Reality bites

Last night was a lesson in reality for me. The bottom line here is that we are not good enough at this level yet to win away from home. Our inadequacies at this level were cruelly exposed. We need two fullbacks and a clinical striker, we have neither of these things at present and that is the reason why we will struggle in these games. We have started to score freely in the SPHell, but that league is a mickeymouse number. In the opening minutes, similar to Lisbon, we self destructed, thereafter they could have scored a dozen. Wilson and Naylor are simply nowhere near the class we need. This is a weakness everyone has identified apart from WGS, it needs rectifying and it needs it now. As for our strikers, they are also not good enough at this level, JVOH should have scored two and Macdonald one.

After the customary roof cave in I felt we played well, but not well enough that we ever really bothered them. Our last third approach was too predictable and as a consequence we didn't really mount a serious threat of a comeback. I am still optimistic that we can beat them at home, but to be honest the chances of us getting anything away from home to me are slim as long as we have the back four as is, and the strikers who cannot raise their game away from our own turf.

I don't know if anybody else noticed the commentators on STV but I got the feeling they were over the moon with the way things transpired. I know they would reject this but I know what I heard, the inflection of the voice, the almost palpable disappointment when one of their attacks broke down. Archie is famous for it, if you don't believe me listen to him when the Gers score then listen to when we do. I rest my case.

So it is on to the next game against Milan and we must win. I am glad I have not booked up this year, I thought we would go through, now, I'm not so sure. It may take uis another couple of years to msafely negotiate the group stages consistently, for me last year was more of a fluke than anything. Two pieces of beilliance on anight when Man u ran all over us was the reason here before someone pips up with, "we done it last year". It was great we did but we cannot kid ourselves on we are ready yet. Two full backs and a striker. Then we will be there.