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We've been worse since McCausland has been (hopefully) rested.

This is the first stadium I ever seen the Rangers playing in Cathkin park home of Third Lanark

Derek Underwood obituary: Spin bowler considered one of England’s all-time greats Nicknamed Deadly, he had a unique style that made him almost unplayable new The Times Monday April 15 2024, 2.30pm, The Times Derek Underwood obituary: Spin bowler considered one of England’s all-time greats (thetimes.co.uk) Fresh-faced, courteous and polite to a fault, Derek Underwood appeared to be too nice a man to excel against rough-hewn Australians and bouncer happy West Indians in the cauldron of Test cricket. This was deceptive. Geoffrey Boycott, his longstanding England team-mate, described him as having “the face of a choirboy, the demeanour of a civil servant — and the ruthlessness of a rat catcher”. Indeed, Underwood’s nickname was “Deadly”, bestowed because in helpful conditions he was exactly that. On rain-affected pitches his sharp left-arm cutters, delivered from a flat-footed run at near medium pace and allied with metronomic accuracy, made him almost unplayable. Even on placid pitches his immaculate control and subtle variations of line and length could frustrate and undermine the best batsmen. Although he possessed great determination and pride in performance, both for himself and for his county and country — and would glare at fielders if the batsman pinched a single — Underwood’s personal ambitions were confined to his own game. “Why do so many players want to be captain?” he asked plaintively. Cricket politics were not for him and his essential decency was such that he tended not to take sides in disagreements. The ability to bowl came so naturally that if he fretted over any aspect of his profession, it was whether he could cope in retirement. Given that he was a world-class cricketer, Underwood was woefully underpaid. This resulted in his joining the two highly contentious breakaway events of his era: Kerry Packer’s World Series and a tour to South Africa in 1982. Both were unofficial and, because he was so highly regarded, Underwood gave them some respectability. This did not prevent the authorities from implementing lengthy bans, which curtailed his England appearances. Underwood and Alan Knott, his Kent and England wicket-keeper with whom he formed a telepathic understanding, were initially both sacked by their county for joining Packer, a decision which Les Ames, their former cricket manager and mentor, described as “repugnant and distasteful”. Until their retirements in the mid-1980s they were not even consulted over changes of captaincy at Canterbury: county committees were omnipotent. Derek Leslie Underwood was born in Bromley, Kent. He was given an early taste of cricket from his father, a useful club bowler, who was so determined that he and his older brother, Keith, should take up the game that he built a net in his garden. Derek’s ability soon emerged. At Dulwich College Preparatory School he took nine wickets for ten runs in an under-tens match and continued to shine at Beckenham and Penge Grammar School, making 96 in a match against the staff and taking all ten wickets against a rival school. He was recommended to Kent after attending a cricket school in Croydon, where he was coached by two England players, Ken Barrington and Tony Lock. He had started as a quick bowler but realised he would be more effective if he reduced his pace. He took easily to spin. At 16 he was in Kent’s second XI, taking nine wickets against Hampshire in his first match. He was only 17 when he made his first-class debut in 1963, taking four wickets against a strong Yorkshire side, and he went on to top 100 wickets for the season, the youngest player to do so. His arm ball, which dipped in to the right-hander, won many lbw decisions. He was the outstanding English spin bowler of his era and, with the arguable exception of Jim Laker, the finest to emerge since the Second World War. His 86 Tests brought him 297 wickets at a respectable average of 25.83, and he would have taken many more had he not decided to join Packer and tour South Africa. A tail-end batsman, he was often deployed as an England night watchman and as such showed great courage against the ferocious West Indian pace attack. He was a reliable outfielder who missed little. The supreme professional, he always kept his feelings under control. Even quixotic captaincy decisions, such as not bowling him at the right time in a Lord’s one-day final which Kent narrowly lost, were accepted without complaint or rancour. At the Oval in 1968 he helped England to a remarkable win against Australia which squared the series. At lunch on the final day Australia were 86 for five and heading for a heavy defeat. A cloudburst then flooded the ground, making further play seem unlikely, but thanks to the valiant mopping up efforts of the ground staff, helped by volunteers from the crowd, the match resumed just before 5pm. Getting the ball to turn and lift from the damp pitch and with every England fielder crouched round the bat, Underwood took four wickets in 27 balls to secure victory with minutes to spare. He finished with seven for 50. From then on, though occasionally left out to make way for an extra seamer or for Norman Gifford, who bowled at a slower pace, he was England’s premier spinner. Shrewd enough to adapt to different conditions, he was often as effective overseas as on English pitches, which would normally be expected to give him more help. In Australia, where he got little turn, he took pace off the ball and relied more on flight. He had some spectacular figures. During the home series against New Zealand in 1969 he had match returns of 11 for 70 at Lord’s and 12 for 101 at the Oval. In New Zealand in 1971 his 12 for 98 at Christchurch included his 1,000th first-class wicket. He was 25 and only George Lohmann and Wilfred Rhodes had reached the landmark younger. On a rain-affected pitch at Lord’s in 1974 he had a spell of six wickets for two runs as Pakistan collapsed from 192 for three to 226 all out. In 1977 he was one of the first batch of England players to be recruited for Packer. This dismayed some admirers and he admitted that the decision had been a painful one to make. Indeed, he, along with Colin Cowdrey, his Kent and sometime England captain with whom he had an excellent relationship, had been lone voices in saying they would be prepared to play an additional Test match on the 1970-71 tour of Australia without extra remuneration. But cricketers, even established Test players, were not well paid and had little security. A generous contract with Packer was too good to turn down and offered Underwood and his family a chance to secure their financial future. After a High Court decision thwarted an attempt by Lord’s to ban the Packer players from all first-class cricket, Underwood was able to continue playing for Kent, and in 1979 he was restored to the England side. Of the players who had signed for Packer, he missed Test cricket the most. But in March 1982, directly after playing a Test in Sri Lanka, he joined the breakaway tour to South Africa, earning a reported £40,000 for five weeks’ cricket. This time a three-year ban from Tests was unchallenged and it ended Underwood’s international career. He went on playing county cricket until his early forties, retiring at the end of the 1987 season. In all first-class matches he took 2,465 wickets at an average of just over 20, conceding barely two runs an over. His one century came against Sussex at Hastings when he was 39. Appropriately enough, this was on the ground on which he had taken his best figures, nine for 28. Underwood, left, with fellow cricketing heroes Geoffrey Boycott, Bob Woolmer and Alan Knott NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD

