JohnMc

I don't understand the hostility to Halliday, he did really well for us in his first season and then struggled last season. The same can be levelled at Holt, Danny Wilson and Tavernier all of who have found a bit of form recently. The club was in turmoil for at least half of last season and when Pedro joined he clearly didn't fancy him, any player would struggle to find their best form with that going on.

With Dorrans out for a few months, Kranjcar looking like a bench player at best and Jack now also injured an experienced midfielder sounds like a decent addition to the squad. Halliday offer more if played in an advanced midfield position with McCrorie sitting. He's not a natural deep midfielder.

1. I'm disagreeing that he's a diddy

2. I'm disagreeing that Sinclair, who is a lot older and more experienced, isn't being called a diddy for missing a stonewaller

3. I'm disagreeing that Dembele who never even managed to get in the positions that Morelos did isn't being called a diddy

 

Any number of players could have been criticised for their performances in the game but only a 21 year foreign Rangers player has a big, abusive article written about him.

 

Of course he's not above criticism, and nobody is claiming he is, but what other player in Scotland is hung out to dry and being called a daddy for missing a couple of chances?

So it is just the hyperbole then, mainly the use of the word 'diddy'? Reading that I don't think he is writing an abusive article about Morelos, rather he's having a go at the Rangers support for celebrating a draw. It's ironic that Morelos draws more attention to himself by his misses rather than Dembele who contributed very little and didn't get into the position to miss, I agree with you there. Look Leckie is a poor writer but I'm not sure the gist for what he's trying to say is inaccurate. But I take the point you're making (I think) about Morelos being an easier target for abuse than a couple of media favourites.

I think JohnMc needs his hole too...

I endorse this statement.

Okay, aside from the Tabloid hyperbole Leckie deploys and his overplayed 'neutral' standpoint what are we disagreeing with in the article? Morelos worked really hard all match but lets be honest here if Kenny Miller had missed the chances Morelos did there would be a 20 page thread of rage on here towards him. Morelos gets a lot of plaudits from us because he's young and works really hard. But this goes back to other thread where we spoke about valuing endeavour over finesse. The two headers should have been buried but more annoying for me was his decision making on a couple of occasions. There's that great gif doing the rounds where he nutmegs Brown, it's a lovely bit of skill and particularly enjoyable when carried out on one of Scottish footballs untouchables. But from that Morelos broke into the box, created a chance and then chose to shoot for the near post. It was a real waste, he should have looked for a player arriving in the box or gone for the far post. It was poor decision making. He'd a similar opportunity in the 1st half, where he won possession off one of their invincible defenders and chose to shoot weakly wide at the front post instead of trying to win a penalty by rounding the alarmed clod-hopper he'd just dispossessed.

I agree that he's young and should get better. I also agree that any criticism has to be tempered when viewed in the context of him being the top goalscorer in the league in his first season while playing for a side that's inconsistent and while still learning the language and settling into the place. I also think it's to our credit we applauded the wee man and acknowledged the work he put in. I think this is what Leckie misses, most Rangers supporters wanted to see the side compete, make it difficult for Celtic, not roll over and get our tummies tickled like in previous matches. As such we enjoyed and celebrated the fact the side showed some spirit and some fight.

We could have won, Morelos didn't do the ultimate job he's paid for, but he did enough for us to go into the New Year with hope. But he can't keep missing chances like that against Celtic. I really like Morelos, a genuine find for the club and a player with enormous potential, but not one above criticism, however poorly written.

Not sounding good. There was clearly a reason why Liverpool let him go, it's a great pity for him.

I know nothing about that boy and I've no idea if he's going to be any good, but picking up out-of-contract youth internationals for next to nothing, providing them with an opportunity for 1st team football and the chance to rebuild their career doesn't sound like the worst idea. It looks like he's not good enough for Arsenal's 1st team, that doesn't mean he's not good enough for ours. As a strategy it's got some merits. If we can get a couple of seasons out of him and then sell him to a Championship side for a couple of million it's not the worst business plan.

I don't care what anyone says I enjoyed that performance today. Yip Kranjcar was slow and struggled to meet the pace but every other player fought, harried and looked like they cared and that'll do for me. At this stage I'll accept players showing passion and working hard, if we can get that the rest can be worked on.

Credit to Murty he got his tactics right. We created chances and we matched them all over the pitch and few other Scottish sides have managed that in recent years. Special mention for McCrorie, he's 19 years old and a centre half and was the best midfielder on the park today. Happy New Year everyone, I might have had a glass or two already today.

I think we have to assume that the board mean it when they say Murty has the job for the rest of the season, no matter what happens. On that basis, as an inexperienced manager he needs an experienced no 2. Johanson has been fulfilling that job recently but he's even less experienced than Murty so bringing in a 60 something year old with bags of experience and a connection to the club actually makes a lot of sense to me.

