der Berliner

Some folk are in dire need to collect all the toys around their prams, it seems. They must be empty by now ...

3 hours ago, Idisi said:

It was noted in the first post. English clubs pay inflated transfer sums. Now go and molest someone else.

It looks someone is in dire need of a Rangers game ...

The u21s game vs Malta is live on Youtube ...

18 hours ago, Blue Moon said:

No apostrophe dB.  Just following Bill's guidelines.

I am pretty certain that "Auf geht's!" is correct for "Auf geht es!" and "Let's go!" is correct for "Let us go!". But if you would see how people use the English Genitive ' for German abbreviations these days ... 😭 (I blame the schools, TV, internet ... )

2 hours ago, Scott7 said:

Lass uns gehen.

 

Always think German sounds more positive than French.

Too formal. "Auf geht's!" would be the most direct version of "Let's go!" 

Let's put it this way ... if they will really pay that kind of money AND we have no other funds to give Clement a budget, so be it. Alas, I doubt that either will be the case.

Allons-y! 😱

2 hours ago, CammyF said:

We need to get away from this weird fascination of giving or wanting to give important roles at the club to ex-players. 

 

Neil McCann - great player, great pundit but failed at almost every role he's had in football after a fantastic playing career. 

 

Craig Moore - another who had a great Rangers career biut done nothing of note after retiring as a player.

 

Neither are remotely close to DoF material. Only "ex-player" who I'd approach is Davie Weir but we are very unlikely to tempt him away from his role at Brighton. 

 

 

Different times, but most ex-players anywhere had next to no managerial experience before joining a club, be that Souness, or Gerrard, Solksjaer et al. Walter was a good assistant before become a legendary Rangers man. So, I would say that it would be false to set certain preconditions for some people, when we have seen that similar people can do a job. As with players coming to Rangers, only what you do AT the club will mean everything, not what you did before or what you achieve later.

While I do not see Davis or McCann as another Souness or Walter, all a Rangers manager has to be capable of (in the here and now) is to win games in the Scottish league and cup, as well as bringing silverware to Ibrox. These people know the club and the Scottish game, they know the current Rangers players and what the club needs. Whether they can achieve that is anyone's guess. We tried various people, and most of them needed time to get used to what the Scottish "game" is like. At the end of the day, most managers, players, and tactics (if any) of the past decade were sussed out by the opposition by Christmas and countered rather effectively. I doubt we can risk* another season that effectively starts by Christmas, while the new manager gets used to Scotland. Then again, there is not much one/we can do about it.

*well, we can. All we "risk" is that the Scum snaps up another free title ...

2 hours ago, Sutton_blows_goats said:

my thoughts exactly. 

Be that as it may, this no-one-knew-anything-about Ange chap we all laughed about back in the day was good enough to get them silverware on all fronts but Europe. He built a team (with lush CL-millions) that was good enough to hold everything in Scotland well at bay, including us. Whereas we toiled along with "modern football".

TBH, I have no clue about most of the guys in the poll these days - their managerial credentials, that is. And I don't mind that, as long as the one who comes in gets this team back on track and we start winning trophies again. Be it Clement, Muscat, or Davis. There won't be any new arrivals (bar freebies) before the turn of the year, so we are stuck with what we have - no matter the manager. I still think that we bought decent quality, even though we made horrible decision along the way (Colak, Sakala, Hagi).

No, you can't do that, it is the international week ahead of us and people need to socialize/talk/you-name-it ...

1 hour ago, Rousseau said:

A 10 and shadow (second) striker are different positions.

We all know that you have no clue about line-ups! 😜

2 hours ago, Scott7 said:

For the benefit of the really aged what are sixes, eights and tens? Do sevens play any part in the game? I’m guessing that the numbers refer to pitch areas and or playing roles.

I never saw the days of inside lefts and the like in real life, but the 4-4-2 days, or that of the "libero".  But to speak in Rangers terms ...

