[FT] Partick Thistle 2 - 2 Rangers (Morelos 19; Dorrans 77)

[pete 2,499]

On Friday evening Rangers will make probably the shortest trip we have when we visit Partick Thistle at the Energy Check Stadium. What a name! I am afraid it is Firhill Stadium for me. A quick jump across the River Clyde and then a swim up the River Kelvin to Maryhill will virtually get you there. Oops Sorry! It is of course another team that enjoy swimming in the Kelvin. Far easier to take the Kelvin walkway which is a fantastic walk for those who have never done it. It is far safer and there is far less chance of hypothermia. Rangers supporters have been given the Jackie Husband stand which holds 5500 supporters. That means even at an away game Rangers will have the largest support leaving only 4,500 seats for the Thistle supporters. It is expected however that Thistle will not sell out their seats as seemingly their supporters don't normally turn out in force for Rangers or Celtic games.

 

Rangers look to be finding a bit of consistency with back to back wins against Ross County 3-1 away and Dundee 4-1 at home. Against Dundee we dominated virtually all of the game with Dundee virtually unable to get out of their own half. Dundee though, to be honest, looked a very poor side and Neil McCann could have a real struggle to get this Dundee team off the bottom of the league where they are stranded at the present moment, with only one point from five games. One disappointing thing was the cheap last minute goal we gave away stopping us capping off a competent display with a clean sheet. Wes Foderingham must have been furious with the keystone cops defending in front of him. I'll bet he had a few well chosen words to say in the dressing room.

Pedro said in his press conference that the foreign players are now starting to feel more at home and getting more used to the Scottish Culture and that is starting to show in their play. I don't think anyone can argue about Morelos and Candeias but I am afraid Pena still has a long way to go to prove that he is worthy of wearing the famous Blue shirt with five stars above the badge. He did however score his first goal for Rangers against Dundee so hopefully that will be the confidence booster to getting his Rangers career back on the right track.

 

Just a few weeks ago we were praying that we would be buying a new 20+ goals a season striker. We were a wee bit peeved and some what disappointed that the window shut without any new signings. We were struggling to score with Miller and Herrera looking more industrious than dangerous. Then the boss released El.Buffalo. That is the nickname of Alfredo Morelos. The striker is not so tall but he gets his nickname because he is as strong as an ox. Morelos has already scored 7 goals in 8 games. He looks not only a serial goal scorer but also has a fantastic work rate and is always looking for the chance to set other people up. No doubt in the future he will be given extra attention by the hard heavy marking defenders but up until now it looks like he certainly can handle himself.

 

Ryan Jack is another player that deserves a special mention on having a super start to the season. The ex-Aberdeen captain has been in excellent form since the first second he walked onto the park in a Rangers shirt. He does not do many fancy things but he does his job quietly and with total productivity. Winning the ball back in the middle of the field and starting the build up for the following attack. Ryan could be a major player this season

 

The third player who has been showing fantastic form is Daniel Candeias. His early weighted crosses into the box are a nightmare for defenders. Chris Sutton( I know) asked which Rangers Players could get into the Celtic team well when I see James Forrest running about like a headless chicken and the way Candeias has been playing then Forrest couldn't lace Daniels boots. His inter-play with Tavernier has also become a large part of our attacking force. I would say all three players mentioned above plus possibly Wes Foderingham would walk into the Celtic team.

 

Partick thisle are in third bottom place, with also only on one point but with a slightly better goal difference than Dundee and Kilmarnock. This may be a bit of a red herring though if you take it that Thistle have had really close run games against Aberdeen St Johnstone and Celtic. They were very unlucky to lose to Aberdeen 4-3 with the winning Aberdeen goal falling in the 84th minute.

They should have also got a point against Celtic when referee Andrew Dallas failed to give a stonewall penalty in the dying minutes of the game. That decision certainly made a big difference on how the league placings look at this minute. They say these things even out over a season but we will see how often it happens at such decisive times over the season. Not often I fear.

 

A special mention does have to be made for the Thistle strike force of Blair Spittal and Kris Doolan. They are sure to give the Rangers defence a tougher time than the Dundee strikers did. Partick Thistle are certainly not the easiest teams to break down so our defence has to keep it's concentration levels high even if we are dominating play as one goal could settle this match.

 

The old saying was Firhill for Thrills so lets hope that is true for Rangers and it is not Firhill for spills.

 

I would like the team to be and I have to say my feelings on kranjcar are pretty well known. He is just too slow on the left hand side.With miller also taking up a role on the left then we really need some speed down that side and thus Josh Windass will be getting my vote for the left wing\midfield.

