Walterbear

"During such a difficult period, we also extend our thoughts to all other football clubs (EXCEPT RANGERS WHO WE TRIED AND FAILED TO KILL) who are affected by these events and facing such uncertainty. We realise the hugely damaging effect these circumstances will have on clubs of all sizes across Scotland, Europe and beyond“

I’m not up to date with these institutions. I’ve supported Rangers since I was a toddler and wasn’t terribly engaged with loyalist (or republican) organisations at that age although I was brought up in a mixed Glasgow family and I hated all the krap (particularly aimed at my mum from the catholic side), so I do understand the key social questions here.  
 

A key question for me is  ‘Do the Orange Order still prohibit members from marrying catholics?’ . 
 

I’m not into appeasement as a strategy as that has failed but if the OO can be perceived as sectarian or prejudiced against one group and this fellow is a leading member then the appt is a mistake for the reasons JM highlighted. Happily to be politely advised what the current reality is as I genuinely don’t know. 

1 hour ago, Frankie said:

Statement from RFC:

 

 

 

 

https://business.facebook.com/notes/rangers-fc/coronavirus/3110632318955502/?__tn__=-R

Meanwhile Celtic response is to send their captain out to claim the title. Rancid club. 

Coefficient points are awarded for games played already. I don’t see how they can or should be ‘unawarded’. 
 

Leagues are to be determined by games played in the future and won or lost when the season fixtures are complete. The only way celtic could be awarded the league is if they have already secured it which they haven’t and if exceptional rules are agreed by participants.  
 

If celtic were awarded it whilst not mathematically secured what happens with teams packed together in the relegation zone? You couldn’t just relegate the team at the bottom when the music stopped playing.
 

A football season is something with a beginning, middle and end over 9 odd months. Some teams do better at the beginning some in the middle and some at the end and must be given a chance to complete fixtures and amass as many points as possible. We could win our game in hand and beat celtic twice with 4 points remaining difference between the teams and 6 games unaccounted for in that calculation. 
 

If it can’t be completed with no clear winner obvious it must get binned. Sporting integrity and all that. 

4 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

Yesterday there were spells where we had no shape whatsoever.   And I'm a person that rarely notices that sort of thing.

 

Gerrard said we were at 'sixes and sevens', in his post match interview and he was spot on.

It was pretty clear. 
 

To come out of this SG needs to change not just some of his players but perhaps those closer to him that he brought up from liverpool. We are not preparing well enough domestically. If he sticks with the same mgt team we will make the same mistakes. He needs to be ruthless if he sees they are part of the problem. 

Agree with most of that DB but at the start of the season we were physically asserting ourselves. We had changed from a team being bullied to winning first balls. Everyone was saying the same.
 

We’ve now reverted to being a soft touch in certain games. Maybe the season is just too long for this squad. Celtic haven’t played well but they have 2 or 3 players who grab the games by the scruff of the neck and drag their team through. 
 

The refereeing may also be knocking the spirit out of players. It can’t be easy to know they should be on level points and a lot of their effort is undone by blatant cheating. Every week there is another example. A stonewall penalty disallowed before Hearts similar claim (tho Naismith apparently handled first) and the clearest second yellow for handball you will ever see. 

2 hours ago, ranger_syntax said:

I'm not sure he is desperate to move on. I think he has become too comfortable.

 

Either way it is time for all involved to move on. I'll take Kamberi ahead of Morelos for the rest of the season.

Catch 22 is we have to get his transfer fee up. It will have crashed since Xmas.
 

It’s possible his advisors have got to him. The Rangers fans have been brilliant to him but I think many have had enough. He was 20-30m talent at Xmas. We’ll be lucky to see £15m now, especially if SG keeps him out. . 
 

FWIW I suspect until the league is mathematically gone Gerard will put a line under this and say he has been punished. Gerard knows he needs money to have any chance of bolstering this squad with the talent required. I’m assuming Gerard himself perseveres. 

32 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Are you aware of the full circumstances?  

SG is.  

24 minutes ago, MacK1950 said:

Agree and I would start with Tavernier he has served us well but feel he has reached his peak and on way down and no longer has leadership quality.

Davis has come in and helped steady things for a while but his age is a heightening problem.

If Morelos starts scoring again he is a cert to go.

 

It will be interesting when season finishes and next window opens.

Wouldn’t argue with any of those 3. Defenders can’t constantly give goals away, Davies great player but twylight, Morelos - need the cash and he misses too many games. 
 

3 hours ago, les186 said:

We haven't got a great team or  any great players. We certainly don't have the money to buy any. We need to keep buying budget players hoping they will turn into better players or better still bring players through our youth system. Unfortunately any promising young player is snapped up by a ridiculously rich EPL team.

I'm depressed ?.

We’ve got better technical players than Hearts. The fact this team haven’t worked out how to beat SPFL dross suggests they don’t have the right attitude against inferior players.
 

