BlackSocksRedTops

5 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Tav and Candeias both had a poor game.

Agreed. Candies offered very little IMO. I would say the same about Coulibaly but at least he improved as the game wore on

Very frustrating indeed. Alfie's all round play was truly excellent tonight but I couldn't help think if a Kenny Miller or a Kris Boyd had been on the end of all those chances we would have won that game by 4. We played well enough but it just cements my opinion that our team is full of decent but very average players. We seriously lack genuine quality all over the park (especially in the front 6)

PS. How was that not a penalty? He obviously moved his arm towards the ball

1 minute ago, ian1964 said:

I actually think we are giving them far too much respect, let's get at them Rangers!

Especially Ambrose. He is an accident waiting to happen.

Just now, JFK-1 said:

It's been 60% possession to hubz, but.

Shots: hubz 2 - Rangers 9

 

Shots on target: hubz 0 - Rangers 6

 

Corners: hubz 1 - Rangers 7

60% possession to Hibs? Eh? Must have watched a different game

1st half thoughts. Pretty much controlled the match and we should be 2 up. We need to press higher as a team and put pressure on their defence (especially Ambrose). We also need to stop relinquishing cheap possession. For example, McGregor is too keen to lump it high when we could roll it out to Jack. When we pass it we look half decent. Oh And we need two top class midfielders (no shit Sherlock...)

The front 3 need to press higher and put pressure on their defenders. We are far too deep

Shame about McCrorie but either way that is the least amount of changes we have made in a long time. Thank God. Still think we will get a lot goals tonight for some reason. Must be something in my waters....

God knows why but for some reason I have a good feeling about tonight. Recent away form suggests otherwise but the fact that Hibs will be the most open team we have played since beating Hearts, gives me more hope than fear.

2 hours ago, Gaffer said:

I'm enjoying this thread and it reminds me of something I posted a couple of years ago when MW was in charge.  One thing he really understood was that corners and crossing can be a waste of possession, and almost never result in goals.  MW was a financier and as a result he understood the game in numbers.

 

Corners hit directly from the corner flag will very rarely result in a goal.  This statistic holds true across every league in the world, including junior and youth level.  To score from a corner, you have to have a short pass first, in order to change the angle that has proven to score more goals.  However, it is still a tiny percentage.  We'd be far better holding on to the ball and playing it into the middle.  As for crosses, we are still trying to cross the ball forward.  Again, it's been shown statistically that this will result in very few goals and is a waste of possession.  To drastically increase the chances of a goal from a cross, the ball has to be cut back.  It can be cut back on the ground or in the air, but either way it has to travel away from the goal to result in a goal (again, statistically speaking).

 

I appreciate many people doubt the value of numbers and statistics in football, but it is hugely valuable information and it frustrates me that we don't apply it.

 

There are three things we need to do.  Two of them we did brilliantly in the beginning and have slowly fallen away since then, and one we need to change.

 

1.  We need to get back to moving the ball quickly.  We have too many players who are not moving into space at the right time, or not picking out the pass before it comes to them.  This was something I thought the management team had changed when they came in because the passing and movement was so obviously drilled, and it was brilliant to watch.

 

2.  We need to have players making the inside forward runs.  Crossing from wide positions is ok, but to achieve the precision of cut back crosses, we need that forward run on the left or right edge of the 18 yard box.  I appreciate the change in formation can contribute to that, but that's more of an excuse than a reason.  In the earlier part of the season, we had Coulibaly and Kent making those runs and it carved teams open.  We don't see that now.

 

3.  As a result of the pressure we out on teams, we now get a ton of corners.  Please, please, please stop hitting them directly from the flag.  There's no point.  We need to keep the ball in these situations and maintain the pressure while we look for a cut back or through ball.

 

We do need a particular type of player to do these things consistently, but I also suspect that the loss of training time (due to Europa League games) has slowly diminished the application of many of the players.  These training drills make players do things without thinking.  We need that time back on the training pitch to remind the players what made us so potent and get us back to that asap.

 

 

Brilliant post Gaffer. With regards to your point about crossing forward and back, look at Man City. The majority of their goals are from cut backs from someone getting in behind and hitting the by line. They rarely score goals corners or speculative shooting. 

