[Slick_Footwork]

We have a top half squad that will be in a relegation battle because Irvine
is a complete buffoon.

I think a comparison to Clarke is very harsh on Clarke. If Clarke has this
squad at his disposal, we'd be much more competitive. He was bright
enough to know that Dorrans was never a Prem player and had the balls
to drop Brunt. A couple of traits that might come in useful for our current
coach.

Irvine's 2 flat banks of 4 is neither easy on the eye or effective. There is no
pattern of play, nobody getting between the lines, no creativity - nothing.

I'm not sure if Irvine had the nounce to watch the DVDs from last season, but
if he did, he should realise that the Brunt, Mozza, Dorrans, Mulumbu combo
almost got us relegated.

Are any of those players going to score more than 2-3 goals per season
from open play? Nope. At the same time, are they strong is the tackle,
physical, powerful? Nope.

I have watched enough of Celtic in the Champions League to know that Samaras
is a decent left winger. Yes, he's a bit awkward at times, but he's pacy, physical
and will chip in with goals both from open play and set pieces. Somehow though,
he's being kept out by Dorrans and Brunt...

I've got no confidence that we'll ever see Varela when he's fit anyway. Irvine
seems to have no interest in creative players. At home today and Blanco and
Ideye can't even get on a bench which contains both Baird and Yacob when we
already have what are essentially 4 central midfielders on the pitch...

As for Dawson, I don't think he'll make a Prem defender in his life. Yes, I like the
lad's desire and he's reasonable on the ball - but the guy is a baby elephant. He's
slow, cumbersome and has terrible timing. He's been caught under the ball numerous
times, handled in the box because of mistiming headers, often fouls because he's
too slow.

McAuley has been great the last few years - never missed anything in the air,
great positioning, a threat in the oppositions box. Now we finally have a decent
partner for him, muppet Irvine decides Dawson is a better option. How many
times do we have to keep conceding 2 goals at home for him to wake up and
smell the coffee?