Rousseau

1 minute ago, RANGERRAB said:

Hence the pursuit of Zungu ?

No - I don't see Zungu as a central DM; I see him as occupying one of the wider positions. Jack and Kamara are preferred for the DM slot taken by Davis in recent years. 

Davis is finished, IMO. It's a shame because he has been a great servant and a wonderful player. 

His body can't do what his brain wants. You can see him attempt the same things that he did so well at the start of last season and prior, but he's sluggish in his execution. 

He'll only be a bit-part player this season. 

5 hours ago, The Tin Man said:

Aberdeen 1-2

Considine

We pick the First Rangers Scorer. 

Perhaps a wee bit early, but... we're back!

Aberdeen 0 - 2 Rangers

FGS Hagi

12 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Maric is a difficult one to judge but I am impressed with his link up play and technique, he could be just what we need. 

The type of goals is a worry: they're mostly penalties or coming from a press. How many times to we get the latter in Scotland? (Or the former?!) Good for Europe. 

It's just Youtube, though...  

Looking at the clips of Zungu again, he seems to be able to drive with the ball, and play some good long-range passes. He's not the attacking midfielder you want, but he looks to be able to provide some forward momentum.

I think Osijek have been playing a 3-4-3, so Maric has experience of playing in a front three, or with a central striker with a couple playing off him. He actually looks like he's played off the main striker too, which is strange but impressive. 

13 hours ago, DMAA said:

I’m not seeing it with this Zungu guy at all. We don’t need another defensive midfielder. I wouldn’t mind another centre midfielder but only if he was attack minded, sorry to say it but a centre midfielder who could contribute creatively in the way that Calum McGregor does. 
 

I really hope we sign an attacking midfielder though. We can’t go into yet another season relying on Kent. He doesn’t have the end product we need and isn’t good enough to break down deep lying defences. 
 

Very happy with Hagi, Aribo and Jack though. Those guys are at the level we need. 

I actually see him as a box-to-box player, rather than a DM. He's actually played in numerous positions: DM (31), CM (61), and AM (28) -- and even 20 games as a Left-winger!

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bongani-zungu/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/240892

I see the benefit in bringing more energy to one of those wide central midfield roles we use.  

I'd like to see anther attacking midfielder too - or, at least after a couple of forwards. 

13 hours ago, DMAA said:

https://twitter.com/timomouse/status/1288171120047337480

12 hours ago, ian1964 said:

 

This doesn't bode well for the rest of 2020 - @ian1964 has just corrected failed embedded tweet! 

I trawled the European Golden Boot list to see if there were any decent goalscorers from 'lesser' leagues, and therefore affordable. It was to check if there were any Morelos-like signings to be made (young goalscorers from lesser leagues). 

There was maybe 3 or 4, that may qualify. One (Sorga) from Estonia that had just went to DC Untied reserve team, suggesting his quality wasn't that great. Another from Switzerland (Nsame) who would perhaps command a decent fee after 30 goals in 30 games. And, an Israeli (Weissman) who had scored 30 goals for Wolfsberger in Austria.

The 4th was Mirko Maric, with about 20 goals in 30 games. He looks to be the more physical type, at 6ft2. He's not exactly young, either, at 25. (He was last on the list, but still...) 

3 minutes ago, DMAA said:

He looks promising from the clips on Youtube. However he just seems out of our budget both in terms of fee and wages. 

Possibly, yes. 

However, as a baseline, Tranfermrkt has him valued at around £6M, which is not outwith the realms of possibility. (OK-- you have to take those valuations with a huge chunk of salt.) I thought Kent and Hagi were out of our budget at the time.  

I like the profile of Maja: young, emerging talent, with a clear sell-on value.

From the clips I've seen there's two strikers there: the League One striker with Sunderland was quite raw, picking the ball up anywhere and running; and then with Bordeaux his goals have come from the penalty box. (I reckon at Sunderland he was played wide, whereas with Bordeaux he was a striker.)

The latter striker is more important to me, because he was in a packed box, getting on the end of crosses by creating that wee bit of space for himself. He certainly looks like he has the athleticism to deal with our game, but he's perhaps not got the finesse, yet. 

