BlackSocksRedTops

Very strong bench incidentally.

3 minutes ago, Graeme Ro55 said:

Just as worried about Raskin & Cantwell who have both been short on form.

Who hasn't?

Looks like Tav providing the width on the right with Jack tucking in and Matondo on the left with Sterling playing primarily as a defender. Glad Roofe is playing. Big 90 minutes ahead. Still think Dessers is going to have a big say on today's game. He been up and down since coming in but for me has shown enough to suggest he's a clever player. Today he's playing with a very clever player in Roofe so hopefully they can be on the same wavelength.

15 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

 

Still waiting for Sakalas shot to go the other side of the post....😟😟

1 minute ago, Rousseau said:

He was managing Rangers...

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Good point Rousseau

16 minutes ago, Graeme Ro55 said:

What a man he was. My fave clip of Jock Wallace

 

 

Kind of sums my original point. He's about 46/47 in this clip. Brilliant clip BTW. 

Apologies for hijacking this Tifo related thread. Sorry guys. 

Maybe a classic player? Or manager? 

On the manager front...I was reading an article online about Jock Wallace the other day and I was shocked to discover that he was only 60 when he passed away in 1996. That meant that he was only about 41 when he completed the treble in 1978. It just shows you how times have changed as I always have this image of JW being in his late 50's/early 60's in his first spell at Rangers and then being an elder statesman during his 2nd spell. I guess 41 year olds looked different back then...

I doubt if Roofe is fit enough to play a full game therefore I would start him and ask him to do as much damage as possible in 60/65 minutes. Not sure whether I would start with Matondo. I like the idea of him arriving on the pitch with the game more open and stretched. It's a tough one and I do not envy the task Beale has got on his hands. I just hope he's more pro-active as opposed to reactive.

Getting back to the EL, it's quite a good draw IMO as it gives us the potential safety blanket of the Conference League after Christmas. It will be interesting to see how the fixtures are laid out. I wouldn't mind a game against the Cypriots early (Game 1 or 2) to get points on the board and gain some confidence and momentum. 

Regardless of who he picks, IMO Beale has to go for it and be positive from the first whistle. Forget the cautious crap and focus on what we can do to them as opposed to what they might do to us. A victory brings two things. It gives our manager and squad a shot in the arm after the CL debacle and it also plants more seeds of doubt in their fans eyes about Rodgers. Celtic will be without CCV for the next 7/8 weeks. He's their best defender by a country mile so we need to exploit any slips during that time.

8 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

If we win 7-0 on Sunday I'll still have serious doubts about Beale. 

 

The man makes too many strange mistakes.

I hope you're wrong Gonzo but I do get the feeling that MB somewhat overthinks things a bit too much. People can say what they want about Postacoglu but he had a plan and it seemed that he brought in players to fit that plan. MB has bought a lot of players but as of yet we've seen very little continuity and identity in the team. 

8 hours ago, Bill said:

I might be in a minority of one on this but, while he wouldn't be my first choice, I also wouldn't hesitate to throw a starting shirt to Ben Davies if I had to.

I agree Bill. His Rangers career seems to be have been defined by some high profile mistakes in certain games but on the whole he's been quite steady. I think he's more than capable of coming in and doing a job on the left side of our defence IMO. Especially against SPL fodder. 

Rangers 3 Them 1

FGS Roofe

Colak 2.5 million

Fashion 4 million

Kamara 5 million

Tillman fee 1 million

That means our net spend this summer is not much at all. 

4 hours ago, CammyF said:

It was rubbished by Heart and Hand but other fan / media outlets saying its still a possibility. Given that Davies is staying, I fear Souttar won't happen. However, that's not based on any "in the know", just a gut feeling

 

I don't see the point of getting Harry Souttar. That would mean we would have 3 right sided CB's. 

Good Luck to GK. For 50k, he was brilliant for us when he was on it. A 5 million profit is also welcome for a guy that hasn't played much football of late. 

17 minutes ago, Bill said:

I'd go for a little different up front.....

Butland

Tav - Souttar - Balogun - Sterling

Jack

Raskin - Cantwell

Sima

Roofe - Danilo

Decent shout Bill

4 minutes ago, Bill said:

If only the selective past was a guide to the future in football. 🤣

I need to hang on to something after last night...

4 minutes ago, Yorkie Bear said:

Sometimes it's difficult to keep track on here.

 

Before the PSV home games, many were saying we're going to take a pasting. We didn't and suddenly we were going to go to Eindhoven to qualify, come third in our group, drop to the Europa and go on to win it.

 

Following a pasting in Eindhoven, all our players (apart from Butland) are rubbish, the manger hasn't a clue and we're on a road to nowhere.

 

I don't know if our reaction to poor performances is over the top or whether our belief after a good result is misplaced.

 

For my part, I enjoyed the PSV home game and thought PSV were the better team but our second half performance showed some promise. I was prepared for PSV winning in Eindhoven but we got thrashed and I did not expect that.

 

It seems to me we have a team to do well in the SPFL. They have space and possession and sometimes they can shine. Go into Europe and we see the reality. Maybe it lies with the manager, I don't know, but I am not looking forward to our European matches, regardless of who we get. I say that now, but come 21st September, no doubt I'll be raring to go. Let's hope so.

It's the modern way I'm afraid. I said it before but this is the most analysed squad in our history.

Hard to get too excited at this moment about the draw but I'll take some solace in some recent history. In the 2021-22 season we got beaten by a poor Malmo side in the CL qualifiers and then lost our first 2 EL games. We were rank and looked out of our depth until we turned it around and created some of the best memories I have of Rangers competing in European football. Keep the faith guys.

Still a bit numb from last but for what it's worth...

*********Butland*********

****Goldson***Souttar****

Tav***************Sterling

**********Jack***********

***Raskin*****Cantwell***

**Dessers******Matondo**

**********Roofe**********

4 hours ago, Rousseau said:

I don't disagree with a lot of these points, but surely there are valid criticisms to be made?

 

(If we're looking for an identity after 9 months (MB tenure), that's quite damning.)

 

Putting our heads in the sand and saying, 'well—they're a CL side, so we've no chance' is pointless. It's up to the club to get the best out of the resources we have. I don't think we're doing that. 

I was referring more to finding an identity with this new bunch of players. Beale has primarily worked with someone else's players for the bulk of his stewardship therefore I'm willing to give him time. Will they come good? I'm not sure tbh. There seems to be more questions than answers at the moment but what is the alternative? Ditch a manager at the start of the season>take time to find a new manager>derail our season>hand another title to them. 

In one hand I'm hugely disappointed by the what happened tonight but on the other hand, I'm not surprised. We are simply not ready to compete with this level of team as IMO PSV are the standout team in the section of the qualifiers. They have very effective front players and will give teams a decent game in the CL. 

Just go and bloody win on Sunday. Weirdly enough, I feel that this result tonight has made me more confident about beating them. We need a reaction and I can't think of better game to show it. 

4 hours ago, Graeme Ro55 said:

I cannot believe Hagi would not have been any better than those 

Hagi had zero pace.

4 minutes ago, CammyF said:

Weirdly, if you can stomach it, Celtic fans are saying the exact same regarding the direction their team / manager is going.

 

I think a win for us on Sunday could be huge as they'll turn on Brenda and the players (as we will if we lose). 

Hopefully tonight will give a few a kick up the backside for Sunday. The scoreline was bad enough but from what I saw, there were quite a few players off the pace. 

2 minutes ago, Sutton_blows_goats said:

I don’t agree. Our history is a very big part of what makes our club. 

Is Sunday not our main focus? Or do we sit and ponder all our failures from the last 7 years?