Frankie 8,150 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 If they say a week is a long time in football, then how do they measure six months? The last time we travelled to Dundee for a game of football, the sun was shining in mid-August and despite a disappointing draw in the SPFL curtain-raiser the week before, Rangers fans remained in high spirits ahead of our first away match at Dens Park. This confidence was well-placed as the team arguably put in their best first half performance of the season against Paul Hartley's men. A fine early opener from Harry Forrester, followed up with a superb finish from Kenny Miller had us 2-0 up and, in truth, this should have been more before the home-side pulled one back from a corner on the cusp of half-time. The second-half was less impressive as we lost control of the midfield and failed to extend our lead despite our usual majority of possession and territory. Looking back this game can arguably sum up our season so far: loads of the ball, inconsistency, poor defending and the failure to take chances. Yes, arguably we were the better team and we did win that day but it's fair to say we huffed and puffed and didn't really impress - or least inspire confidence - by the time the game finished. Indeed, although we beat Motherwell in injury time the following week, we then went over a month without a league win with defeat to Celtic and Aberdeen and draws to Killie and Ross County. It's safe to say by the time we did get three points again at the start of October, any league challenge had already evaporated and it was obvious we'd have to improve to achieve a top three finish. Unfortunately things have continued to go wrong. Injuries to key players and fall outs in the dressing and board rooms have effectively left us manager-less for Sunday's game. Celtic have stormed off into the distance whilst an in-form Aberdeen have now overtaken us into second position and our poor run of recent results means Hearts will fancy catching us too. Add in the fact we had to come from behind to beat Morton last weekend in the Scottish Cup, there's a argument things couldn't get much worse. The familiar lack of confidence we had under the stewardship of the Green's and McCoist's of this world is an aura many bears are carrying again. What would we give for a comfortable away win this weekend? As it stands the man responsible for delivering that is Graeme Murty. When the former Scotland player joined Rangers as Head Development Coach a few days after that Dundee win in August, I doubt he'd see himself standing in the first team dugout as interim manager six months later. Last week must have been a surreal experience - one day looking after the needs of our youth players, the next ordering Kenny Miller and Clint Hill around the training field. The sensible option was to avoid too much tinkering with the team for the Morton match and, despite the loss of an awful early goal, he and his players managed to turn things around into victory on the day. With that in mind, I'd expect a similarly pragmatic outlook from Murty for Dens Park. Yes it would be easy to oblige critical fans and make large-scale changes to personnel and tactics but it's doubtful Murty would have been brought in if he didn't buy into Warburton's ethos of attacking football. Even Dave King has talked about maintaining this philosophy going forward so we have to expect our usual 4-3-3 on Sunday afternoon. One issue that may determine a change to that likelihood is the probable unavailability of captain Lee Wallace with another muscle strain. Just like the hamstring injury that kept him out of various games at the turn of the year, I suspect the left-back will miss out again this week. As such, the manager will have to decide whether or not to move to a back three as Warburton did for games against St Johnstone and Celtic in December or utilise the likes of Lee Hodson at left back. With his defence looking less than secure against Morton, it may be the first option is preferred with recalls for Kiernan and Wilson giving Clint Hill more protection that Senderos has of late. This, in turn, would allow us to deploy five men in midfield and perhaps even two strikers in attack! Although Warburton's 3-5-2 was extremely attacking (with Barrie McKay effectively as our left wing-back), Murty may choose to be a bit less open to deliver a sounder platform in the middle of the park. Using a combination of Holt and Hydman to hold with McKay in a more offensive role and Halliday on the left-flank would seem to make most sense - though neither Scotsmen have impressed of late - so it could be Hodson or Toral are used instead. Opening up two strikers' roles also opens up further debate. Do we persist with the mainly reliable Kenny Miller to help link the play along and who do we play alongside (or slightly in front of him)? Do we persevere with the inconsistent Martyn Waghorn knowing he's just as capable of being anonymous as scoring goals or do we recall Joe Garner to add a more physical nature to our play knowing he's not quite as dangerous in front of goal? The likes of O'Halloran, Dodoo and Forrester will be equally keen to feature and the latter has a particularly good record against Dundee. No matter the team Graeme Murty selects, a change of manager hasn't resulted in any answers (yet) to the same pre and post-match questions we've had all season. Problems in defence, minimal presence in midfield and a lack of goals are all