match thread (image) [FT] Motherwell 2 - 2 Rangers (Tavernier 52 pen; Murphy 53)

[Tannochsidebear 2,314]

2 hours ago, der Berliner said:

 

A couple of things here. First, while not all exactly over the moon, we were all praising Murty after his 6-game winning run. The kick in the teeth came with the home defeat to the Scum, unnecessary and undeserved too. Coming on and praising Rodgers for his tactical awareness is a touch over the top though. He brought on a PSG-groomed talent valued at 4.5m (i.e. the money that half of our team cost) and he had one real clever moment to beat our defence. In OF games, win, draw or defeat is often decided by a touch of genius or luck rather than form of the day or form of a specific team. Morelos could have drawn us the last or won us the game at the Scumhut, bar a stroke of ill-luck/touch. Very fine margins. Murty's side - made up of many Caixinha / MW players battled the Scum in these last two game like they haven't done in the years before. So there must have been something done right.

 

Thus, pre that Old Fim game, things were looking "good". Had we won the game against the Scum, it was title-race on again. 3 weeks later, that has evaporated, and, truth be told, I can't see us beating the Scum on our current form (though, as I said, the formbook goes out the window in an OF game). But we're old enough to have grown out of that "win/lose-change the manager madness" so prominent elsewhere, aren't we?

 

It is clearly frustrating that Murty, despite his good analysis of the game, does so little to change the team's and his fortunes. In that respect, I very much blame him as well as Nicholl and Johansson for not being more forceful and active in their use of our options - even though the latter were essentially limited to Miller, Cummings, Goss and a half-fit McCrorie at Fir Park. That is something that needs to change and I would assume that Murty is getting this message from all corners.

 

Blaming the board then? Well, that's the easy option, but given everything that happened pre the Scum game, a bit cheap IMHO. For back then, there were calls for giving Murty the job full time. We can't have it both ways. Unless things improve rapidly, as it stands, Murty will just see out his deal till the summer.

 

And there starts the hard stuff. Every time that Belgian goalie, DeBoer, Tuchel et al appear on the screen, you would ask yourself: what would they need to make us a serious challenger in Scotland. That is where we earn our corn and right for Europe. They would need to be shrewd in the freebie market, they would need to be shrewd with the money we would be able to hand them.

Taking these three chaps above, can we assume that much like Advocaat, PLG, MW and Caixinha, we'll see an influx of foreign chaps who would need to adapt to our game and of a certain standard to improve us, short- and midterm? Most likely. They need to be instant hits though. The market for chaps like these (and given our ressources) is minimal.

IMHO, it would really need a good coach and strong manager to change our fortunes more than a great name. Not that one necessarily excludes the other. I think we have a decent core of players ready, including all the January deals (bar Martin perhaps). We need some stronger characters in the middle of the park, leaders willing to take on responsibility and dominate and change games by themselves. And we need someone on the sidelines who will make a) changes to the playing staff on the field if things don't work out and b) change tactics according to the opposition at hand. I had hoped that Nicholl will teach that to Murty, but somehow the back-row union is rather quietish ...

 

How many good managers are about though? And willing to come? I do assume that Allen is already at it, but we should accept that it is far more difficult than checking who's out there, phoning him up and he'll be on the road to Ibrox ...

 

Some were indeed praising Murty during our good run in Feb, some of us preferred to give the credit to the new players and assistant that were brought in during the window, as the poor managerial tactics were still in full evidence even though we were winning.

 

Rodgers made a good sub when he had other options. It really pains me to say that as I dont think Rodgers is anywhere near as good as he himself thinks he is. The quality of player helps but it is the change in formation and positioning of certain players that created the opportunity for them to win the game even with 10 men. Basic football management. Murty was rightly heavily criticised for not making the right subs at the right time, and this was not a one-off as Murty's use of subs is really poor. Ask around at the games amongst your fellow bears (given your location I accept you wont make it to many games live) and almost to a man everyone says his use of subs are hopeless.

 

If you seriously believe we were title contenders if we beat the scum at Ibrox then you are living in cuckoo-land. With Murty at the helm another run of 3 games without a win was always just around the corner. His only consistency is his inconsistency. 9 games out of 22 in this rubbish league he hasnt managed to win and we now face a struggle to be second and could easily finish fourth. 5 home defeats in half a season. Come on DB, the evidence is overwhelming!

