Yes the start of the football season is back and Rangers have had a disasterous start to the campaign after being put out of Europe in the Qualifiers. That leaves us to fully concentrate on Domestic issues and to try bring back the league title as well as retaining the 2 domestic cups. The only positive thing to take about Europes exit is we wont be hampered by a horrendous fixture schedule of playing 68 games in the season.
As mentioned its time to put the Euro exit to bed and concentrate on the SPL. But one asks if we are currently equipped with the right personnel to go on and take the title back. 4 new faces have arrived - Kenny Miller, Kyle Lafferty, Andris Velicka and Madjid Bougherra, are these 4 good enough to walk into the starting line up?. But the massive question from the fans is where is the new midfielders we need?
All summer we knew the need for a creative midfielder and we did not purchase one. Instead we let our only player capable of this role - Thomas Buffel - depart the club. Then things got worse when Barry Ferguson picked up a bad injury rulling him out for the first few months. Yet the management still have not addressed the position and rather opted for strengthing the defence and forward line to make huge confusion to the Ibrox faithful.
Steven Davis did well in central midfield last season but a fee couldnt be agreed with Fulham for his services. Other players which were looked at were Varynen of PSV(?) and former Ger Peter Lovenkrands - getting all 3 excited this bear.
So lets have a look at our chances of SPL glory.
Management:
Walter Smith was brought into steady a sinking ship during the 06/07 campaign and he did a marvelous job in doing so. We finished that season strong and things looked good for 07/08. Last season his task was to put us in with a chance of trophies and he delivered the 2 domestic cups and for a few reasons already discussed he took us to within 1 game of the title. He is to be judged this season. Will he change his favoured personnel when they are in bad form or will he stick with them? Will he give youth a chance? Will he go away from his favourite 4-5-1 formation? All to be revealed!
Ally McCoist: Everyones favourite former striker and club legend certainly brings harmoney to the club. He is being groomed by WS but its obvious he is still tactically inexperienced. Hopefully his finishing skills can rub onto some of the strikers as we need to start getting a couple of players who are capable of 15+ goals. I dont question Ally being in his role but I do wonder if WS misses an old experienced head in his management team at times.
Keepers:
Allan McGregor had a wonderful season last year. He turned from an average keeper to Scotlands No.1 IMO and I firmly believe we would have won the league had he not got injured at Parkhead - thats how good his form was. But talks of being as good as Goram and Klos were way exaggerated and a knee jerk reaction IMO. I always said he has to maintain this form into the next few seasons before he can be mentioned in the same sentance as the 2 former legends. A one season wonder isnt good enough. At the moment he is rusty and needs to get back to his form of last season ASAP. His deputy - Neil Alexander did a fine job when asked and he will be pushing AM at the moment for a start, he is a fine back up to have and many a bear would have him in between the sticks for the opening game this season.
Defence:
We have central defenders in Abundance. Davie Weir and Christian Dailly signed on for another season, Alan Webster is on the books yet seldom fit, Kirk Broadfoot has been featuring there and of course King Carlos Cuellar has not been sold. They are joined by Madjid Bougherra who can also operate in midfield. And if things get desperate Sasa Papac and Brahim Hemdani can move to centre back. Surely all bears are hoping to see a partnership of Cuellar and Bougherra to be formed.
The full back positions is a concern. Only Steven Whittaker and Steven Smith are natural full backs with huge concerns over the latters long term fitness and footballing future. Sasa Papac has the LB role to himself at the moment. If Whittaker or Papac get injured then its obvious the full back roles will be covered by the likes of Dailly and Broadfoot - not too encouraging.
Midfield:
I could write pages about the midfield but Id also be aswell leaving a blank space. To start with Barry Ferguson misses the first few months of the season. It may be a blessing to tell the management we cant rely on 1 player and it also may give the skipper a long term rest that he badly needed. Hopefully he comes back to the player we know he can be as he was far too inconsistant last season and had more nad games than good ones.
Other natural midfielders are Brahim Hemdani, Kevin Thomson and Dean Furman. WS doesnt seem to rate Hemdani and he rarely features in the SPL. Kevin Thomson is rated very promising by the management and fans but this season its time for him to step up and take some responsibility. Young Dean Furman is one who needs more games.
On the left we have huge options. DeMarcus Beasley, Lee McCulloch, Charlie Adam and Kyle Lafferty are likely to be rotated all year. There are questions about some of their capabilities, Beasley is injury prone but he makes the team look better when he plays. McCulloch and Adam have been nothing short of dreadful recently and Lafferty is mainly a striker. Even Alan Gow is still on the books.
But the problem is on the right side. With Steven Naismith and Chris Burke long term casualties it leaves only Nacho Novo to play there - who is a natural striker. The need for new players is a MUST.
Strikers:
WS signed 3 in the summer and only offloaded Sebo who was on loan anyway. If WS goes back to his 4-5-1 formation then there is going to be a lot of unhappy players on the bench. Daniel Cousin is still the best talent in the squad but whether he stays or not is remained to be seen. But the manager has Kenny Miller, Kris Boyd, Jean Claude Darcheville, Andrias Velicka, Kyle Lafferty and young Fleck to keep happy. Right now its guess work as to who will be preferred upfront.
Key Players
The spine of the team is always key and that wont change this season. Allan McGregor, Carlos Cuellar and Barry Ferguson should be 3/4 of the spine and ideally Daniel "ive changed my attitude" Cousin would be the final quarter. But with Ferguson out and Cousins future uncertain it means a few players HAVE to stand up. Noises came from Lee McCulloch and Charlie Adam in the summer but both are currently on dreadful form. IMO Kevin Thomson needs to grab the chance with both hands and if selected Hemdani is a key player. Upfront Velicka's strength could suprise us and he may be the key to unlocking defences.
Overall:
We have enough to win the league if we are consistant and the manager gets tactics and selections right. If we get that creative player then it may give us a different dimension and others may start to click. I dont think Celtic are better than us but they are currently much more organised.
Prediction:
The need for the title to come home and the early wake up call in Europe could be a catalyst in winning the league. If i was asked to put money on it then I would back us to be Champions for 08/09.