6 = DM - the one and only Hemdani

8 = CM = box to box - McCall, maybe Ian Ferguson

10 = shadow striker - playmaker behind the centre forward - Laudrup; not the cool 2nd centre forward a la Hateley & McCoist

9 = that lone warrior up top - take your pick from Morelos, Colak, or any other hermit

(7 &) 11 are usually wingers, but no-one talks about that these days, since we play "modern football" ...

From the highlights it looked as if we had plenty of chances, St. Mirren none. Stats confirmed this. Scoring three goals from 8 shots on target is also an improvement ... if we talk about stats. Dunno about the general state of play though, but given that not many people were back from injury, only the youngsters will probably have brought some spark into proceedings. Raskin looked to have played further forward.

As of yesterday, the onus is on Rangers to stay ahead of me in terms of years and titles. Back in the early 2000s, this looked easy enough. But since then ... so better get to work now!

6 hours ago, Bluedell said:

I don't understand the clamour to drop Davies.

True enough. Bar Butland, our central-defense was the only part of the team that was "okay" by their standards these last few games. As I noted above, I'd rather replace our "wing-backs", at least our right-sided one. But most of the line-ups above with half the team made up of kids are essentially just ironic / cynical banter, i.e. can't be taken seriously. I for one didn't even see McCausland doing anything productive with the ball. That said, neither he nor McKinnon or Rice is in the B-Team against Monaco today.

Davis has to deal with what we have available, and that would be the case with any other manager coming in before the January transfer window. I’d be very surprised to see a change in formation tomorrow, though I do expect Ridvan back in the team.

Copied from the reply I just made in the EL "disaster" thread ...

Which brings me back to the system. St. Mirren is "flying", yet only faced the rest of the dross in the Premiership so far. They will probably be in our faces on Sunday, hence, I'd go nominally 3-4-3, with Souttar coming in. Lundstram as DM, Raskin as CM, Ridvan filling the left wingback slot, Wright right wing. Sima, Roofe, and Dessers up top.

Butland

Souttar - Goldson - Davies

Wright - Lundstram - Raskin - Ridvan

Sima - Dessers - Roofe

Truth be told, we have been in far deeper shyte than this.

Davis can't be envied for having to cope with this bunch of players and the injury situation (Danilo, Lawrence, Cantwell). He can't add anyone but youngsters, and it beggars belief that we let Lowry go alongside Hagi. Not least, while those we brought in needed time to adapt. I have no idea who the creative spark amongst the youngsters is.

What he can do is change the system. IMHO, the line-up last night was okay, only that the players failed to perform. The front-line lacks much cohesion, and the constant change of positions sure does not help. Wright and Sima mostly sticking to their wing slots was a start. Yet, the middle axis is still a shambles at the best of times. The DMs/CMs do not press or run into spaces (if they see opportunity to do so), the player who should distribute the ball behind the "front three" is not there. Likewise, while Borna is his usual self (either he passes back, or delivers a rasping cross in the danger zone), Tavernier can just as well be converted into a right midfielder, as his defensive work would equal that role, and his attacking display too. You do wonder what his completed cross/freekick ratio is this season, as it looks to be rather poor. You wonder what sort of player Sterling is, his bit-part appearances are sort of disappointing, yet if he doesn't get any game time, how should he sharpen his game to the Scottish demands? If supply from the wings remains as it is, we can just as well keep Tavernier out and play a winger instead (Wright "bites back" equally well).

Which brings me back to the system. St. Mirren is "flying", yet only faced the rest of the dross in the Premiership so far. They will probably be in our faces on Sunday, hence, I'd go nominally 3-4-3, with Souttar coming in. Lundstram as DM, Raskin as CM, Ridvan filling the left wingback slot, Wright right wing. Sima, Roofe, and Dessers up top. 

2 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said:

Not sure if Sakala would have helped since he is rubbish.

 

The decision to sell Colak looks completely baffling now.

