der Berliner

I feared the worst, but Thursday night games have their own dynamic. Despite the superior quality and chances, we almost got a 1-1 draw. No matter the absentees and lack of depth in the squad. With the former, however, you have to ask yourself (and with little due respect) what has been brought in over the last few years. Injuries on the field are one thing, but it is amazing how people with the physique of Sterling or Danilo can last two or three games and then some kind of muscle problem arises. Cortes and Matondo are just such examples too. It is also annoying that we have to throw Curtis and Rice into such games practically unprepared, because we sent the same players out on the field week after week and month after month, whether they produce or not. Or replace them with "veterans" on a 1-1 basis. While it was a luxury in Walter's ways, now, where results have become truly essential, we still get the same dross every week.

Well, IMHO, Dessers is just a striker who hits the goal rather frequently, but also misses a few good opportunities. No different to any striker we had before. What makes people angry is that we do not score enough goals to put games to bed ... and our lone striker bears the most of that. No matter who he is and that he is not the actual problem. Yet, truth be told, every team will envy us for a 20-goal striker we have in Dessers. He still is but an international striker of Nigeria, not Germany, England, Spain or the like. That is where we are. Danilo is as injury prone as Sterling, albeit both looking like units you won't square up with in the street. Ridvan has a bad streak right now, he's much better on the left too, as we saw early on last night (though highlights might be deceiving). What would be a concern is that neither the B-team seems to have an adequate right-back to fill the gap if Tav is injured, and that the first team doesn't have a back-up to Tav either (even though he wouldn't play much given the penalty-king's fortitude). That said, Jefte, still but 22, set a few feet wrong in recent weeks as well. Of course, nothing of that should be put under the microscope, as many of the current generation of supporters likes to do. Bajrami, well, these players grow hot and cold, maybe he's more of a fair-weather player. But that's for the manager to see and react to. On hindsight, what sort of madness drove our high-ups to the decision to keep Hagi out of the team and EL squad?! Granted, Danilo was injured and UEFA created a right good mess with this super-large and long "Group Phase", with no option to put players in later on. But for the sake of some bonus money they essentially wrecked the season and denied us our most creative player for Europe. NB: I'm not talking the players above up or, indeed, down. It's just where we are right now in terms of quality. "Wanting more" will not change the reality we are in.

It was but a vague link, but anyway ... Darius Olaru faces five month injury lay off to end Rangers links Olaru is unlikely to changing hands for the time being now anyway. The Romania international suffered a serious injury as the club formerly known as Steaua Bucharest beat Hamburg 2-1 in a friendly on January 10th. One that, according to the doctor who performed the operation, could keep Olaru out of action until June. “March is a bit early [for Olaru to return],” says Ion Andrei Popescu. “For high-performance athletes, the indication is five months [on the sidelines].

We're down half the squad, so no matter how bad ManU are at the moment, no matter the Thursday Factor, we better make sure it won't be another Red disaster. Alas, I'm at work tonight, so I can blame you all afterwards 😱 ... and my PC monitor doesn't need another appointment with the psychagogue due to constant verbal abuse ...

Thor's Day, 23 January 2025 - 20.00 Europa League Old Trafford v Referee - Erik Lambrechts (BEL) Assistants - Mathias Hillaert (BEL) and Jo de Weirdt (BEL) Fourth Official - Nathan Verboomen (BEL) Video Assistant Referee - Bram van Driessche (BEL) Assistant Video Assistant Referee - Benjamin Brand Referee Observer - Markus Strömbergsson (SWE) UEFA Delegate - Marcin Stefanski (POL) Missing - Ianis Hagi (not in squad), Danilo Pereira (not in squad), Tom Lawrence (muscle), Neraysho Kasanwirjo (knee, away), John Souttar (groin), Dujon Sterling (foot), Oscar Cortés (muscle), Diomande (suspended) EDIT: No Bailey Rice either, he's suspended due to a red card in the UEFA Youth League. Live on - TNT Sports 1, RTL+de, and Rangers TV

You would hope that we've got another Fernandes in the pipeline ... signed 24 hours after the first rumour.