issues that have resulted in inconsistent results throughout this campaign. As such the biggest question we have now is whether or not Murty (or indeed AN Other) can do what Mark Warburton couldn't and solve these issues. It's perhaps unfair to expect Murty to do this in little over seven days but the clock is definitely ticking on all concerned at the club if we want to salvage a quickly disintegrating season. A week is a long time in football but the next three months will tell us exactly who can live with playing for and managing our great club. Delivering European football remains a big test but it's one we need answers to. Let's start with a positive response on Sunday! Possible teams: 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,150 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 PS: You can vote for your preferred formation/system on the main site article: http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/news-category/match-analysis/741-to-dens-and-back-again-dundee-v-rangers 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 9,370 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Actually, Halliday at LM/LWB could be quite a good move, allowing us to use his work-rate and pace while keeping him as far away from the centre of the pitch as possible! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,150 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Actually, Halliday at LM/LWB could be quite a good move, allowing us to use his work-rate and pace while keeping him as far away from the centre of the pitch as possible! It's certainly more of a familiar/orthodox position for him. I'm not so sure Murty will be keen to change formation but Wallace's fitness could swing it. To be honest, the captain's lack of form makes him a candidate for being dropped anyway - or at least a change of role. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
boabie 230 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Actually, Halliday at LM/LWB could be quite a good move, allowing us to use his work-rate and pace while keeping him as far away from the centre of the pitch as possible! Sorry mate but I wouldn't allow him to even run the pie stall. Imo his time at Ibrox is over and he should be allowed to sink to his level - junior football. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 9,370 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Sorry mate but I wouldn't allow him to even run the pie stall. Imo his time at Ibrox is over and he should be allowed to sink to his level - junior football. That's a bit extreme. He's a decent player, just not suited to DM. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,150 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Halliday is just completely off form and you can see his head is down too. You can blame the manager for not 'resting' him. On form he's a good option to have - ideally not a first choice player but certainly a positive presence. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenny3k 500 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 A 3-5-2 formation is what I have thought would be good for us with our players.. It would be a 3-5-2 in possession, switching to a 5-3-2 when we lose the ball.. I agree with putting Halliday in the LWB role as its more familiar to him and will take a little bit of pressure off him and maybe allow him to recapture some kind of form.. The only change i would make is to remove Holt, I think he would be best coming on as a sub in the McKay position, although, we're not exactly blessed with options, I would go for Toral.... The advantage of having 3 at the back is it allows one centre back to step up and break up play when required... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,829 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 The first game at Dens has proved to be a reduced essence of our season. We dominate the first half, deservedly score two goals, spurn another couple of opportunities, and then conceded a corner on the point of half time. Of course we do not defend it and the difference at the break is one goal, instead of 3 or 4. The second half sees us penned in for a number of several minute periods, the ball flies into and across our box, and calamitous defending is much in evidence. We foray up the field on three occasions, resulting in two one on ones with the keeper, and again spurn killer chances. The ref' blows full time, we heave a collective sigh, and hope the next game is better. As stated, that's our season. I would go with 3-5-2, attempt to hold a higher line by controlling the midfield. Let's at least try to stop the balls coming in to our box? The problem is the composition of the three at the back with Wallace's injury. I don't care for Senderos, and Kiernan's head is in the bucket. Would Clint Hill, Wilson, and Hodson be remotely feasible? Our paucity of defenders is quite damning. I don't think there is any other option, but to attack, continually, could 3-3. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,413 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Focus On Your Football RANGERS must focus on their football going into Sunday’s game against Dundee as Graeme Murty reminds his players they can’t control anything away from the pitch. https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/focus-on-your-football/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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