Rousseau

It's not a priority at the moment. 

The main stand/facade must be retained, but I would, some day, like to see the rest rounded off.  

7 minutes ago, Uilleam said:

Aw Naw!!

Not Rangers knee!!

Say it ain't so, Rousseau!!

Now that I look at it, it's "knee problems" which made him miss 29 days, 7 games. Not as bad as it looked. 

To be fair, I think he'll be fine going by this headline:

'Skrtel suffers horror head injury needing ten stitches in hospital'

He refused to be subbed off, got some stitches at half-time, and played on with a bandage to help the team win the game. He was then whisked to hospital to get more stitches. 

That's Butcher-esque. That's what we need. 

I thought it was highly unlikely at £4m, but I would be mightily impressed if we could get Skrtel. He was a machine at Liverpool, strong, powerful. 

He was out for a month or two, I believe, with a knee problem in January/February, but when he's fit he plays 90 minutes for Fenerbahce; he played 43 games last season. 

Nicky Law's been released. 

1 hour ago, der Berliner said:

Re "average crossers" ... that's all nice and well a stat. But if those passes he does complete are more decisive than that of "better crossers" and result in goals, I'd take that.

That's the point; they're not. Candeias gets a lot of crosses in, but his accuracy is lacking.

9 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said:

There are plenty of matches, last season, where I thought we looked unlikely to score.

 

It's rare for me to think it was down to poor form by Windass or Morelos.

 

Most of the time I think it is because the team doesn't really create good chances to score.

That's irrelevant to the graph, I think?

It shows the top ten contributors to each SPFL club's total xG and the % of their team's total. 

5 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Or if one of them does an invisible man impression for weeks on end.

Being top goalscorer is quite impressive for a man that only turns up every other month...

You're right, though. If a player that contributes most to a team's goals doesn't turn up, then they suffer. 

Here's an article, that was just published, about Aurtenxetse. Solid, modern FB.

(It also backs up @Tannochsidebear's opinion that Candeias is a less than average crosser; he gets a fair number in, but his accuracy is average.)

https://www.modernfitba.com/blogs/2018/5/17/dundees-questionable-decision-to-let-go-of-jon-aurtenetxe

7 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said:

Do you base this on anything other than data?

Why would I? Data is life.  

The Celtic and Aberdeen ones have more spread out contribution/distribution. 

I just feel we should be seeing more, in terms of goals, from others. Being too reliant on one or two players will have a negative impact when they go through a period of poor form. 

I think McGregor is the far superior shot-stopper. 

Commanding a box? I don't recall McG being particularly good at that, and Wes has been rather good at that this season. 

Distribution? I'd say Wes is better, but I'm not sure McG has ever needed to play that way. It can be drilled in.

McG is better at game management. 

Wes can make very good saves, it's the silly, easy shots that seem to slip under him. McG is more consistent in that sense. 

Good signing. 

Interesting article about which players are contributing most to their clubs attack. 

Morelos accounts for 30.5% of our goals. Windass 2nd with 19.7%. 

We're almost too reliant on these two. It should be spread out more, I think.

https://www.modernfitba.com/blogs/2018/5/10/which-spfl-players-are-contributing-the-most-to-their-clubs-attack

10 hours ago, colinstein said:

I think the rule on here is you can't refer to anyone as idiots, arseholes, whether it be individuals, right wing nut jobs and the hard of thinking.

It's a sound policy so you are quite right.......

we are an inclusive support that extends to those among us who have special needs

Well, at least you included yourself in that list.  

4 hours ago, buster. said:

His laptop may have a left leaning virus.

3 hours ago, craig said:

You will have a team full of left backs.  Just as well we already have Shagger locked in, or you would re-instate Lee Wallace.... as our goalie

Don't be silly.

Wallace would play CB.  

11 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Well they specifically said he wasn't offered a deal. Had a quick look at the responses to the announcement on Twitter and the Dundee fans don't seem to care, they're more concerned about Holt who apparently started ahead of him for almost all of the second half of the season. Jon Aurtenetxe apparently got off to a great start and then started putting in some poor performances.