He's not prolific, but to be fair, he was too young at Sunderland and is not starting every game at Bordeaux.   

I was pleased to see Villa stay up, but the clip of them singing 'Sweet Caroline' in celebration has made me reconsider. 

3 hours ago, T-1000 said:

A mobile forward would be fine but our build-up play at times can be so slow that it partially negates the mobility of any forward due to the lack of space when the opponents have the time to arrange their defence.  If we want to utilise mobility we need to be quicker in our build-up play.  I recognise having a front line that can interchange is beneficial but more so if we break quicker.  On many occasions we seem to rely on Barisič or Tav slinging crosses into the box.  This being the case then we need a forward who has a physical presence in the box.  This is part of the reason Defoe can look ineffectual in games because he relies on predatory instinct and for that he needs to be able to make a yard or two of space which in a crowded area is difficult.  To provide us with alternatives I would hope we sign two forwards, perhaps Roofe for the mobility and versatility and maybe Dykes for the physical presence.  It would be useful if our midfield could also chip in with some goals but last season suggests that they are not very prolific in this area.

You're right, but my idea of mobility and movement is that which would unlock those packed defenses. Mobility and speed on transitions is one thing, but I think we need more/better movement against those packed defenses too: We need to be moving and stretching those blocks. I believe SG wants a fluid and narrow front three, like Liverpool, and they unlock packed defenses through their movement, not by playing it into a target man.

However, I agree a more physical presence would be beneficial too - I'd hope we're looking at both these types. We certainly need more than one new forward addition.

I prefer a more mobile forward that can run in-behind. 

I like the look of Roofe, and also maybe Shankland, or Dykes.

I hope Kamberi is still coming in, too. 

5 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Yeh, I’m sure he would do well but I think I would prefer an out and out striker be signed who can link up well with the midfield. I think I’m a bit skeptical too because English players who made their reputation playing at the top of the Championship are notoriously overrated and poor value. If there is truth in the link he would probably fit the bill for one of the number 10 positions though. 

He's not a number 10. He's perhaps not an out and out striker, but he's most certainly a forward that drifts. 

There is certainly an argument to be made for that out and out striker, but I'm of the opinion that having a more mobile forward would be better. 

Saying that, I still think we need to bring in more than one forward; an out and out striker would be top of the list. 

17 minutes ago, DMAA said:

I keep hearing people saying he would be brilliant. I have only seen his highlights reel but I don’t see it? He looks a natural winger and not a striker. His record isn’t inspiring either. Is he really hood enough?

I suppose I wouldn't call him a goalscorer -- and, you're right, he does have a wingers game, in a way. His work-rate, movement off the ball, and on the ball is superb. (I'm obviously going on what I saw from Leeds Utd last season.)

I get the feeling SG wants a narrow front three, where they all chip in with goals -- where we're not necessarily relying on one man to get 25+. I think in a narrow front three, Roofe offers the movement and versatility. He can score a decent amount of goals. His record in Belgium is pretty good, so I presume he'd be more than able to cope with our league.

I'm not saying he's the missing piece, but he'd be a very good addition; strengthening the first-team.  

Clearly didn't participate in the definitive Gersnet poll on the use of 'Glasgow' in our name. 

Kemar Roofe would be an excellent signing. 

I don't trust that source at all, though. 

Saying that, his wiki page has him currently playing for "the famous Glasgow Rangers", so it must be close.  

I'm not worried -- Barkerinho will step up.

6 minutes ago, bluedan said:

Is it normal for player and club to agree terms before the clubs agree a fee? Seems backwards. 

It's definitely been done before. 

There is now a lot riding on the clubs agreeing a fee. 

Interesting. I wonder if that's part of the reason why he's looked a little off?

I would hope for a good fee -- and a good sell-on fee -- and hopefully we can get a couple of decent forwards in.  

Good opposition to play: simply because they played with everyone behind the ball, which we'll see a lot of. 

Unfortunately, we didn't look like we've developed in how we break that system down. 

Was that Barjonas that makes that long pass out wide to Patterson there? Lovely pass. 

Great desire from Patterson too to make that run. 

This is a very Liverpool front three; roaming forwards, no striker. 

The difference is our guys are waiting for the ball coming to them.