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Rangers ready to turn to ex-Hull City star to replace James Tavernier Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers are reportedly ready to offer former Hull City defender Cyrus Christie a deal, should they lose James Tavernier in the coming days. https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/rangers-ready-turn-ex-hull-9537448

Same ith Tav, or Goldson. At the end of the day, all contributed to our journey (including Windass), and should be and have been thanked for that. Yet, it is results that matter, not availability. In the here and now, we need better, like we needed better after promotion.

At the end of the day, we started this and last season with neither of our three most creative people available or even at the club. To say it cost us dearly is probably a neat understatement. This season, we had a couple of new "alternatives", but the end result was the same ... We've been through far worse situations, of course, but for some reason, this summer transfer window and early season feels more ... stale than many before.

... no, now that you say it, it might be a good idea!

Tavernier is a right-back, that he roves about the centre circle or elsewhere is just testimony that he does not play his assigned role, even less so than before. He is not exactly helping in the middle, nor his fellow defenders, for everytime he is found elsewhere, you can expect the opposition to lob a ball into the area vacated by him. I need no fluidity charts or US-style stats to see that our system has been failing for years. I quick look at the players we play and where says it all.

... there are very few teams - not just in Scotland - which are run as professionals. As soon as the "parent" clubs or good sponsors steep into this, there is a stark contrast in performance and results. The Yahoos have stepped up their investment and interest in women (😱), while Glasgow City is trying its best. Some other teams can grab the odd point against the "big teams" if they have a good day, but generally, it is damage limitation for them. The same gulf in class is visible in other leagues too, and in Europe. We are about half an astronomical unit away from the likes of Bayern, Lyon, Barcelona and Co. who can spend nearly as much money on their women teams as we can spend on our men's side. Since there is no transfer market, any good talent will simply leave for clubs who pay the best wages ... and this ruined many a traditionally good women team (work on and off the field) not backed by clubs or investors.

As i said before, play 3-4-3 or whatever and make Tav the right-sided midfielder (who may look at the right defensive side as well). He can weave his "magic" there and no-one gets a stroke if he's caught up-field. Sample "Defensive" line-up ... Sterling - Souttar - Pröpper Tavernier - Barron - Diomande - Jefte Cerny - Dessers - Matondo/Danilo ... with Barron the DM and Diomande the creative bit. You have 4 defensive players, there rest can still work back, but has freedom to work in front of the defenders as they see fit. Sample "Offensive" line-up ... Sterling - Souttar - Pröpper McCausland - Barron - Lawrence - Cortes Cerny - Dessers - Danilo ... Barron (or Diomande) the DM, to screen the defenders should they go forward and cover the flanks. The wide players need to track back, should we lose the ball, but can play in front of the defence as they see fit. This should suffice against every team below 4th place.

You can spare any low-key remarks for the Ukraine thread. We may run rings about your statement above, but that is how we line up in terms of playing personnel. And have done for ages. That we effectively play the fullbacks as auxiliary wingers does not make them any less defensive players. That our DMs are primarily defence-minded players is plain to see ... and quite often these last few years they didn't know whether to stick or twist, leaving our centre-halfs with all the build up work, as the DMs were all over the place. So we set up play with 6 defensive-minded players, who may or may not join the attack with the capabilities they have. IF the fullbacks deliver a winger's job, fair enough. The deficiencies of that system has been outline above and has cost us for years. Alas, it is Clement's job to change things and we'll have to wait and see whether he wants to do Plan A better or finally see's sense, something most of his predecessors did not - and that cost them their job.

There's a scape-goat or bashing-boy every season. The main problem with Dessers lies not in the fact that he misses chances like all strikers do - and no-one should remind us of Morelos' last season - but that we lack other players to score a similar amount of goals. So any of his misses become more costly. IMHO, he's sure not a or the problem.

I'm not getting sucked into anything, I look at what players we use in games and where ... and all becomes very obvious. It's not like we have seen and tried this since a couple of months.

We do not have the players to play 4-2-3-1, no matter how fluid we try to be. And haven't had them for the best part of a decade.

