Match Thread [FT] Dundee 0 - 0 Rangers

[der Berliner 3,246]

I was under the impression that Raskin was to be the ready-made replacement for Davis. that is, a C/DM that knows his job, plays in his position and took the responsibility off the centre-halfs in playing the ball out of defence and up to the front. Jack could do that too, but not at the level of Davis, but he's still IMHO the best DM that we have at the club. The use of Lawrence, Dowell and Lundstram in these roles backfired heavily on us, and while Diomande (how can a thumb injury keep a professional player from playing?) looks good, he's somewhat erratic when it comes to consistency. Having him and Raskin playing in CM might work, if these chaps finally get some playing time together. 

 

Aside from tactics, the amount of injuries to important players and some signings never really get going has seriously hampered any improvement this season. Given how tight the league is, this sort of thing can quickly break a "season's neck".

 

Defense-wise, Ridvan, Sterling, and Souttar should stay, but we do need improvements in the summer, including back-ups. Hence, throwing away this season may set us back even more, given that automatic CL group participation is on the menu ... mainly thanks to our runs in Europe (oh the irony).

[CammyF 6,781]

3 hours ago, Franc Ergs said:

Indeed, if the cap fits and all that 😉 .

 

i'd stick him in Lawrences' position ,because when we get a new right back next season that's where he'll end up playing anyway.

The punishing runs from RB position aren't getting any easier for Tav .

How dare you have the audacity to mention that Tav could / should be here next season 😁

 

Read the room - he, along with Lundstrum and Goldson are the modern day equivalent to witches and must be treated as such.

Edited April 18 by CammyF

[JohnMc 2,473]

Teams seem to have figured us out. Tav and Sterling barely got out our half all match, certainly significantly less than they were a few weeks ago. Other sides realise how important both full backs are to how we attack and have changed tactics to prevent it. We need to have a counter to that. I assume much more was expected of Cantwell and Lawrence last night, creative players capable of producing something that wins you a match. Both were poor, losing possession regularly and slowing us down instead of upping the tempo. 

 

Goldson's 'passing' was horrible last night and on Sunday. But, if there's no pass to midfield and no pass to the wings then it's either back to the keeper or across to Souter. Eventually though it goes long. His passing should be better, but the long balls shouldn't be needed in the first place. 

 

So many players seem to have lost form at the same time you do wonder if there's an issue we don't know about. A problem in the dressing room, a bug that's swept through the squad and drained players of energy. I'm grasping at straws here because I don't understand how the entire side, with the possible exception of Butland, can collectively lose form simultaneously. Everyone was rotten last night, defenders, midfielders, forwards and subs. 

Amazingly, despite the collapse, we can still win the league if we win all our games. I mean I don't think we will, anyone with eyes can see we're so far off it. It's massively frustrating, but I can see why Clement is talking things up and putting a gloss on things. He needs to work with the players he's got, throwing them under the bus at this stage won't help. 

[onevision 1,442]

51 minutes ago, RANGERRAB said:

We conceded a goal to Celtic at ibrox inside the first minute after kick off and almost did the same against Ross County & last night too.

Am I the only one a bit concerned by this? 

 

fuck naw.

[ranger_syntax 3,769]

4 hours ago, alexscottislegend said:

Is it disloyal of me to not care about the Scottish Cup? Just one, maybe 2 more games to take its toll of us. I only want the League.

You're right not to care about it.

 

The domestic cups are unimportant.

 

The team will go nowhere if it thinks it can pick and choose when to win. So a win at the weekend will be welcome.

[PoohBear 1,074]

52 minutes ago, CammyF said:

How dare you have the audacity to mention that Tav could / should be here next season 😁

 

Read the room - he, along with Lundstrum and Goldson are the modern day equivalent to witches and must be treated as such.

How long are you willing to accept failure? I have backed them all the way, particularly Tav who I think is a fantastic football player. The reality is that they have returned little in way of trophies for the club. At some point you have to change things, you have to say that enough is enough.

[CammyF 6,781]

6 minutes ago, PoohBear said:

How long are you willing to accept failure? I have backed them all the way, particularly Tav who I think is a fantastic football player. The reality is that they have returned little in way of trophies for the club. At some point you have to change things, you have to say that enough is enough.

So we sell Tav and magically we become successfully? 

 

All out ills are down to Tav and Tav alone? 

 

Tav time is coming to an end, but can think of at least a dozen players who deserved to be chopped before him.

 

(Disclaimer - I have said on numerous occasions that if the Saudi interst in Tav is genuine than we have to sell him z but we can't force him to leave). 

[compo 6,137]

We were odds on last night 2/11 for Sunday it’s 

Rangers 1/4

Hearts 13/2

Draw 4/1 
Believe me that 4/1 for the draw is going to get hammered 

[lenny3k 500]

1 hour ago, JohnMc said:

Teams seem to have figured us out. Tav and Sterling barely got out our half all match, certainly significantly less than they were a few weeks ago. Other sides realise how important both full backs are to how we attack and have changed tactics to prevent it. We need to have a counter to that. I assume much more was expected of Cantwell and Lawrence last night, creative players capable of producing something that wins you a match. Both were poor, losing possession regularly and slowing us down instead of upping the tempo. 

 

Goldson's 'passing' was horrible last night and on Sunday. But, if there's no pass to midfield and no pass to the wings then it's either back to the keeper or across to Souter. Eventually though it goes long. His passing should be better, but the long balls shouldn't be needed in the first place. 

One thing that was glaring last night, more than normal, is that we didn't have a midfielder on the pitch who was brave enough to take the ball and with his first touch, face the opposition goal. Everytime that the ball was played to Lundstrum last night, his first touch was towards his own goal. While that doesn't sound like its a massive issue, when we are building from the back, its fundamental to play quick. To play quickly, the first touch has to be a positive touch, otherwise the opposition get an extra few seconds to press and close down space. Compound that with the fact that Lundstrum is the deepest midifielder, you're stuffed because teams find it easy to set up against us. Dio was hugely missed last night (and on Sunday)as, while he sometimes can be erratic, he is always positive with that first touch which opens things up and has teams scrambling more.

 

The way to kind of mitigate this is to stretch teams with wingers, but last night we started with Sima and Silva, neither of which are out and out wingers with width. Matondo came on but always looks to come inside so, again, no width. Add to that, two right footers on the left side means the balance of our squad is some of the worst I have ever seen it.

 

There were many things wrong last night, but that was the most glaring things to me

Edited April 18 by lenny3k

[Blue Moon 1,113]

Lundstram's loss of form is spectacular.  Is this a sign he is moving on?  We suffered from this last season as well.  He has carried us for months and been the main man in midfield and is now a shadow of that player.

Edited April 18 by Blue Moon