Rousseau

I don't know how Croatia keep getting through. They look so poor and ponderous; they look flat on their feet with 20 minutes to go. So different from the first couple of games.

Minutes away from a Correct Score...  

Onevision, Whosthedado, Barebear, Gaffer, Coop and TB gained 1 point for the Correct Result.

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Just now, ian1964 said:

Any serious answer??

Never!

No idea. I'm enjoying the fight back, though.

Rousseau, lenny, Craig, Franc, Gonzo, Yorkie, Gaffer, r_S, UKCrazyhorse and Coop gained 1 point for the Correct Result.

Bill, compo and FS gained 3 points for the Correct Score.

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We don't have to endure Clive Tyldsley for this one, but we do have Martin Keown.  

Are Jon Champion and McCoist not BBC?

Just now, RANGERRAB said:

I don’t think Jack will get a game at DM now McRorie has established himself in that role.

Yes, even a fit Rossiter is ahead of Jack too. 

I think Jack will do well further forward. 

I thought it interesting Jack came on to play further forward, as an 8, with Halliday as DM.

I always thought Jack was seen as a DM.

He's got quite a good touch, and passes forward more than I expected. 

Going by how fluid we were, I can see Ejaria fitting in quite nicely: he can play a variety of positions in Midfield.

1 hour ago, Big Jaws said:

I've absolutely no doubt of what Josh Windass is capable of you only need to look at some of the goals he's scored for us especially the one against Celtic in the 2-3 game to put us 1-0 up to see that. I'm sure he does that day in day out in training also. In fact I know he does and you can see some of it in the training camp videos with SG being impressed too. You're right he made a fair few decent runs last night, his positioning was much better than it was last season to cut out opposition passes and runs etc. 

 

However and I am being objective... when it comes to a competitive game more often than not he struggles to reproduce that. From the half way line to 18 yard box he can be absolutely devastating for teams but I feel that once he's made up that grass he gets forced into taking shots that he shouldn't be taking because he is rarely able to deliver a ball to find a blue shirt in the box. Some of the shots come off for him but others just don't, what we used to call wasteful. Its early doors at the moment and there may be time for him to improve that part of his game with SG and if he can then he will be a great player. If he isn't able to improve that side of his game then SG wont play him its as simple as that.

I don't disagree; he can do a lot better. Time will tell -- I don't see that need to slate the guy after a pre-season friendly, though. 

His decision-making is poor, which we saw last night. I feel like that will improve with a better system. Although his crosses last night were wasteful -- although he got an assist with one -- I felt like they were rehearsed; It was a cut back to someone going to the penalty spot, or trying to go far post.  

1 hour ago, der Berliner said:

 

That's when stats are nigh worthless number-games, i.e. missing the context. In Alnwick's case it would be: where, when, alongside which defenders and against whom did he concede these goals. There and then it becomes comparable to Wes' stats.

 

For reference:

League Cup (3 games) - 6-0; 3-1; 0-2

 

SFA Cup (3 games out of 4) 3-0; 6-1; 4-1  ... benched for the 4-0 reversal by the Scum

 

League (5 games; all post-split) 2-1 (Hearts at home); 0-5 (Scum away, where he kept that scoreline at that); 1-0 (Killie at home); 1-1 (Aberdeen away); 5-5 (Hibs away)

 

Let's check Wes against these opponents and the same venue:

Hearts at home - 0-0; 2-0 (away: 3-1)

Scum away - 0-0 (home: 0-2; 2-3)

Killie at home - 1-1; 0-1 (away: 1-1; 1-2)

Aberdeen away - 2-1 (home: 2-0; 3-0)

Hibs away - 2-1 (Home: 2-3, 1-2)

 

... and not counting the defence in front of either Wes and Jak, who will have made a difference as well. Just talking numbers would see us ending up like saying how grand Windass' goal and assist rate is, forgetting his overall play entirely.

 

 

Yes, stats over a game or two is meaningless, but over the course of a season they show patterns. 

That's quite a good comparison. 

19 minutes ago, pete said:

So all that is the keepers fault? Give us a break, you can twist stats anyway you want but your scraping the barrel now.

Scraping the barrel? It's just an opinion, based on a few stats. It's not the whole picture, but it's better than what you're basing your opinion on. 

Anyway, I'm done with this. We can agree to disagree.  

15 minutes ago, pete said:

i prefer a keeper that does not have double sided sticking tape on his boots.

I prefer a 'keeper that is actually effective.  

Alnwick concedes over 2 goals a game, with only 1 clean sheet (5 games).

Foderingham conceded around 1 goal per game, and has 10 clean sheets (33 games). 

"Bill's in front of Gonzo..."

2 minutes ago, pete said:

It is just my opinion and I have said it in a number of posts over the last 2 years. Foderingham is not a good keeper. That does not make it a fact I know but if he leaves and we get money for him i will rub my hands together.

Fair enough, we can agree to disagree. I wouldn't say no to a few million!

I'm not actually arguing he (Foderingham) is a 'good 'keeper', merely that he's better than Alnwick. That's just my opinion. 

Just now, pete said:

You are entitled to your opinion but it looks like the coaching team agree with me. Foderingham is not a good keeper.

We don't actually know yet. 

McGregor is #1, I would assume, and the rumours of Alnwick being ahead of Wes are just that, rumour. 

7 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

I agree with you Rousseau that he played quite well, so I can't work out why I just don't like him in the team.  He does do a lot of good things, but what I find happens with me is that I'll be enjoying watching the game and then Windass will get on the ball and I think "oh yeah, Windass, I forgot he was playing".  I see Coop mentioned a similar thing in his post.  This feeling happens in most games so I don't know if there's a sub conscious reason in my mind for him not standing out, but he just doesn't.  Even in games where he scores, I get to the end of the game and find myself being critical of him.  Maybe it's my perception of the level of effort he puts in, or maybe it's because he goes missing for a few minutes at a time.  I honestly don't know, but either way there's something that needs to be sorted out if he's to be a successful Rangers player.  He has lots of excellent attributes so I'd like him to turn it around, but I suspect he's off anyway.

