RANGERRAB

Relying too much on a youth policy will see us slide further back to the mediocrity of the early 1980's.

Remember then? We were churning them out. We had the likes ofDave McPherson,, Kenny Black, Kenny Lyle,etc. How many made it to the level we want to see Rangers aspire to?

It was only when Graeme Souness arrived in 1986 we saw better quality players getting signed.

As was said about McCarthy and McArthur, whatever happened to them again?

I don't think he's anywhere as good as them otherwise someone would have signed him by now

I still think this shows a distinct lack of ambition by us looking at Scottish-based players

And he wonders why there was no rush of clubs to get him after he left the yahoos?

Truly vile individual indeed.

No, it really shouldn't. The talking point should be that a 16 yr old has stepped up and had a fine game against, in some cases, players 3 yrs older than him and some already playing first team football. And unless I am mistaken a number of our U17's have played for the U20's this season, helping us to wins in games too.

 

I prefer we use our U17's and U20's to develop players to come into the 1st team squad. I wont be losing sleep over not winning the Youth Cup. But you go right ahead Rab.

As I've said countless times these games provide little indication whether a youngster will be good enough or not. It is only when they step out of their age group into the first team it becomes more apparent whether they're good enough or not.

As for not having to win games.........

Can you imagine what Jock Wallace would have thought about this?

Call it the worst excuse all you like - but I can ASSURE you that the pro teams that have any real ambition don't see winning the Youth Cup as the holy grail. The ONLY thing they are concerned with is providing the 1st team with more players.

 

If winning at all costs in the youth cup was the answer then we would have been playing Zelalem, Oduwa etc just to win this game - you want that ? You think it makes sense ?

Providing the first team with more players ?

They're not providing it with very many then are they? And the ones they do provide aren't good enough anyway.

That the purpose of the U20's is to win every game.

LOL. That's the worst excuse for losing I've heard in years. No wonder we produce so few youngsters good enough for the first team if it's true

You need the right type of player for any position on the park. I'm not sure what Miller and Clark are suited to.

Miller and Clark aren't suited to the system we now play under MW. They need replaced

They've ditched that mentality thank f*&k!

What mentality is that?

Signing someone like Ali Crawford would show a serious lack of ambition IMO.

And after reading all that we see our Youths got beat 2-1 by St Mirren youths. That should be the main talking point.

If these lads are genuinely good enough, we need to start playing them as much as possible. OK, perhaps not this lad (yet) but folk like Hardie really need to be developed.

Is Hardie good enough?

Hopefully either or both of the full backs can get back scoring. At the start of the season they seemed to be scoring every other week but they have not scored in a while( I think).

 

We were scoring from all parts of the team earlier in the season now we are not and relying on Waghorn and Holt to score now.

I don't think we can expect the FB's to continue to score as many as they were at the start of the season. Others need to contribute too. Also teams now know the threat Tavernier was having and he now gets marked as soon as he crosses the halfway line.

Mark Hughes? Hopefully - that would be hilarious.

I think the world class coaches such as Gardiola would prefer to go to Chelsea or Man City in English football.

They may well need to look closerto home unless they want another LVG-type appointment which always looked to me like a coach whose best days were well behind him.

It is vital we get our tactics & team selection right for the Hibz game. We need to start scoring more goals again.

The GK &back four ar more or less decided with the only decision being Ball or Wilson at CB.

In MF I'd like to see Haliday, Holt, Law & McKay out wide supplying two strikers. I'm no fan of Miller or Clark but they're all we've got at the moment. I've not seen enough of young Hardy to say whether he should play or not. We urgently need at least one top notch striker next month if we're to go up as champions.

I'd prefer Waghorn, Oduwa and Zalelam sat this one out. None are really contributing at the moment and I feel Law offers more of a goal threat than either Oduwa or Zalelam. Waghorn,despite the creditable number of goals so far,has shaded a bit and has become very much a hit or miss player at the moment. Mostly miss unfortunately.

Hibz are easily beatable. They're mediocre at best but they always look well-organised to me and if we do get our tactics & team selection right we will win.

I always thought Man Utd were unprepared for SAF's decision to retire and have now made two rushed appointments neither of which has been successful.

Not sure Mourinho would fare any better. Mark hughes might be a better bet but I doubt they'll get Gardiola who's supposedly joining Man City next season.

It will be interesting to see just how deep the investigations actually go and if so whether any of the national associations get embroiled in this. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they did.

My understanding is you can appeal a sending off for a straight red card but not for 2 yellows.

What still seems strange here is the referee had a perfect view of the tackle & deemed it dangerous enough to merit a straight red. Was he wrong in any way?

I think there's a reason that 95% of teams across Europe all play 1 striker now.

You need the right type of player to play as the lone striker up front. He needs to be good on the deck and in the air and be capable of holding the ball up to bring supporting team mates into play.

A Jelavic-type would be best suited from the strikers we've had most recently. The likes of Miller & Clark would be totally unsuitable for this demanding role. We need to rectify this.

I didn't think this could happen. I thought it was only if the referee missed the incident?

Souness was 'hounded' out of Scottish football, he got sick of the whole thing, he brought success after probably the most barren years in our long history of cups and League titles, he was our GIRUY guy just when we needed it.

 

I can never understand other bears hating him...I put it down to him signing Mo Johnston then dropping McCoist to make way for him.

 

He also left a parting shot to all the haters: Sir Walter.

 

I haven't seen the Souness on tv for some time, but if he's not the sharp man we have always known, then I can only wish him good health and a happy future.

I can always vividly remember one of the first TV interviews Souness did after he became Liverpool manager.

He was asked about his time as Rangers manager & spoke of Scotish football having people who didn't like to see Rangers doing well. I never gave it much thought at that time but fast forward to these past few years and you can see exactly what he meant.

I'm glad he has stopped talking about 1 or 2 and squad harmony being the priority. I'm delighted he has realised a creative midfielder is a must and I hope this will be the main purchase. We are not going to get a Gazza or Laudrup quality, but we must be able to recruit someone with the necessary quality to open up sardine tight defences. I'm also hoping the physicality he is talking about is a new proper centre half, physically dominating opponents and organising the others around him. At worst a defensive midfielder with the same qualities.

No strikers? I'd despair if Miller & Clark were still getting a game

Hilarious. During the EBT years the sheep were rank rotten. They never won a single trophy. What's it got to do with them?

And it's good to see they recognise we're still the same club. Why would they be protesting over a 'deid club' ?

For the first 5 months this squad bar the St J game were excellent ,there has been a massive over reaction to a few bad results , in those games if we had taken a fraction of our chances we aren't having this debate

Very true about taking our chances which is why we need a couple of quality strikers next month

I'm not really sure but I think last season's defence lost a lot more goals in the first 16 games...

I think it's ridiculous to compare this season's team to last season's car crash under McCoist.

Despite our disappointing form at the moment I believe it can be sorted out next month by bringing in 2 or 3 players to strengthen the positions which need strengthening i.e. up front.

I also believe both us & hibz will both be promoted this season. Whoever is in the play-offs will coast it IMO.

I take it the ex-Hibees will be warmely welcomed by the Easter Road - Mob, should this go through. Allan has quite some egg in his face ... but in essence, this should remain a Rangers thread.

Would Allen be daft enough to agree to that move? A right slap in the face if ever there was one. He effectively said to Hibz he was too good for them now he could go back on loan to them because he can't get a game for the yahoos