-
Posts
2,176 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
34
Everything posted by JohnMc
-
The Rangers Summer 2025 Transfer Rumours and Deals - Thread
JohnMc replied to der Berliner's topic in Rangers Chat
Ferguson still harboured hopes of the job permanently and knew he'd need to go on a good winning run to be in with a chance. No way he was allowing one of our centre halves to miss the last part of the season, even though it was all but over. The club was in such a state of flux with ownership change and senior appointments still not sorted no one was going to over rule him. -
Souttar in race to be fit for Champions League
JohnMc replied to Sutton_blows_goats's topic in Rangers Chat
In terms of who gives Jackson and co his stories that's easy, it's Barry Ferguson. Our previous manager enjoys a cosy relationship with the tabloids where information passes both ways. The framing of this story is interesting. It's putting pressure on Martin, the man who got the job Ferguson wanted to keep. It also discredits the decision makers at the club and John Souttar. I wonder who that benefits. I'd be astonished if the club CEO, new director of football (or whatever his title is), medical staff, Souttar and his agent weren't all involved in agreeing this. -
The Rangers Summer 2025 Transfer Rumours and Deals - Thread
JohnMc replied to der Berliner's topic in Rangers Chat
He's a proper ginger too, look at those freckled arms. Great Rangers teams always have a ginger in them, this is a good sign. -
That length of tenure was actually much more common than you think. Willie Maley was Celtic manager for 43 years, in the early 20th century it wasn't unusual for managers to serve for 20 plus years. Guy Roux famously managed Auxerre for 44 years in more recent times. Struth's longevity is still impressive even for the period, but it's his success that's really noteworthy. Celtic were the dominant side in Scotland when he joined the club, by the time he left Rangers had won 10 more titles than Celtic. The manager's job was different then than it is today. Back then the manager was in charge of the club on a day to day basis and involved in all aspects of it. So Struth was felt across every aspect Rangers, not just the first 11. It's difficult to overstate his importance. Rangers weren't the massive club they are today when he took over, Glasgow was a city of immigrants many with no family ties to Rangers. Working men chose to go and see a football match based on who would entertain them as much as who they wanted to win. Rangers were an attractive side to watch, they had brilliant players who put on a show. Struth understood that football was about winning but also about doing it with a certain style.
-
The Rangers Summer 2025 Transfer Rumours and Deals - Thread
JohnMc replied to der Berliner's topic in Rangers Chat
People who claim to know about these things say Celtic are very keen to sign him. They see him as a potential future club captain and someone they could get 5 good years out of and still then sell for a huge profit as he's reaching his peak. No problems with settling in or adjusting to the league. The feeling being that he'd flourish in a team that dominates possession. I see talk of £10 million which is a lot for us to spend on one player. But he fits the model everyone is saying we should follow. -
The Rangers Summer 2025 Transfer Rumours and Deals - Thread
JohnMc replied to der Berliner's topic in Rangers Chat
I agree with your first sentence. Sometimes random mercenaries go onto become club legends. I doubt Peter Lovenkrands and Neil McCann grew up dreaming of a last minute cup final winner for Rangers, a goal that made me as happy as almost any goal ever scored has. With very rare exceptions every professional player is a mercenary, it's a job with a short window to earn money and they all realise that very quickly. Even the ones raised as west of Scotland bluenoses will sign for sworn enemies or leave us for for better wages without much concern. It's only us that form the attachments, these are not reciprocal relationships, I know that. In Justin Halpern's 'Shit My Dad Says' he's got a story of his Dad ranting about the LA Rams and how is son is an idiot for forming any kind of emotional relationship with them. It's both funny and perceptive. I guess that's where football in this country is going too if we're not careful. -
The Rangers Summer 2025 Transfer Rumours and Deals - Thread
JohnMc replied to der Berliner's topic in Rangers Chat
Surely getting emotionally attached to players is half of what football is all about? I accept it's illogical and childish but if you remove emotion from football what are you left with? I'm not disputing the validity of the business model, but it's ok not to want your best players sold, even if it's inevitable. -
Underrated post! Bravo.