 

Nobody takes any joy in highlighting that Murty is rubbish, he was never going to say no to the chance to cut his teeth here, even in an interim capacity, but the job is far too big for this stage in his career, and Rangers should never be used as a schooling playground for any manager. I dont blame Murty for not being what we needed when we finally (4 months too late) got rid of Pedro, and given that fiasco it is only fair the board are judged to have failed us on this, despite doing great work in other areas.

 

 

[der Berliner 3,246]

3 hours ago, Tannochsidebear said:

If you seriously believe we were title contenders if we beat the scum at Ibrox then you are living in cuckoo-land. ...

 

I tend to lay title challenges to rest when they are mathematically impossible. As I said, at the time we could have cut the distance down to a rather uncomfortable margin for the Yahoos ... and they did not exactly shone afterwards either.  In fact they were held to a 0-0 draw at Fir Park too and essentially overcame Ross County only after the latter being down to 10 after a red card that might have put the Legoeater's genes out of the human evolution (then again, his nuts are hard to find ...)

 

It is obviously rather simple to look at our situation and Murty's failures from hindsight. I reckon that a draw or even a win against the Yahoos would have meant a high level of confidence in our ranks, given that they probably had smelled silvery blood. As it was, that Edouard goal was apparently a right kick in the teeth and by the looks of it, some players haven't had the mentality to shrug it off and go for it again. Killie and Motherwell essentially ended any chance that might have presented itself mathematically. On top of that, Murty doesn't seemed to be able to galvanize his players into action and/or change the game from the touchline. In that respect, Edouard's goal and the fallout may well have ended any reasonable debate for him at the top. In the here and now. Will he and his manage to beat the Yahoos in the cup semi final and the team whoever might be our opponents too ... well, not from what we've seen of late. Should he do it though, the arguments will swing again.

 

BTW, I reckon the board tried to get someone else in and failed. One may blame them like there is no tomorrow, but if the people out there are not good enough or unwilling or unable to come, so be it. This could very well be the same come the summer. And rest assured, no matter who will eventually get the job, he will not be anyone's choice and will have detractors applenty.

 

Edited April 3, 2018 by der Berliner

[Tannochsidebear 2,314]

On 03/04/2018 at 15:50, der Berliner said:

 

I tend to lay title challenges to rest when they are mathematically impossible. As I said, at the time we could have cut the distance down to a rather uncomfortable margin for the Yahoos ... and they did not exactly shone afterwards either.  In fact they were held to a 0-0 draw at Fir Park too and essentially overcame Ross County only after the latter being down to 10 after a red card that might have put the Legoeater's genes out of the human evolution (then again, his nuts are hard to find ...)

 

It is obviously rather simple to look at our situation and Murty's failures from hindsight. I reckon that a draw or even a win against the Yahoos would have meant a high level of confidence in our ranks, given that they probably had smelled silvery blood. As it was, that Edouard goal was apparently a right kick in the teeth and by the looks of it, some players haven't had the mentality to shrug it off and go for it again. Killie and Motherwell essentially ended any chance that might have presented itself mathematically. On top of that, Murty doesn't seemed to be able to galvanize his players into action and/or change the game from the touchline. In that respect, Edouard's goal and the fallout may well have ended any reasonable debate for him at the top. In the here and now. Will he and his manage to beat the Yahoos in the cup semi final and the team whoever might be our opponents too ... well, not from what we've seen of late. Should he do it though, the arguments will swing again.

 

BTW, I reckon the board tried to get someone else in and failed. One may blame them like there is no tomorrow, but if the people out there are not good enough or unwilling or unable to come, so be it. This could very well be the same come the summer. And rest assured, no matter who will eventually get the job, he will not be anyone's choice and will have detractors applenty.

 

I understand your point regarding the title race, but I think you are being overly simplistic. The evidence based on our results pre-shutdown was that inconsistency is our hallmark and that another run of dropped points was coming at some point. Would an OF win have given us the necessary confidence to continue a winning run? Who knows but I didnt believe so. I made the point on here that I only wanted the 3 points against the scum to take our lead over Dolly to 8 as that was our only realistic goal for the league. Instead we now find ourselves 3 behind with only 6 games left. 

 

I reckon you are probably right in thinking the board tried to get someone in, but the fact they failed and then chucked it and gave it to the one person completely unsuitable to do it is a deriliction of duty in my book and I fiond them guilty as hell for where we find ourselves, only 1 point ahead of 4th with 6 games to go. If we cant match celtic because of the gulf in budget, then why are we sandwiched in between Dolly & hibs with 6 games to go when our budget is more than both of theirs put together?