[FT] Dundee 1 - 2 Rangers (Forrester 14; Miller 39)

[pete 2,499]

Tomorrow Rangers travel to Dens Park Dundee to play Dundee FC the league leaders of the Scottish Premier Ieague. I doubt I will be saying this again this season but after Leicster City's escapade in winning the English Premier League last season I suppose miracles sometime's do happen. Dundee though have just lost their top scorer from last season the ex-Ger Kane Hemmings to Oxford United.How much he will be missed only time will tell but Ex-Ger Rory Loy took the opportunity to step up and score a double against Ross County in a 3-1 win to put them top of the league. They have also strengthened their forward line with Faissal El Bakhtaoui and a player from the Dutch 3rd level Jordi Teijsse. Greg Stewart will be a certainty for a starting spot but the big question is will it be for Dundee, Birmingham or could it be even Rangers as rumours linking him to us again grew legs when the supposed Birmingham City deal looked to have fallen through.

 

In the forward line Rangers have of course their own problems. Martyn Waghorn was injured against Hamilton and will be missing for the next 2 or 3 weeks. That leaves the aging Kenny Miller and the young whipersnapper Joe Dodoo. Miller has been poor the last few weeks and he often drops deep to the midfield which leaves nobody in the box in a central position. If we start with O'Halloran and Miller then the problem is that when O 'Halloran races for the byeline he often comes up with nobody in the box to cross too. Miller also doesn't have the speed to get to the front post in front of the defender which means he normally pulls to the back post leaving, in the packed defences we often come across, O'Halloran with 3 or 4 defenders to feed the ball through. That normally makes for easy defending. We should not write Kenny off yet though there will be games where we need our striker coming deep to link up play. He will also get his fair share of goals but he will probably be better coming off the bench in games where the central defenders are starting to tire or a change of strategy is needed.

 

Joe Dodoo has looked very sharp in the game time that he has had. He has Pace. He has a powerful body and he mostly stays in his striker position. All be it against Peterhead a lower league team he showed when scoring he has the pace and the will to get across the defender to the front post.

Judging on performances of late Dodoo deserves a chance to claim a starting spot for this game.

With Barrie McKay a certain start for the left-wing position and Dodoo in the middle the next question is who gets the the right wing spot, Forrester or O'Halloran. Two totally different playing styles. O'Halloran offers lightening speed while Forrester offers a bit more guile composure and eye for a defence splitting pass. What a shame we can't mix them together in a great big melting pot and have the best from both worlds. As Dodoo also offers pace and a will to run the channels my preference goes out for Forrester as I feel he offers just that bit more than O'Halloran.

 

Then there is the midfield. One player stands out a mile and should be the first name on the team sheet. Not Barton. Not Kranjcar but 19 year old Jordon Rossiter. This guy looks like an absolute steal at 250.000 pounds. Reading his profile on his strong points it states “winning the ball and passing. What is on the wraper is exactly what you get. I don't think I have saw him lose out on a tackle yet and some of his passing is sublime. If Rossiter is not in the team tomorrow for a tactical reason then I will seriously consider the mental health of Mr warburton. I don't think I have been so excited about a youth player since big DJ scored that winning goal on his debut against Celtic.The midfield should be Rossiter, Barton and Kranjcar and that is a potentially an International class midfield.

 

The back 4 have come under much criticism and much of it deserved. Tavernier is excellent going forward but defensively he is not great. I have seen some improvement in him recently though and I think he is being coached to choose his moments at going forward as he is not so gung ho as he was last season. Hodson is probably a better defender but the attacking and goal threat game of Tavernier will probably give him the nod to start the game. Wallace on the other side is certain to return after being rested in midweek. Wallace is also not a great defender but his link up play with Barrie McKay and the danger he brings with runs from deep and sometimes almost being a left winger has become a lethal weapon in the Rangers armoury.

The centre of the defence is in my opinion the Achilles heel of the team. Many managers say to have a strong team you need a strong backbone of centre-half centre-midfield and centre-forward. Kiernan and Wilson have just not produced that solid backbone that will take us on to our 55th league title. Hill has been drafted in and although he brings in more of a goal threat at corners he looks like he will struggle with the more pacey strikers we will come up against in the SPL. You do not sign a defender to score goals you sign him to defend and whether Hill is the answer to our problem is highly debatable although it is possibly a bit too early to judge him just yet. I think Wilson and Kiernen will start. Warburton has stated we may be bringing in a new player soon but I doubt he would walk straight into the team unless it is David Luiz or the likes but the days we can sign such players are long gone.

 

Choosing the goalkeeper is difficult as they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Foderingham is excellent on the ball but is suspect at high balls and is certainly not the commanding keeper he should be for his size Gilks looks to be more commanding in the box but is not a known footballing keeper. I will go for Foderingham for the simple reason he saved our skin against Hamilton with an excellent reactionary save to his right in the second half. We can say he earned us a point with that save.

 

I think the team will be:

 

Foderingham

 

Tavernier Kiernen Wilson Wallace

 

Rossiter

 

Barton Kranjcar

 

Forrester Dodoo McKay.

 

If we can get our defence sorted out I see no reason we can't be challenging Celtic for the title this season. Although they have strengthened they seem to be going with their trusted midfield players from last season and we outplayed the last season. With Rossiter, Barton and Kranjcar I would say we are even stronger than we were last season. The league will not be won solely against Celtic though it will be won by winning against the Hamiltons and Dundee's etc. We have to take 3 points against every team in the SPL starting tomorrow to realise our dream of leaving Celtic with a duck and hitting 55 not out.