Neraysho Kasanwirjo is set to return to Feyenoord as they agreed with Rangers to terminate his loan due to the player being injured. Luka Ivanušec is now expected to join Dinamo in the coming days, as Feyenoord can now send him on loan since they've opened up a slot.#Ivanušec… https://t.co/xjHckew0fS pic.twitter.com/RKRLR4gTE9 — Croatian Football (@CroatiaFooty) January 20, 2025

Scottish Cup - Semi-Final vs them ...

You'd probably have to put this up next to Morelos and Colak, Waghorn and Garner, rather than someone who only had half a handful of games. Then again, these stats are usually dubious anyway, as they don't put the opposition into context. Likewise, Damilo backed up Igamane, and Hagi, which might have helped. Anyway, we don't need to discuss Dessers or anyone else to death -> in here <-, rumours it is.

The whole Dessers witch-hunt is truly cringeworthy. He is not Ronaldo, he is not Kane, he is not Messi. If the same measures had been put on McCoist, or Hateley ever other season, they would have been hounded out in no-time. We don't score enough goals because of our "centre-forward" (note the singular), but because hardly anyone bar him and the penalty-god scores enough goals per season.

Turkish club Besiktas are showing interest in Rangers midfielder Tom Lawrence, who has just six months remaining on his contract at Ibrox. (Daily Mail) Besiktas want Tom Lawrence without paying a transfer fee, with new boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer having worked with the Rangers midfielder in the Manchester United reserve side. (Aksam Spor, external - in Turkish) Zurich sporting director Milos Malenovic suggests the path is clear for Nikola Katic to leave this month, with the defender touted for a possible return to Rangers. (Bluewin via Sunday Mail) Wycombe Wanderers are closing in on a deal to sign Alex Lowry from Rangers on a permanent deal, sources have told Football Insider. The 21-year-old is out of contract at Ibrox in the summer, with the January transfer window being the final chance for the Gers to cash in on the midfielder. Sam Grace’s side currently sit second in League One, with the club just two points behind Birmingham City. Burnley and Sheffield United are among the teams to have taken an interest in Rangers winger Tom Lawrence. This is according to a report from the Daily Mail, who have reported that there's plenty of interest in the Englishman Rangers could land Serbian midfielder Sasa Zdjelar on a ‘bargain’ fee with CSKA Moscow set to let the player leave Russia this January.

... only if this season is 2025/26.

So we've seen Nsiala three times now and in no game he looked phased or the like, rather on the contrary. And tonight he even whipped in a fine cross for Balogun to score. Let's hope Pröpper, who hasn't been that bad either, isn't injured that badly. Game ... very much according to our dominance, even though we wasted too many chances once more. Alas, three points, two points closer to them too.

Dessers, cool as you like ... what a striker!

Der Berliner leads the way ... 😜

Since Aberdeen dig in behind the half-way line, we again toil too much in our own half. Pröpper and Nsiala play some neat passes, yet, Raskin and Diomande are those who should be doing it. I wonder, since Ridvan is not exactly helpful in that slot and his current form, whether we should try Barron there, who might stay a little further back and help our centre-halfs. Looks like Danlio stays on the bench now, Bajrami coming on. For someone build like Danilo, he's more fragile than me ...

Kelly Ridvan - Pröpper - Nsiala - Jefte Raskin - Diomande Danilo Cerny - Igamane - Hagi Subs: Munn, Tavernier, Barron, Dessers, Bajrami, Balogun, McCausland, Rice, Lovelace. The line-up according to the Rangers HP. I would make that a 4-4-2 ... but hey, we have to feed the modern-football mantra.

Remember that Tav has a) to return first and b) has to go too.

News still slow ... Turkish second-tier club Amedspor have offered Heart of Midlothian striker Lawrence Shankland, who is out of contract at the end of the season, a lucrative deal. (Scottish Sun) ... denied by Hearts. Clement has confirmed he has identified "several" players he believes can help Rangers in the January transfer window. (Glasgow Times) ... meanwhile, Wolfsburg are in talks with a Swedish winger, which would see Cerny drop down to third or fourth choice there, maybe opening the door for a permanent move. That said, he'll still cost some money ...