I saw players trying tonight -almost too hard- but they were utterly hopeless and disjointed and didn’t trust one another. It’s odd because even getting to pro level requires a winning mentality but this lot as a group lack genuine self belief whereas the scum have that in bucketloads. Losing the LC final in the way we did is looking highly significant. 
 

Clear out needed. 

2 hours ago, cooponthewing said:

Two players that would have given 100% are on loan in Docherty and Murphy. We are using Ojo and a midfield that looks dreadful while these two excel on loan. We also seem like a rudderless ship without a leader. Nobody want to take control on or off the park. Make no mistake that was one of the worst performances I have ever seen. It was void of everything required in a Rangers player.

And McRorrie. 

On 27/02/2020 at 08:45, MoodyBlue1872 said:

Think you quoted the wrong person, I never mentioned salaries.

It was me and Morelos has badly let us down once again. I don’t share Craig’s view which seems to be that he can pick and choose when to justify his bumper wage packet and that he doesn’t have to take more responsibility than others with less talent on less wages. Tonight Alfredo has massively contributed to a cup exit and in the process wiped millions off his transfer value and slapped the people who pay his salary in the face. He has also badly let down the manager and his team mates. 

On 26/02/2020 at 08:58, Rick Roberts said:

The peak argument is perhaps simplistic for football. They wont intentionally aim for that in the same way, say, Olympic athletes do. But thru workload they may end up there. December would've been all players revving to the max for a long period of time. A ball of nervous energy that wouldn't be sustainable. A crash of some sorts had to happen and their form and immune systems are probably still in the bar at the hotel. The other human factors will be contributing and cyclic. But you're right that it's all a big mix of different components and no one thing. 

 

I do think recruitment is going to come under the spot light if things don't improve. Kamberi and Hagi look very promising but the question has to be why only in January? And as you said lack of experience and lack of depth of quality - we have players still around that are just not good enough and are realistically never going to contribute anything. 

 

 

 

 

Tonight certainly seals the argument that this squad isn’t good enough for Rangers Rick. It’s really now a question of how many we can get rid of without starting from scratch. I hope SG takes this challenge. You don’t get through 2 EL campaigns in the manner we have without some good players but SG has to get rid of 3-5 regulars or the entire squad will start to lose faith in him. Quite how he goes about that is tricky with almost 3 months of the season left. 

Sensible stuff by and large but if we accept the physical peak argument (and it may or may not be true), then the mgt can analyse through significant scientific data the club collects on each individual.
 

Given a 3 week break and availability of data you would expect batteries recharged and whatever adjustments are needed on an individual basis to ensure they renew fresh.
 

The cause if you agree with the premise, is not that players are reaching a physical peak and can’t do more. The cause is that we are doing or not doing something during these winter breaks that doesn’t regain their physical (and/or mental) peak. That’s down to the non-playing staff. 
 

I’m not convinced by the premise. It’s simpler. We have our best player off form (or unavailable), some key injuries and sloppy individual performances. Tiredness does not explain the fact we have dominated the games we have dropped points in. We have outrun these teams. It doesn’t explain the inability of a CH to head/blooter a high ball away from danger when that is his only option. 
 

I suspect there is a combination of lack of experience and some lack of depth of quality, but all of that is explained easily by the fact we were never going to catch up with Celtic so quickly (especially with the wasted Pedro year) unless someone dropped £50m into our bank account. Overall significant progress is being made. 

Patience is Rick Roberts conclusion. I’d agree with that, and anyone wanting rid of SG has no viable alternative and in any case he’s improving us considerably on and off the park. Be careful what you wish for. 

5 hours ago, Bluedell said:

You're over-exaggerating his loss in form, in my opinion, and I really don' see what his salary has anything to do with it. Would it change anything if he was getting paid, say a third of what he's currently on?

 

You say that you'd take a player with 20% less talent than Morelos? We wouldn't have a game on Wednesday and we'd be further off the top of the league if we had.

 

There seems to be a mass hysteria going on with many Rangers fans on-line at the moment, trying to lash out and everyone's got their own bogeyman of who to blame. 

Bit selective there mate. I said “RIGHT NOW I’d take a player with 20% less talent.....” on the basis he would be on the park every game.
 

Of course salaries are relevant. People on higher salaries are expected to contribute more to any organisation than those on lower ones. 
 

Some are are questioning the contributions of some of our players and they are entitled to. We pay their salaries. Nothing to do with lashing out and bogeymen. 

37 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

SG isn't going to admit it's affecting him, whether it is or it isn't.

But you seem to think it is bluedell. Speculation mate. His salary and form is not speculation. 

8 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

You've ignored the racism, which he definitely is aware of.

 

As for the pregnant wife, many of the younger fans in Glasgow housing schemes will have support networks in terms of family and friends and are fluent in the language and don't have it as a headline in a newspaper that their pregnant wife has employed a PI to put a tracker on his car.

