No Need For A Rant This Week

[craig 5,199]

This thread makes more sense than a rant, so I'll leave the ranting and continue the thread.

 

Winning is everything in football, its what matters. However, when you pay money and watch Rangers (be that via going to games, via TV, via internet etc) you deserve to be entertained. You expect the players representing Rangers to be able to complete the basics of football with no or little effort. You expect your manager and coaching staff to have the team set up in way where all players are playing in their natural positions.

 

You expect the players to be able to retain the ball, you epect them to be able to deliver a corner (or set-piece) without hitting the first defender (or sailing harmlessly past the back post). You have to wonder what we do at Murray Park all day, every day. Going with what we witness on the pitch, it appears we do NOTHING constructive at training.

 

This may come as a surprise, but I believe that we have a decent team - we have some very decent players, but in my opinion, they are not being coached correctly. How else can you explain the lack of creativity, the lack of pace, the lack of determination? The choice of leader is also something the manager MUST take responsibility for. David Weir has had a fantastic career, been a great signing for Rangers and is a great bloke, but he ain't a Rangers captain. There is no leadership on (or off) the pitch - no one to grab the players by the scruff on the neck and get them pulling together.

 

Lastly, WS's statements have become a joke - last season we were faceless and clueless and this season it is our fault that we are out of Europe. WS will have us believe that we demanded attcking football and by giving us what we wanted (BTW I must have blinked and missed the attacking football in Europe) we are now out of Europe. Sorry Walter, the only reason we are out of Europe is that you are clueless when it comes to the CL.

 

As for being 2 points behind Celtc, thats all well and good (well its not really). Lets not forget that this is the worst Celtc start to a season in years - in fact, its worse than John Barnes start to a season - thats how bad they are, thats how bad we are.

 

Some fans may feel that it is OK to be slightly less bad than them - that doesn't wash for me - The Rangers should always strive to be head and shoulders above that lot.

 

As for the lack of finances, the Romanian team that are likely to qualify as 2nd place in our group have spent a tiny % of what we've spent but have been coached correctly. Their most expensive player cost �£350,000 and I'll bet that he isn't on over �£10K per week. WS spent �£3.75M on Kyle Lafferty a player who had scored 6 goals for Burnley.

 

Walter Smith has to go and has to go NOW.

 

Cammy F

 

As many of you know I am far removed from being close to Ibrox these days (my charter pilot wont fly 7,000 mile round trips every week unfortunately) but Cammy you make an excellent point and one which must not be forgotten in that fans still expect to be entertained for what they pay (now, I know S_A will say "fuck entertainment, give me trophies" - which is fair enough). However, our club, like others, has its fair share of glory hunters - not just in terms of trophy hauls but also in terms of quality on the park and the brand of football can impact the financial side of things.

 

Whilst I was at home I met a few fellow Bears (asides from Frankie, bmck, ian1964 etc) and I was almost astounded at how consistently I heard "we are playing such poor football these days that I am strongly considering giving up my season ticket next season" - my uncle for one who is 47 and has been an ST holder since he was a kid. And other long standing ST holders.

 

So whilst we can talk about the spending of money on players we also have to consider whether WS and his brand of football (I wont hold him solely to blame as the players are also culpable) will ultimately drive fans away from what is undoubtedly a poor product. And given you can still pick up season tickets for this seaon I doubt that these lost fans would be easily replaced.

 

Another financial aspect you have to consider is lost revenues. Whilst WS may not hold the purse strings (and I have long agreed here calscot that the majority of blame for the overspend of the Kaunas debacle lays with SDM and Bain, WS is still culpable because his spending policy was of a scatter-gun approach). But that brings us to that fateful day when we lost to Kaunas - surely WS (and the team) have to accept a level of fiscal responsibility for losing the club millions of pounds in revenues from a Euro campaign being finished before it began ?

 

That said there is most certainly mitigation given the UEFA run, I will admit that. Sadly SDM and Bain spewed a chunk of that revenue up in player bonuses - almost such that it seems that the only folks who benefitted from that run were the overpaid players themselves - the club certainly doesnt seem to have banked a great deal of the cash from that run.

 

I came into this season very hopeful - having watched out performances in the Emirates Cup and particularly against Man City pre-season we were playing some very fluid, attractive football with sharp passing, decent movement, swift breaking and lots of chance creation. But August already seems as if it is in the distant past sadly - something is wrong because those same players now look like they are lost as soon as they step onto a football pitch.

[calscot 0]

Seriously, every time you mention "17 points" I think Gersnet should make a donation to charity.

