What will Rangers achieve this seaon?

[ranger_syntax 3,785]

We've started well and I don't think anyone seriously believes we will fail to win this division now. All of our wins have been against teams playing in this division or below though. Despite our success there are still plenty of unanswered questions about the team. I'll be interested to see how we cope if we encounter a team who prevents us from controlling possession and forces us to defend. We have not had to defend much so far but we have still managed to lose a few goals.

 

Before the end of the month we will face opponents from the top division, St Johnstone, in the League Cup. It seems like most supporters are looking forward to this now. I don't think we are going to learn too much more about the team from the league matches but that's not the case with the cup. The top division appears to have a range of quality in it. Last season we managed to knock some out with a poor team, so we should expect to beat some. We also lost against three of the teams now in the top division, so we can expect it to be more difficult against others. Once we start to play teams from the top division we will find out how far we can go in the cups and have a reasonable idea of who we could finish above in the league.

 

Interested to read what you all think just now.

 

Who can we expect to beat from the top division?

 

How far will we go in the cups?

Edited September 6, 2015 by ranger_syntax

[trublusince1982 243]

Is there a team in Scotland who can withstand being harried while keeping possession comfortably? we push the ball in numbers very well, not sure if there is a team who will dominate possession against us in the league above. Our possession might drop to 55% etc then it is all down to how we create goals and how clinical we are. Would have liked a striker added but cant be too greedy!

 

 

The only thing that worries me slightly is taking our foot off the gas at times, that can become a bad habit that eventually bites you in the ass. We cant do that against(so called) bigger teams.

[limeburner 0]

We've started well and I don't think anyone seriously believes we will fail to win this division now. All of our wins have been against teams playing in this division or below though. Despite our success there are still plenty of unanswered questions about the team. I'll be interested to see how we cope if we encounter a team who prevents us from controlling possession and forces us to defend. We have not had to defend much so far but we have still managed to lose a few goals.

 

Before the end of the month we will face opponents from the top division, St Johnstone, in the League Cup. It seems like most supporters are looking forward to this now. I don't think we are going to learn too much more about the team from the league matches but that's not the case with the cup. The top division appears to have a range of quality in it. Last season we managed to knock some out with a poor team, so we should expect to beat some. We also lost against three of the teams now in the top division, so we can expect it to be more difficult against others. Once we start to play teams from the top division we will find out how far we can go in the cups and have a reasonable idea of who we could finish above in the league.

 

Interested to read what you all think just now.

 

Who can we expect to beat from the top division?

 

How far will we go in the cups?

iTS an interesting question,and one that makes following the Gers all the more enjoyable at the moment.

IMO,i see no reason why we couldnt win a cup.

If we were to play the top 10 teams in Scotland,i think we may achieve 6 wins,2 draws,2 defeats.

Who really knows for sure though,we will find out for real shortly.

[Gribz 743]

Promotion is almost a banker. I would imagine the Ramsdens Cup will be lifted at the 4th and final attempt.

 

For the League Cup and the Scottish Cup I am still not too bothered about these until we are further down the road with stability and the feet are back on the ground. Obviously a win or a good run will be promising but promotion is the first and foremost care for me. I think we have a good chance in the league cup, I believe we will beat St Johnstone then its all about the draw.

 

But a footballing structure will be achieved for the years to come....

[Tannochsidebear 2,316]

It seems a given that promotion will be easily accomplished, possibly with a record points total, record goals scored, record goal difference, perhaps unbeaten.

 

The Challenge Cup is a must given the level of teams in it and our main rival for this was defeated in round 1.

 

That leaves us the two main domestic cups. St Johnstone should be easily brushed aside in a couple of weeks and then we will see how the draw pans out with whoever remains. The one thing we are not sure about is how our side will fare against top sides from the top tier. We can have a guide to this from previous meetings in the last year or so with a side completely unrecognisable from how we are playing now. We beat some Premiership sides, and lost to the bheasts at Hampden in a game where we had absolutely no confidence, an absolutely pathetic caretaker manager who didnt want to be there, and still we were not disgraced by probably the worst celtic side since the early 90's when they were bankrupt.

 

Since that game, celtic have continued their slide downwards, while we have been revitalised, rejuvenated, are full of confidence with a good manager, a solid squad if a little light, and are playing a brand of football that I dont think any side in Scotland can cope with. However there have been periods of the games against Hibs & St Mirren at Ibrox where we were not dominant and were posed problems by our opponents, showing that we are far from the finished article. The January transfer window should see us strengthen again as a building block for next season, and if we can get in a bit more quality and depth, and our defence gels a bit more, then we can be a force in the second half of the season, which of course is when the league cup semis & finals, and almost the entire scottish cup take place.

