Scott7

Not great in the air, didn’t track back. Doesn’t matter. Immaculate passer of the ball to unlock the defence.

I refer the Honourable Member to Rangers: The Complete Record (Ferrier and McElroy) page 313: ”He (Greig) was originally an inside forward but Rangers moved him back and his great days were as a defensive wing-half, supporting Ronnie McKinnon ….. Indeed the Greig-McKinnon-Jim Baxter half back line …. could be compared with any other in the club’s history.” JG played just about every position, sometimes in the same game but as the quoted authors say, he was primarily a wing-half. His position in the Gersnet side is perfect for him. Up alongside the CF, back heading the ball away from under the bar, deterring the opposition midfield - that’s JG.

@ranger_syntax was threatened with a lifetime ban for disrespect much less than this.

Where an attack is developing towards the penalty area with the half-backs trying to stop it, the two full backs are nearer the goal line than the centre half is. He stands forward nearer the penalty spot than the goal line. Imagine a collapsing and expanding diamond.with the ‘keeper at the apex. Of course all that means nothing when Jimmy Johnstone goes jinking past three of them and John Greig has to come thundering back to separate him from the ball.

Ian McMillan was the master creator of attacks, none better but if I stick to the position description I have to look at a player who did the attacking himself. I was reckoning on Gascoigne but @JohnMc’s eloquence above has persuaded me to vote Durrant.

I know what you mean but though I never saw Meiklejohn, Morton and McPhail somehow I feel I must have done. How’s that for delusion.

2-3-5 nominally but the CH drops back to make it 3-2-5. In compo’s team the playing formation was very flexible, 4-2-4 or 3-3-4 or even: 3 (Shearer, McKinnon, Caldow) 3 (Greig, McMillan, Baxter) 1 (Millar) 3 (Henderson, Brand, Wilson) None of that prevented John Greig careering from box to box destroying the opposition in both. Your coloured chart deserves close scrutiny. Observe the correct position of the Left Winger and compare it with your original diagram then look again at the coloured chart for the Left Half. Whae’s the numpty noo, eh? (See. I can speak like an Embra toff when I have to)

Speaking for myself, that’s right. Old guys told me often that old guys told them Neilly Gibson and Jimmy Gordon of the Rangers were the greatest footballers unlikely to be equalled. They never said just “Jimmy Gordon”. It was always “Jimmy Gordon of the Rangers”. I wonder if that’s on his birth certificate.

I see the piano guy’s back.

If we are talking actual left wingers i.e touchline huggers performing as defined by @26th of foot above we are looking at Johnny Hubbard and Davy Wilson at the top then Willie Johnston and Neil McCann. No one else need apply. But they didn’t stand in the illustrated position. Others who operated with distinction in that area of the pitch are Sammy Cox, my choice but for Baxter, Billy Stevenson who would have been a Rangers legend but for Baxter, John Greig (where did he not play?) Dave Smith before he found his true position and the mighty Hammer. Pitch Geography helps: the area on the left side in front of the defence and behind the attack is not the wing.

The illustrated position is traditional left-half which became left-midfield. God knows what it’s called now. True wing is wide on either touchline.

Not at all. I see Hagi scored Romania’s winning goal against Israel last night.

That’s some team developing. The position shown in the diagram isn’t left wing. The position shown belongs to Jim Baxter.

Reference Dave Smith. Oh yes.

No option. You can’t change the remit half way through. Actually, you ca because we’re picking for the position, not the team. As for boring strikers, don’t assume I’m voting McCoist and Hateley, though I might, or maybe one of them or possibly neither after all.

In mitigation, Honest John often played a concerto on Jimmy Johnstone’s shinbones.

Haud on. We don’t need a piano player in the middle of the park.

Long list of candidates for this position defending in front of a back four. Ian McColl, maybe too right sided. Sammy Cox, maybe too left sided. Harry Davis, iron man with CH experience. Dave Smith could do it. So could Ian Ferguson. Hemdani might fit. @compo is right, of course. It’s John Greig the play anywhere, everywhere man. I like a defensive midfielder who careers forward and bangs in the goals.

Baxter couldn’t defend a bag of sweeties. He didn’t have to defend, fortunately.

The pairings are: 8 votes: Butcher and Gough 3 votes: Gough and Weir 2 votes: McKinnon and Gough 2 votes: Gough and Amoruso 1 vote: Young and McKinnon 1 vote: Young and Butcher 1 vote: Young and Gough 1 vote: Forsyth and Jackson 1 vote: Gough and Cuellar 1 vote: Maclaren and Amoruso 1 vote: Amoruso and Weir The results are unaudited. Singletons have been ignored. Comic Award goes to @compo for his Valentine/Stanners combo. Or was that more of a tragedy? Only one bloke got it right with Young and McKinnon.

Well worth the mention if only for that momentous strike but not coming near Jardine’s class. I’d have Shearer, Little and Stevens ahead of Kai.

I didn’t know they were playing. Snatching a draw from the jaws of defeat and already qualified. That’s not traditional Scotland. Maybe the coach knows what he’s doing.

The same.

When I’ve got nothing to do, I might try to work out which pair got the most votes. I’m content with Gough and Butcher though I picked neither.

That’s a battle fighting pair of fullbacks but I’ve picked neither. I’ve got another role in mind for them. My best RB is Caldow but I already nominated him at LB. Young’s early service was at RB but as shown when he moved to CH, his immense physique was wasted on the flank. John Little, the Canadian, was very good, Gary Stevens even better but excluding Caldow the choice isn’t too hard - Sandy Jardine. (“Great player, this boy”: David Francey commentating on Jardine’s first match against an east end team. How true)