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JohnMc

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Posts posted by JohnMc

  1. It's hard to know which Dundee team to dislike more these days. I've been told on a number of occasions that Dundee is much sunnier and drier than 'the west coast', perhaps they're just not used to rain... 

  2. It's pouring in Glasgow, has been all morning and is forecast to continue for the rest of the day. It was similar last week in Lisbon, so not sure if it makes a big difference, but you'd hope it might favour us a bit. 

  3. Butland made some incredible stops, but his distribution was really poor at times, so not him. I thought Goldson was very good, but his OG excludes him from this, Soutar was steady and effective. Lawrence was excellent first half but faded in the second. Tav had one of his poorest matches in Europe I thought. Lundstrom was very good and then very bad at different points in the match. Some of his passing had me yelling at the TV. Diomande was excellent, but he came off before the end, as did Sterling who was also very good and Silva too, but both came off.

    So I've voted for Ridvan, who defended very well, got forward effectively, played every minute of the match and is making me eat my words about him with every passing game. Fair play to him. 

     

  4. 7 hours ago, alexscottislegend said:

    Sorry to raise an old chestnut, but I watched Liverpool last night play 3 teenagers from their academy in a high-pressure cup match. We had Cole McKinnon on the bench; otherwise no sign of our youngsters. Why? If they not deemed 'ready' (as Clement recently claimed of Bailey Rice) then why not? Please don't tell me that there is too much 'must win' pressure at RFC; there cannot be any less pressure at L'pool and ManCity who can afford to spend at will. In fact Scottish clubs in general are too unwilling to play youth. McInnes didn't start with the outstanding David Watson v us, yet we have seen the impact Lennon Miller has had at Motherwell. Even those blighters from the East gave a debut to an 18 year old last night.

     

    If our youths are really not good enough, then scrap the academy. I yearn for a Rangers team where at least half are home-grown and have been brought up with the club. The pride that young lad at Anfield felt, moving from Kop to pitch puts our 'policy' to shame.

    We'd McCausland in the starting 11 last night. He's been the exception rather than the rule though, and I'm still not convinced he'll 'make it'. His game will need to improve to keep his place after the summer I suspect. 

     

    Our ability to move players who were exceptional in the their mid teens on to become first team players has been very disappointing for years now. We're not alone with that, few Scottish sides are good at it. There's more than one reason for that, but in my opinion none of the reasons for it are being addressed and so this will continue. You have to question whether the B Team experiment has worked. I'm not sure playing youngsters in the Lowland League, or now in varied friendlies, is working. I saw Lowry play in a B Team game a few seasons ago and he was so much better than that level, however as we all know his career has stalled and would any of us be surprised if he left for good in the summer? 

     

    On Liverpool I think you're being generous calling a home tie against a side from a division below as 'high pressure'. While Liverpool wanted to win it's certainly not their priority this season. It's exactly the kind of game they'd introduce young players in. It seems like Liverpool have a decent crop emerging, but time will tell how many actually make it. 

  5. 1 minute ago, CammyF said:

    All hypothetical but given what PC has achieved, we might currently be in a better position. 

     

    Points wise Celtic have regressed from this point last season and we are (I think) 3 points better off. 

    I agree. Last season's Celtic side wouldn't have dropped the points they have this season. They were on 73 points at this stage last season, on 62 this season. Surprisingly we're on exactly the same points after 26 matches that we were last season, 64. There is an argument that this season's Rangers side isn't as strong as last season's side, certainly we've fewer striking options, our defence is pretty much the same but we've a better keeper. 

    That shouldn't take away from what Clement has achieved results and performance wise though, he's taken a side lacking direction and, I'd say, ability, and turned them into a side much better than the sum of its parts. 

  6. The John Collins and Ray Houghton thing was interesting. I knew he wanted to sign Houghton but I didn't realise he'd agreed to it and then back out. I remember hearing Walter Smith say he'd wanted to sign Collins but again I didn't realise he'd agreed then back out. 

  7. 15 minutes ago, CammyF said:

    As a matter of interest, what was Beales record in his 1st 9 weeks at Rangers? 

    We drew at home with Celtic, won every other league game. There would have been a riot if we'd sacked him after his first 9 games. 

  8. Does the signing of Cortes basically confirm that's there's no chance we're signing Sima on a permanent deal? It was always a long shot, but his contract will be down to his last year soon, Brighton might want to try and recoup some of the transfer fee they paid, but it's unlikely they'll get anything like the £7 million they're reported to have paid for him. 

     

  9. This match will tell us a lot about our team and the character and desire in it. As everyone now knows a 3-0 win puts us top of the league, with the same games played. If our players can overcome an Aberdeen side who always lift themselves for us, who have a new manager to impress, one that isn't inept for a change, and deliver the victory required, that might be indicative of what's going on behind the scenes. It also puts pressure on the side from across the city, and for a long time many of us have suspected they won't react well to pressure. 

