The Football Operation at Rangers is a Mess

[forlanssister 3,050]

1 hour ago, RANGERRAB said:

Some of signings this year have been horrendous. With one injury prone CB (Helander) on our books we go and sign another-Souttar. Didn’t take long before the inevitable happened did it? Whose decision was it to sign Souttar ?? Not only did we sign Souttar but we let a perfectly good CB( Katic) leave for a modest fee to FC Zurich where I’m led to believe he’s doing well. Now Goldson’s out for months we’re really struggling at CB.

(I won’t mention the Ramsey signing or diallo loan. Least said the better) 
Then there’s the Ridvan signing. He may well go on & become a great signing but for us to pay out the high transfer fee(by our standards) & have him benched makes no sense to me and is not good business.

Everyman and his dog knew Souttar's injury record but he was a relatively cheap Scottish punt something we've always done and always will do.

 

I wouldn't rush to confer legendry status upon Katic I don't think he lived up to the hope, he had some howlers for us one away game at Perth in particular.

 

I really doubt we've forked out the rumoured fee for Ridvan. In his admittedly sparse cameos so far he's shown some promise and may well yet come good. He'll get his chance but whether he takes it or not time will tell.

 

 

1 hour ago, RANGERRAB said:

But for me there are two main issues regards our DoF:-

1) why do we continue to sign so many players with a bad injury history ?

Helander,Roofe & now Souttar to name 3.

2) why have we got a situation where we have so many key players out of contract at the end of the season? To me that’s bad planning. Kent,Morelos, Jack, Arfield, Helander,McGregor all out of contract. Presumably they’ll all need replaced but will there be resources to do so?

 

Not saying it’s all Wilson fault but questions now need asked about his role & its influence in my view

 

I remember when we signed Mark Hately complete with his horrendous injury record when he was returning from a near career ending injury, sometimes it works out but sometimes it doesn't something we have to live with it. The Roofe signing left me puzzled too if it's any consolation.

 

Kent and Morelos should both have been sold according to our alleged model and it's probably best to punt them in January for something rather than nothing if they aren't going to re-sign.

 

Out of Jack, Arfield, Helander and McGregor I think only Jack might get another yet but that's not guaranteed. It really isn't unusual to have that many players out of contract at once lots of clubs will be in the same situation. McGregor should already have been replaced and the fact he isn't is a major failure.

 

Nothing wrong with questioning what's going on in fact it should be encouraged however we should be wary of creating scapegoats as deters scrutiny in other areas where some sharw of the blame may lay.

[Gonzo79 13,632]

15 minutes ago, Bill said:

I’m sure you’re rightly ashamed of that post. 

Not in the slightest.  I'm not the one laughing at other Bears after we've just had the biggest mauling in our lifetime.

 

People who are all 'everything's rosy' are just as daft as the 'doom and gloom' brigade.  But posting 'har de har' this week is wild. 

[buster. 4,808]

12 hours ago, forlanssister said:

I'm probably in a minority in thinking Ross Wilson is doing a decent enough job over all.

 

However we probably lost the league last season because we signed to many players who simply weren't ready to play when they signed Ramsay being the prime example while across the city they signed players who were fit and ready to play (the Japanese contingent etc) and yes you can perfectly reasonably attach blame to Wilson for that. Also we need to note the difference between projects i.e Tillman and the finished article Colak while you can argue Tillman may have long term value to us (should a permanent deal arise) there's little doubt Colak's current value to us is many,many times that of Tillman's even if at his age any sell on value will be minimal. Perhaps a better balance between those 2 categories needs to be found 

 

I really think we have a decent of squad size wise and quality wise, certainly good enough to win the SPFL and have a decent crack at the EL, however much it hurts we really have to admit we're simply not currently good enough for the CL no matter how sore that is to accept. Everyone points to Club Brugge but seem to forget they took their fair share of hidings for a number of years before finding their feet.

 

I certainly think questions need to asked on the medical side not only in regards to the unusually high number of injuries but also why the recovery times seem to be so long.

 

We certainly don't appear to be as fit as previous seasons but I'm at a loss at the reason for that if it is indeed the case. I can only put that down to application or perhaps a change in brand of coffee at Auchenhowie. 

 

I'll refrain from making a managerial comment there's plenty other threads for that snd don'twish to derail this one.

I think the main problem for Ross Wilson is that he doesn't have a big enough budget to do what he'd like to do or what we as fans, would like him to.

 

The area that seems to have been improved and is doing well is youth development/academy.

This was always going to be a hugely important area going forward and the board did well to recognise this and allocate resources accordingly.

 

The signing of so many injury prone footballers is a tell tale sign of trying to squeeze as much quality out of a limited budget. This increases the odds on what is always a gamble. To compound that gamble in the same area of the pitch (central defence) made IMO, what was an acceptable gamble (Souttar on a free) into a long odds bet that predictably went badly.