Sakala assisted and scored good goals, and, more importantly, was always in the face of the defence, ran into spaces et al. Never understood why we let Moralos play ahead of Colak when fit, nor why we sold him - unless Parma turned his head.

Worst possible time for Europe.

Aris scored two good goals and that was all they did. Bang average trash on par with Killie or Hibs. 

We just don't get our feet on the ground right now, and most players are well below form. Pass marks for Sima and Wright, the rest tried but essentially failed. 

Whoever decided to get rid of Colak and Sakala needs to get skelped to the Clyde and back.

As I said at HT. Hit and run and hope. Simple trash stuff. And we defend as per usual.

This looks like a mid-season cup game away to Hearts or Hibs, with they being on steroids for about 25 mins before reverting to the shyte standard they are. Just hit and hope. Some touches and passes would make a Lowland League manager chuckle, some fouls too. That said, they turned over Bratislava earlier this year, so that style may catch someone flat-footed.

We essentially huff and puff and need someone hitting the trigger instead of passing it to the next worse positioned player in the area. Some clever long balls over the top, but too few taking risks and running into spaces. Wright is having a good game, Lammers should stop outplaying himself.

The ref a typical Iberian buffoon.

This one could either see us end up conceding a couple more from counter-attacks and corners, or beat that lot by 3 or more.

I want Sakala back!

Referee - Horațiu Feșnic ROU

Assistants - Valentin Avram ROU and Alexandru Cerei ROU

Fourth Official - Andrei Chivulete ROU

Video Assistant Referee - Ovidiu Haţegan ROU

Assistant Video Assistant Referee - Cătălin Popa ROU

Missing - Todd Cantwell (Knee), Danilo Pereira (facial injury), Rabbi Matondo (Knee), Tom Lawrence (calf), Ryan Jack (Muscle problem); Ridvan Yilmaz, Kieran Dowell, Leon Balogun (not in EL squad)

Just checked ... Mr. Jensen prefers a defensive 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 in a league where teams usually want to play football. In a league where 80 % of the teams play "backs to walls brick wall" - stuff with the odd foray and hope of a corner or free-kick, things work differently. 

Warburton, Murty, Caixinha, Nicholl, Gerrard, McCallum, van Bronkhorst, and Beale didn't change that 4-3-3 (or however you want to term that reduced-attackers-line-up) and failed. We sure do not need more trial and error people.

Never thought of Davis, TBH. Bags of experience on club and international level, no idea about his coaching abilities. Rae exactly the same, bar the international experience. Truth be told, if we get people who get us to a next level (or tow) in Scotland, that would be all I am asking for. We simply can't play along like we de facto did since Warburton. All we tried was making the 4-3-3-Plan-A better and while it reaped some rewards in Europe, dear me, how much we failed with that at home.

I always like how Neil McCann talks the game as an expert for RTV et al, and I know his managerial background isn't great. But he would be one for a secondary role in my next managerial set up.

Speaking of which, it's always quite a hard break these days, since once more, it isn't just Beale going, but also the coaches Neil Banfield, Damian Matthew, Harry Watling and Jack Ade. No idea how good or bad their work and input  actually were ...

NB: Somewhat like Gio, Beale's last few games have been messed up by injuries too. Only that ... I doubt he would have changed the line ups that much bar midfield.

Availabe coaches and managers

We found Colak (who did a fine job at Premiership level) and Sakala (who did a fine job at Premiership level) not good enough (raked in 7,5m), and brought in Lammers and Dessers for a combined 8,5m. We sent Hagi packing for no obvious reason whatsoever, after already letting Lowry out on loan.

Injuries were bound to happen, did happen and those we have left are not up to what is required, starting with the captain.

BTW, two of their goals were still a comedy of luck and errors. You don't get these very often.

Back in the day, Walter's Rangers were "hammered" 0-3 at Ibrox by Hibs (Ivan Sproule) and Hearts (Allan Johnston, methinks), so this comes close to that. Still, I would be surprised if Beale was still the manager by Monday.