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Rangers can win the Premiership title this season...


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Top 2 for me is acceptable in this return to the top flight. That's realistic. I certainly don't think Aberdeen and Hearts are better than us. Celtic do have a higher budget and know how to win against the rest which they have done for a few years now. Head to Head we proved at Hampden in April we can match them. Our challenge is beating the rest of the league on a weekly basis now and not in a one off cup match - I think with the players we have we will certainly be top 2. I like the look of Windass and Rossiter while Barrie McKay is reborn with the talent we knew he had. If Barton can produce 75% of what he did last season he will control every game.

 

I actually think not having Europa League is to our advantage, its a season too early on the football side whilst it would have been a financial welcome. But with hindsight, not getting promotion under McCall at Motherwell a year ago was better as it gave Warburton a year of settling without the pressure of top flight, I think playing Thursday / Sunday would hamper our challenge this season.

 

For me 2nd and challenging would be good stead similar to when Walter came back and replaced PLG - it was a statement that season and then we won 3 in a row....however 1st and winners is not beyond us at all.

 

Agree 2nd would be acceptable(frig'n hard to accept but acceptable) but we should be able to get ourselves above Hearts and Aberdeen. The thing about this season is it is a jump into the dark but starting Saturday thin rays of light will start shining through on where we exactly are.

 

Welcome back Gribz good to see you posting again.

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Saturday's result was a disappointment but we can't play well all of the time and I think some are over-reacting to a defeat to a decent (if unglamorous) team.

 

Are we still short of a genuine quality defender? Yes.

Would we benefit from another striker? Yes.

Are a few players still not completely fit? Yes.

 

These are three genuine concerns and the fact the first two in particular have still not been fully addressed despite the obvious need for a good while now is frustrating. However, I think we will sign another two players and every player will be fit and ready soon enough as well.

 

Will we win the league?

 

I'm not sure but we're certainly just as capable as anyone else. A one-off friendly defeat against a decent Burnley outfit doesn't change that.

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Essentially, we have a vague idea of how we will play next season, given that 9 new players have arrived. We only have a vague idea how the opposition will try to play against us, with only half a handful really willing to play "their football" against any opposition. I wouldn't be surprised if we will face a season like last, when teams tried to "play football" till x-mas against us, getting slaughtered and then adopted the "brickwall & counter" style, which caused us quite a few problems - not least since we did not took a great deal of our chances. How successful the Premiership teams are in this respect and how lethal we become is anyone's guess. So far too much ifs, buts, and maybes involved.

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Saturday's result was a disappointment but we can't play well all of the time and I think some are over-reacting to a defeat to a decent (if unglamorous) team.

 

Are we still short of a genuine quality defender? Yes.

Would we benefit from another striker? Yes.

Are a few players still not completely fit? Yes.

 

These are three genuine concerns and the fact the first two in particular have still not been fully addressed despite the obvious need for a good while now is frustrating. However, I think we will sign another two players and every player will be fit and ready soon enough as well.

 

Will we win the league?

 

I'm not sure but we're certainly just as capable as anyone else. A one-off friendly defeat against a decent Burnley outfit doesn't change that.

 

Rather than reacting simply to a defeat, it was more the manner of the defeat that has had some reading slightly more into it than a meaningless friendly result.

 

MW has said that the pre-season has been far from ideal and perhaps that is refelected in the team not being at the stage he would have wanted a week prior to the league starting, including probably not knowing what his best starting XI are yet.

 

The other question is how long will it take Kranjcar to get up to speed because he was so far off the pace that you begin to wonder if he's going to become a luxury we can't afford to start against decent opposition.

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I think that an acceptable season would be second BUT competing reasonably for the title - ie not miles behind and get a win or two against Celtic. Third would need a sort of enquiry about the circumstances of it, but could be acceptable as a one off.

 

Hearts showed a couple of seasons ago that sometimes a lower budget team can just click for a season and have a stormer. Usually, we'd be so far ahead that it would just close the gap, but at the moment a season like that, combined with some bad luck for us could have a team other than Celtic finishing above us.

 

However, it would be something that would still mean the sack for the manager if it was repeated; I think finishing worse than third would too.

 

I think the Motherwell result and general play in that game proved that we're no mid table team.

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Totally agree about Kranjar. He was one of the ones I felt looked uninterested or I guess "off the pace" is slightly kinder.

I'm not going to alter my thinking, no matter if, maybe realistically, some feel its expecting too much.

As a Rangers supporter since birth, as my family and generations before were, I will not and can't except second best. Our club is built on a history of excellence and pioneering in both a footballing and social sense.

I will go into this season with the same high expectations as I always do. Rightly or wrongly, we are The Rangers. Second is last.

Edited by cooponthewing
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Rather than reacting simply to a defeat, it was more the manner of the defeat that has had some reading slightly more into it than a meaningless friendly result.

 

MW has said that the pre-season has been far from ideal and perhaps that is refelected in the team not being at the stage he would have wanted a week prior to the league starting, including probably not knowing what his best starting XI are yet.

 

The other question is how long will it take Kranjcar to get up to speed because he was so far off the pace that you begin to wonder if he's going to become a luxury we can't afford to start against decent opposition.

 

Krnajcar played poorly and is clearly still short of sharpness. I'm not sure he'll be a first pick early in the season but you'd hope he would play his way into the team as it progresses.

 

In comparison to other Scottish teams, we'll be fit enough. I can't wait until Saturday!

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Agree 2nd would be acceptable(frig'n hard to accept but acceptable) but we should be able to get ourselves above Hearts and Aberdeen. The thing about this season is it is a jump into the dark but starting Saturday thin rays of light will start shining through on where we exactly are.

 

Welcome back Gribz good to see you posting again.

 

Thanks Pete.

 

I think its not a case of accepting 2nd, I think its more seeing the progress. Seeing a competitive team fighting for the league would be an achievement.

 

I do think we can win the league but there would be no shame in being runners up all things considered.

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Krnajcar played poorly and is clearly still short of sharpness. I'm not sure he'll be a first pick early in the season but you'd hope he would play his way into the team as it progresses.

 

In comparison to other Scottish teams, we'll be fit enough. I can't wait until Saturday!

 

Generally fitness won't be a problem.

 

I've just got 'a downer' on Kranjcar and can see him being a luxury we can't afford, ie. teams will actively look to get on top of him quickly, win ball and counter an exposed backline. I'd add that this is more gut feel than a football expert talking (I thought McKay was heading for scrap heap last summer :oops:).

 

On the plus side you have Rossiter and the competition for defensive midfielder. Difficult to see anyone else but Barton start but he'll not be able to relax.

 

Looking forward to Saturday to see how MW lines the team up and I'd imagine he'll get a good response from the team.

The following weekend at Dens park will probably be a more interesting test.

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