Players / management / Board

[Gribz 743]

I dont like to jump onto a bandwagon and blame individuals as I think the reason we have possibly thrown the title away is due to the players running out of gas and WS not changing things sooner.

 

Why Kirk Broadfoot is playing RB for Rangers is beyond me. He was bought as a centre half and thats where he should play. Ive yet to see him play in the centre due to Weir and King Carlos, so il reserve judgment on him. However as a RB i really think he is 10 times worse than Gary Bollan ever was. Whittaker is the natural player for this role and seeing him in an attacking midfield role drives me mental.

 

Davie Weir - the 38 year old has done superb to play so many games but you can see how tired he is. There is no way he should have played the number of games he has. Id have liked to have seen Papac play more in the middle with S Smith coming back in LB.

 

Barry Ferguson - 1 good game then 6 bad games but a continual big mouth and he seems to be blameless. Yet when he isnt in the team nobody can stand up and take the mantle away from him. Id seriously consider selling him in the summer and I wouldnt mind if we went and got Scott Brown from Celtic as his replacement.

 

Lee McCulloch - I was delighted we signed him last year and he started off well. But he is another who looks like he doesnt train. He has looked unfit since February.

 

Management - Why has certain players not been used more when they would all have been fresh and fit? The club play them big wages and none of them have barely kicked a ball. I think Gow on the left, Buffel in the gap and Boyd upfront more often would have seen us score much more goals.

 

Board - Giving Alan Hutton 1 million pounds to leave the club was disgusting when he wanted to stay until the summer. He was our best player and best attacking option. Mistake here!!

[ascender 352]

I think Broadfoot has genuinely done well at RB considering everything that's stacked against him. But when Hutton left, we often still played as if he was still in the side, which was just baffling as Broadfoot is simply nowhere hear as good as AH had become going forward.

 

I know some people will say that not buying a replacement for Hutton may cost us the title, but I think that if we'd put Whittaker at RB as soon as AH left and given him time to settle in to that role, that would have been a much better option than playing KB there.

 

Davie Weir went through a bit of a rough patch at one point and looked really tired. I thought we needed to drop him, but he came through that and along with Cuellar has been amazing and has held the team together at times. He's also a model professional and I've been impressed with his attitude both on and off the park. I think someone like that should be added to our coaching staff tbh, even if its just as a specific defensive coach to try and improve our other and younger CBs.

 

As for using the squad, there's been a strange sense of deja vu for me. Firstly, I know I'm not a professional footballer or manager and this is just my humble opinion. But at times this season there's been some really strange decisions which have just baffled me and I can't see any reason for them when there's been better alternatives available. On the other hand, we all knew what WS would bring to the club and while there's no doubt he's improved tactically since he was last here, some of his old foibles are still there for all to see. The biggest one being his reluctance to use certain players, to the point where he'll play others out of position or when they're knackered, rather than giving others a chance.

 

Sorry, but I genuinely think that guys like Buffel, Gow, Webster (if he's been fit) and Boyd, could do a job for us in the SPL against most of the other teams. The SPL is our bread and butter and while we've probably been surprised by how well we've done this season, for me, the league was there for the taking and we may throw it away because of a stubbornness to stick with negative tactics and not change some players around.

 

What sort of message does it send out to our other strikers when Cousin continues to feature in the first XI ahead of them, no matter how poorly he plays in the previous match or how he behaves on the park? Its another strange one for me which doesn't make any sense.

 

We have had some bad luck with injuries again, but part of the problem has been that when players are injured, because he's not given others a run-out, our options to replace them become more limited. And if Ferguson is playing yet another season while going "through the pain barrier" then surely we should be looking to replace him? Its the same excuse every season as to why he's only on form for half our games. Yes, he's got a certain talismanic quality, where we seem to play better with him in the side, but at many times this year, like recent years, he's been a passenger.

 

I'm not calling for WS to leave or anything like that, but I am concerned that we may have just handed the league to Celtic on a plate. I also don't understand why he's become the latest manager to ignore certain massive and obvious failings in our squad, like the lack of creativity in the middle of the park.