Murty will need to distance himself from the players. The move from youth coach to 1st team changes the dynamic he has, particularly with experienced players. For the youths like Bates, MacCrorie and Barjonas they are used to him being a 'boss' but for the rest their relationship is different. Nichol is now the buffer between them, and that's a shrewd move I think. John Grieg failed as manager because his relationship with his players changed and this wasn't managed properly. Plus I like Jimmy Nichol, as Germinal observes above he's a connection to better times gone by. Plus it'll be good to have a Proddy in the dressing room again for a change...

I've said this before but I genuinely don't think Billy Davies is in good health.

Gary Monk, why? He's never done anything to suggest he's a decent manager. Middlesborough were doing okay, but they've a big budget and should have been doing better than they were. Added to that most 'boro fans weren't happy with how the side was playing. Lastly their chairman and owner usually backs his managers.

His time at Leeds was a failure, again with a big budget, and he only got the Swansea job because they needed a caretaker.

In the recent el classico , messi walked or jogged for 93%of the game , our understanding of fitness and what specific positions require is squewed.

 

I used to be really friendly with John Spencer , when Gullit arrived at Chelsea the first thing he did was take John aside and tell him to stop running around like a mad man , he was to train for 5 yards sprints at the most , and this was 20 years ago.

 

Football in Scotland is prehistoric , we demand players give 100% but the majority have no understanding of how the modern game is played , its no wonder we are continually humiliated in europe .

It's an interesting point you make. When Chris Waddle signed for Marseille in 1989, one of the biggest transfer fees in history at the time, he spoke about how what was expected of him was so different from what Spurs and Newcastle had demanded. He was told not to track back or chase down defenders. He was to wait by the half way line and be ready to explode into life when Marseille broke. Marseille won the league 3 times and reached the European Cup Final (losing to the best side I've ever seen, Red Star). So I suppose they knew what they were doing.

Any player not willing to run all the time, to track back and tackle will get a hard time from the Rangers support, actually pretty much every Scottish side's support. We value endeavour over ability.

Pena is the kind you need to build a team around and I'm not sure we've got the players to do that just now. He needs hard working, hard running, ball winning players to allow him to find space, drop off and run late. Take Jack out of our side and we don't have anyone else like that. Holt works hard but he's more of a creative player, Windass and Candieas are more attacking types too. That just leaves McCrorie and it's a lot of responsibility to put on a young player. So when Jack, and Dorrans to a lesser extent, aren't available Pena becomes a player it's difficult to accommodate. I can't see him and Kranjcar in the same side as things stand either and I expect Niko will start against Celtic particularly if Jack is out.

I will spare you the names, but it is rather reminiscent of the state of the Premiership if you look how many players will be freebies next summer again. Most had one or two year deals with their teams, after being signed on a free themselves ...

 

Aberdeen - 6

Dundee -14

The Famous - 6 (Wilson, Bates, Thompson, Kranjcar, Miller, Hardie)

Hamilton - 10

Hearts - 7

Hibs - 2

Killie - 12

Motherwell - 10

Ross County - 12

St. Johnstone - 12

Thistle - 11

 

Scum - 2

 

Names can be found on the DR site http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/every-premiership-star-free-speak-11736945 ... or in more detail on Transfermarkt: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/scottish-premiership/endendevertraege/wettbewerb/SC1

Hardie out of contract at the end of the season? Every time I've seen Hardie play he looks like he can score goals. He doesn't look like he can do much else but scoring goals is a fairly valuable commodity on its own. How he hasn't had a proper run in our side, 6 or 7 games on from the start, to see if he can do it at first team level is beyond me. So now he can sign a pre-contract with someone else in five days time.

I suppose Murty must know him better than most and if he's not starting him then clearly the feeling at the club is he's not ready or not good enough. Neither reflects well on us. A 6'2" natural goalscorer, how'd we mess that up?

Absolutely no problem. I thought as you'd done the 'Well one no one was doing the Tims. I'm happy for you to do it. You better be lucky now!! :-)

No problem Pete, I misunderstood his post.

Is no one doing the Celtic match? If not I'm happy to give it a go.

He should have played the diamond with Pena in the point, McCrorie at the back and Holt and Barjonas in the middle.

 

He could even have played Herrera up front and put Morelos in the point.

Windass or Kranjcar in the point was another option as was 3 at the back.

 

There were plenty of options he just picked the wrong one.

The continual overlooking of Kranjcar is strange. If he's done then don't put him on the bench, if he's not then play him. I wouldn't have played Pena today, not his surface and without Jack's industry he'd have been a complete passenger in my opinion. I think Murty changed it because Kilmarnock are decent out wide and our diamond is narrow and would have given them too much space. Still, what he did do didn't work either. You also have to ask when Hardie will get a run.

I'll hold any criticism of Murty today.

Our starting 11 today had an average age of 23, our most experienced player today was Candeias at 29. That's a big part of the problem, the lack of depth in our squad is very noticeable when five first choice players are missing. But Pena, Herrara or Kranjcar could have at least brought some experience to the side because it was clearly lacking. Our midfield contained two people you could say are midfielders; Candeias and Holt, and even then you could say Candeias is really a forward. None of them are leaders or people who'll stamp their authority on the match. To be fair only Kranjcar from the bench could have brought that. We can only speculate as to why he isn't getting a game.