 

Foderingham

 

Tavernier Alves Cardoso Wallace

 

Candeias Dorrans Jack Windass

 

Herrera Morelos

 

Hopefully when Mr Cullum blows his whistle for full time the mighty bears will be back where they belong. Top of the league. Even although it may only be for a few hours. It will take a 5-0 win to achieve it though so maybe too much to hope for.

Edited September 14, 2017 by pete

[Frankie 8,151]

Good stuff mate - many thanks!

 

I'll get it online early this afternoon.

[Frankie 8,151]

In terms of tomorrow's team, I reckon the manager may drop one of Miller and Niko but possibly not both (although he should IMO).

 

Windass should definitely take the left midfield position but as much as Pedro should drop Miller too, he may stick with him in the false nine role (or perhaps play Niko there instead). I think I'd rather opt for Pena myself as we really need to get the guy fully fit and playing regularly. His cameos so far have been OK but he now needs to start games and I'd like to see him do so tomorrow night.

 

Other options are to play Herrera like you suggested as part of a proper front two (and he needs games as well) or even push Dorrans further forward and bring in Rossiter. I suspect that's what may happen against Celtic next Saturday but it may not be until Tuesday before Pedro toys with more of a 4-2-3-1.

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

I think Alves and Cardoso are arguably better defenders than anything celtic have too.

[Davie P 4]

Thanks Pete, excellent review as always. One minor correction is that we beat Ross County 3 -1.

 

For me, the glaring weakness that we have is the left midfield role, or perhaps just the left hand side in its entirety. If we play Windass/Kranjcar in front of Wallace, we are always vulnerable defensively. Good going forward but weak defensively. Wallace has many excellent qualities, but defending against a quick right winger is not one of those. We will be up against Roberts in the near future, and I would be concerned about leaving Wallace exposed. PSG just did the old tag team against him, whereby the midfielder was the first defender, and the left back was just there to mop up the pieces. Windass is a threat offensively, but I honestly cannot recall him tracking back and tackling/defending, in the way that Candeias is doing on the right. I might even by inclined to give Elton a run against Partick with a view to the Celtic game.

 

Really in two minds here because I would think that we should be on the front foot against Partick, so Windass should start, but am concerned about the Celtic game. We cannot have a repeat of last seasons results under Pedro against them. It would turn the fans against him and potentially cost him his job. Equally, we need to beat the rest in order to get closer to them by the end of the season. Glad it is not my dilemma and that's why Pedro gets the big bucks!

[Frankie 8,151]

Windass tracked back fine at the weekend when he needed to.

 

Against Celtic I suspect we'll play both Jack and Rossiter as deep-lying midfielders and they'll offer extra cover for the full backs.

[ian1964 10,417]

Windass tracked back fine at the weekend when he needed to.

 

Against Celtic I suspect we'll play both Jack and Rossiter as deep-lying midfielders and they'll offer extra cover for the full backs.

 

I would like to see Jack, Rossiter & Dorrans playing

[pete 2,499]

Thanks Pete, excellent review as always. One minor correction is that we beat Ross County 3 -1.

 

For me, the glaring weakness that we have is the left midfield role, or perhaps just the left hand side in its entirety. If we play Windass/Kranjcar in front of Wallace, we are always vulnerable defensively. Good going forward but weak defensively. Wallace has many excellent qualities, but defending against a quick right winger is not one of those. We will be up against Roberts in the near future, and I would be concerned about leaving Wallace exposed. PSG just did the old tag team against him, whereby the midfielder was the first defender, and the left back was just there to mop up the pieces. Windass is a threat offensively, but I honestly cannot recall him tracking back and tackling/defending, in the way that Candeias is doing on the right. I might even by inclined to give Elton a run against Partick with a view to the Celtic game.

 

Really in two minds here because I would think that we should be on the front foot against Partick, so Windass should start, but am concerned about the Celtic game. We cannot have a repeat of last seasons results under Pedro against them. It would turn the fans against him and potentially cost him his job. Equally, we need to beat the rest in order to get closer to them by the end of the season. Glad it is not my dilemma and that's why Pedro gets the big bucks!

 

Thanks I have now changed the score plus some other faults. Funny how you read over something a number of times before posting and see nothing, then once it has been posted and read it you notice the mistakes.

[compo 6,147]

I see the jags have re-named their stadium

[cooponthewing 1,139]

I see the jags have re-named their stadium

 

Yeh, all three stands of it?? Really bizzare place to go. Great point re Tav and Candeias, they look comfortable together and dove tail going forward and in retreat.

I am hoping Pedro drops Nico and Miller? Windass and Pena would start for me.