BlackSocksRedTops

My god Rapid are really bang average. Unfortunately so are we. The quality on show here is shocking

1 minute ago, ranger_syntax said:

On a serious note it looks like we are playing for a draw.

 

Maybe Gerrard really meant it when he said he was prioritising the league. 

Not sure. I think he'll look for Tav and Barasic to get forward and we'll extra protection in the middle. Bit like the 2nd half in Villareal

10 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Not sure what to make of that starting XI.

 

Not the XI I'd have went for but hopefully they can do the business.  A lot needed from Coulibaly and Middleton that's for sure but the whole team need to turn up and we're due a good team performance.

We will definitely need Coulibaly to support Alfie and Arfield. 

11 minutes ago, BEARGER said:

Are you at the game Bearger? That looks official

42 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

0-2 down at HT, good come back

42 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

0-2 down at HT, good come back

A repeat tonight from the big boys would be sweet. Well done the young swifts

12 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

RANGERS flop Umar Sadiq been AXED mid-season.

The Nigeria striker, 21, is returning to Roma midway through his disastrous season-long loan with Gers.

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/3617222/rangers-flop-umar-sadiq-axed-roma-loan-spell/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1544655991

No great surprise tbh. Good luck to the big man. He's going to need it based on what we've seen

3 hours ago, DMAA said:

We all agree we need a creative player, but we absolutely need more aerial ability in our team, especially up front. We are hopeless from corners, it doesn’t matter how good the delivery is we almost never get a head on it, it’s pathetic. Same goes for the dozens of crosses and long balls we get in to Morelos and Lafferty. For me a good manager makes sure there are goals in the team from lots of different sources and in Scottish football headers from corners, free kicks and crosses is always going to be a big part of that. It doesn’t mean primitive football as Bayern, Atletico etc have shown. 

If we are hopeless at corners maybe the solution is to stop simply crossing balls in directly? Let's be more imaginative than solving a problem with a big guy. Look at Man City for example, they would never use this tactic. Everything is short and designed to move defenders around to make gaps to get in behind. I know they are on a different planet and have grade A players but it's more about imaginative play than personel. When we get a corner we rarely benefit and it looks like we don't do much work on them in training tbh. 

I'm loving the sympathetic tone in the press. Talk of the Celtic "family" rallying around poor Leigh. If this was a Gers player the tone would be less than sympathetic. 

Just a point of interest...They were chatting about the trials and tribulations of Southampton on TalkSport this afternoon and the south coast correspondent said Davis to Rangers is a certainty

54 minutes ago, craig said:

You need variety or any style of cross will ultimately be easy to defend against.  So if we played 2 up top (Morelos + Eaves) then you keep the opponent guessing as to which type of cross you are going to get.

Still not conviced by the idea of a big man. We need more ball players not target men

1 minute ago, DMAA said:

Eaves aside, I think a striker with genuine aerial ability is common sense when you have crossers like Barisic, Middleton and Tavernier in the team. There’s no need to associate a tall striker with poor quality and style of football, Bayern have shown how to properly use a targetman for years. 

Granted but with all due respect, Bayern are not shopping in League 1. It's true we have good crossers of the ball but it's the type of crosses that is our downfall. We insist on putting speculative crosses into the area which are easily lapped up by the goalie or a CB. By all means I want Middleton, Barasic and co to deliver decent balls in but not in the air. I want them to get to the byline and play balls into the danger area on the ground (like Laffertys offside goal on v Dundee).

Am I the only one that is completely left cold with us being linked with 6 foot 5 striker? We need a striker with craft, that can hold the ball and play other players into the game. The idea of introducing a tall striker just gives me the impression that we will end up going route one and insist with this nonsense tactic of lumping balls into the box ad nauseum. How many crosses do we have to put over before we get that it doesn't work?

6 foot 5 Eaves? No thanks. I'd rather go for the Shankland at Ayr United.

10 hours ago, barca72 said:

Normally I would agree about him being a winger, however, today he could hardly get by their right back and mostly handed off to Baricic.