Not really ... if you pick the players that play for that system. What we do right now is ... 4-2-3-1 - 2 centre-halfs ... who have to carry the bulk of any balls over the top by the opposition AS WELL AS much of the creative play from the back The current folk there do their best, but are far from excellent and often have to cover for the advancing fullbacks, leaving gaps in the middle. If the opposition send less than 4 chap into attack, we often have problems. - 2 "wingbacks" who are supposed to play the winger-role more often than not, but are leaving lots of empty spaces on either side if caught up field ... which happens quite often against the Parked Bus Union. Tav got and gets his head out of the nose by delivering the odd perfect cross or corner per game which results into a goal, or scores a penalty or free-kick (as seemingly no-one else was/is allowed to take these). His defensive work can be excellent or shocking, usually some of both per game. Ridvan and Jefte are clearly more attack-minded and capable than most fullbacks we had on that side, and not shy of a good shot. One has injury problems, the other needs a month or two more to settle into the delicacies of the Scottish game. - 2 defensive midfielders (which is one too many against most Scottish teams) who are supposed to fill spaces left by the wingbacks or centre-halfs doing the aforementioned job, to break up play, start the build up from the back and, if possible, run into spaces in the centre of attack, screening the penalty area etc.. IMHO, Barron, Diomande, and Sterling can all do this job, the best in those roles were Davis and Jack, the former for his build-up play, the latter for his defensive work. The three prime boys for the role can sure do it, these last few seasons showed, though, that we need more people in the attacking third, not at the back or in the middle. We toiled and laboured in midfield, instead of putting pressure on the defensive walls. MAYBE, given the power of Barron and Sterling, as well as the possibility of sending Diomande into a more forward role, this system will work better this season. But I stand by my point that we do not need to DMs most of the time. -3 offensive midfielders / attackers / forwards looks nice on paper, but these people have to deliver if we play with but one natural striker. We try our luck with people who can play all slots of the front line, yet, only Sima showed any real promise. The rest is far too erratic or score-shy to make this system work. What we look forward too now is Cerny, Matondo, Cortes, and McCausland finding a rich vein of goalscoring form, as well as Bajrami, Lawrence, Dowell, as well as Hagi and Lowry chipping in with a few. Yet, when you look at these names, you wonder how three of those will be able to do this in every given game against 7 to 8 defenders? -1 striker ... you see, Dessers is in many ways the new Morelos. The sole saviour up top who essentially has to score from every other chance against packed defences, or we stare at low-score or no-score games. The whole idea of 3 attacking midfielders and 1 striker is fine and modern in games where you play an opposition that plays open football. That is not the case in Scotland, and has not been the case for the best part of a decade. I have no idea how the Scum lines up, but it doesn't matter, as they obviously have the quality needed in these positions to put any other Scottish team to the sword. Every system needs both the players for it, as well as an opposition you can use it against. What we need, no matter the numbers on the system sheet, is another striker who can support our centre forward where we need it most.

On a sidenote, has Gillespie actually signed up? There was some furore and now all has died down ...

Well, just plain ironic banter. THEY usually park the bus and lob high balls to send their strikers running, hoping for a corner or free-kick along the way. Targetting weak fullbacks has been added. Only one of our DMs in recent years was able to do his job properly, Ryan Jack, and we continually lost him due to injuries or freak red cards. The rest was usually running all over the place, as were Diomande and Barron for the best part of the season so far ... though Barron has been better at that lately. This season's problem, is - once more - that we have a new manager and a team in transition. The last two or three transitions lasted too long, tactics weren't adapted, and whole seasons were lost. Injuries etc. aside. It is only 4 games played, though. And while all the dirge-singers will be in full swing now, no-one knows how the season will eventually unfold. Given the transfer window, optimism will sure look somewhat different. As I said above, any new boy will know what is required, and hopefully they all show up from now on.

Unless there is a reset in the mindset of our management, i.e. how to play football in Scotland, we are essentially in for another toil. The stubbornness we show since Warburton is bordering on lunacy by now. We have about half a dozen players who need to settle - again - and an OF game at their den is probably the worst place to start. Alas, this was not unexpected, so there is no need to cry louder than necessary. There's along season ahead.