 

Spending a significant part of a relatively limited budget on what was or became a project (Ridvan Yilmaz) should be judged at the end of the season. The positive is that it pushed Barisic into some form.

 

To judge Wilson on transfers, you have to look at several windows and on balance it hasn't been good.

Mitigation is the size of the budget he has to work with but the decision to go with so many injury prone players, eg. Ramsey or those once wonderkids who have lost their way, Diallo, Matondo to squeeze value isn't working and is on him.

 

Saying all that, by far the worst area for me is the squad management going into this season.

It was basically set-up so as something like the current mess would happen (too many injury prone or older players whose gametime needed managed / lack of freshness and energy) and it doesn't look like the manager has got what it takes or the authority to change it. Our hopes ly with a similar inconsistency creeping in on the other side of the city.

 

The bulk of the squad peaked 2 seasons ago.

Goldson's rant post League Cup semi-final applied after Gio's honeymoon period and it applies today. Bring another manager in with the same squad and they'd take him to the same place they eventually took Gerrard and now GvB. Two different management syles but the same squad.

 

 

Regards fitness. 

I have often seen teams where a fair number of plyers aren't really on the same wavelength as the manager/coaching team and despite what would seem to be the same amount of fitness work as ever, they appear off it in games. More especially the games that don't go to plan.

 

Too many players have been here too long, IMO.

Many look stale, (haven't got the legs, chronicly injured/old legs) and provide little energy (see our midfield).

 

Problem is we haven't got the money to get player with the same ability and look to squeeze every last drop out of them.

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by buster.

[ranger_syntax 3,774]

10 hours ago, forlanssister said:

I wouldn't rush to confer legendry status upon Katic I don't think he lived up to the hope, he had some howlers for us one away game at Perth in particular.

Many people forget that he was poor during much of his last run in the team.

[ranger_syntax 3,774]

11 hours ago, buster. said:

I think the main problem for Ross Wilson is that he doesn't have a big enough budget to do what he'd like to do or what we as fans, would like him to.

You understand that this is not a problem that can never be solved, right?

Edited October 15, 2022 by ranger_syntax

[buster. 4,808]

2 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said:

You understand that this is not a problem that can ever be solved, right?

I think we are somewhere close to a before and after point.

 

Certainly in terms of competing with the elite. The realisation hits now, even if that line was crossed a fair way back.

 

Running the club in a sustainable way with the new  FFP regulations is effectively a double whammy.

 

The strict looking regulations being one part and secondly, the fact we aren't used to being run in a sustainable manner.

 

 

[ranger_syntax 3,774]

1 hour ago, buster. said:

I think the main problem for Ross Wilson is that he doesn't have a big enough budget to do what he'd like to do or what we as fans, would like him to.

 

14 minutes ago, buster. said:

I think we are somewhere close to a before and after point.

 

Certainly in terms of competing with the elite. The realisation hits now, even if that line was crossed a fair way back.

 

Running the club in a sustainable way with the new  FFP regulations is effectively a double whammy.

 

The strict looking regulations being one part and secondly, the fact we aren't used to being run in a sustainable manner.

None of the points you make, in the second quote, are related to the problem you mention in the first quote.

 

The director of football, and the fans, will always want a higher budget.

[buster. 4,808]

3 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said:

 

None of the points you make, in the second quote, are related to the problem you mention in the first quote.

 

The director of football, and the fans, will always want a higher budget.

Currently, it is what it is.

 

Going forward, they very much do and are part of the reason for the board's current actions. They are preparing the ground and it isn't what we are accustomed to.

 

 

[Rousseau 9,374]

13 hours ago, RANGERRAB said:

I’m of the opposite opinion. I think Ross Wilson is simply not cutting it here.

I’ve always been someone with a cynical view of a DoF. Do they have too much say when signing players? Do they sign players without the managers consent ? Do they research players backgrounds enough? 

I suggest you do some reading about a DoF model.

[Graeme Ro55 649]

17 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

Not in the slightest.  I'm not the one laughing at other Bears after we've just had the biggest mauling in our lifetime.

 

People who are all 'everything's rosy' are just as daft as the 'doom and gloom' brigade.  But posting 'har de har' this week is wild. 

I am not "laughing at other Bears after we've just had the biggest mauling in our lifetime". I am a Bear myself and was just as gutted as any other to suffer that defeat. I was laughing at the reaction of some who seem surprised that our managment & inury riddled, ageing team cannot compete with a managment/team that includes some of the best coaches & players on the planet. I am neither in the everything's rosy or the just as daft as the doom and gloom brigade, I am merely well aware of where our club are on the road back. Whether or not I can afford the disgraceful price of a ticket is no ones elses business, and does not make me any less of a Bluenose.