ranger_syntax

Not quite the only ones. I was under the impression that he would play just behind the striker when we signed him. The entire season so far makes it clear that he should have been playing where Kamara was.

It is true. Morelos completely changes this aspect of our play. When he plays the defenders always have the option to pass it up to him with a fair chance of retaining possession. Not so with Defoe. When we try the same with Defoe the most likely outcome is to concede possession. This makes it easier for a good team to press or block passing angles further up the pitch. Something that we witnessed in the first half yesterday. I think that this is why I keep seeing the words 'no out ball' on social media.

Perhaps the purpose was to make it clear that Scottish nationalists are not welcome at Ibrox, no?

Safe to say I don't have any doubts about that.

Given that we know a lot about him I think that the only risk remaining is that he becomes injury prone.

I think that Old Firm matches will have an increased importance this year. I don't expect either Rangers or Celtic to drop many points against jobbers this season. If we had won we would be talking about how great it was to have Celtic mulling over a defeat for a fortnight. It's not possible for the international break to come at a good time anyway.

Not happening.

Announce Kent!

Just watched the first goal back. The pass from Goldson is baffling. What was he thinking?

I think we need to now.

The manager stated that arrivals are unlikely.

Hahahahaha! When does Davis try to do this?

Wouldn't say people are moping over him. Last season I thought we would want to improve on him. Now that we've changed personnel I'm just surprised to note that he might still have been of use to us today.

Yeah, as mentioned elsewhere, the Candeias thing is a bit of a nagging doubt for me. I think that Ojo may well go on to contribute more goals and assists throughout the season. Sadly he also appears to lack either the head or the heart for matches like this.

Hahahahahaha! You really don't watch any Rangers matches, do you?

If you are busy wetting your knickers about how many trophies Celtic will win then this thread is not for you. We've suffered a defeat that we did not expect today. Most of us thought that we would be able to beat them today and go top of the league. We probably all imagined that we would be winning both of our home games against them and looking for at least one draw in Parkhead. The rest of the league looks abject and our rivals are proven flat track bullies so these matches are vital. The appropriate response is to accept that the task has changed. We likely now need to go and get a better result away to Celtic. In our last match at Parkhead we looked good with only 10 men and it was a close fought match. There is no reason why we can't do better this season. The manager made an unexpected selection by dropping Morelos and playing Defoe. The manager probably thought that Defoe would be more likely to take a rare chance when it fell to him. When the chance arrived, sadly, he did not take it. When we drop Morelos we trade off the ability to retain possession up the pitch. In retrospect this was a clear mistake. The other possible reason for playing Defoe is that Morelos may not have recovered from Thursday night. Again I think that this was a mistake. There are plenty of good opportunities for squad rotation but this was not one. I think that he should also reconsider his decision to play Arfield today. It is clear that Arfield has been struggling for form recently. It is also clear that Ojo was not up to it and, after the red card, there is a bit of a question mark over Jones. I'm not sure what the better alternative would be here. The individual players need to bounce back too. We have a competitive squad so poor performances can be rewarded with time on the bench or in the stand. Whatever it is that got in to Goldson today needs to be dealt with. His passing was poor and we have a couple of alternatives available. Edmundson, for example, has shown an ability to pass the ball well for a central defender. Most likely we will see Helander get a chance though. Aribo looked as if he expected more time and space. He's good enough to learn and I expect more from him next time. There are enough matches coming up to rotate these players so if one is dropped in the league then he could still play in Europe and rediscover form. However the manager does it the players need to respond correctly and bounce back. We lost today because of, I think, a mistaken selection, the wrong tactics combined with poor performances throughout. All three of these things going wrong will not happen often again. So there is every chance that we will fulfil the promise we have displayed up until today.

Have you watched any matches this season?

It is a matter of great regret to learn that you suffer from a similar lack of imagination to 917. I would like to give him 'pelters' but I'll probably need to be polite about it now.

What's the matter? Can't think of a reason yet?

Let us see if you can imagine any other possible reason why Defoe would play ahead of Morelos. Hint: there are loads of possible reasons.

This post absolutely reeks! Please get a grip of yourself.

A defeat can be hard to take but please get a grip.

Think both probably deserved yellow cards. Jones had no need to even risk it though. The game was done. He should be forcing his way into the team rather than spending the next match in the stands. Ojo's place is there for the taking.

Prior to the game, when thinking about who we should play, I found myself thinking Candeias would have been useful today. Surprised to find that I felt the same way at full time. Ojo proved something I suspected beforehand. I thought he didn't have the right character for a match like this. Quite a few times he gave the ball up without a fight. If he goes on to learn from this I'll be pleasantly surprised. A few players under-performed today; Jack, Goldson, Tavernier and Aribo. Can't think what was wrong with the first three. Aribo just looked flat footed. It's as if he didn't expect the pace of the game today. If that's the problem then at least he can adapt. It's too much to liken him to Windass though.