Match Thread [FT] Rangers 2 (Kent 47; Tavernier pen 52) - 2 Celtic

[26th of foot 5,859]

8 hours ago, Malangsob said:

The epitome of mid seventies German porn'; all groaning saxophones and flashing neon lights.

 

Sellik TV - Tom Boyd and Gerry McCulloch trail trail as, 'Jota Does the Castro'.

[buster. 4,812]

36 minutes ago, 26th of foot said:

The epitome of mid seventies German porn'; all groaning saxophones and flashing neon lights.

 

Sellik TV - Tom Boyd and Gerry McCulloch trail trail as, 'Jota Does the Castro'.

Imagination can sometimes be a troublesome burden to carry 😃

[der Berliner 3,292]

Took a while for me to get down from the seething levels yesterday, alas, working afterwards at our ice-hockey venue did help.

 

First half was de facto atrocious, it sure took us 30 mins before we got going. The only two reasons I could think of regarding the appearance of Kamara in the starting line-up was a) to put him in the shopping window, or b) an slight injury to Jack. For all the lovely footballer that he is, he offers very little in a DM role, and even less as an attacking player. As I wrote in the thread above, seeing him close and near to the opposition's box is all you need to know about what is wrong in the line-up. I don't know why neither of his managers told him that shooting at goal is part of the game.

 

You can - and we did in the 2nd half in spells  - only get them problems at pressing them and keeping them in their half. While our front three tried their best, those behind them for long spells did not, so they far too often easily passed their way around us. Morelos looks half the player that Colak is when it comes to pressing, in general, he just jogged around for long spells and when he had chances, he returned to his pre-injury routine of missing 5 before getting one on target / a goal. Kent likewise did a lot of running with no real effect. The first half almost fully bypassed Tillman, who I would have thought was meant to be our creative hub. And that's not for a lack of trying on his part, but mediocre passing or choice of passing by the rest.

 

Second half exploded into action, as I said, they should serve the half-time tea (talk) before the game - from now on. The much critised Sakala (our most direct player and - Tillman aside - one willing to shoot) grabbed two assists in setting up Kent (after his wasted shot earlier) and forcing their defender into conceding the penalty. He continued to work his socks off afterwards, till the end, a change for him too. We sort of dominated them from then on, but our main drawback came to the fore again: too few players take responsibility as well as running into free spaces.

There was one 3 minute period where we had 4 of our players first exchanging passes on the left side of the area with just one of our guys in the middle, then it all moved to the right side of the area. They mopped that up with throwing people in and the opportunities were wasted. That's what you get when you play DMs and CMs willing to pass the ball about, but hardly any real intention to actually go for goal.

We took of Lundstram because of injury, when i had hoped Kamara getting the hook. Then Wright replaced Morelos and Sakala, who had run himself into the ground taking the sole striker slot. 2 subs, one enforced, and three more available, with three attack-minded players on the bench (NB: if they weren't fit for 10-20 mins, why put them on the bench in the first place?). Were we willing to see this game out? Then we get Sands on for Tillman 5+ mins before the end, when they threw on their potent attackers - reasonable, but more invitation for them to attack us. Which they did and - as per usual - grabbed an  IMHO by then undeserved equalizer. At the time, our attacking threat was Kent (hey ho), Sakala, and Wright. When you play them, the best way to keep them at bay is putting them on the back-foot. During the last 20 mins we handed them the momentum, withdraw quite a bit of firepower and got what we deserved.

 

Got what we deserved? Yep. I am sick and tired of this one-striker stuff with no goal-scoring attackers next to him. It hasn't worked for years - Europe aside, but it is a different ball game there. Granted, this season has been wrecked by injury and illness to vital players. Granted, Beale got almost all points out of the games we played under him (but better remind no-one of Aberdeen or Ross County), but we are still making silly mistakes or playing people who hardly contribute where it matters. The last time games were won by passes completed or chances created was never. So why we keep goal-threats like Roofe, Colak, and Arfield benched in vital games like yesterday, a game that might have kept our title chase alive, is totally beyond me. Why we can't play a system and the corresponding players in a way that presses and attacks the opposition for the full 90 mins when we have them available is equally beyond me, this season or last. There's hope that with all them returning people the way we play might change. But in the here and now watching Rangers is truly no joy for the eye.

[buster. 4,812]

13 hours ago, Bill said:

There's a case to be made that, while recent recruitment has been a huge failure, the root of it has been poor judgement when it comes to selling. Too often we've missed opportunities to cash in on players who could have funded better signings, only for those players to wither and end up as unsellable passengers ... Kamara and Morelos being two good examples.

There are many contributing factors wrt to size of 'warchest'.

 

Bottomline

We haven't spent the budget we have had wisely.

 

Any team can have a bad window. However, when you have several successive failures, you need to heed the signal and look for the causes.

 

One thing I have banged on about is poor squad mgmt. Including the attempt to squeeze value out of our spend by bringing in too many injury prone players.

 

 

[26th of foot 5,859]

54 minutes ago, buster. said:

Imagination can sometimes be a troublesome burden to carry 😃

No sky too high, no sea too rough, no muff too tough.

[buster. 4,812]

Just now, 26th of foot said:

No sky too high, no sea too rough, no muff too tough.

Sounds about right !!

🤣

[Scott7 5,255]

2 hours ago, 26th of foot said:

The epitome of mid seventies German porn'; all groaning saxophones and flashing neon lights.

 

Sellik TV - Tom Boyd and Gerry McCulloch trail trail as, 'Jota Does the Castro'.

For that, 26th, the majority of the gentlemen on this Board will have to take your word.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Scott7

[ascender 352]

1 hour ago, der Berliner said:

So why we keep goal-threats like Roofe, Colak, and Arfield benched in vital games like yesterday, a game that might have kept our title chase alive, is totally beyond me. Why we can't play a system and the corresponding players in a way that presses and attacks the opposition for the full 90 mins when we have them available is equally beyond me, this season or last. There's hope that with all them returning people the way we play might change. But in the here and now watching Rangers is truly no joy for the eye.

I guess Colak and Roofe are just coming back from injury which is why we started with Morelos. Arfield is clearly best used as an impact-sub, but we were in the ascendancy and should have got a third goal with the players and momentum we had, so I can see why he was left on the bench. Someone said he might have been carrying a knock too? Lundstram was also playing through an injury... All of which just brings us back to our fitness, injuries, squad management etc.

[Sutton_blows_goats 4,339]

Not sure if anyone else noticed this, but right before that boy gave Lundstram a dig in the ribs that forced him off. He was fouled on the touchline and when he got up he wiped his face with his shirt, revealing a patch on his ribs right where he was holding when he went off. 

 

I dont ever want to praise them but I can get on board with that kind of sh*thousery. Wish our players had a nasty streak like that. Our players want to fist pump and cuddle them in the tunnel before the game.

[26th of foot 5,859]

17 minutes ago, Scott7 said:

For that, 26th, the majority of the gentlemen on this Board will have to take your word.

I was young, it was Springtime, my mind was not my own, I was in love.