Tannochsidebear

On 10/03/2024 at 13:51, Rousseau said:

I was always in favour of retaining Ryan Jack, with the caveat that he would be able to play 20-30 games. 

 

He's only played 12 games worth of minutes this season (1080 minutes from 22 appearances), unfortunately. 

 

I think it's time to release him this season. 

I heard from a very good source a few days ago that if Jack plays another 3 games this season it triggers an automatic one-year extension. I heard PC isnt happy with that so dont expect to see him again unless in an emergency. 

That is great news. I assume we have Sky to thank for this as I am sure SPFL would have been pushing for 3rd April to give us less time to prepare for the OF game. Wasnt sure it would be on Sky given it is a Euro week and there is usually blackouts.

I will actually be quietly pleased if this is cancelled as it will give us more time to get players back fit and also if this goes ahead today the pitch looks likely to be a leveller making it more difficult to play our normal game. 
 

id imagine the game would be slotted in for April 10 in between the OF and Ross County. 

Our supporters bus has had to set off now to ensure if it is on we are there on time but not looking good from the Sky pictures that were just on. 

Rangers 2 Benfica 1

FGS Silva

Really proud of the team, result and performance but how much longer must we put up with the £38kpw liability that has just cost us, again, another famous result?

I can hardly believe we got a result like that with the players missing that we have. I had this tie at 40/60 before the game but now it’s probably 52/48 if we can get the place rocking despite the early ko.

1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

Apparently McCausland flew out with the squad, so might be available. 

 

Good news, if that's the case.

Clement said at the Armadillo on Sunday night that some injured players (he named Sima) asked to go to Benfica to cheer their teammates on and he loved that, so it won’t automatically mean he is ready to play but hopefully he is.

Scottish champions for 23/24 go straight into the new league stage for 24/25. Scottish runners up go into Q3 path for non-champions and would need to win 2 rounds of qualifying to get into the group stages. 
 

For access lists, dates, Co-efficients etc the best site by miles is Bert Kassies, link here - https://kassiesa.net/uefa/AccessList2024.html

Benfica 1 Rangers 2

fgs Tavernier

Initially sceptical, I’m coming round to the idea. While the full 36 team league standings format is a bit mental, the exciting bit is getting to play 8 different opponents once, not just 3 opponents twice. Clearly the luck of the draw is important as you could end up playing Real Madrid & Bayern Munich while a similar ranked team plays Porto & PSV and all points gained are in one table but to qualify for knockout stages you have to finish ahead of only 8 teams. I would imagine we would be seeded in pot 3 so we play 2 pot 3 teams and 2 pot 4 teams, so half our games are against similar standard teams, and if you pick up enough points from those games that should be enough to get a juicy KO game for plenty of Euros in February. 
 

I am sure the manager and players dont see it that way. They dont come to Rangers to play in our shitty league. They come to do well in Europe and get noticed for their performances on that stage. Clement will pick his strongest side, and they will give absolutely everything to get a result. Whether we get a result or not remains to be seen, but this squad genuinely think they can beat anyone, and have no fear.

In our worst defensive performance of the Clement era, I just cant pick a defender as all were honking, Butland included. Gone for Mr Versatile, doesnt ever hide and tried his best in a position that doesnt suit him.

Another really tough game tonight at a venue we dont have a good history at in this fixture. If we play anything like we did on Saturday we will win easily, but this pitch doesnt allow you to play like that, nor does our opponent. McInnes will do his usual, slow the game down, run down the clock, lots of stoppages, lots of fouls, quick counters and aggresive set pieces. 

For our side, I would probably go with Lundstrum and Sterling giving us solidity in the midfield, Balogun & Barasic in for Souttar & Yilmaz, with Silva rotating the starts up front and that leaves the 3 in behind. I fancy a start for McAusland and Diomande has to continue you would think so that leaves the one wide position and it might be Wright given the nod to start with. Not the team I would select but trying to second guess the manager.

We must match the fight and hunger and then be clinical. Win this one and I will genuinely start to believe (ok I already do but trying to keep it quiet!)

Certainly one of the more difficult draws we could have got for our seeded position, but we got two very entertaining draws with them in the groups a couple of years back so not impossible. I'm hoping to get a day trip to this one, but of more importance is Hearts on Saturday and Killie on Wednesday.

A very difficult one this week, with no real standout for me. Always a bit more difficult watching on tv as well as you dont see the whole game for the work put in off the ball for example, as I was in Lanzarote for the last week and so had to make do with the welcoming and fantastic Bluebells Bar in Puerto Del Carmen which I would highly recommend to any bears that find their way near there during the season. A very poor pitch and another cheat of a referee (where does Peter find them?) were the standout performers but neither in our favour or in a positive manner, so I will give the vote to the captain who joined Greig as our highest scoring defender of all time in just a fraction of the time it took our so-called "greatest ever" to get there. 

An absolutely massive two games coming up now against two in-form opponents who are 3rd & 4th in the table. If we can win both we stay at least 2 clear with 10 to play and we have 4 out of 5 fixtures before the split that are, on paper and current form, easier. Of course after these 2 we have Europa and Scottish cup ties as well so it’s going to be important to plan ahead with rotation, avoid further injuries, and don’t allow the momentum to shift.

St Johnstone 0 Rangers 2

fgs Silva

Agree with most comments in this thread about the selection, Wright has seldom delivered from a starting slot and is better from the bench (low bar I know!) and I’m comfortable with Barasic starting as I don’t think there is much difference going forward and he is the slightly better defender but this looks more like the first choice team middle to front. We must start fast and strong. Got a great opportunity to go 2 points clear with 12 games remaining but Levein and the officials will make this very difficult so we need to be right on it. 

22 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

17 goal involvements in 18 games since clement came in. 

 

that is ridiculous. Basically a goal start. 

 

Is that not 10 goals and 2 assists from that stats table? So 12 goal involvements? 

Rangers 4 Ross County 0

fgs Cantwell

Ok I concede St Mirren or Bonnyrigg or ICT or Airdrie would all make for a fun weekend! 

From the presser it looks like Jack starts, alongside Diomande and Cortes, so maybe quite a few changes which will be good to see how they perform. Looking forward to a few goals and comfortable victory and a meeting with Morton at Ibrox in the QF for more of the same.

Great performance, great result, great atmosphere. The crowd really got the team going and vice versa. Great performances from Cantwell and Lundstrum. Good contributions from Matondo and McCausland (but will he ever take a man on on the outside?) and good cameos from Silva and Diamonde. With Ross County and St Johnstone in the next week while the bheasts go to Hibs then host Killie, could we even be clear in the lead by Sunday week? Bet365 have us as 4/5 favourites for the title now (before yesterday we were joint favourites at 5/6. Whisper it, but this is looking good if we can maintain this momentum.

Obviously the negative was, yet again, Goldson. How many times is he going to be allowed to cost us goals in big games and still remain first choice. £38Kpw wages and 6 years of mistakes costing us dozens of points, cups, the Europa, and he still continues to be the worst defender at the club but first pick by every manager he has played under. I just dont get it?  But even Goldson (and Don Robertson's performance) cant spoil the buzz today after that game, bring on the next one. 14 cup finals left to go.

2 absolute standouts Cantwell and Lundstrum. I've gone for the match-winner. If Clement can get these type of performances regularly out of Cantwell it will go a long way towards the title.