     

    I didn't expect to be in this position so soon into Clement's reign. If we stumble tomorrow that will tell us something about the players we currently have, if we don't that might suggest something else. Looking forward to finding out which it is. 

     

     

  10. Are we stronger now the transfer window has closed? The players we've lost are Lammers and Devine. Assuming Tav stays fit Devine leaving doesn't really affect us. Should Tav get injured we're looking at Sterling to fill in. Neither he nor Devine can give us what Tav does, so Devine leaving for the second half of the season isn't much of an issue I don't think. 

    Lammers played a lot of games for us, but failed to impress and his move away takes away some competition for places and options but doesn't really weaken us. 

     

    Incoming we've Oscar Cortes, he's just turned 20 and has played 24 first team games. He's a punt, he might prove to be very good, he might thrive in Scotland, but it'll take him a while to adapt you have to assume. I'm not sure how good his English is and there's a big cultural adjustment required for him to settle. He might prove to be an inspired signing, but it would be unfair to expect too much from him right away. 

     

    Mohamed Diomande is the same age but has nearly 100 first team games under his belt already. Although he's Ivorian he's been living in Denmark for over 3 years so culturally he's got experience of northern Europe, a move to Glasgow shouldn't be a huge shock for him. Like all players he'll need some time but I'd expect him to be challenging for a first team place from pretty much day 1. How good he is, or can become, I've no idea, but surely he can be more effective than Lammers. 

     

    Silva, a young player carrying a huge weight of expectation on his shoulders, and, frankly, failing to deliver on it. It's not his fault he's one of the most expensive teenage signings of all time, however, he is and the fact he's ended up in Scottish football tells us his career hasn't gone as hoped. That said he's undoubtedly talented, and like the other January signings has potential. If he can stay fit he'll play a lot, mainly because of our lack of options up front. A run of games and some confidence might be the making of him. 

     

    So, on paper our squad is stronger today than in December, however that's not the whole story. The loss of Danilo and Sima change the complexion of the squad. Sima is our most potent forward, and his goals don't look like they've been replaced. Danilo's injury being much worse than first thought suggests we might not see him again this season. We're threadbare upfront. Certainly the loss of Sima in January is a big blow, and one I'm not sure we've dealt with.

    The return of Lowry might yet make a difference. He's injured and looks like being out until April, but it's a long season with more than a few twists and turns left in it. Fit and focused, and depending on injuries or form elsewhere, he might still have a roll to play. 

     

     

     

     

     

  11. The season we last won the league, we had 4 proper forwards, all contributing important goals. Morelos with 17 goals, Roofe with 18, Itten with 6 and Defoe with 7, supported by Kent, Aribo, Hagi and Arfield who all contributed a decent number of goals, and of course Tav whose contribution so many of us simply take for granted. 

    This season really only Dessers and Tav could be expected to reach 18 goals. Sima could have but his injury makes that unlikely now, perhaps Danilo too if he'd been fit. Our midfield goal contribution is pitiful. 

    The attraction of Shankland for so many is he's a goal scorer, something our squad badly needs. I like the look of Silva, but nothing in his past suggests he's a 20 goals as season forward.  

  12. 1 hour ago, alexscottislegend said:

    Why do we call Yilmaz by his first name but Cifu is never referred to as Jose?

    One of the great mysteries of life. I can only think of one 'Brian' who played for us yet we all call him 'Laudrup', yet there's been a few Alastairs over the years but only one we'd know as 'Ally'. Very few players earn only first name status. The few that do usually fall into two camps; club legends like Super Ally as already mentioned, Slim Jim or Sandy or those with 'unusual' Christian names like Lorenzo,  Fashion, Torry or Moses. But even then very few of them were just called by their first name. 

     

    We went through a period in the 80s when we had a spate of Fergusons; Eric, Iain, Ian and Derek all played for us over a 5 or 6 year period yet were all known as 'Fergie'. Then our next two 'Fergusons' become better known by their first names; big Dunc and Barry. Go figure. If there's a rhyme or reason to it I've not sussed it out yet. 

  13. 1 hour ago, Sutton_blows_goats said:

    Not sure how it works these days but in the days of Jardel it was capped. I’m sure it no longer is and the criteria is far more loose.

     

    Without getting too political knocking back a migrant who is about to take up a job earning a few grand a week seems to contradict our overall migration policy.

    You'd think the club, or his agent, would have checked this out before, so maybe it's fine. From what I can see some nationalities can get a work permit easier than others. Considering Brazil's standing in world football there are surprisingly few in UK football. 

  14. This is a player who has made 18 first team appearances in his entire life, none in Brazil I'd add. I'm not entirely sure how he'll get a work permit, but that aside we're buying very much untried potential, he's unlikely to be ready for our first team. Both Diomande and Jefre are young players, playing in weaker leagues than ours looking to make a step up in standard. It's an interesting signing strategy, but it's risky. Whether either are currently ready to improve our first team remains to be seen. 

    I mean we've bought players from better leagues than ours and they've been disasters, so I'm not knocking this new strategy, just pointing out both these players might need time to adjust. 

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