Ki

Ki is most definitely a scapegoat.

At the semi-final midway through second half / after game the majority of people were complaining about Ki! The best midfielder on show! It was ridiculous.

That was proof enough but there's a clear trend in matches that he's the first to be moaned about - performing well or not.

Personally I think he's the most gifted "football" midfielder we have. Yes Kayal/Brown/Ledley suit the Scottish game rather well with their head-down bustling and aggression, but Ki is a refreshing change.

 

They were complaining about him during the game for a reason.

Joe Ledley was (wrongly, IMO) called the invisible man early in his Celtic career, that tag however suits Ki perfectly.

 

Really? You mean the same Ledley who was pretty non-existent in the semi final, a game where Ki admittedly missed two very good chances but was still our best midfield player.

 

It wasn't Ledley's finest game, never claimed it to be. That said if the chances that Ki wasted fell to him then we'd be currently looking forward to a Scottish Cup final.

P.s. I'm on about the same Ledley who is a bona fide contender for the player of the year.

 

Its a bit baffling how you would tag Ki as the invisible man, he is always making himself available to receive a pass, gets himself into goal scoring positions, one of the only players in the team willing to make incisive forward passes.

Invisible is one word i would not use to characterise Ki.

 

The technically best midfielder in the team. I'm a big fan of Ki when he looks interested!

 

Maybe a few of our players could take lessons from Ki on positional sense. Had our strikers and other midfielders been able to find scoring positions like Ki then maybe we would have won the game.

Having said that Stokes one of our best finishers managed to miss a very easy chance but as he is not the scapegoat of choice at this time we will ignore this fact and focus only on Kis misses.

 

Good point, Stokesy's miss was way worse than any of Ki's considering he is a striker and was approximately 10 inches away from the goal line.

I rate Ki, i'm not one of his haters and do consider him our best passer and a very good midfielder and certainly someone with very big potential, but he would be the only first team or important player I would sell this summer if a good offer (£6m+) came in.

I don't want to lose Hooper, Kayal, Izzy, Mulgrew, Ledley etc at ANY price, but Ki is one I would let go if we got a good enough offer.

Doesn't mean I don't rate him though, I just feel we have a good balance there of a) we can get good money for him and b) he won't be a massive loss.

 

Who would you say is our best technical player mate?

 

I think Ki gives you a bit of composure and helps us keep possession

 

That can work 2 ways though, u could just as easily say ki had to change his game, thst excuse is just bollocks, ledley plays LM, LB sometimes, that makes him change his game too, no? Using ki as an excuse for his bad form in that period is laughable

 

A bit of a loaded question Markybhoy, but if you were asking me the same question I would probably say Joe Ledley or Charlie Mulgrew, but I would say overall we are a team of grafters.

I know it may sound controversial but I honestly don't see Ki getting a game in midfield for teams like Rangers or Hearts, because Ki wouldn't fit in with their footballing philosophy and ethos.

 

I would probably say izaguirre and mulgrew are our most technically gifted player, ki and commons are up there too just behind imo.

 

I see what you mean, but I reckon it's maybe slightly harsh.

I think we've got a team of all-rounders. There are very few players (apart from maybe McCourt) with any breathtaking skills, but the basic standard (i.e. the technique of our least technical players) is very high for the SPL - indeed for the UK. Our current defenders for example are unusually good on the ball - Mulgrew, Izaguirre, Matthews - even Kelvin Wilson, who I know is not flavour of the month, is technically proficient with the ball at his feet. Same goes for our midfield "battlers" brought in under the current regime - Kayal in particular has excellent ball technique.

It seems pretty obvious that this is not by chance - Lenny has deliberately assembled a team with a certain basic standard of ball skills. There are no Bobo Baldes or Lee McCullochs knocking about.

 

Mulgrew I can agree with but Ledley? He's a good player but he's one of the most one-footed players I've seen.

 

I don't get your point, how would changing Ledley out for another equally hard working player change the way Ki plays? The comparison just doesn't work both ways, Ki forces the players around him to work harder because he doesn't attend to his defensive duties.

I agree with you that Ledley has to change his game when he plays left mid and left back, he is adequate at those positions but nothing more. His best position is in central midfield, preferably with a hardworking partner beside him.

 

it does work both ways....say...ledley and ki play together, they take turns at going forward, Ki is often the sitter, but play him next to kayal, and it changes, he has more license to go forward cause kayal will mainly sit, the point is, every player has to change there game slightly when given a new partner....unless its the perfect Marriage, so its no excuse for a player losing form

 

I disagree, a change from Kayal to Ledley is a slight change and doesn't really compare to a change from Ki to Kayal which is a major change. I also think it is pretty obvious that Ledley being forced to change his game because of Ki was the major factor in his poor form at the beginning og last year but I feel we aren't going to agree on this issue.