Investment apparently being announced tomorrow

[JohnMc 2,482]

37 minutes ago, der Berliner said:

 

"That's revisionism and just blatant lies." ... now you throw earnest stuff about like confetti. Maybe I "misquoted" you, my dear friend and fellow Bear.

 

As for the rest, I was expecting any reason why Gerrard the person was not of a calibre of Souness the person. Will ask more precisely next time around.

 

Regarding the Board, I specifically asked what they should have done at the time instead of what they did. And perhaps we refrain from picking cherries like "throwing money after Pena's old club". We sit neatly here and telling the Board what garbage they have picked with PC and Pena and whatnot, or not substituting Murty with someone better. Yeah, that's all  fine and well, based on hindsight. Too bad the Board has no crystal balls to see how plans work out in 6 months time. I reckon they deemed it a good choice with PC last summer. I also assume that there wasn't a reasonable candidate about in January bar McInnes, and most likely not for lack of trying (though since we don't know, they are all sitting ducks for the dissenters). And for all the FLAK now aimed at Murty and Co. after the last three OF games, go back to the eve before the Ibrox game and check the sentiments there and then.

 

Quite a few people like their Black & White scenarios when reality hardly is like that. The Ibrox game killed our season, it seems clear that Murty did lose the dressing room and the players just trotted along ever after. They, much like Murty have to shoulder the blame after that ... and you'd earn serious coin if you or anyone else had the ability to forecast that at the end of January. They there will obviously some know-alls claiming exactly that.

 

With respect dB Gersnet was full of posters saying quite clearly that Pedro was a bizarre appointment minutes after he was made. There is no revisionism or hindsight required there, there were plenty who could see how Pedro's reign was going to turn out without the need for a crystal ball. Unfortunately none of those people were on our board. This board deserve credit for what they've done right but they also deserve criticised for what they've done wrong. Well they've handled our managerial position, arguably the most important position at the club, very poorly since they took control.

 

As for why Gerrard "the person" isn't of the same calibre as Souness let me try and answer that. For one Souness played for four senior sides before joining Rangers,. He had experience of different clubs, different dressing rooms and different footballing cultures. Gerrard played for one club almost his entire career, a retirement party in LA being his only experience of life away from Anfield. He's never had to walk into a new dressing room and adapt or change it. 

Secondly Gerrard has some very iffy friendships. His connections to organised crime in Liverpool is well documented, a simple Google search will fill you in on that. As far as I know Souness never provided a character reference in court for gangster. Neither did Souness beat someone up in a bar because he didn't like the music he was playing. 

Lastly, for football reasons alone, I don't think we don't need another inexperienced coach. We need someone who knows how to galvanise a side, create a team spirit and some tactical awareness. There are managers out there who we know possess this, no one knows if Gerrard does. 

[buster. 4,808]

11 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

There's no doubt that the board has made a few errors of judgement in selecting the manager, but I have to admit that if I was on the board I think I'd have made some of those same mistakes.  It's difficult to pick a manager, and in fact it is the most difficult decision to take because it can't be reversed easily so quickly.  I like the fact that they've selected a manager (with the very best of motives and expectation) and then backed him each time.  I'm assuming we all agree with that.

 

The problem they have is that whoever they choose as our manager, there will be a large proportion of the fan base that will be unhappy.  I'd be happy to prove that if anyone on here wants to submit a list of potential names.  The simple fact is that no matter who becomes our manager, they have a thankless task.  We want to win the league and yet it's wholly unreasonable to expect that, yet.

 

It is however perfectly reasonable to expect us to finish comfortably in second place and therein lies the issue with Murty.  In December, the board selected its preferred manager but this approach failed before they got anywhere. That's just life and football, but they decided to hold off until the summer to ensure that the correct man was appointed.  I think it was completely reasonable too for the board to expect us to finish second given the quality singings we made in January.  To be fair to the board and Murty, it looked a certainty as we were playing some brilliant football and scoring at will in our games at the start of the year.  In fact, I particularly enjoyed the prospect of us having a title challenge.  Indeed, we were a fine margin away from that in our game against Celtic at Ibrox.  I still can't believe we lost that game.

 

However, not only did we lose that game, but something happened.  I don't know what, but something changed and the team has not kicked a ball since.  It's clear that the skill is there, because we were all over teams (including Celtic) at our freeflowing best.  We seem to however lack a mentality, or a resilience to deal with setbacks.  That's what Murty appears to be unable to deal with.  It may have had something to do with the rumoured unrest in the dressing room as a result of LW and KM, but that's just speculation, albeit somewhat substantiated.

