DMAA

1 minute ago, buster. said:

At that age it's about constantly improving year on year.

 

When Ryan Hardie was a similar age he was scoring goals for Raith in the Championship (6 in 753 minutes)* and whilst he has progressed since then, it's been at a rate that suggests he's not going to reach a high level in the game.

 

* Rudden currently has 7 in 1331 minutes.

 

At 18, Rudden has a chance to make it big but he'll have to work hard and then work harder.

 

Falkirk look like they are creating hardly any chances this season though so it's not easy to compare directly with Hardie. It must be frustrating for Rudden to be playing for a team who are so poor in the final third but he's certainly making the most of it.

13 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

The Falkirk manager is desperate to extend the Rangers kid’s loan for the rest of the season.

McKinnon, who signed Davis Keillor-Dunn on loan from Ross County yesterday, said: “I absolutely can see Zak as a Rangers first-team player.

“He’s scored eight goals with a team that has been bottom all season. 

“Imagine him playing for Rangers in a couple of years with people setting up chances for him.

“He is a goalscorer, he needs to be in that six-yard box, like an Ally McCoist type. He just sniffs out goals.”

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/3733105/zak-rudden-ally-mccoist-ray-mckinnon-rangers-falkirk/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1547203988

Great to see he's doing so well at such a young age and receiving praise like that. 

Falkirk are the lowest scoring team in the league with 17 goals in 20 games. Rudden has played only 15 but scored 7 of those 17 goals. It's fantastic stuff for an 18 year old and what we'd expect from an academy player who is on his way to being a first team player.

11 minutes ago, buster. said:

Reminds me of David Templeton.

He's a far better player and his goals and assists stats with Dundee and Kilmarnock show it. He's only had one not impressive season in Scotland and it's no surprise it came with Aberdeen with the kind of football they played last season. 

Should caveat that I don't know if this source has any credibility

24 minutes ago, Waltersgotstyle said:

As much of a Rangers man Stewart is - he isn’t good enough to improve our team.

I'd start him ahead of Candeias in most league games in a heartbeat. Largely freed of defensive duties and given freedom to attack in a forward 3 I think you'd see him flourish like Aluko did when he joined from Aberdeen. He's turned defences inside out this season and we lack a left footed playmaker player cutting in from the right that would give us balance. Jones' strength is counter attacking, running onto the ball. Stewart's strength is gliding past defenders and slicing them open with through balls, not to mention finishing. Having said all that there's no suggestion it's happening so not much point in debating it further.

One more talking point, could Grezda's injury force us back into the transfer market? Does it force Gerrard's hand in attempting to bring Jones here straight away, or make us look at other options? It certainly leaves us light in wide areas if we play 4-3-3. With 3-5-2 a stronger option it could be that it's judged that we don't need as much depth on the wing anymore.

Worth noting that there may be a bit of uncertainty around Worrall's future with Karanka sacked. I felt Karanka underrated him and if he had stayed I don't think a permanent deal was impossible. If they have a recall option that will be a bit of a worry for Gerrard.

18 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

 

I was going to post this. Disastrous week for Kilmarnock with their main man Stewart gone and Jones all but gone. I don't think they can replace Stewart and although I'd be shocked if Clarke didn't want to keep Jones for now, the poor relationship with the fans won't help his form. Interestingly Stewart is also available on a bosman. A former Rangers youth player, I think he's good enough to be a squad player. However I don't see that happening.

15 minutes ago, Franc Ergs said:

We have good relations with them , so offer some sort of buyback deal to Liverpool, job done.

I can guarantee you Liverpool wouldn’t be fussed by a buyback ?

59 minutes ago, craig said:

But that's a very simplistic view to take - admittedly, assists and goals are objective comparables - however, something that I think you are missing is the degree of variability in play, as well as defensive assistance.

I didn't make a positive claim about who is better. I was responding to the claim that basically Kent is the finished article and the master who Middleton needs to aspire to. The stats prove my point as far as I'm concerend that Kent has loads of work to do on his end product and Middleton (despite rustiness in his game and what seemed like a confidence dip) has still easily outdone him in far less time where it really matters for a left forward, providing goal scoring chances and taking them yourself. And I predicted that would be the case when Kent got injured too.

He's a clinical finisher which Kent is certainly not, and a very good crosser which we saw with his assist against St Johnstone. I like Kent and want him to improve but I have my doubts that he has the technical quality required to provide the number of assists Rangers need long term from a winger/forward left player. I would say Murphy does have that technical quality and has been a major loss this season.

1 hour ago, der Berliner said:

The one thing that pushes any price up will be his status as a Liverpool / "EPL player" and the length of his contract.