I guess he could have played Cardoso instead of Bates or Wilson but thay're much of a muchness to me, perhaps and Kranjcar instead of Hodson letting John go back to full back. But beyond that who is else is he going to play? Herrara shouldn't start in front of Morelos and he can't play the position that Windass was asked too. Pena is a luxury player, he's got a deft touch at times but his work-rate and awareness seem to be lacking. Barjonas is only 18, he's not the answer, yet.

Jack will be back soon and I hope Alves and maybe Wallace. They'll make a difference to the side. But that squad needs strengthened and soon because Murty has no chance as it stands.

That was Caixinha's record -- exceptional away, shite at home. Murty has only lost one (?) at home, so far. We'd need to wait and see.

Hamilton and St Johnstone.

I'd take both of them back. I liked Halliday and with Dorrans out long term, Rossiter still at the glazier being rebuilt, Kranjcar struggling and Jack getting sent off every 3rd game there's room for another central midfielder in the squad. Maybe Murty can do something with O'Halloran, he's got pace and we're short of options up front and wide so makes sense to bring him back.

Murty it is then. Good luck to him, hopefully he can find some consistency and the odd exceptional performance. I guess we can forget about any meaningful signings in January, maybe a loan deal at best, and depending on how his tenure is going players downing tools in the later stages as they realise he isn't who needs impressed for a new contract. Still, at least it's been decided and I quite like Murty, maybe he's going to get lucky. Here's hoping.

Fascinating how we perceive things. McClaren -- who is by all accounts a 'better' coach than McInnes and most certainly Wright -- is perhaps a gamble. However, I don't understand how he can be spoken less of than Wright. He's just better: better coach, worked at a higher level, has experience of working with winners etc. The only down side is the dry spell, which does appear to be a long one. Is he the answer? I don't know. But if it's a choice between McClaren or Wright, that's no choice at all.

 

Edit: Actually, after checking, that dry spell appears to be 3 years, only 2 of which he was actually managing (he's currently in a consultancy role). It's still a significant dry spell, but you could argue it's not as bad as it is perceived to be.

I'm not sure where you get 3 years from? He's been in almost constant employment since leaving Twente in 2010 after winning the league, a tremendous achievement and one he deserves a lot of credit for. But he then managed Wolfsburg, Forest, Twente again, Derby, Newcastle and Derby again without any significant success. His first spell at Derby went okay, they lost in the play-offs, but the following season didn't go as well. All the other spells ended in failure too.

This isn't so much what I think as how I'd think if I was a director of the club and putting my own personal money up to pay for the new manager. Wright (and McInnes) would cost less, know the league well, have had some success in it and are almost guaranteed to improve the side based on what they've done on less resources elsewhere. Neither is going to turn us into a European power, but then we're miles from that point anyway. McClaren would command a big salary and his recent record provides little evidence he could do any better than Wright or McInnes.

I suspect the board did take it seriously, and may well still be taking McLaren seriously. However I suspect his wage demands are well above what we'd be looking to pay and he's currently working at Maccabi Tel Aviv so there will be compensation to pay. He's 56, he's never managed or played in Scotland, he has no previous connection with Rangers, he's had as many failures as successes in his career and indeed hasn't had any genuine success since his time at Twente which ended in 2010. A seven year losing streak does tarnish his reputation somewhat. I agree he seems to be well regarded in footballing circles but he's a gamble, a bigger gamble that McInnes and arguably a bigger gamble than Tommy Wright too. So I can see why the board are reticent. It's their money we're spending after all, if it was mine I'm not sure I'd be gambling it on Steve McLaren to turn our fortunes around.

Danny went to Bellahousten High if memory serves me right and the headmaster was 100% in contact with the club and as I said reps from Rangers were supposed to be going to his house for talks but never showed up. That does not mean it was because of his name but Danny's mother and Father perceived it as that. That came direct from the mouth of his mother who I knew and talked to up until I went to Holland in 1980.

Oh I'm not saying his mother doesn't believe that's why he was overlooked. I'm saying it was a handy excuse for Rangers scouts to use to excuse their incompetence in overlooking arguably the greatest full-back these islands have ever produced. McGrain himself in recent years has said he doesn't know if this was the why Rangers didn't sign him and that in fact no scout from Rangers ever actually spoke to him.

McGrain's from Drumchapel and went to Kingsridge High.

I've never been sure about the explanation that we didn't sign McGrain because of his name. I think it suited some people back in the day to use that excuse instead of admitting our scouting was just terrible in the late 60s and early 70s particularly in Glasgow. I mean we missed out on Dalglish too, no issue with his name and his entire family was waiting for the call from our club having been told Rangers were going to make a move.

Now, 50 years later, it suits the Tims to say we didn't sign him because of our bigotry. It might be true but I've always believed it was simply incompetence and arrogance that was the issue.