 

He may not have the financial worries that other families have but it doesn't mean that all other issues disappear just because he's well paid.

How about he sticks the ball in the back of the net. That’s the best response to racists and sneering journalists and I’d hazard another guess is that he knows that. He’s been fighting far greater prejudices simply because of his upbringing and where he’s from than Scottish tabloid ignoramuses or a few scum fans and he’s prevailed. He could pay for his family to come here without even thinking about it. Maybe he does? Maybe he’s in constant contact as Latinos tend to be? 
 

Too many excuses being made for him right now. He rightly gets our praise the vast majority of the time. Right now he deserves a rocket up the erse from the gaffer (not us during a match for sure).  He’s constantly making wrong decisions or not finishing well. Those are football issues. Anyone who thinks Bill Leckie or Keith Jackson cross his mind when the ball is at his feet or even in training doesn’t get the mentality of driven, confident, aggressive, egotistical footballers. 
 

When he missed that chance to make it 3-1 SG was livid with HIM. SG didn’t start bleating about off field issues or talking about racism. 
 

We’ve quite rightly criticised refs this year and we’ve all supported Alfie against the haters. Let’s not make fools of ourselves by not recognising we have a major football issue with our team at the moment, wr have an issue with Alfie’s football,  and the answer lies on the training ground, on the pitch on a Saturday and most probably in the transfer market in the summer. SG needs to get these players playing or the transfer values will go down and less funds will be available for strengthening.
 

Right now I’d take a player with 20% less talent than Alfie who can play 50 games a season. If you are paid a fortune and you’re playing rubbish then you are a target for the manager and any of these other excuses need binned. It’s a losing mentality to keep making excuses. 

I’d hazard a guess he isn’t reading scottish newspapers or worrying what Spiers, English , Stewart, leckie and the rest say about him. That’s probably in our heads more than his. 
 

His pregnant partner can’t be a major issue and the fact he has a great job is better situation than many of his young fans living in Glasgow housing schemes on rubbish pay, or lower middle class struggling with a mortgage and who have families on the way. 
 

The only thing I buy that is affecting him is refereeing and he’s paid a fortune so needs to deal with it. 
 

My take on it is he is simply off form which happens to every player and it needs fixed pronto.
 

He can start by not getting suspended from matches. It’s no coincidence we are failing at the exact time he goes off the ball and following his extended leave in Colombia. 
 

I love he guy and he has inspired me and I’ve given a fair few quid to his charity on that basis but he owes every fan a performance every week and he needs to understand that and get back to his best. No excuses. 

1 hour ago, MacK1950 said:

Irrelevant any human being can only take so much from outside sources before it affects them.

How do you know it’s affecting him? SG has already said it isn’t. Playing football and going to work might help him (excluding refereeing issues). 

22 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

He's a young 23 year old, whose partner is pregnant for the first time, who has been subject to continuous racist and xenophobic abuse, had lies printed about him in the press, is refereed to a different standard from any other player in the Scottish game, and has been consistently vilified and attacked by all forms of the press, and all on which there has been little or no public support from the club. 

 

No wonder his performances have started to suffer.

 

 

True. But he’s paid 30k a week?

12 minutes ago, Doc said:

Can't disagree with any of that. Hagi and Kamberi have been good acquisitions but they have been outweighed by the slump in form from so many others. If we can't hold on to a lead and press for another to make the game safe then we on a hiding to nothing. How many games have we lost or drawn from winning positions? To fucking many. How many have Celtic lost or drawn from the same? Next to none. That comes down to lack of character and lack of belief. Until we actually win a league we won't believe we can. It's a catch 22.

Losing the LC is starting to look more significant. 

Gerrard got that badly wrong. No need to change when we are going through our best patch of the game leading 2-1. Morelos used to lead the team he now looks half hearted. Kent is predictable, Katic flogged 2 goals, Tav not creating anything. The malaise is running right through the team. Hopeless. We need 3 out 3 in at least. This squad isn’t getting 55 this year or next. 

3 hours ago, ranger_syntax said:

I'm not sure that is a good idea.

 

They look much weaker when you put them on the back foot.

True. Their defending of Aribo goal and a few other instances suggested that. 

37 minutes ago, craig said:

We will likely be counter-attacking over there, and that is our strength.

Wonder if they play such a high line at home? If so there’s def an opportunity for hitting them on the break. Tricky balancing act required. Sit in and they will stuff us. Go toe to toe and I think they will outplay us if first hour at Ibrox anything to go by. If we can repeat the Porto away tactics we have a good chance but suspect we need 1 or  2 goals. Can’t see them not scoring. 

The thing about Hagi wasn’t just his skill and goal contribution but he cajoled the entire stadium and transformed the feelings around the stadium and beyond.