At least you can be objective about it. Even the RangersTV commentators mentioned how much running he did to create space -- I've never heard that before. 

Quote

As for the game in general last night, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  In terms of doing the basics required of a Rangers player, I was very impressed.  They worked hard, challenged for every ball and never gave the opposition any peace for the entire game.  As fans we love to see that.  Even our journeymen players look more effective when they apply that level of effort on a game.  It reminded me of Scott Nisbett who was a fans' favourite, simply because of the effort he gave every time he played.

 

I was pleased to see Tav retaining the captaincy.  I think he's grown into the role and appears to be well liked and respected by his team mates.  He's also one of our most consistent performers so it makes sense.  I also like him when he speaks at press conferences.  That's important for me.  If it was about pure entertainment, I'd have kept Cummings and given him the media relations role, but since we have a classy image to uphold, Tav is ideal.

 

The defence as a whole looks solid, although we won't be able to assess that properly until next week.  I don't yet understand how we are set up to handle counters, or how the full backs decide when to overlap, but the players seemed to know where and when they needed to be in certain positions, and this was the same all over the pitch.  SG can't have drilled that in such a short space of time so I'm assuming he's kept it relatively simple for them and allowed the players to decide much of it.  Either way it was working.

 

5 key things for me from last night's game:

 

-  Morelos looked sharp, fit, hungry to score, and HAPPY

-  Middleton looks like he has a chance to break into the first team this season

-  The two centre backs are aggressive, quick, strong, and can play football

-  We didn't look like conceding

-  We looked like we could score every time we went up the park

 

We now need a really competitive game to see who is in his first eleven, and to see if we can take this form into real games.  The signs are good, but given what's happened in previous seasons I'm keeping my powder dry until I see how we perform over the next couple of weeks.  Let's go.

I actually thought Tavernier was anonymous last night, but I am content to see him named Captain; he is a solid performer. 

I thought there were pressing traps, because we weren't full, gung-ho press; it was more intelligent. We either enticed them into the middle where McCrorie et al pressed hard, or pinned them against the touchline. The CBs stepped out too to stop balls forward, which was pleasing. 

I noticed we dropped off at times too when they beat our press, albeit rarely, which was also pleasing. We didn't look troubled as we set up in a low block, which we'll need this season at times. Of course, it was just Bury. 

Bring on the first competitive game!

Middleton did very well -- surely he gets game-time this season?

I liked Rudden too: always attacking the front post. 

I was pleased with the structure: the distances in between the players was narrower, from Morelos to the CBs, which helps shore things up and helps pressing. 

I'd need to watch it again, but I think there were some nice pressing traps. We weren't just high-pressing at the CBs, we were funnelling the ball into the centre where our superior numbers could press hard. Windass and Murphy cut off the passes wide, forcing them central, and then McCrorie et al., pressed hard and aggressively. 

I was intrigued to see Candeias as a RCM and then WIndass at Right-wing. It aids fluidity, and they did switch positions a lot. It also means we can overload certain areas whenever we need to, with Windass, Tav and Candeias on the right, and Murphy, Arfield -- who made some delightful ghosting runs into the half-space -- and Flanagan on the left. 

Flanagan looks composed. 

McCorie, Goldson and Katic looked good -- although it seemed McCrorie was on a one-man mission to wreck the pitch! They defended first, then tried to pass out; they can all pass.

 I liked seeing Arfield directing McCrorie; he was pointing where he had to run when Arfield dropped into the DM slot.  

8 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

I heard Windass was crap.  Even SG can't spur this chancer on - get rid.  

8 hours ago, cooponthewing said:

Yup! My niece and I commented when he was subbed that we had forgotten he was playing. Anonymous and done very little except jog.

Away you go!

He was good! He was cutting off passing lanes, he was running in behind to stretch, he got stuck into a couple of 'tackles', he set up a couple of chances, and was unlucky not to score with a couple of nice shots. 

People are really just seeing what they want to see now.

If SG has Windass as a key player -- and we still don't know, to be fair, as it's perhaps too early --, the 4th manger on the trot to do so, there must be something there. 

2 hours ago, pete said:

Totally no idea how anyone can think Wes is better than Alnwick and I said that on the podcast last season. After the double save against Kilmarnock and the fact that Alnwick also comes to cut out crosses it is a no brainer for me. Alnwick is just a better keeper. That is just my opinion but I am glad to see that Stevie G has come to the same opinion. It is not a money reason at all, Alnwick is just better.

Alnwick is not better. It's a no-brainer that Wes is just better.

A couple of saves in a one-off game does not mean he's better than a 'keeper that played virtually every meaningful game.

I also think it's a fallacy that Wes doesn't come out to crosses; he maybe didn't in the past, but he was decent enough last season at that. 

5 hours ago, trublusince1982 said:

Think it's more we can get cash for Wes and Wes isn't willing to be a number 2 .

Ah, that makes sense. 

I don't rate Alnwick -- I'd like to see McCrorie get the #2 spot.

I didn't see that coming -- I thought Brazil would be too good defensively, and then take advantage of Belgium's shaky defence -- but I'm delighted!

The tactical switch by Martinez worked a treat. 

Some good scores.

CD, dB, Barebear and BEARGER gained 1 point for the Correct Result.

Bill, compo, Franc, Gaffer, Johnnyk and FS gained 3 points for the Correct Score.

Really tight at the top now!

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