With regards to the Fran Sol rumour, I'm not sure tbh. We would be looking at £2million plus but what does it do to actually address our problems? Our main problem is not scoring goals IMO, our problem is actually creating goal clear cut scoring chances. It would be a different story if we were peppering the opponents goal and our striker couldn't hit the target but that's not the case. In the last handful of games, we have simply struggled to create any chances at all. When I mean chances, I mean 100% chances (too quote wee Dick Adcocaat). If we create chances Morelos will score. If we do have money to spend, I'd rather spend £400k on Shankland as a back up and then look to get creativity in the team. Not another midfielder that will pass sideways but someone who can see a forward pass and play with their head up. I don't think we need any more wingers as Barasic/Middleton/Grezda and Tav/Candias/Kent can more than play provide width.

8 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

Loan deals cost money and deliver poor returns. They also stifle owned talent. 

 

Docherty and mccrorie could have been playing instead of ejaria. 

 

Nevermind halliday and jack. 

 

Steven davis was the last one to look worth the bother. 

Agree. For example, despite a few decent showings at the start of the season Coulibaly has offered very little and it makes you wonder what McCrorie could have done during that period. 

10 minutes ago, les186 said:

Was listening to the Ayr United chairman interviewed on BBC Scotland on Saturday and I think it would take at least £400 thousand to sign Shankland.

If we don't get him, someone else will. If he doesn't cut it 400k is not the biggest gamble. On the other hand, if he scores goals in the SPL for Rangers then you have an asset on your hands. 

25 minutes ago, Walterbear said:

Disappointing performance. To answer the question about what lafferty needs to do to score he needs to improve his movement massively in the box. He’s like a telegraph pole. I as watching him closely today and he was very poor. Not getting any quality in crossing or final pass but even with better quality there he isn’t the answer. Compare him to Naismith. 

Still think we have nothing to lose by bringing in the young guy from Ayr United. He's mobile and can grab goals in the penalty box. Can't be any worse than Lafferty? 

21 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

We are too reliant on crosses when both Morelos and Lafferty are largely ineffective in the air.

 

Pena was good in the air.  Just saying...

I'm really starting to get rather tired of our insistence on cross after flippin cross. It doesn't work. We really need to be more inventive in the final 3rd

Still 2-0 on Rangers TV. Missed the first 8mins. What's the score??

55 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

Last year we never had any European matches, this new squad has been playing 2 games a week since the start of the season, let's see how we do now we have no European matches!

Good point Ian

22 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

We've had a good run in Europe, better than anyone could ever have imagined at the start of the season. 

I never expected a win tonight, now we are out it's time to concentrate on domestic football, it's just wrong to start blaming individual players tonight, upwards and onwords. 

Europe has been a fantastic distraction but it has also helped paper over the cracks in our domestic form. When you consider we are 1pt better off than we were at this time last year it shows how erratic we have been.

We need to attempt to find a settled XI and stick with it. IMO squad rotation can only work with teams that have played together for a while and have a recognisable style of play. 

Middleton needs a wee rest from the starting XI. Barasic more than capable of delivering good crosses from the left

Just now, DMAA said:

The tactics tonight have been horrendous. We needed a win, they only needed a point. Yet we set up with three destroyers in centre midfield as if we’re visiting the Neu Camp. Then when, shock horror, it is still 0-0 late in the second half we start chucking men forward and get caught. So disappointed in Gerrard tonight. We’re going out to a side who are 8th in the Austrian league and have played like it tonight. 

Not sure if the tactics were that bad tbh. With more quality and better decision making we could have had a decent result.

Just now, Rousseau said:

Just started to put pressure on them...

 

What is Tavernier doing? What is McGregor doing?

His kicking has been poor all evening tbh

Just now, Rousseau said:

We're sloppy, but it's also so slow.

 

It takes Goldson half and hour to pass it to McAuley.  

I think you're being kind ?

Our first touch has been dreadful at times. The pitch is not helping tbh

Barasic definitely adds a bit quality and composure to the team

Time to make change now Stevie and go for it. They are poor

26 minutes ago, Frankie said:

OK, we've been sloppy in possession at times but I'd rather be positive.

 

The formation is working quite well and the press effective in that they're giving it away very easily.  Unfortunately, we're been equally poor in some good positions which means there have been very few chances.

 

One great header from Goldson hit the bar but their keeper has only had one save to make which has to change after half-time.

The formation is working to a degree but our passing and decision making has let us down.