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Levein got it wrong

Over 24 hours after Scotland’s loss to the Czech Republic and we are still trying to get our head around the performance. It’s fair to say that Craig Levein managed to outfox virtually the entire football world with his line-up but as the result showed, it can take more than a surprise to win the game.

Much of the pre..and during….and post-game chat has centred on the 4-6-0 formation.

The problem doesn’t lie with numbers themselves, one team playing a formation may be very different from another team with the same formation. The term “4-5-1” has become a catch-all phrase for defensive and unimaginative play but that is not necessarily the case. A “4-5-1” utilised well can be one of the most exciting and attacking formations available.

It depends on the players selected and the attitude of the players in the positions. The 5 in midfield can feature wide men whose job it is to support the lone striker and a top heavy midfield can press their opposition further up the pitch. This increases the likelihood of regaining possession closer to the opposition goal, making it more likely that chances will be created.

Alternatively, the 4-5-1 can see a team sit deep, using the lone striker as an outlet to create chances on the break whilst minimising the space for the opposition to create chances.

And it is the lack of forward that really troubled us in Craig Levein’s 4-6-0. This formation has been used in the past with Brazil and Roma utilising it successfully but on these occasions, these teams had the players to carry it off. The six in midfield could retain possession and there was a willingness of runners to get forward and attack the space that was created with defenders pushing forward.

Scotland lack the players to consistently retain possession and there was no outlet to provide some respite for the backline. The lack of a lone striker saw the Czech Republic swarm to the Scotland goal in waves, increasing the likelihood of conceding a goal.

An inability to hold possession close to the Czech’s goal also meant there was little opportunity to win corners or fouls. Set-pieces are crucial for Scotland and when you don’t have the opportunity to create these dead-ball situations, you are seriously limiting the opportunities to score.

It would be interesting to know if Levein hoped to score at any point in the game and if he did, how he planned on getting the goal?

Setting your stall out for a 0-0 draw is a fairly risky tactic…and when you consider that the Czech Republic had lost their previous home game…one that was probably too severe.

The game against Spain on Tuesday now takes on a stronger importance with the need to take a point but it remains to be seen how Levein will set his players up. On Friday night, Northern Ireland held Italy to a point at home and were unlucky not to take all three.

Spain are currently at a higher level than Italy but results like this are not impossible. At the very least, Scottish fans will want to see their team play with passion and at times, take the game to the World Champions. No one wants to get thrashed by Spain….but surely no one thinks Scotland will avoid defeat at Hampden?

Therefore, what is the harm in playing with a bit of brains and brawn? Kenny Miller has to return to the starting line-up and maybe there should be room made in the midfield for a bit of creativity. If Shaun Maloney can be played behind Miller or perhaps James Morrison being handed a bit more responsibility, Scotland may be able to create some pressure and chances.

With another game so soon, it’s not the right time to completely lambast Levein, after all, there is a huge gap before the next competitive match on the road to Euro 2012. A poor showing against Spain may see Craig Levein’s suitability for the job come under closer scrutiny.

Do you ever want to see a 4-6-0 again?

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