This is what I didn't get about the Middleton and Barasic subs. Middleton was on to get to get down their right side and get crosses in. Barasic then came and provided the exact same option as he could play further up the pitch due to the 10 men therefore Middleton was not really needed IMO. It was baffling

3 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Gerrard should pick a preferred CB pairing and stick with it.  

 

It's common sense.

Agreed. The only time we have looked steady at the back was when Katic and Goldson played together game after game. We've looked vulnerable since throwing Worrall into the equation.

2 minutes ago, RANGERRAB said:

Sorry totally disagree. McGregor has to stay on his line or come & collect at their goal today. 

Regards the CB’s there’s been too much chopping & changing since the start of the season. Who are the preferred pairing ? (Where was McAuley today BTW? Injured ?)

And I’d don’t think Rudden quite ready for a run in the first team. He needs game time elsewhere at the moment which he’s getting at Falkirk & doing well by all accounts.

McCrorie I agree should be given a chance defensive MF in place of Jack who does little more than play 10-20 yard sideways passes as far as I’m concerned.

Agree 100% about Jack. I don't see what he brings to the table apart from 10 yard sideways pass on the half way line. He has zero influence on the game IMO. 

There where a lot of strange things going on today. For one I really didn't get bringing on both Middleton and Barasic. We ended up with 2 players firing in hopeful crosses from the left with the same end result. I also didn't get the Grezda/Kent/Candieas rotating axis. The players just looked confused

10 minutes ago, craig said:

Not the wrong time to come on at all mate.  We are ALL raging at the display and the result.

 

However, we also need to be realistic - our start in Europe and some hopeful performances in the league have us believing when, in reality, this shouldn't be our season - Gerrard has had ONE window.  Celtic, great or not, spent as much on one player as we spent on an entire squad.

 

Some balance, some realism and some calmness is what is needed.  I don't think there is any doubt we have improved over Warburton & Caixinha teams - we just seem to be knee jerk to every disappointing result and/or performance.

 

What is abundantly clear to me is that we don't have nearly the strength in depth we think we do.  Not one player who could come on and really change the game with a bit of quality.

 

Celtic are better than us, but they should be, they've had 6 years free reign and stability on AND off the field.  We've asked Gerrard to come in and work miracles in 5 months ???  We are so ridiculously short-termist.

Agreed Craig but it is alarming that after nearly 30 odd games we are still trying to find a pattern to our play. The tinkering does not help and if you look at the early part of the season we looked more solid as we had a more settled team. Regardless of overall quality it looks like we are making this up as we are going along. It is worrying tbh

We'll struggle to get in the top 3 at this rate. 33 games in and we don't have a clue what we are meant to be doing. Think I'll spend 90 mins under my bed during the Tims game

1 minute ago, aweebluesoandso said:

I think Gerrard needs to put on a show of outward anger towards this team, it's clearly not good enough. But the team don't know that, they need a right good bollocking from the touchline.

As much as we are lacking quality, we don't have a defined game plan or style. We play football by chance rather than any clear design. I would fine any player that insists on these fecking pointless crosses

Christ. We look like we are going progressively backwards as a team. This is hard to watch

Genuinely don't understand what we are trying to do. We now have two players hitting the same cross in from the left.

We have created nothing and their keeper has made zero saves. Seen this movie too many times this season

C'mon to f**k. Hit the byline Rangers. Enough of these pointless hopeful crosses.

1 minute ago, Rousseau said:

A wee bit of naivety from Middleton there; he should have just recycled it instead of forcing the cross.

 

His crosses are a thing of beauty, though.

This. Play the percentages Rangers

5 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said:

Need to keep pressing the Dundee defenders too.

And this has to be done from the first whistle. None of this wait until 60 mins to see what happens nonsense. Go and win the game early in the 2nd half or it could be one of those days IMO.

5 minutes ago, Big Jaws said:

Worrel and Goldson have had a stinker today so far. Not impressed by Worrel at all and Goldson has looked ropey for a number of games now yet Katic cant buy a jersey. 

For me Goldson has not been the same since Katic has been out of the team.

2 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

I'm not sure about "accomplished", but you'd expect him to be more committed than most. 

He looks like the only player that is putting his foot on the ball and playing his head up. Too many players are too keen to play utterly pointless passes and crossed. Keep the ball Rangers!!