der Berliner

It just was another disaster waiting to happen. We don't score enough goals due to bad tactics, and if the players can't get their act together, we are very very ordinary. The opposition needs but 1 to 3 chances per game to score, and they usually do. This was not the worst we suffered as a game. But in a season of many lows, this is another bottom benchmark. I feel truly ashamed that once more, I can't be bothered that much. This team has drained a lot of my belief in football. Not in Rangers, obviously.

Hats off to the Spiders, who didn't even have to work for this famous scalp. 4-2-3-1 at its worst, with a team without any sort of cohesion or ability to string even a few solid attacking passes together. The first one came in 92 mins. We talk about the dire days and horrific under Pedro, but this current side is going from shocking to marvellous and shocking again in no time. What a mess ...

Super-fast VAR checks ... 😂

Why the heck do they still want to pass themselves over the goal-line. Only to play it back to someone who shoots over the bar?

We have been shocking from midfield onwards, this was just the usual one chance we like to give away. How you can from Union St. Gillois and Tottenham to such performance is beyond joke.

Tavernier has two attributes we need for games like this: flanks and penalties. What the heck is he doing in and around the penalty area and spot time and again?

I know 😜

... there is every chance that the Spiders will tire and Dessers scores a double-hat-trick. Rest assured, PC will pull some magic out of his hat ...

Dunno why Igamane sits so deep and runs about outside the area. And if our should-be goalscorer is not there and our wannabe-attackers waste their usual quota of chances, the game goes down a well-trodden path ...

Igamane has no real support (and is far too unselfish), the fellow attackers are all over the place, so there is no real cohesion up front, Curtis essentially a needless spectator. You would hope there was someone out there taking the reigns ...

Fernandes and Pröpper must have a 100 % pass completion rate just now. Not exactly where we need it, but for the stats folk, immense.

Elsewhere, the Ladies have just hammered Aberdeen 10-0, (3x Wilkinson, 2x Hardy, 2x McLoughlin, Howat, Berry and an own goal).

Brutal sign of the times ... we have but two fit strikers and thus don't risk playing both against this low-key opposition. I'd have used McCaulsand from the start too, as we need Cerny for Europe and, dare I say it, the league.

Yes, we seem to forget this, even me. I still remember, occasionally, the days in the mid-80s and BBC World Service's late Paddy Feeny, talking about "exotic" places like Kilbowie Park, Cappielow, or Boghead Park, i.e. places we visited in this "age". Or Molineux of the Wolves, Turf Moor, or the old Victoria Stadium of Stoke. Mind you, some of these place have gone now, like some teams too.

Sunday - 09 February 2025 - 15:30 The Scottish Cup Ibrox Stadium v Referee - Calum Scott Assistants - David McGeachie and Sean Carr Video Assistant Referee - Gavin Duncan Assistant Video Assistant Referee - Gary Hilland Missing - Dujon Sterling, Leon Balogun, Danilo Pereira, Connor Barron, Ridvan Yilmaz Live on - BBC Scotland and Rangers TV

https://x.com/SeafarerMichael/status/1887871143370973281?t=hB_khnEYA-N5HwIvoLKQ4w

... truth be told, I cannot really understand, why we took it to the last day of the window. He'll rot on their bench now and get no end of bother from the retards in their support. Possibly out of football till next July/August. Thus, why not put that down in the first week of January and see whether Dundee would accept cash right now? With a few weeks to spare to think about it? Then again, who knows what happened behind the scenes.

The frustrating thing is - and has been for about a decade - that we cannot adapt to the style of most Scottish team, like JohnMc wrote above. We can talk about transfers and windows all day long, but the managers simply didn't cope with the demands, but used the same tactics with different players time and again. As soon as teams wanted to play football, mostly in Europe (hence the good results), our side clicked admirably. I have little doubt that no matter whom we had signed, would be used in the same way as before, pressed or utilized in a 4-2-3-1 that works only with luck or the odd creative spark or - indeed - penalty. Alas, probably out of necessity 😱, PC used two strikers of late, hence we were able to snatch a few good results. I wait for any further judgement though, as my gut feeling says that we will not deviate much from the system above for some time to come. I don't think we are worlds apart in terms of quality from them, only that they have more and also people capable to take up the responsibility if someone gets injured. Injuries is another serious topic. We lost so many of our important and/or expansive players over the last couple of seasons that it is unreal. And there is hardly anyone able to fill their boots. Currently, it's Cortes and Danilo, but if you go back through the months it was Helander, Ridvan, Danilo, Sterling, Cantwell, Raskin, Jack, Matondo, Roofe etc.. On a similar note, we need a good stock of able Scots or British players. There's a reason why a Tavernier or Lundstram or McCausland, a Brown, Gough, Ferguson or McCall, can go through season after season without much problem. Whereas we seem to have so many fair-weather people that it is unreal. These Britons may not get us to the EL final, but through those soggy nights in Perth or Motherwell. The least is said about the omission of some players from the first team squad for a few months at the start of the season, the better. You would hope that scrapping the B-team wil see more youngsters train and play with the first team squad, that's how those 17+ year old talents are brought into the first teams all over Scotland and Europe. We may look at B-teams later on, but nowadays we should concentrate about harvesting the talent we have. This transfer window fits nicely into the deflating mood about our season so far, alas, the last few games give us a little (sic!) hope of a turning tide.

Zak Lovelace IS heading for transfer exit as fee revealed but one star WON'T be leaving... (from the site not to ber used) Ridvan seems to be staying.

Couhaib Driouech (22) - LW, Morocco, PSV Eindhoven - contract till 2029 - TM - TM stats (only signed for them last summer ... ) ... a MUST BUY, only to see the English-speaking commentators warp their tongues 😂

It was one of these "put to bed early" games, which end up in dire affairs after half-time. We did well enough still, as compared to other games, and while he had two decent attempts on target, I would have had Price for Igamane and McCausland for Cerny too, and sure no Lawrence. The latter was probably put out there to show anyone that he's fit. These young lads want to prove themselves and in games where the momentum is lost, you need this enthusiasm. Too bad that we only started using two strikers - and hence start winning games - this late and thus robbed the youngsters the opportunities.

Don't we like clickbait headlines? Zak Lovelace Rangers latest as Millwall strike £1m deal for young English attacker ... only that they signed someone else. But we shall see.

With Dowell, Matondo and possibly Ridvan and Lovelace off, I would expect a couple of people arriving. Probably no-one mentioned before bar Cameron. Looks to be a window for cleaning and sorting the deadwood out, and getting able youngster into the first team. We do look very weak on the wingback positions, and we have but a half a handful of strikers. At centre-half, Nsiala looks to be a good find (and will take up from Balogun next season), Souttar and Pröpper remain the main players there. Let's see how Fernandes develops.

.... indeed. Remember the drop in performance in other games we lead comfortably at HT, this was sure an improvement. Looks like we got our first penalty of the season ... in February, while they managed their 41st game without conceding a red card.

Point is, they get doubled up and tracked, while the likes of Hagi and Cerny are not. Hence they start scoring. Now that you say it, Dessers for a hat trick!