Rousseau

He didn't even attempt to pronounce Crvena Zvezda; just a wee smile. 

Brilliant. 

3 minutes ago, DMAA said:

After 5 teams drawn, I know what set of groups I want to be in!

Were they A to F? ?

31 minutes ago, onevision said:

Glad that Kamara is running a close second behind Tav. ?

"Close"?  

I'm pleased to see him get some plaudits. I feel like I've been on my own in praising his performances. 

Rangers 3 - 0 Ross County

FGS Morelos

This Europe thing is a piece of p*sh, eh?  

Superb. 

Some very good scores this round. 

Correct Result (1 pt): Everyone who entered, except two, who were a little pessimistic.  

Correct Number of Rangers Goals (1pt): Rousseau, One, compo, Stevie, Yorkie, BEAR, Ian, Dado, BHB, MacK, BD, gs, 26th, cammyF, FS, T-1000, TB and r_s.

FGS (2 pts): Franc.

Correct Score (3 pts): One, compo, MacK, gs, 26th, CammyF, FS, T-1000, TB and r_s. 

Latest Standings:

11 hours ago, ian1964 said:

 

Quote

"This summer we have recruited Tony Weston from Blackpool, who was much sought-after in the EPL having made his Blackpool debut in the FA Cup at only 16; we have recruited James Graham from Ross County who has been involved with the national team and, like Charlie Lindsay who joined us from Glentoran, had many options.

“The combined spend to recruit these three exciting talents was less than the fee we will receive from Manchester City which is significantly greater than mandatory compensation figures.

 

I thought this was Dapo initially, which worried me: Dapo has been around the first-team squad without ever looking like he'll make the jump.

However, it's his younger brother Dire.

The above quote is pleasing.  

Would Tavernier actually leave? I get the feeling he's been here so long that he's a Rangers man now. 

Saying that, if it were to be a substantial fee, we'd have to look at it. 

We do have young Patterson to replace him. 

Rangers 2 - 0 Galatasaray 

FGS Kent

Poor Andy...

1 hour ago, DMAA said:

I only said he had taken a lot of unfounded criticism, which he has, that isn’t the same as saying all and any criticism has been unfounded. 

Aye, but you're not getting me off this high horse now.  

As @craig says, he's been superb recently, which we should focus on. 

Where does Aribo fit in now?!

1 minute ago, DMAA said:

I'm not. When making the case for a player who isn't rated it just makes sense to use the stats of a player who is rated as a reference point, especially when he is regarded as our best creative player by so many. Anyway, I wasn't trying to start a debate so I'll leave it there. Oh, other than to point out that I'm pretty sure the statistic you used I comparing 18/19 when he played as a number 10 (his best position and where I would like him to play) to 19/20 when he was pushed back to centre mid. 

I ran them again, per position, being as generous as possible. 

18/19: Attacking Midfield (AM): 0.41 goal contribution.

18/19: Central Midfield (CM): 0.46. 

19/20: AM: 0.27

19.20: CM: 0.40

Arfield's attacking output in attacking positions drops off.

(Interestingly, his output in deeper positions drops off much less.)

Again, it's not "unfounded" - which you claimed -- because he was poor for a spell, as the stats back up. 

Interestingly, I don't want him further forward. I think he's showing up very well playing deeper. He's very good with those late runs.  

23 minutes ago, compo said:

Was listening to Roy Hodgson on Saturday night talking calmly about this VAR and it's interpretation and he talked a lot of good old fashioned common sense it's slowly ruining the game by turning referees into technology freaks .

It's nothing to do with technology. 

And, you can't blame the Referees for implementing the rules. 

It's the rules that are the issue. 

The decision to award Newcastle a penalty for Dier's handball was ridiculous: he doesn't even know the ball is there, with his back to it, and his arm is not in an unnatural position, as he was jumping.

The new rules are stupid.  

Souness actually made the point that it makes the game more exciting, which is true: more goals, more excitement. But, it does take away some common sense in these situations. 

