Rangers v Hamilton - Our mission, should we choose to accept it...

[Gribz 743]

Watched the first half and we totally dominated the game bar a 3-5 minute Hamilton spell where they got the goal which was well taken.

 

I thought we opted to go down the flanks too much and need some more creativity in the centre of the final 3rd, that's where I think Windass will be important. But McKay continues to impress and Tav is Arsenal-Esk at flying down the wing.

 

Thought Kranjcar was well of the pace. Waghorn should have been where Miller was from the start. It was one too many 35+ year old in the starting line up.

 

Id feel much more comfortable if we do some good business at centre half though, thinking about trickier away games - Id be a bit nervous with any 2 of our current 3. Hill may get up to speed with a few games but for 40+ games further improvements are needed.

[Tannochsidebear 2,320]

Do you really think Butcher and Gough would look excessively better had we adopted a similar style back than as Warburton's team now does? I'd be not so bold, despite the difference in class.

 

Essentially people should cool down somewhat and get back to a realistic level. We need to find the right combination in midfield, have to adjust our CHs to our DMs and our attackers need to find their scoring boots. One might think that half a dozen games in a fourtnight (!) might do that, but much of those were meant to get people back to match fitness, see how everyone shapes up et al, rather then build a team that hits the ground running against teams that are half if not a class better than what we had last season. Teams who have seen us play and set up to stop us. We need time to adapt, so by the end of September we'll probably know where we are and what we can expect from our side this season and each player on show.

 

Come on dB, Butcher & Gough were world class centre halfs, while our current trio are most certainly not ever going to be called anything other than honest pros. Put B&G into this team and it looks completely different. No more shitting ourselves at set pieces, no more fumbling around when the opponent has the ball, no more disorganised starting positions. The simple fact of the matter is that it is not our system that makes us look bad at defending, it is bad defenders playing bad defence.

[limeburner 0]

Ahh,the old "give it time,it will be alright in the end"routine-------it isnt and it wont be.

[pete 2,499]

Kiernan wasn't where he was for nothing. He is a 3rd division player and I am afraid he won't be going much higher. I believe Waggy (certainly) and possibly Tav were fighting below their weight but Kiernan is a low league player and is in the Rangers first team by default.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

I thought Barton was one of our better players yesterday, Hamilton were being physical at times, Joey stood up to it and matched it.

[BalooBear 7]

I think a lot of the comments about our defence are valid and although after one game there will be the usual rush to press the panic button by some but I am sure the players/management know that it isn't good enough.

[der Berliner 3,283]

Come on dB, Butcher & Gough were world class centre halfs, while our current trio are most certainly not ever going to be called anything other than honest pros. Put B&G into this team and it looks completely different. No more shitting ourselves at set pieces, no more fumbling around when the opponent has the ball, no more disorganised starting positions. The simple fact of the matter is that it is not our system that makes us look bad at defending, it is bad defenders playing bad defence.

 

I harbour my doubts that Butcher and Gough would have liked the "up and at them" approach we oftentimes adopt, which leaves our CHs exposed. There is no doubt that we would defend set-pieces better ... and likewise neither of our CH is even close to the quality of the old hands. There's a reason why we paid nearly a million for those and more in that day and age.

 

We might get punished a few times this season before we get our act together defensively. As I said many a time, I'd like to see both Rossiter and Barton in the team giving back-up to the defence ... while still being able to support the midfield and attack. Once we clear that hurdles or are ahead in games, we can drop back to a more attacking formation.

 

Generally, while we all know the problem, we put so much emphasis on our defence that it almost becomes a paranoia.

[limeburner 0]

I think a lot of the comments about our defence are valid and although after one game there will be the usual rush to press the panic button by some but I am sure the players/management know that it isn't good enough.

IMO,we have played 1 good game since last year(SC semi v celtic)its hardly pressing the panic button.Its commenting on whats going on in front of us.

[der Berliner 3,283]

Ahh,the old "give it time,it will be alright in the end"routine-------it isnt and it wont be.

 

Yeah, throw 9 players into a side and they will click immediately, because .... ahem ... well, yes, because!

 

E.g. Barton, played 30 mins vs Annan, 64. mins vs Stranraer in what was essentially a preseason test phase ... and now he should gel with two people who haven't played alongside one another for no longer than about two cigarette lengths? One may have doubts about either of these folk's abilitiy, but the above comment is just unreasonable.

Edited August 7, 2016 by der Berliner

[ian1964 10,447]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gANZkwmCCN8