You’ve summed it up quite well. Solanke went for silly money but he’s not comparable to Kent. 

Kent’s fee will be decided by demand because he’s worthless to Liverpool and that’s why I think he will be valued at about £2m, I don’t think there will be championship clubs willing to pay more than that if making bids at all. 

37 minutes ago, buster. said:

99% of players in the EPL aren't really worth the fee they go for.

 

 

I mean nobody will spend that on him. He has slotted in to Scottish football and is nowhere near the top 10 goals table or assists table despite playing in a forward 3 of the joint top team. You need to really excel in this league to command a fee like that because the Championship is a big step up. 

23 minutes ago, buster. said:

why would they sell Kent for less than 5M ?

Because he’s not worth that. Time will tell but I don’t see Championship clubs clamouring for him at the end of the season, I still think he’s a £2m player and although I like him I wouldn’t spend cash like that on him. 

39 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Really? Because he skinned Lustig? Everyone can skin Lustig. 

 

I think that's going too far. Kent's a good player, with good skills, but his final product is average. I'd certainly like to get him permanently, for a modest fee, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he's the future star of our team.

Agree he’s a good option to have in the squad. As I’ve said loads of times I think your front three all need to be goalscorers and technically very capable. Defensive discipline is way down the priority list for me in that position. 

49 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

If we can do a deal for Kent, I'd be over the moon with the outcome of this transfer window.  I was hoping for a number 10, but if the boss thinks Davis can compete with Arfield for that spot, I trust him.  For me, Kent is the future star of our team and we must get him sorted out now before his value rises.  I know he can be frustrating sometimes, but every time he's on the ball I feel he can do something.  He's the standard that guys like Middleton need to reach if they're going to make it.

This is way over the top. He has it all to prove as far as im concerned. A good dribbler and lots of pace but his end product has been poor all season. I’ve already pointed out that with far fewer minutes (800 fewer) Middleton has 2 more assists than Kent and 2 more goals. 

Snubbing Crystal Palace shows how much of a coup this signing was. It’s worth remembering that two of his 3 best ever EPL seasons were when he was 33 and 34. 

Just now, DMAA said:

I agree but I’ve given up on that already. Might be silly but Davis has been given the number 10 jersey and I think if we had someone lined up for that role we’d have saved it. There have been no serious links and just looking at the centre midfield numbers I think we’re going to be going with Arfield in the attacking mid position with Davis expected to be more creative behind him than Coulibaly/McCrorie. Same goes for Kamara if he comes in. 

And I think Defoe alleviates the need for a no 10 in Gerrard’s mind which I’d agree with because 2 up front is a strong option now. 

53 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

We have enough wingers.  I'd rather we brought Kamara in this month and continued to look for a creative midfielder. 

I agree but I’ve given up on that already. Might be silly but Davis has been given the number 10 jersey and I think if we had someone lined up for that role we’d have saved it. There have been no serious links and just looking at the centre midfield numbers I think we’re going to be going with Arfield in the attacking mid position with Davis expected to be more creative behind him than Coulibaly/McCrorie. Same goes for Kamara if he comes in. 

I think Morelos knew what he was doing but there nowhere near enough force for it to be a red, you’d be sending players off all the time

29 minutes ago, buster. said:

The 3-5-2 option looks good on paper

 

McGregor

McAuley - Goldson - Worrall

Tav - Davis - Jack - Arfield - Barisic

Defoe - Morelos

 

 

I don’t like the formation in general but it certainly fits our squad well now. All 2 up front options need to be looked at because a fully fit Defoe should be starting ahead of Candeias, Coulibaly, McCrorie etc. 

A reminder of how impressive a goalscorer we have on our hands. Truly world class. All these goals were scored aged 33 and 34. 

Good to see Polster is in Tenerife. 

Have to wonder if Gutman is another PR move by Celtic like Allan, Morgan, Shankland and so on. Would be a blow to lose him now because he was offered a contract by Gerrard so he’s been deemed good enough. 

Gerrard said he’d very much be open to playing him alongside Morelos. 2 up front is certainly a better option than it’s been in a long long time for Rangers, especially when Barisic is back. 

To be honest I think only our recruitment department and Gerrard can really judge what is worth accepting. We can complain about what other players have sold for all day long, at the end of the day if they think they can use 7 odd million to make the squad better than it is with Tav then they'll do it. If you're very savvy I don't think that's impossible at all. Tav is 27 so in many ways is at peak value. Polster looks excellent in the clips I've seen and they've seen him up close in training so will know how he compares with Tav.