-
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
I'm curious what people think the captaincy entails. Do people think he should be changing formations on the pitch during games? Over-ruling the management team on tactics and selections perhaps? Maybe telling the board to sell certain players and who to buy? The expectation some seem to have regarding what the captain does is very strange. The captain is the bridge between the dressing room and the manager, he's who helps new players settle into the squad, who lets's the manager know if someone has an issue, perhaps unconnected to football, who makes sure the various media duties the squad need to do are covered. He's the guy who swaps pennants and calls the coin toss, he'll give an encouraging word or a harsh one to a teammate when appropriate. This suggestion that he's responsible for our ills is ludicrous. At the age of 30 Wes Morgan captained Leicester City to the league title, it was the first honour he'd won in football. Some captains never win anything in their entire career, that doesn't make them bad captains. It's a team game, teams win and lose, not individuals. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
I know there are more important topics for discussion on this thread but a point of order. It's actually a corruption of the Gaelic for jumper or sweater which is geansaidh and pronounced 'genzy'. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
I mean desperate and sad I can take, but vegan is a slur too far young man! -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
I can't decide if you're being serious or if you're being even more sarcastic than I was. Well played either way. For the record I was attempting some levity, I should know better. Desperate and sad is a fair description though, I'm regularly at least one of those things, often both. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
Much more importantly every picture of Martin I see he seems to be sporting a black jumper or even a gilet (or body warmer as they were called when I was a youth). This is fine if you're manager of some mid table jobbers in the Bundesliga or an architect in Zurich, but in Govan that's really only acceptable on retired trawler men. Can we expect the shirt and club tie look or at least official training gear to be a thing of the past. I realise I'm sounding more and more like my Dad with every passing day. It's a worry. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
Every Rangers manager this century has played a possession based game domestically because it's only occasionally Rangers don't have the bulk of the possession during a match. Walter Smith became a master at a rope-a-dope style against Celtic where we'd often concede possession then hit them on the break but against everyone else we dominated. Smith relied on moments of skill from very good players, we were also much more dangerous from set-pieces then too. Gerrard didn't favour a counter-attacking style, he wanted his sides to dominate everyone. It took a while for this to be effective against Celtic and it worked in Europe until we played a side better than us. Whereas Gio and Clement were more flexible, particularly in Europe, and were happy to play effectively on the counter-attack. Martin has a clear preference for passing the opposition to death. So did Gio. Clement had that at first too, but as it struggled to breakdown the opposition he tried more direct football, with limited success. Our players simply weren't equipped for that style. For me Martin, or whoever it is, will need to play possession football because we'll have possession in most matches. What they'll need is better players than we've had recently. Without better players Martin won't succeed, but then I doubt Klopp would succeed if the players aren't of the required standard. It might be unpopular but had both Gio or Clement been given better players both were able enough managers to have won us the league. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
SACK THE BOARD!! -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
No, I didn't appoint him, I'm one of disloyal fans who has been sceptical of the new owners since they were first mooted. I'm just surprised that some of those who've been guzzling the Cool Aid for the 49ers seem to be cracking up at their first important appointment. As for Martin he's certainly better qualified than Ancelotti, not as well qualified as Gerrard. It's not an appointment that excites me, but it's not a mental appointment either. He's experienced, he knows the club, he's coaching players of our level and he's got something to prove after a poor end at Southampton. Walter Smith was an uninspiring appojntment after Souness, McLeish was an uninspiring appointment after Advocaat, indeed Jock Wallace was too following on from a legend like Waddell. They did ok in the end. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
Of course, I'm just finding some of the opinions contradictory. I'm also not sure coaching Real Madrid players is the best preparation for setting out a team to play Livi away in November. I've no clue if Martin will be a success or not, I'm just surprised at how much negativity it's generated. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
The reaction to his (apparent) appointment is bizarre. What happened to all that 'trust the process', 'long term plans' and 'proper sports businessmen in charge' stuff everyone's spouting on the ownership thread? Martin is a former player, a former internationalist who has managed 250 or so matches at different clubs, importantly these clubs operate at a similar level to ourselves in terms of the players they can attract and wages they'll pay. I mean you'd think we'd appointed Peter Grant with Iona Fyfe as his assistant the way some of you are reacting. -
John Grieg captained Rangers when Celtic won the European Cup, reached a further final and two further semi finals and won 9 in a row. He then won two trebles as captain. There's a reason why every manager that's come to Rangers has either made Tav captain or kept him as captain, and it's not because they're sentimental. I'd really like to see Tav get a run in a Rangers side with much better players in it, he's still the best full back in the league.
-
Purdy replaces Koppen as technical director
JohnMc replied to Sutton_blows_goats's topic in Rangers Chat
I'm always a little wary of some of the opinions passed off as facts on some podcasts. Much of it feels like it was briefed and you have to ask whose agenda that fulfils. Everton are shopping in very different market to Rangers. The much quoted £20 million would just about cover the fee Everton paid for Ndiaye, they paid a similar amount for an Irish right back who I've literally never heard of. Let's see what they know about the players Rangers can afford to sign. Koppen at least understood the market Rangers need to operate in. I felt Koppen was an easy scapegoat for a lot of last season. He was told to reduce the wage bill by a significant amount. He did that without making the side significantly worse than it was the season before. It wasn't better but I'm not sure that was ever realistic. The club had so much going on behind the scenes in the last 12 months that you wonder how any of them were able to work successfully. Perhaps a period of stability is upon us and the new team will benefit from that. I hope so. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
How come getting Southampton promoted to the EPL but failing to keep them there is seen as failure for Russell Martin but getting Leeds relegated then promoted to the EPL is seen as success for our new owners? -
I accept I'm largely alone but I find it hard to get excited about this. Let's see what happens now. Fingers crossed.
-
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
Hah, yeah it probably does read like that. Apologies. My Rangers infused misanthropy is hard to hide currently, eventually they break us all. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
Whoever our next manager is he should just chase quick wins. Quick wins will get everyone behind him and buy him the time to implement longer term ideas. The average tenure of a manager in the SPFL is now just 16 months. You have to assume everyone applying for our job knows that before they apply. Talk of long term plans is for the birds, if we're not challenging for the title next season the knives will be sharpened. I'll predict that by the end of September if the side isn't playing well and winning the games it's expected to win there will be voices on here, and elsewhere, demanding change. I mean his Dad won the league and the Champion's League last season and was sacked this season, so I suspect Ancelotti Jnr understands this. -
OFFICIAL Rangers appoint Russell Martin as head coach
JohnMc replied to compo's topic in Rangers Chat
Not chase quick wins? He'll be gone by October then. Whoever comes in needs quick wins, if he wins the league next season he'll be given medium-term, but short of the Treble and a European final he can forget about "long-term" at Rangers. He must surely know that.