The longer a player is out injured, the better he becomes. However, two players with long term injuries are really hampering how the Gaffer wants the team to play. Cortes is a real miss, he provided balance and necessary width. Yesterday, Ryan Jack's positional sense would have nullified one or two of the attacks that ended in County goals. Further, he would have been available for the short balls that ensure possession is retained and we move forward in gradations.. Those lumps up to the opposition's eighteen yard line and players flooding forward in support killed us.

Aye, then he followed up with but that's not an excuse - don't mention it then.

You should have waited until after the watershed.

No one.

I think we've blown it.

Lucky you! 😮‍💨

Ryan Jack is finished at Rangers. His contract is up at the end of the season. He has missed far too many games this season Can’t see us signing Cortes for next season unless it’s another loan deal. He only played about half a dozen games before getting injured

The eye is not deceived by stats.

Thats actually true, but I'm not sure that was the reason. I think Cortes is a huge miss for us.

I read somewhere that Jimmy Greaves could be man of the match having kicked the ball three times - two goals and the kickoff, no need to launder the shirt and shorts.

Cantwell just ahead of Butland, the rest can GTF.

Dundee 1 Rangers 2 FGS: Roofe

I genuinely wonder what Monsieur Clement does for Wednesday’s game against Dundee assuming it goes ahead Will he persist with Tav & Goldson on the RHS of defence despite us clearly losing so many goals recently from that area? Could he play Balogen & Sterling there instead ? Maybe play Tav further forward on the right if he must play at all? I don’t think doing nothing is an option

We've been playing poorly for weeks and there's no indication we'll improve. The game against them at Ibrox was when we blew it. That was a must win game and we couldn't do it.

I agree with you, but we also both watched yesterday so I am basing it solely on that. The Rangers team that played yesterday, even against a mediocre Celtic team, loses and probably heavily

If I had checked the votes before voting, I would have voted for anyone other than Cantwell 😁

Whilst it's all about opinions, Silva has been terrible since he signed - a decent game away to Benfica and not much more. Dessers looks far more dangerous than Silva. Raskin is an enigma - a highly thought of player when we signed him but has regressed dramatically and if rumours are to be believed, has a terrible attitude. Obvious by the lack of game time, Clement doesn't rate him. Wright would be an asset if he had an end product. He tries, but with the lack of assists and goals, he is a luxury we can't afford. Ridvan is once again missing - a slight injury that was supposed to clear up after OF, yet he has not even made the bench since being injured in the international break. File alongside Roofe and Jack. Cantwell blows hot and cold. When he's good, he's very good but not been consistent enough. He is young, so there is hope that he can get the consistency required. Balogun is no more than a squad player. Can understand why he was brought back (for cover) but was never going to be a "starter". Issue now is he won't be match fit so unlikely to play any significant role in the run-in. Souttar is probably our best defender, doesn't mean he's "great", just the best we currently have. Lundstrum is the DM who usually sits alongside the CHs but he has lost form at a time we needed him to drive us forward. He has been one of our best players this season. Manager is entering a critical period - he needs to get us back on course. 2 wins from 7 games isn't and has never been acceptable at Rangers