 

Winning the Scottish Cup should be a major aim for this season, as it brings with it a pathway into the Europa League and some much-needed European income and return to European competition that we will need both for our development and for player recruitment purposes. Our Championship position should enable us to focus fully on the cups next Spring, and this for me is what I would like us to target.

 

Having already put my money where my mouth is and backed us to win both of these cups with the bookies, it is only a bad run of injuries and suspensions that can prevent us from making a big impression of these tournaments this season. Of course, even when we were by far the best side in Scotland, we didnt always win the cups, and in cup football if you have an off day when your opponent carries the luck you can go out, and if that happens fair enough, but I just cannot see any team in Scotland dishing out a dominant defeat to us with our side playing this brand of football.

[Zappa 0]

I'm loving the way the team is playing, it's an excellent start to the season and things seem to be shaping up very nicely for us, but I'd like to enjoy it game by game without getting too carried away at such an early stage.

 

Obviously I agree that at the moment we look like an absolute certainty to win the league, but I think it's worth taking into account that our 9 match winning streak is over a period where most of our games have been played in good conditions. The good playing conditions aren't going to last too much longer though.

 

We've basically got another couple of months if we're lucky before weather dictates that some of the pitches start turning to shit and when we go out on poor pitches with rain battering down or frosty, icy conditions that's when it won't be as easy for us to play this style of football. Quick turns become slips and slick quick passing on the deck becomes a lot more difficult.

 

In fact the weather can easily change the whole complexion of a game or an entire run of games, so it's going to be very interesting to see how well our new look team deals with it over the winter months.

 

Based on these uncertainties I can't subscribe to getting too carried away about Cup runs or winning any Cups apart from the Challenge Cup.

 

I know Mark Warburton will repeat what he's already said which is that Rangers are going into every competition and every game to win it and that's exactly the way it should be from the Club and the team's point of view, but from my own point of view I just want us to win the league as quickly as possible to guarantee promotion.

[gisabeer 409]

The scottish cup is definately within our capabilities and would be a real coup should we win it.

 

We are destroying teams now, something we should have been doing all along over the last 3 years. Warburton though has us playing a standard of football i never thought id see at Ibrox and im in no doubt when ( or if!) He ever leaves he will have a status on a par with Mr Struth himself.

 

The Hibs game at home should be a reminder that we still have work to do and theres still some way to go yet but i am confident that we can compete against any team in the top teir.

 

Let them come we will more than welcome the chase!

[JohnMc 2,482]

Like everyone else it's difficult not to get carried away when you see the football we're playing, but it's important we don't.

For a start we've not played anyone good yet, the second tier of Scottish football is not a high level. Secondly I'd like to see how this side reacts to a setback, that will tell us a lot about the team and spirit and resilience in it. We'll get a game where nothing goes right, as has been said up thread when the weather deteriorates it'll be harder to play our style and with a thin squad we'll inevitably have some issues with injuries as the season goes on.

 

So with that in mind I think it's unrealistic to expect us to score five goals in every match we play, so I'll accept winning four trophies this season and being invited to represent our country at the Euro 16 finals as long as we make the semis. Anything less and I'll not be back.

[ian1964 10,431]

The key to our success will be consistency!,if we keep up the momento and effort then I would fancy us against any team in Scotland,I wouldn't be expecting 5-0 though,but for sure we can compete,winning is a good habit and this team will improve,the manager may bring in one or two more in the January window?,why not the four competitions this season?,now that would be an acheivement!,not sure we can win them all but then again why not if we stay injury free?

[Gribz 743]

The scottish cup is definately within our capabilities and would be a real coup should we win it.

 

We are destroying teams now, something we should have been doing all along over the last 3 years. Warburton though has us playing a standard of football i never thought id see at Ibrox and im in no doubt when ( or if!) He ever leaves he will have a status on a par with Mr Struth himself.

 

The Hibs game at home should be a reminder that we still have work to do and theres still some way to go yet but i am confident that we can compete against any team in the top teir.

 

Let them come we will more than welcome the chase!

 

The only thing Id put to that was Advocaat had us playing at a level I thought was magnificent and we could give anyone a game in 1999-2000 season. But that was an expensive team, what Warburton is going one better on a fraction of that budget and he is also doing it behind the scenes and off the park aswell with putting things in place and a footballing attitude that I haven't seen before.