Tannochsidebear

Currently on holiday in Canaries so missed the game live but watched on RTV. It was brutal to watch, a continuation of the last 80 mins on Wednesday but two 1-0 wins are gladly accepted. 8 more and we will be champions. Glad to see some (if still confusing) use of subs. I hope Roofe can stay fit for run-in, he does pinch goals that don’t look like coming sometimes. I must be in minority but I thought all that display stuff pre-match was utter pish, glad I never wasted any cash on that. These things always seem to take away from game in hand and so it showed again with a lacklustre start to the game. Like title flag days, the game is overshadowed and is usually a very dull affair. Back to Europe now with the visit of Red Star Belgrade on Thursday. Hopefully the same Rangers that played Dortmund shows up again!

Rangers 3 Dolly 0 fgs Morelos

Well that was dismal. The only thing positive about that was the 3 points. No subs? Is GVB seriously now saying we have only 11/12 players and the rest he can’t trust? When games are coming thick and fast you simply must use your bench. We have a massive squad of highly paid players, can bench 9 and play 5 each game, and in last week we have used 10% of sub opportunities. We won’t win the title with players dead on their feet.

This really is quite simple; in light of the court action today where CFC long history of child abuse is now subject to a class action case in the highest courts in our country, we will have absolutely nothing to do with them, we cancel our Oz games and call for the SPFL & SFA to suspend that rancid club until court action has completed. By the way our Castore range for cancelled tours is now available.

3-1 Rangers morelos

Rangers 3 Motherwell 0 fgs Morelos

Whoops!

It’s going to be a stressful day with Robertson in charge. I always think he is incompetent until you review the big decisions and see that, if it is incompetence, he has again been really unlucky that all his wrong decisions fall the one way. Turns out he is just a cheat on top of incompetence. The only way to take him out the game is to score 2 early goals. Here’s hoping.

Back to reality and another must-win game for us to keep our title dreams alive. There is not much room for rotation, as our fringe players have not shown quite enough to merit a lot of selection. Thus we keep asking the same players to go back and do it again and again. I would like to see Balogun and Helander paired at CH, with Bassey & Tav wide, and surely we must get Diallo and Ramsey a start at home to see if this will help them get match sharp and if they are going to be able to help us in the home stretch. Motherwell, St Johnstone & Aberdeen within 7 days just must be 9 points. Away games for the bheasts at Hibs & Livingston in the same period may just bring us closer to them, so we must be putting the pressure on and taking full advantage of any slip-ups.

I thought it was not so much moving Bassey to LB, but the combination of bringing on Balogun and also dropping back Lundstrum to play in there also meant we were stopping their clever quick plays and closing the space better than when it was Goldson and Bassey in there. Bassey's assist though was beautiful, and he did bring additional energy and power to that side which helped us a great deal in the second half, but that was more noticeable when we had the ball than when we were defending.

Of the 3 players listed in the above, it is probably fair to say they looked the best over the 2 legs. Bellingham was fantastic, but was outshone by Kent, so what does that make him worth? Perhaps Alfie can be a little aggrieved for not making that list also.

Only Barasic, Jack (looked injured to me, was a half yard off most of the game) and the truly awful Goldson (how many more times must he cost us goals before something is done?) were below par last night, the rest were fantastic but the captain produced a real captain's performance and is deserving of the MOTM award. Bassey's assist for the second goal will live with me a long time, it was a beautiful piece of skill for a big man to create the half yard to put the cross in. Could watch that over and over again (and i have!). Kent's 2 performances must have been noticed by bigger and richer teams than us, and his value has soared as a result. You could say the same for Alfie probably as well.

I think he is a top-quality left back, among the best in Europe when fully on top of his game, but is suffering from a combination of loss of form/confidence and speculation about his future. I have no doubt he can go on to show us what a top quality player he is again, and needs some help and coaching to get him back to that level. Thankfully we have cover in Bassey who was excellent in a big game last night.

Rangers 2 Dortmund 2 fgs Morelos

No thanks I’ll give it a miss. Hope they enjoy the walk and behave themselves.

It’s always tough to win an away league match immediately after an away European match. We have very little time to recover, prepare and go again while our opponent usually has all week with only us on their mind. While Thursday will live long in the mind, we need to be right at it today as our opponent certainly will. Not to mention how badly we played last time at Tannadice, we owe this shower a beating. Team selection is going to be very interesting, does he go with the same team again, or mix it up a bit to keep the likes of Jack for Thursday? Kamara in for Jack is one change I wouldn’t be surprised to see, but I don’t think we can afford to be too far away from full strength to get the 3 points. We simply can’t afford any more dropped points before the bheasts drop points.

Dundee Utd 0 Rangers 2 fgs Morelos

Just watched the Kent highlights reel and MOTM becomes a no-brainer. What a performance!

4/11 Dortmund 7/2 draw 13/2 Rangers on bet 365

Without a home tie that is about the best we could have got. Interesting to hear the Dundee players cheering when draw announced and then singing about how they were going to win the cup. Oh really?

I must admit I had no idea the first choice right back at Everton was also the captain. Patterson on the other hand should have known this and picked to go elsewhere. Looks like a bad move for him, and could have repercussions for his International prospects and career.

I am astonished to read this, I thought he had gone ages ago. 4th in line for the gloves, a wasted wage. Hopefully his contract is up soon, nothing against the lad, just no point in him being at our club at this time.

A very comfortable performance all round and the first half was particularly enjoyable despite the conditions and the inane ramblings of Craigan trying to spoil our enjoyment. It was great to see Helander back, he cruised through the game and also got a goal so I went for him. Most of those given a chance took it, or at least tried hard to. On to Germany now, couldn’t be more different or difficult but I am sure we will give our all to stay in the contest for the second leg.

Annan 0 Rangers 3 fgs Sakala

I do expect consistency from all our players, and criticise when standards fall, although some have given us enough to get cut a bit of slack. With Lundstrum, he hasn’t been anywhere near consistent enough to merit some slack, yet. Another 3 or 4 games at this level without costly errors and he will earn some slack and attention moves to the next player who isn’t meeting our standards. That’s football on a fan discussion site! Its not as if Lundstrum is as bad or costly as Goldson after all!