How many goals conceded was Tav in these last 10 days? I have no problem if he was meant to be our right winger, or midfielder, but I like defenders defending. He will be one of the greatest ever right-backs of this club, rule the stats for decades to come. All fine and well. His goals tally without penalties will would make any right winger proud, likewise his assists. Now go And check how many trophies he has won in his 9 years with the club. 3 major ones. Just to get grounded a little. Many people got hooked, drawn, and quartered by playing similar football as Tav, but failing to clock up penalty goals or assists - more often than not his letters of indulgence. I saw you advocating the sale of Ridvan above. He's one of the brightest sparks of late, yet you want him shifted? I am rather content to agree to disagree with you about both Tav and Ridvan.

Remember that they stumbled during the 55 season too. While we did our part fairly well, they fell apart after the turn of the year like we did under SG et al a few times. IMHO, our main problem remains a) converting chances created and b) conceding far too many goals compared to the chances the opposition creates. It has been our downfall since the return to the top flight, and we stubbornly resist changing the tactics that lead to this, as well as keep playing players who are not up for this. Said it before and say it again: when fit, Souttar and Balogun are our best defenders at the club. Mainly because they can defend, see danger in advance, and do the simply things. Goldson and Tav switch off far too regularly in when it comes to their defensive duties. If we like to play the WINGback game, we essentially need one DM to cover the area vacated. Instead, we de facto play two (Sunday it was Dowell and Lundstram), yet both wander out of position far too regularly (like yesterday) and time and again, we are rolled over in a quick counter-attack. You obviously want the DMs/CMs/whatever you call them to bolster the attack, yet Lundstram was harmless in that role (again), so should have stayed back. Dowell tried, but has yet to cope with the robust defensive style we face - same with Lawrence, more often than not. Our midfield was effectively a man or two down - again. That left all driving in the hands of our centre-halfs (again), or the invention of a Cantwell, who was chasing people all over the place. Silva got no service and hooking him was truly shocking, like it was in the OF game. Get Sterling on for Dowell, make it a 3-at-the-back, Lundstram (for lack of options) in front of them and let the other 6 attack like there is no tomorrow. At least 2 strikers with those. It was Ross County, it will be Dundee ... all packed defences and anti-football, and we continue to chisel at that wall instead of using the sledgehammer we have ready. You see Cantwell, Ridvan, Silva, Raskin, even Wright, all players "thinking forward". That should be the way ahead. The current crew has far too many people not of that ilk, spraying passes backwards or sideways, running five yards before releasing the ball 8and thus telegraphing their intent), even if the clock is ticking down. Thank's for the contribution so far. But we need to move on.

Of course we can still do it but do the players believe they can ? Watching yesterday I don’t think so.

We might win all the games that we have lined up but when was the last time that we won at the piggery? They will have the crowd and presumably the powers that be and their minions working for them! If we had won in Dingwall it would be a different story but as many have mentioned in other threads some of our team have reached the end of their time at Ibrox and personally I don't see some of them stepping up to the mark!

Of course he does and he’s the only one the rest either pass sideways or back

A superb bowler. I think Wardle and Laker have better Test averages but they played many fewer matches than Underwood which probably helps. Also a lot of his matches were against the West Indies when their batting was unequalled yet I don’t remember him getting flayed.

Haud yer BOABBie - is this ... a unanimous vote?!

The answer is Prince William. He supports the Villa, and lives in a Palace

Ah I’m not alone in it’s the same old shite after I will add a bright start but there’s an old saying shite finds its own level .

Who had a Palace and Villa double?

Here is a couple of interesting stats Today was Clements 24th league game and he has secured 59 points. That's exactly the same total that Beale collected in 24 league games (only 3 more than Gio did). If we win our last 6 league games this season, we will win the league, however it'll match our points tally for last season. Just reinforces we haven't improved, Celtic have regressed dramatically.

But who do you replace them with? That’s why koppen and his team have been recruited at great expense, time for them to earn their wages.

Reading the thread it would appear that we are in agreement that we have defenders who can't defend, midfielders who can't midfield and strikers who can't strike and I'd argue that recently we have a keeper who can't keep and a manager who can't manage.......But apart from that, we're fine...... And to think a few short weeks ago we were in Europe, in pole position in the league and looking forward to a treble.

I don’t know about hard up the sheikh would need to be half witted

Surely some hard-up Sheikh with a football club would pay £500,000 for the pair. Good bargain.

Yep. Time to cut the net. When the going gets tough these guys go missing.

I said it last week but some of our mainstays are not winners. We need to look at getting rid of Goldson, Tav and Lundstram - they're all past it.

But they didn't clear the squad out. If Clement can't see that persisting with these players will cost him his job then he doesn't deserve to be here, just like the previous two. Like the old saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."