Current state of mind

[Davie P 4]

Not sure how everyone is feeling at the moment, but for me personally, I am totally depressed with the state of the club. Since the Kingco take over, when we had Rangers supporters taking over the running of the club and removing us from the whims of Ashley (to a certain extent), I have gone from a feeling of euphoria to one of despondency. The false dawn that presented itself when we beat them in the SCSF probably heightened the expectations that we were not a million miles away from them, and in fact with some astute signings, we could in fact be competitive this season. Obviously, we don't know who the manager attempted to target over the summer and if the players he ended up with were his first choice (hope to God not). However, the fact remains that most of the signings have been an unmitigated disaster, for various reasons, much of which was out of Warburton's control. However, what is within his control, is the style of play and formation. He has attempted to continue with the 'dominate the ball' philosophy, which with talented players is an attractive concept, but is a recipe for disaster with journeymen playing at the highest Scottish level for the first time. The only two 'big' money signings, MoH and Garner struggle to play in a 4 3 3, MoH is ineffective against a deep lying 2 banks of 4 defensive set up, while Garner needs a partner operating in close proximity to pick up the loose pieces that he competes for. Warburton's comments that this style of play is foreign to Garner then begs the question, why on earth would you blow virtually your entire transfer budget on a player that will struggle to fit into the structure of the team from the get-go? (Why even go to the English Championship for value for money?) As a result, you have a very disjointed performance week in week out, where we are almost reliant on the opposition making a mistake in order to score a goal. By contrast, teams playing against us know that high pressing on the back 2 and GK will very likely result in forcing the error and at the very least creating the chance. We are soft in midfield with no ball winner, and the continuation of playing inverted wingers for 90 minutes per match to no effect, is baffling. The fact that we did not receive a single offer for any player (other than Gilks) during the transfer window is a damning statement on Warburton's ability to improve the performances of purchased players. You could argue that Wes and Barrie are the two exceptions, and could be sold next summer.

 

On top of the brainless performances, the financial distortion created by UEFA and the Champions League, has just seen Celtic announce record revenue and profits. Other than a further share offering, much of which will be diluted by the need to 'pay back' the soft loans by way of equity, I cannot see any manner in which funds could be raised in order to prevent them from winning 10 in a row (and beyond). Every Champions League entry just widens the disparity between us and them. The conundrum of selling McKay and Foderingham and then providing those funds to a manager who buys players such as Garner and MoH without the foresight of being able to see how they would fit into the game plan, doesn't fill me with any confidence that he could improve the team by taking that approach.

 

Off the field, we appear to be no closer to resolving the merchandise impasse, one of the few ways in which we could bring funds back into the club. The most successful club in Scotland cannot get a representative onto the governing body and we are under continual attack from the press with speculation that the information is emanating from the Rangers board room.

 

Could someone say something positive to give me a smidgen of hope, pretty dark at the moment.

 

Thanks for reading, just had to vent!

[Gribz 743]

Good post Davie and I agree with the footballing side of things. Its still early for Garner but from the get go I just didn't fancy him fitting into our style of play. He would have probably been useful under McCoists team. This said I feel for Dodoo, he obviously has something in the locker being 1 or 2 levels up from Garner in England but he just doesn't seem to get a chance.

 

Off the field we are now at stage 2. Stage 1 was complete - get through the lower leagues and rid of the previous bunch who ran the club. So by the time we get to stage 3 we should have finished 2nd in the league to get a crack at Europa football to generate income and somehow solve the merchandise matter. After this I see better days and Stage 3 will be challenge for the title. We still have a couple of seasons to get there before they are going for 10 IAR.

[Barebear 37]

Could someone say something positive to give me a smidgen of hope, pretty dark at the moment.

 

David Brent: Well, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that Neil will be taking over both branches, and some of you will lose your jobs. Those of you who are kept on will have to relocate to Swindon, if you wanna stay. I know, gutting. On a more positive note, the good news is, I've been promoted, so... every cloud. You're still thinking about the bad news aren't you?

 

Seriously though, there's no progress at all under Warburton to enable us to say anything positive? If we think back to the famous Messi quote, "anti-football", I'd much rather be winning and competing with that style than this contemporary pretentious shite. If the modern way works, then great, if not change the way we play.

[compo 6,221]

Some very good points

[Davie P 4]

David Brent: Well, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that Neil will be taking over both branches, and some of you will lose your jobs. Those of you who are kept on will have to relocate to Swindon, if you wanna stay. I know, gutting. On a more positive note, the good news is, I've been promoted, so... every cloud. You're still thinking about the bad news aren't you?

 

Well I smiled, so that's something!

[MacK1950 2,249]

Positive's we should at least finish 3rd,which was acceptable to me pre season starting,negatives some of the meek surrender in games instead of "NO SURRENDER".