 

We've stumbled from one game to the next at times and struggled to beat some incredibly poor teams this year. Teams we should be taking 3 or 4 goals off, we've somehow flattered them and made them look good. And how we've let teams like Dundee United play football against us when we've had 2 or sometimes 3 defensive midfielders in our starting XI, I'll never know. Maybe attack is the best form of defence and we should have more faith that one holding midfielder is enough in the SPL.

 

In another thread, the PLG time was brought up and we were asked "can we not see the difference" between now and then. Of course we can. We have a much better defence and have been grinding out results at times. But in the other areas of the park, we've looked just as gutless, toothless and bereft of ideas as we did under the Frenchman. Playing continual high-balls in to the opponent's box only works when you have a target man. Unfortunately, Mark Hateley left some time ago and I think someone needs to point that out to WS.

 

So here we are, looking at another Helicopter Sunday, when in reality, we should have and could have, had the league tied up by now. I just hope that when we're chasing goals against St Mirren, if we bring in guys like Boyd and play Novo up front, they're not villified if they don't take all their chances. Because its not going to be our players fault if we suddenly change the system and ask people to come in and look the finished article when they haven't played much in the last couple of months.

[Gribz 743]

Good stuff Mike, you've elaborated brilliantly on my points and I agree with you bar on Broadfoot. This guy cant even take a throw, in 2 games he fluffed it about 6 times. Yip, Whittaker should have been put straight to RB and developed there or even Lowing could have been brought on a bit.

 

I was actually going to edit my post a little and add a bit more.

 

Im not getting at Davie Weir one bit, he has been outstanding most of the time but he should have been used a bit more spareingly (sp) throughout. Agreed he should definatly be put on the coaching staff unless we bring Gough in for that.

 

Your absolutely correct about Cousin aswell. Im not a Boyd fan - everyone on here knows that - but I do have principals and I think Cousins attitude stinks yet Boyd is Rangers through and through but doesnt get a look in over Cousin. I think this is very wrong. Ive also said when Boyd plays we have to use him in a poaching role (dont let him attempt anything else) and give him service. He needs a guy who can run with the ball at his feet to lay off his chances so he can tuck it away - step forward both Buffel and Gow!!

 

Finally I totally agree that attacking is a great way of defence. I have always thought if Rangers play to there strengths in the SPL then no other side could handle us. But playing defensive 4-5-1 allows the opposition to come at us. If we went forward and forward then the SPL sides would have to be pushed back.

[ascender 352]

I agree, Broadfoot's foul throws were disgraceful and why not give Lowing a go at RB? The thing I like about KB is that at least he doesn't hide in games and keeps on trying. But he's in no shape or form a RB.

 

The striker thing is strange. I was a big fan of Boyd but grew to realise his limitations. Thing is, we don't have a complete, all-round striker or even a good target-man. So I'd have thought we would get more from matches by playing a combination of our forwards and in the SPL especially, stick Boyd in there so at least we have someone in the 6 yard box to take those sort of chances. Many times this season we've been chasing a game, finally get some good balls in to the box and there's no one near the goal to try and turn it in.

[Gazza_8 233]

A professional footballer who can't take a throw in correctly should be dropped indefinately! It's pathetic.

[craig 5,199]

A professional footballer who can't take a throw in correctly should be dropped indefinately! It's pathetic.

 

 

Nonsense Gav. Just because a guy cant take a throw in doesnt mean he should be dropped.

 

I wonder if Ronaldhino was at Rangers and couldn't take a throw in if he should be dropped too.

 

Sure, a throw-in is basic stuff but if you more than compensate for not being able to take them (and it is a disgrace that someone cant) then you shouldn't be dropped.

 

A throw-in, whilst basic, isnt the make or break of a player.

 

Right.... off to gamble in Vegas...... 9-0 on Monday and a convincing win on Thursday will do the trick.

 

We can't forget that the Tims don't have an easy game on Thursday either !