12 minutes ago, DMAA said:

That is an vast exaggeration. He definitely wasn’t at his best for spells but the criticism was way over the top and failed to take into account his contribution. Unlike others, he was not playing in his natural position but still chipped in with goals and assists pretty much all season and played a huge role in Europe. For a start, he got 4 league assists from centre mid when Kent got none from behind the striker. 9 goals was more than double any of the other centre mids too (including Aribo). He had spells of poor form but his ability was always there and people were far too negative about him.
 

I suspect you’re not going to agree but we can agree that it is great to have him on form again. 

I wasn't commenting on any fan exaggeration, merely my thoughts on his form. My criticism wasn't unfounded. There's always going to be exaggeration from some fans (you're criticism of Kent is quite exaggerated! ? ). 

For me, Arfield was phenomenal for a spell, then he was very poor for a spell. I never overlooked his work-rate during that slump. But, his goal contribution dropped substantially. I thought he should be played deeper to utilise that work-rate. His offensive game just wasn't working. 

The stats back it up: he went from a goal contribution of 0.68, to 0.33 per game. 

(I really don't want to get dragged into a Kent argument. You're obsessed! Even though I agree Kent's return has not been good enough.)

11 minutes ago, DMAA said:

So many positives from that win. When @Bill is singing Tavernier’s praises you know things are good. This is the game after I Kent MOM for the first time. 
 

I’m going from the RTV highlights unfortunately, but Itten’s double is without doubt the biggest positive. Some fans were already on his back. That injection of confidence could be huge. To have Defoe back and Morelos back in form too is great for that position. Fantastic for Bassey to get 90 minutes. He needs games like that to grow into a reliable backup. Subs appearances can’t give you that. I’m really enjoying seeing Arfield getting this run in the team too. He’s taken so much unfounded criticism from the fans and he showed his quality again. That stat is really impressive, a 93% pass rate at the same time as having played more key passes than anyone on the pitch (leading to another assist). A 93% pass rate is what you expect from a centre back who never plays it long. 
 

On to the Turks, who apparently toiled to a “brutal to watch” 0-0 against their arch rivals yesterday. 

It wasn't "unfounded": He was rubbish, for a significantly long spell. 

However, I will admit he's been very good over the last few games, when he's needed to step in. I've been really impressed. His work-rate was always there, but nothing came off for him; now, he's back to being a dynamic, attacking box-to-box midfielder again. Great to see! 

Leicester have just thumped Man City 2-5, at the Etihad.

I'm really pleased for Itten. 

He's not had much game time, but I think there's a good player there. 

Good physique, good turn of pace and has a good strike on him, as was shown today. 

Roofe and Morelos will still be favourites, but Itten can be a good back-up.

@Franc Ergs right in there with the MotM thread. 

Has to be Tavernier, I think; he was everywhere. 

Kamara, Davis and Arfield were very good. 

Morelos' link-up play was good. 

Jones showed what he can do.  

Brace for Itten, but perhaps wasn't on long enough to get MotM. 

Leeds left it late, but they got the win against Sheffield Utd. 

I'm pleased that we managed the team, with some good tactical changes after a tough midweek EU tie, and managed the game very well. 

Pretty much dominated without getting out of first gear.

Didn't create too many chances, but took them when we did. 

I'm delighted with that. Fir Park can be a tricky place to go. 

High scoring game, but low scoring round.

Correct Result (1 pt): Everyone who entered.

Correct Number of Rangers Goals (1pt): Stewarty.

FGS (2 pts): Gaspard and FS.

Correct Score (3 pts): -

Latest Standings:

[FT] 1-5. 

Not bad. 

I like that we're annoyed at conceding. I'm annoyed. 

Not much anyone can do there, though. 

Tavernier will be a tad irked if Itten beats him to a hat-trick...

1 minute ago, Rousseau said:

Hopefully the first of many!

Goals are like @Uilleam's buses...