The bad, the ugly and the unacceptable

[Gazza_8 233]

Bill McMurdo

 

The high standard demanded of any player who pulls the famous light blue jersey over his head is sadly a thing of the past.

 

I accept that points-wise Rangers are running away with the Third Division but performance-wise, the team is dire.

 

Unfortunately, for many Rangers fans in the present day, this is acceptable.

 

Those of us who remember a higher standard demanded of Rangers players cannot concur.

 

I donâ??t want to get into the debate about Ally McCoist not wearing a shirt and tie. I prefer Rangers mangers to be suited and booted but it is a personal preference for the manager, in my opinion.

 

I do, however, want to see Rangers players live up to the jerseys they are wearing.

 

As I have been blogging recently the football pitch is the ideal place for Rangers to take out all the frustration and anger at the clubâ??s treatment by others in recent times. To do that, the management team must inculcate in the playing staff a ruthless killer instinct.

 

Rangers fans I have spoken to want such a team of killers on the park. As a friend of mine rightly says, teams do not respect Rangers for the lack of such a killer instinct â?? they expect it. In one respect, Rangers are short-changing everyone by not going out to annihilate teams.

 

In all the furore of the past year or so, one vital thing has almost been forgotten â?? Rangers is a football team. The clubâ??s successes have been won by skill and endeavour on the field of play.

 

Rangers merely existing just to play football without building on the 140 year success story is not acceptable. Settling for mediocrity is not acceptable. Rangers donâ??t do mediocre.

 

There has to be an indomitable drive and will to win implanted in the breast of every player who dons a Rangers jersey.

 

After all that has happened in the past year, Rangers FC must strive to produce a team that will annihilate every opponent put before it.

 

This is the mindset of true champions.

 

And, it has to be said, it is the Rangers way.

[JTP 0]

One of his poorer blogs IMO.

[blueflag 378]

poor poor blog

[der Berliner 3,249]

... and nothing more needs to be said.

[EDGE 0]

I have to agree with McMurdo.

 

Rangers have been shite to watch since Advocaat left. We had a wee spell under PLG where I thought we were going to be immense, but that fizzled out and since then, we've been pretty poor.

 

What sums it up for me is the Scottish mentality, win at all costs crap, that has crippled the game up here. We're in a situation where we are under "no pressure" to win the league as we will, so Ally should be installing a footballing ethos within the football club at all levels which will stand us in good stead for 10 years +.

 

I watched a programme on SS last season, maybe. Anyway, they were interviewing Johan Cruyff before an El Classico. Cruyff was instrumental in laying the foundations at Barca which enabled them to go from perennial underachievers to "The Greatest Club side ever" in many peoples eyes. Cruyff was asked what was more important, the result or the performance. Cruyff said that it didn't matter if Barca won 8-0 when he was manager, if the team played poorly then he was unhappy. Which is what I think Rangers coaches should be instilling in the players.

 

I remember Rangers getting played off the park by Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park and I'm thinking, we've got guys on the park earning more in a week than the Hamilton players make in 6 months, we've got Lafferty, Jelavic, Miller, Davis at a cost of £15m-ish and getting outplayed by Hamilton Accies!!

 

The game was settled by a last minute winner from Kenny Miller and Walter was getting interviewed after the game and he came out with "3 points are the main thing" and I just shook my head.

 

In Cruyff's interview, he said he would be happier with the players to get beaten playing well, than win playing poorly because he knew that if the players continue to play well, then by the law of averages, they would win more games than they would lose.

 

Rangers have been poor to watch most of my time going to Ibrox. I've had a season ticket since 1989 as a 10 year old but we have been pretty dire during much of that time.

 

I really want Ally to succeed as he was my idol growing up but sentiment can't get in the way of building a better club.

[Zappa 0]

I remember Rangers getting played off the park by Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park and I'm thinking, we've got guys on the park earning more in a week than the Hamilton players make in 6 months, we've got Lafferty, Jelavic, Miller, Davis at a cost of £15m-ish and getting outplayed by Hamilton Accies!!

 

I don't think there's any real answer to why those expensive players you mention (and the players we have in our squad now as well) have been inconsistent. That's just football to me and I'll be absolutely shocked if I ever see a Rangers team that consistently performs as I'd like to see it perform. Those four players you mentioned: Lafferty, Jelavic, Miller & Davis had just as much chance of playing poorly together against any opposition, as they had of playing well because it's a toss up as to whether the individual players are going to turn up and play well themselves never mind whether they're going to perform well together as part of team.

 

In Cruyff's interview, he said he would be happier with the players to get beaten playing well, than win playing poorly because he knew that if the players continue to play well, then by the law of averages, they would win more games than they would lose.

 

To me that's one of these ideologies that's not particularly easy for most football managers to grasp simply because the point of the game is to either win or at least not lose if you can't win. I bet you any money that the concept of being happier to lose playing well, than to win playing poorly is not a very common trait at all amongst football managers. Amongst the small group of managers who say they've adopted that sort of Cruyff philosophy, I honestly do wonder how many are being 100% truthful and how many are just bullshitting.

[GovanAllan 0]

Spot on Edge, we have a great chance to build something here and it looks like we have just wasted the first year and I don't see anything changing soon.

[54andcounting 0]

Spot on Edge, we have a great chance to build something here and it looks like we have just wasted the first year and I don't see anything changing soon.

 

Yep...I can just see the boat disappearing over the horizon now.

[simplythebest 0]

It is difficult when football is such a results pressure business, but with the huge advantage we have right now playing at this level we should be able to build something and not have to worry about the results, any of us could likely manage the team to wins most of the time.

[calscot 0]

It is difficult when football is such a results pressure business, but with the huge advantage we have right now playing at this level we should be able to build something and not have to worry about the results, any of us could likely manage the team to wins most of the time.

 

You know I've come on here after a game and my first "highlights" of the game are looking through the match thread. There's a time when I saw comments that we are playing well and then we end up with a draw. I don't remember ANYONE saying that they were happy with the draw because we played well.

 

It's easy to say that kind of stuff but a Rangers manager will never get away with that kind of thinking. But the big fact is that big winners want to win more than anything else, big losers just want to play well.