Leadership, Responsibility, Belief, Passion, Commitment..

[Frankie 8,150]

... Character, Discipline, Strength, Fitness, Innovation, Technique, Imagination, Ambition, Consistency, Motivation, Quality and Bottle.

 

All necessary virtues sadly lacking from the players and management team at our club.

 

Negativity is our buzzword and with a chairman who is AWOL and a chief executive who is incompetent, this has spread to the fans and is a factor that we see not only in online forums but across the board at Ibrox and beyond.

 

Is our future that bleak? Who can change it? Who really wants to?

 

It's no longer a case of 'Hullo Hullo' but 'Cheerio, Cheerio'. 'Ready' has never been more inappropriate.

 

[gisabeer 409]

We have only won once in our last 4 games. 2 of the games we played for a draw.

 

We are lumbered with a clueless manager who is dragging us down in instalments.

 

I wish he would fuck right off out of Ibrox and never come back.

[Gazza_8 233]

At home, against a pish poor ICT side, we struggle to create chances because WS seems adamant on scoring a goal then sitting back. However, like last night, we struggled to score/create any chances so he's stuck for a backup plan if we don't score. I sometimes think WS hopes we score with his pish poor tactics rather than knowing we'll go out onto the pitch and outplay our opponents.

 

At no point did I see him on the touchline barking out instructions to the players. He's got a pupper in McCoist to do that for him.

[franker 1]

... Character, Discipline, Strength, Fitness, Innovation, Technique, Imagination, Ambition, Consistency, Motivation, Quality and Bottle.

 

All necessary virtues sadly lacking from the players and management team at our club.

 

Negativity is our buzzword and with a chairman who is AWOL and a chief executive who is incompetent, this has spread to the fans and is a factor that we see not only in online forums but across the board at Ibrox and beyond.

 

Is our future that bleak? Who can change it? Who really wants to?

 

It's no longer a case of 'Hullo Hullo' but 'Cheerio, Cheerio'. 'Ready' has never been more inappropriate.

 

 

One thing you were always assured as a Rangers fan was that the club were financially secure even when the team were poor. The board of directors in charge since i started attending in the 1960s may have not always got it right with managerial appointments, but they never ever put the club into a financial straightjacket until now. The club requires substantial investment if it is to progress and in reference to your questions above, without this investment the future is bleak.

 

Who can change it? Well the fans can be part of that change if someone with the correct credentials steps up to the plate. As for who really wants to? With the right leadership i would say the majority of the support.

[CammyF 6,779]

Frankie, we have been decrying the lack of these virtues for 4 seasons now and three managers haven't been able to install these in an ever changing squad of players, who if we are honest, are devoid of the main attribute of footballers, skill. The fact that three managers have been unable to obtain this points to something being rotten at our club.

 

Last nights performance reminded me of my early years of watching Rangers under the dying embers of John Greig's reign and the return of Jock Wallace. Wallace briefly stopped the slide, but ultimately failed to reignite the fire and reignite The Rangers. The same can be said about Walter Smith. As the saying in football goes, you should never go back.....

 

The problems are obvious, so obvious that the faceless and clueless can identify them. Last night is a prime example. Everyone on this forum agreed that ICT's weakness was Ross Tokely, the worst full-back in the SPL. Simple way to exploit Tokely? Play a winger. Walter decides in his wisdom to play two strikers against him over the course of 83 minutes, then gives the winger 7 minutes to influence the game.

 

For ~3 seasons now we have played with 4 centre-halves across our defence and continually play 4 outfield players out of position. That's 40% of our outfield players playing a position that isn't natural to them.

 

Substitutions are often baffling, but none more so than the first change last night. Edu (one of our better players who was winning the midfield battle) was withdrawn and replaced by Lafferty. Miller was moved from forward (he was marginally the better of the front two last night) to left wing, Fleck was moved from left wing to right wing, Davis was moved one inside and Lafferty was played through the middle. That, makes 3 positional changes to accomodate one change. The correct sub would have been a simple like for like. Fleck off, Aaron on.......

 

One of our RSC members does a bit of coaching and has done for many years, nothing as mighty as Rangers but has all the badges and been on all the courses. He said last night that Rangers approach every game without a plan. There is no gameplan, we just wait and hope that something happens. There is no set way of playing either. There is no attacking the oppositions weaknesses. Since there is no plan 'A', there is no plan 'B' or 'C' when things aren't working.