 

The simple fact is that this team has shown that it can be good enough.  The fact is that the team is fragile.  The fact is that we have significantly closed the gap on Celtic and really are not that far behind them.  We need a manager who is a winner.  That's now the next step in our development.  I don't really know who we will bring in next, but whoever it is has to drive a belief in these players.  If he identifies players who don't really believe, or are fragile, he needs to move them on quickly.  Playing for Rangers (or them for that matter) is tough.  It's far easier for these same guys to play for Aberdeen or Hibs because the expectations are much lower.  I'm sure many will accept that the weight of expectation can destroy some players and we've seen that this season.

 

We need a winner as a manager, a good transfer window (to move on our mentally weak players), and an influx of 2 or 3 quality players and leaders on the park.  That should be enough to create some distance between us and the rest of the pack.  Then we can start to look ahead of us and tackle Celtic.  We are not as far away as many on here would suggest, but unless we bring in the right manager with the right mentality we will never unlock the potential this squad clearly has.

I might be asking for the impossible but we need to forget about Celtic, at least for the next 12 months.

 

We need to invest in the right people and start to build something that hasn't got immediate unreasonable expectation hanging over it and battering them every few weeks.

 

Chasing losses at the bookies tends to end badly and that is what we have been doing. My first impression of a potential Gerrard appointment is that it is more of the same.

 

.

Edited April 30, 2018 by buster.

[MrGaryValentine 85]

9 minutes ago, buster. said:

I might be asking for the impossible but we need to forget about Celtic, at least for the next 12 months.

 

We need to invest in the right people and start to build something that hasn't got immediate unreasonable expectation hanging over it and battering them every few weeks.

 

Chasing losses at the bookies tends to end badly and that is what we have been doing. My first impression of a potential Gerrard appointment is that it is more of the same.

 

.

Hopefully now the merchandise deal is sorted that is the last of the dodgy deals fixed and now the board can focus on the field now. 

 

For me next season is their last chance to get it right. 

[buster. 4,808]

12 minutes ago, MrGaryValentine said:

Hopefully now the merchandise deal is sorted that is the last of the dodgy deals fixed and now the board can focus on the field now. 

 

For me next season is their last chance to get it right. 

What would be acceptable for you ?

[Gaffer 1,665]

3 minutes ago, buster. said:

What would be acceptable for you ?

I'll answer from my perspective ....

 

What's acceptable from the board?  :  they make a selection of manager and then back him.  However, I do expect there to be a greater level of scrutiny given to risky signings (such as Barton or Pena).  It's Allen's job to work with the manager on signings, however I'd expect a board to challenge where appropriate.  Equally, I'd expect the board to be working on a succession or backup plan in case this next managerial appointment is a failure.

 

Whats acceptable from the new manager?  :  He needs to secure our second place in the league.  By Christmas, there needs to be confidence that we will be at least second in the league.

[pete 2,499]

The unfortunate thing about the thread title is that, Tommorow never comes.

[MrGaryValentine 85]

34 minutes ago, buster. said:

What would be acceptable for you ?

Clear second and a League or Scottish Cup has to be minimum for me. 

 

A win against Celtic.

 

Single digit points behind them. 

 

Again that is bare minimum for me, those were my realistic targets for this season. 

[Gaffer 1,665]

6 minutes ago, MrGaryValentine said:

Clear second and a League or Scottish Cup has to be minimum for me. 

 

A win against Celtic.

 

Single digit points behind them. 

 

Again that is bare minimum for me, those were my realistic targets for this season. 

In my opinion that's unreasonable.  We can't control what Celtic do.  Their team should beat our team each time we play at the moment  so there's no way we can demand a cup win, or win over them.  We had that win when MW was in charge but it meant, and means very little.  Progress in our team is all that matters.

[pete 2,499]

10 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

In my opinion that's unreasonable.  We can't control what Celtic do.  Their team should beat our team each time we play at the moment  so there's no way we can demand a cup win, or win over them.  We had that win when MW was in charge but it meant, and means very little.  Progress in our team is all that matters.

We never beat them under Warburton we only went through on penalties. Unfortunately there is a bunch of kids that have never seen us beating Celtic.

[buster. 4,808]

16 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

In my opinion that's unreasonable.  We can't control what Celtic do.  Their team should beat our team each time we play at the moment  so there's no way we can demand a cup win, or win over them.  We had that win when MW was in charge but it meant, and means very little.  Progress in our team is all that matters.

Agreed, forget about them for next season and concentrate in improving our football operation and building a squad with a younger average age.

Edited April 30, 2018 by buster.