[Frankie 8,157]

It's safe to say that last week's Ladbrokes Premiership curtain-raiser at Ibrox wasn't a particularly good day for Rangers. Not only did we concede the opening goal of the new season, we failed to take all three points and key striker Martyn Waghorn pulled up with a hamstring tear late in the game. We won't mention Joey Barton being nutmegged as well!

 

All this means tomorrow's match away to Dundee becomes even more important. Yes, seasons aren't won or lost this early in the campaign but we do need to build up momentum to ensure any challenge we do make has a solid foundation. As such, a win is vital if we're to maintain confidence amongst the support especially.

 

In last week's game we started fine but as the match went on, we conceded too much ground to Hamilton's midfield and struggled to match them physically. Sure, their foul/booking count shows they didn't always use legal means to apply pressure but all too often we were bullied out of good positions and didn't really threaten their new goalkeeper enough. As the manager said after the game, dominating the ball is all well and good but if you don't take and/or create chances, it's a waste of time.

 

With that in mind it was those tasked with the creative side that struggled. Kranjcar, Halliday and Barton didn't work together well and our midfield lacked pace and mobility during key moments. Similarly, McKay and Wallace looked off-colour on the left flank (particularly after half-time) and the service into the likes of Miller and Waghorn wasn't good enough on the whole. Indeed, it wasn't until after the hour mark that the introduction of Forrester, Rossiter and O'Halloran provided the spark for us to get back into the game. Moreover, being down to ten men for the last 10-15 minutes after Waghorn's injury perhaps cost us the full three points as Hamilton never really looked like making the most of the extra man as we continued to apply pressure.

 

This change in momentum after the substitutions - along with a more effective attacking display in the 5-0 win over Peterhead - means one can expect the players above to start tomorrow lunch-time. Injury and illness may affect the rest of the team selection but hopefully the majority of the squad (barring Waghorn, Windass and Crooks) will all be available for the visit to Dens Park.

 

Of course we routed Paul Hartley's men in the Scottish Cup last season and although the 'Dee manager has lost the services of Kane Hemmings and, most likely, Greg Stewart too, another 4-0 win is unlikely tomorrow. We can certainly expect another tough, physical match and we cannot under-estimate our opponents.

 

Starting in defence, I'd expect a more familiar back five than has played in the last two games with Wilson set to replace Hill and Wallace back in for Hodson. Wes Foderingham remains first choice in goal even if Gilks has looked equally capable in the games he's played. All five will need to be alive to the hard work and threat of Rory Loy in particular who always plays well against his former club. Suffice to say, if we don't defend well, we will be punished.

 

Into midfield and I'd expect Barton and the very impressive Jordan Rossiter to start tomorrow. It's then a straight choice between Kranjcar, Halliday, Holt and Forrester for the more attacking role and, given his performance last weekend, perhaps the latter will be given the nod. Forrester can also play wider though so may well be preferred in the front three to allow more game-time for Niko Kranjcar.

 

Our attacking options are also varied. Joe Dodoo led the line extremely well against Peterhead on Tuesday and his combination of strength, pace and finishing makes him an exciting talent. Certainly he offered more than Kenny Miller did last Saturday (despite some poor service) so it would be a surprise not to see the former Leicester City man start. Either side of him we can perm any two from McKay, O'Halloran, Forrester and Miller. McKay struggled against Hamilton and was rested for Tuesday's cup game but I'd expect him back in the team tomorrow. On the right, O'Halloran has looked very bright (if still lacking in composure/vision at times) so he may well have forced himself into the side as well.

 

To conclude, once again we clearly have lots of options but that may not be as immediately agreeable as you'd first think. In fact, it could be argued it's this depth and rotation of personnel that is affecting our fluency early in the season. As such, despite being quoted as wanting a two further players and not having a first choice XI per se, I'd still suggest Mark Warburton will need to find a set of players he can rely on from week-to-week. Of course form, injuries and suspensions will affect his thoughts from time to time but every team needs a nucleus of players that can drive their side forward. We certainly need that tomorrow and I can't wait to see it...!

 

Possible team:

 

[Frankie 8,157]

Ah sorry Pete - I didn't notice your preview so wanted to try and get something up this morning.

 

Very similar thinking though and many thanks!

[onevision 1,448]

Loving the graphic Frankie.

[Frankie 8,157]

Loving the graphic Frankie.

 

Aye, I've got one for each of the three strips. Not sure which one we'll wear tomorrow though...!

[pete 2,499]

Ah sorry Pete - I didn't notice your preview so wanted to try and get something up this morning.

 

Very similar thinking though and many thanks!

 

My name was on the list and I tried to get it done last night but kept falling asleep. I am not a natural writer like you guys it takes me hours to do what you guys do in 20-30 minutes so I was running a bit late.

[Frankie 8,157]

No probs mate - much appreciated that you go to the effort.

[Bluedell 5,348]

I think Warburton will start with Miller and possibly Halliday as well.

[Frankie 8,157]

I think Warburton will start with Miller and possibly Halliday as well.

 

Miller I can perhaps understand given his experience but Dodoo really deserves a start.

 

I think Halliday has been average further forward so far this summer so would struggle to get into my team unless he's playing deeper.

[RANGERRAB 3,268]

I think Warburton will start with Miller and possibly Halliday as well.

 

Hope you're wrong. Miller should be nowhere near starting XI