[Gazza_8 233]

We have a throw-in in our own half and Broadfoot trots over and makes a foul shy. The opposition win an attacking throw-in just because a Rangers players doesn't know how to throw a ball correctly. If he can't throw a ball in correctly then he can't pass or trap a ball and in Broadfoots case it's totally correct.

[juffery 0]

I wonder if Ronaldhino was at Rangers and couldn't take a throw in if he should be dropped too.

 

 

Ah, but I doubt Ronaldinho would be the nominated throw in taker though. Broadfoot, unless Barry fancies a long throw into the opposition keepers arms, is on the right wing. It's noy like it's a one-off. It's happened a good few times. I do't think that's why he should be dropped (he should be dropped for being shit) but it should be a fine for every throw in. It is the very basics of the game. Accountancy is your game - if you couldn't add up, your boss wouldn't be pleased.

[pete 2,499]

Looking forward to next year and analysing what i think were our short-comings were, I believe, McGregor is a no brainer he has done every thing right and if it were not for him we would not have gone so far in the UEFA or had so many points in the league.

 

Losing Hutton was the turning point of the season in my eyes. Even although he was a defender he was our best attacking player and his runs into the opposition half and crosses from the bye-line created havoc even to the best teams in Europe.

Broadfoot could never fill Hutton's boots in attack or defence and as most are saying, grooming Whittaker in that position would have given us more balance in defence and attack. Whittaker can't match Hutton either but he would have been a better option.

 

King Carlos: if we are going to talk about the difference of this year and last year then you can do it in two words. King Carlos! The guy has been Phenonimal. Rangers should be trying to extend his contract and giving him a better deal to make sure he stays for the coming years.

 

David Weir is a great defender but offers absolutely nothing in a build up going forward. He is the last of the Mohicans in an age that defenders could just defend. His lack of pace has forced us to defend far to deep which meant we could rarely push teams into their own half. Davie should take a sub role or retire. I, and i believe most fans could not stomach another season of six yard box defending.

 

Sasa Papac is another who has had an above average season and if i was the manager i would be looking to see if Sasa could move to centre-half next year depending on the development of Steven Smith. I would certainly have no problems leaving Papac at left-back though where he has improved by the week.

 

Midfield: For me their is only one player i would be thinking about for my first team next season and that is Kevin Thomson. Definite no's would be Steven Whittekar Brahim Hemdani and Barry Ferguson. Would i sign Steven Davis? Yes depending on the price. Hemdani has done his best but it is time to leave. Whittekar is just not a midfielder. Barry has shown this year that he cannot fill the forward moving role. In my eyes he cannot fill the defensive midfield role either as he watches the ball and lets players walk away from him. Unfortunately the pace of the game is starting to bypass Barry, opponents are finding it so easy to close him down. My problem with Walter Smith will show it's head here. He will stay loyal to Barry rather than try to improve the team.

 

The Forwards for me is easy. I would keep Nacho and be looking to replace the rest. I would possibly keep McCulloch Beasley JCD as second choice but if we got offers then i would not be difficult to deal with

[Gribz 743]

Pretty much spot on with that Pete.

 

We need a bit of class in the midfield and have done for years now. We need someone who can change a game. Ive always said Buffel could do it but gave up 6 months ago. We need to go out and get a class player from somewhere along with another quality midfielder, but that will be difficult.

 

I agree with Pete about Thomson and Davis. Next season is Thomson's chance to step up and become a future Rangers captain, he has the potential. He isnt the most skilful player but he is reminding me of Stuart McCall a bit. Id take Davis but he cant play right midfield. Id honestly consider going for Scott Brown for the RM.

 

Lets get back to 4-4-2. A good midfield next season would be:

 

Brown______Davis__________Thomson________Beasley

 

Gav has a point about Broadfoot though. Ok, some players will make the odd foul throw but he did it what twice against Fiorentina and 4 times against Dundee Utd. It was only picked up once in each game. For me he should be fined and made to train with the youths for a day who should show him how to take a throw.