Looking ahead ... it might have been worse. But not much ... Referee - Kevin Clancy 😱 Assistants - Graeme Stewart and David Roome Video Assistant Referee - Nick Walsh Assistant Video Assistant Referee - David McGeachie

That said ... if we are talking about the board and the club as such, I wonder how much more people are currently employed than in the days of Sir Walter. While you acknowledge that football has changed, the number of people now running about looks to be somewhat inflated. Not least when we could sack a manager for not delivering, but then he's what, 5 to 10 people in his team who will also have to be taken care with? And who might have to be replaced too. I would hope that they all got clauses in their contracts that save us from payments when they fail in their duties ... More generally, people call for change, and rightly so after another half-season of stagnating "progress". There has to be some sort of improvement soonish, as we laboured ever since our return. What you would like to seen sooner rather than later is a change of attitude towards the SFA/SPFL, as we have been ravaged for the best part of the decade by heinous refereeing, compliance officer decisions, and now über- and non-active VARing. The club has to make a stand, and preferably hand in hand with outer clubs. It very much looks like we now have to bear another season (at least) shadow-walking behind the Scum, and the talk about our financial standing is surely correct. Yet, we've shown that we can hold our own against them on the field during the last few seasons, so any debate on "getting financially back on track" sounds a bit hollow, as our problems more or less lie on the field of play. I would assume that CEOs generally not interfere with football decisions, but I would expect that the manager gets an appointment with the CEO every other week after another dismal showing against the lesser lights of the league. Tactics, player motivation, expectations should be on the agenda there, and if it doesn't change after a couple of appointments, sterner measures need to be implemented. The experiment-phases need to stop.

Typical 2nd half after the job was done in the 1st. You wonder why we don't change things with periphery players earlier (might have saved us from another Danilo injury), with Matondo and Cortes as well as McCausland needing game time. Dowell could have easily replaced Raskin or Diomande after 60 mins, as their race was run. Cortes didn't really shine after being subbed on ... but what was he doing on the right? That's McCausland's slot ... who played on the left? Ach well ...

I looked at the line-up and though: nice 4-4-2 ... and that's how we essentially play. The two strikers give their backline hell, Cerny and Hagi press too, while Diomande does his (probably best) role as an AM. Ridvan and Raskin look a bit suspect with their touches, on the other hand, Nsiala doesn't look phased by the occasion, crowd, nor opponent. Wonder if King is getting 45 mins after Pröpper (playing well today) held his shoulder. Time to give minutes to the "fringe" and rehabilitation boys.

No, Dessers ain't the problem. Most strikers haven't been the problem. Their scoring rates and stats are and were similar to most in Rangers's history. Only that we are hell-bend on expecting them to be the finished jack-of-all-trades striker like Ibrahimovic, Messi, or the like, hitting the goal with ever other shot, scoring 30+ per season. We changed a running system to this modern crab and now try to blame the players for not doing it to perfection in a league where it is doomed to fail time and again. Blaming single players just means that people trust the system more than the ability of the players ... which is, IMHO, fundamentally wrong. (And this does not mean that I think that any player who receives criticism isn't worth it.)

There is no doubt that we have a team that can play good attacking football when the opposition "wants to play football". Be it in Europe or in Scotland. In the latter, however, only very few clubs do it, but that is where we have to do our homework. Regardless of injuries (and they have been horrendous over the years) and ridiculous refereeing decisions and performances, we have not managed to break down these Scottish walls for the best part of a decade. And ultimately, this is the point where the blame must be placed on every single coach since Warburton. Dundee were holed up, our three strikers faced two defenders each, the second row with ONE nominal attacker is useless against two or three Dundee players, the two 6s passed to the centre-halfs and that's it. We have seen it like this since Warburton. So the penny has to drop at some point ... the penny that should be the size of Fort Knox by now. You have up to six attackers on the bench each week, some are subbed on a 1 for 1 basis, others go on after 75+ mins with little effect. Week in and week out. It is unacceptable management and must come to an end. We handed the Scum a free reign at every trophy since 2012, and some may blame Murray for the initial fall. But since our return, we were able to built teams that challenged them for titles, yet imploded mainly down to the above.