 

I also read somewhere that until last night, Rangers had amassed over 250 corners this season and scored from less the 3% of these. If mere faceless and clueless fans can get hold of these statistics, then I'm sure coaches can. You could say that whilst playing Rangers, conceeding a corner is a 'safe option' rather than something to be worried about.

 

Given that we have Murray Park, you have to wonder what goes on there day after day? We certainly aren't practicing the basics, as we can't even get those right on the pitch. We can't pass and move, in fact, it can be argued that most of our players simply can't pass. We can't regain the ball from throw-ins. We can't capitalise on corners (or free-kicks) and we can't unlock defences.

 

Last night was akin to watching a pub team rather than highly paid, so called professional footballers. However, like in all walks of life, if these professionals aren't being coached and managed correctly, then you aren't going to get the best out of them. Also, you wouldn't have an accontant planning the production build and you wouldn't have a janitor signing the contracts would you?

 

One thing that was obvious from last night was the answering of the question as to are we good enough to win the SPL. The answer is a resounding NO. Football being the funny old game that it is, that doesn't mean that we won't win the SPL. However, that is down to the shocking quality of our league and teams more than any quality that we have.

 

On the way home last night, as you would imagine, the RSC bus was a hive of chitter chatter, with everyone giving their opinions etc. One topic that was widely agreed on was the fact that a growing number of fans are seriously thinking of not renewing their season tickets for next season. Already, we have a growing number of members who have stopped going to away games and it appears a substantial number are talking about not renewing (various reason given, as you'd expect; not value for money, simply had enough, credit crunch, unemployment etc)....

 

The front of the bus mafia critiqued the players last night and did so in a honest way and here was their ratings from last night;

 

McGregor - 3/10 - distribution was aweful and partly to blame for the goal debacle

Broadfoot - 3/10 - honest enough lad, but is a centre-half from St Mirren playing right back for Rangers - distribution terrible.

Weir - 1/10 - see McGregor plus he's so old he was at The Somme

Boogie - 8/10 - a glittering diamond in a pile of shite - first to be sold in the summer

Papac - 3/10 - another centre-half playing out of position - distribution terrible

Davis - 2/10 - woeful

Ferguson - 5/10 - 4 of that 5 for his performance in the first 30 minutes - decent then, terrible there-after

Edu - 5/10 - one of our better players, why was HE subbed?

Fleck - 3/10 - looked way out of his depth against the worst team in the SPL and the worst full-back in the SPL. Just a lad tho, will have days like this

Miller - 4/10 - tried.

Boyd - 1/10 - stood like a statue for 90 minutes and his attempt when clean thro on goal in the first minute was 'comical'...

SUBS - Naismith - not good enough - Lafferty -waste of money we don't have to waste and Aaron - not enough time to do anything, should have been on from the start, or at lwast from half-time.

 

These aren't just my thoughts, these are the thoughts of people who have followed Rangers for a combined 400+ years. Auld Jimmy finished the debate by saying 'worst Rangers team I've seen; players masquarading as Rangers players, a clueless manager and a chairman who is in as much financial shite as the RBS and Woolies combined. Mr Struth will be spinning in his grave'.

 

Cammy F

Edited March 5, 2009 by CammyF

[Gazza_8 233]

Forgot all about Boyds fuckup in the 1st minute. Laughable!

[Frankie 8,150]

Excellent post Cammy...

 

Like I say, the chairman and manager of the club can try and deflect the blame onto internet fans but that just doesn't wash with me.

 

The problem is that the problems are well known. There appear to be no solutions.

 

I feel physically sick this morning.

[ian1964 10,411]

Forgot all about Boyds fuckup in the 1st minute. Laughable!

 

Also forgot Miller scored..........but was ruled off side

[johnnyk 158]

Also forgot Miller scored..........but was ruled off side

 

was just offside m8, close though........

[Frankie 8,150]

One thing you were always assured as a Rangers fan was that the club were financially secure even when the team were poor. The board of directors in charge since i started attending in the 1960s may have not always got it right with managerial appointments, but they never ever put the club into a financial straightjacket until now. The club requires substantial investment if it is to progress and in reference to your questions above, without this investment the future is bleak.

 

Who can change it? Well the fans can be part of that change if someone with the correct credentials steps up to the plate. As for who really wants to? With the right leadership i would say the majority of the support.

 

Excellent stuff mate....

 

Where is our hero on a white charger? Surely the millionaires who follow our team must be as upset as the rest of us?