Actually Holt's another who's one of the best FB's in the league, stat-wise. I'd take a punt on him too! 

I'll take everyone!!

19 minutes ago, DMAA said:

It really begs the question why though. It’s really hard to imagine why Dundee would choose to release a Rangers quality left back. 

Some players suit different teams. Maybe they can't afford his wages? Maybe they don't think what he brings is suitable for them? His stats suggest he's not a great tackler, so perhaps that's something Dundee think they need? I don't know.

He's one of the best cross blockers in the league (John is the worst!!), and one of the best contributers to xG and xA, but clearly Dundee don't take their chances. 

He's a free agent. Why not take a punt on someone who the stats suggest is one of the best FB's in the league? There may indeed be a reason that the stats don't show. He can't be too expensive? And we're short in that area.

Dundee have released Jon Aurtenetxe, who is high on most analysts stats lists/tables. I'd like us to take a punt on him. Solid Left-back.

Lucas Leiva was bought by Lazio for £5m last summer and has been an important player for them all season. That seems unlikely.

His age is not an issue, because his fitness is superb. Seems unlikely too, though. 

Appointed and sacked three times at clubs, while still under that 6-year Man Utd deal. 

Brilliant.

3 hours ago, DMAA said:

I think it was Colin who mentioned in the Podcast that despite being top scorers this season we don't actually appear to create that many chances.

 

I think one of the biggest problems with 4-2-3-1 has been the fact that we don't have a real playmaker/trequartista in the squad to play behind the striker. We haven't had a player like that in a long time and I'd love to see Gerrard sign one. Windass has taken flak for his disappearing act but he's just not that kind of player and it's no wonder the position often didn't work for him. He's an excellent goalscorer but he's not the technical, creative pass-master you need in that position to link the midfield to attack and feed the wingers and forward with clever through balls.

 

I don't know if there are any other Italian football fans here but I always thought Alessandro Rosina was a great example of this kind of player when he was at Torino who wasn't too expensive for Rangers. David Silva and Luka Modric come to mind at the elite level.

 

I'm not sure who is out there at our level these days (because I don't play Football Manager anymore) but there's got to be someone. @Rousseau might have a suggestion?

 

 

Scott Allan  

1 hour ago, Franc Ergs said:

Ok, they obviously haven't based their decision on the past season then,  as he would've struggled to get into the Scotland team based on it.

If he was Scottish, he'd be first choice. 

Shawcross is a solid defender. But, he's used to a compact, deep-block defence. Similar to Alves in that way. 

SG may be going that way, with Skrtel 'linked' -- although I don't belive it -- too. They can do well, but they'd need a better support structure around them, more protection etc. 

I wouldn't like to see Tavernier go. He's one of our best players. 

Yes, the general quality is lacking in our squad, but you don't improve it by selling your best players and hope you get someone better. You move on the dregs first, building on what you do have. 

I'd be surprised if he wasn't chosen.

5 minutes ago, SteveC said:

That was Salzburg

Yes! It was the Quarter-finals Marseille knocked out Leipzig.

Almost right...  

32 minutes ago, DMAA said:

It sounds vague but I think there are a number of qualities which make players "tough" or "fighters". Bravery, aggression, stregth, tackling, stamina and work rate are a few. I'd love to see Jordan Rossiter at peak fitness because I think he'd epitomise this kind of player.

 

And although it all sounds very old fashioned, but you'll understand that the best modern possession sides place a huge emphasis on pressing and winning the ball back fast when they lose possession. Players with as many of these qualities as possible in your team would go a long way to achieving that. Ross McCrorie made more tackles than anyone against Kilmarnock a few weeks ago even though he only came on at half time. Those are the kind of players we need in the team imo.

Yes, but if you're going with 'tough', then we can rule out Windass, but if we're going with 'high pressing', then he'd be at the top of my list. 

I think McCrorie could be very useful; he's just so versatile.