johnnyk 158 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~1503204,00.html 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 We definitely miss big Magic he also adds a bit going forward as well as defending. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 If we had a decent replacement at centre half, I would give him a game in midfield. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maineflyer 0 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 If we had a decent replacement at centre half, I would give him a game in midfield. That is a very decent proposition, Chilledbear. The big fella has pace, balance, control, can tackle and he can pass a ball. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,457 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 What...........play a player out of position ?, don't let WS hear you !!! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Why not, half the team is being played out of position anyway :devil: But therein lies part of the problem. We have Bougherra at CB and talking about playing him at CM whilst we have a player who seems to be similar in Edu who cost us 2.5 million and cant get anywhere near a game. We have Davis, a natural CM playing RM and then in the back 4 we have 4 CB's where only 2 should be. At any point in time this year we have seen 4 or 5 players out of position. I know we all say that bringing WS back was a longer-term project (Gribz suggests 3 phases - steady ship, challenge for title and win title) and if that were the case then WS should have been strengthening obvious weaknesses in the TEAM first and then the squad secondarily. Surely it would make sense to say "right, we lack a quality RB, LB, LM and RM" and then target those positions. See who is available for the budget we have and then obtain one, two or three said players after having looked at the rest of the squad and determined which position was weakest and targeted it first. Instead of doing that, WS has spunked a ton of money on players who either dont get a game or dont get played in their natural position. Look at the players we signed in the last transfer window : Bougherra - a success. Mendes - somewhat a success but blows hot and cold at times. Miller - fans either love or loathe - personally I think he has done well. Lafferty - out of position and looking AWFUL. Edu - Who ? Davis - out of position but still doing OK. More consistency needed Velicka - read Edu comments Aaron - Edu comments Now, when you look at it the money we received for Cuellar went on his replacement (Bougherra) and Mendes. IIRC we had signed Miller, Velicka, Edu and Lafferty prior to selling Cuellar. So in effect WS seemed to think that the strikeforce needed strengthening first (which I would completely disagree with and it could be argued that it was the strongest part of our team - we had Boyd, JCD, Cousin, Novo). On top of that, not only did he strengthen a part of the team that, on face value, needed least work, he left us with a creaking 38 yr old as our 1st choice CB (Weir has done a very good job for us but last a season ? I doubt it). And to exacerbate the problem, those players initially signed cost us 6 million pounds which most definitely could have been spent elsewhere and more appropriately. Velicka - cost 1 million, hardly gets a game Miller - cost 2 million, gets a game and does a job Edu - 2.5 million, NEVER gets a game Lafferty - 3.5 million, gets a game and looks completely out of his depth at LM. Davis - 3 million, gets a game and does a decent job - still out of position though. Was Velicka needed ? With all the strikers we had I don't think so. Was Lafferty needed ? Well, he was bought as a striker, but one without a great club scoring record, again I dont think so. Was Edu needed ? Maybe but at 2.5 million when completely untested ? We had Thomson, Hemdani, BF to come back from injury so maybe we didnt need him - this one is trickier to judge though as Mendes arrived after him. That said, given we had Thomson and Hemdani, did we really need another holding midfielder ? Doubt it. Was Miller needed ? Again, whilst I think he has performed well for us I dont think he was needed - we have Novo who can do the same job and he was already on the books. WS wasted 8 million in the pre-season transfer window IMO. Sure, we got about 8 mill for Cuellar but he still spent that 8 mill and has had very little return for 6 mill of it. Bougherra cost 2.5 - how nice would it have been to get a similar player for 2.5, then maybe 1.5 on a natural RB, 2 mill on a natural LM and the other 1.5 on whomever you feel like (LB, RM, ST or 3 squad players). We signed : 1CB to replace Cuellar (which leaves us with Weir at the end of his career as 1st choice for a 38 game season.....), 3CM's (whilst we already had Thomson, Ferguson, Hemdani - so 6 CM's for 2 spots - the mathematics of that makes little sense to me) 1LM on loan (who cant get a game even given everyone else tried at LM has been poor at best) and 3 strikers (when we already had Boyd, JCD, Cousin, Novo) - leaving us 7 strikers for 2 spots. Now, I know I am probably being simplistic in this analysis but I am not sure that blowing the VAST majority of your budget to give you SIX options for 2 positions and SEVEN options for 2 positions is appropriate. Find players you want in the positions needed and go after them, dont try to fit a ball into a square hole !!! Sorry, this is all a bit of rambling and possibly should be a separate thread but it doesn't look to me like WS really had any kind of strategy at all in his pre-season signings. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisabeer 409 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Cant dissagree with any of that craig. But it all points to one thing. GROSS MISMANAGEMENT! Its been one big cock up after another since we imploded last season and if smith doesnt start to smell the coffee soon we will be up the swanny without a paddle. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maineflyer 0 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Cant dissagree with any of that craig. But it all points to one thing. GROSS MISMANAGEMENT! Its been one big cock up after another since we imploded last season and if smith doesnt start to smell the coffee soon we will be up the swanny without a paddle. There's no "will be". This is the Swanney, we arrived several years ago. The confusion is because it's a very monotonous landscape, drab and featureless whichever direction you look, and no paddles anywhere. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyk 158 Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 3-1 to the Gers. Madjid never played. Smith, McMillan, McCulloch (wilson 44), Dailly, Smith, Burke (Efrem 70), Naismith, Fleck, Beasley (Arron 60), Lafferty, Velicka. Scorers: Velicka, Lafferty and Arron. http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~1504115,00.html 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CammyF 6,896 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 IMO Velicka and Lafferty were signed due to the fact that Boyd was being touted for a move away. Cammy F 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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