 

 

 

Christ on a bike what next, he knots his ties in a better way than Advocaat?

 

And how about every time you make a derisory post with absolutely no real content? Do you really have anything constructive to say or are snidy remarks your complete repertoire?

 

I've made plenty of points that could be discussed, but you seem completely incapable of doing so.

[calscot 0]

calscot is starting to take over Super_Ally's 'Head in the Sand Champion of gersnet' crown.

 

Another one line post of empty, repetitive rhetoric. You disagree with me so I must have my head in the sand. In what way do you disagree? Who knows? You haven't answered a single point.

 

You should get the award for the most posts to original thought ratio.

[calscot 0]

If the spend of the Romanian champions can be compared with how much Walter has spent, then I have to say, he's looking pretty good compared to the managers of Seville and Stuttgart.

 

But back in reality, if players are on 10 grand a week in Romania then they are far better paid than our players in relative terms.

 

Does anyone understand world economics? Cammy - I don't know how much traveling you've done but you don't seem to understand that value of money does not translate between all countries.

 

Incredibly poor and repetitive argument that has already been dealt with on another thread.

 

If I have my head in the sand then how come so many people keep coming out with the same poorly thought out stuff that completely ignores all previous counter arguments?

 

These days, people on here seem more intent on brow beating and insults than actually making an attempt to convince people of their opinions with rational thought and factual evidence.

 

And before anyone childishly tries to tar me with that brush, please have a look back on my posts and have a proper think about it.

[calscot 0]

While I acknowledge that attractive football is desirable, do we really need to coach our players in increasing the entertainment?

 

I used to play 5-aside with a good player who only liked to score spectacular goals - but the frustrating thing was that he'd score so many more if he just took the shot the simple way. Is that what we want.

 

There is also the point that people are ignoring that Walter HAS changed the formation from 4-5-1 he HAS changed the tactics to play the ball more on the deck, so really what do fans want from him short of spending 100M on world class players?

 

I'd also like to know where is all the fantastic football we're missing bar the top of the Premiership or abroad?

 

I've been to quite a few Dons games and I would say they are less entertaining than most Rangers games I've seen.

 

Are Kilmarnock, Airdrie, Cowdenbeath fans getting better entertainment?

 

Why also has there been so much criticism after a game against Falkirk where both teams played the ball on the deck and passed it around, but which resulted in a draw - I didn't see people give Walter style points then while the papers raved about how good a game it was - Walter still got it in the neck from fans.

 

I've seen dire football from every manager we've had in the last 30 years and ironically the most enjoyable was from Walter's first stint. And some of the most watchable football was actually in his final year when Marco Negri was scoring a barrel load. The style of football was excellent yet Walter left under a cloud for being pipped at the post in league.

[aftershock 0]

I was the same as you Craig. Watching pre-season and the way we were playing fast attacking football, I couldn't wait for the season to start but a couple of games into it and something went wrong. Whether thats due to injuries to important first team players or just a lack of confidence throughout the team for some reason I dont know.

I remember when we signed Rothen saying on the forum that Davis, Thomson, Mendes and Rothen would hopeully make a great midfield but not one of those players has played anywhere near the standard required at Rangers so far this season.

I was a WS supporter but I have to say the way he continually plays players out of position, changes the team on a weekly basis and he cant be coaching corners or free-kicks as they are woeful (and have been for a long time) then I can't wait til our financial predicament is over and we get a new management team. Although that wont be til next season I would think.

[calscot 0]

I think we'd all want a new management IF they were GUARANTEED to take our current squad, spend no money and turn them into a much better team playing much better football and winning many more games.

 

But there lies the problem. PLG was the best candidate in Europe to do this but failed to deliver on all counts. In fact Walter Smith actually achieved the above after taking over.

 

There are no guarantees and look at the list of candidates we can now afford or attract - with no contract to offer either.

 

About the best we could expect would be Levein and is he really going to do any better than Walter?

 

And there is an esoteric question. Just what criteria would you judge him on? Trophies won, points gained, place in the league?

 

Or how attractive the football is?

 

How do we judge the latter? Do we appoint a committee to judge each game on the quality and aesthetics of the football played? When it drops below a certain standard do we sack the manager and replace him until we find one who provides a very watchable game for a sustained period of time?

 

Just what will the manager's objectives and key performance indicators be?

 

And is now the best time to start the ball rolling with the financial constraints that won't even stretch to a contract for the manager, where players are likely to be sold and while the owner and bank are actively trying to get the club into new hands?

 

I've said it many times, managers buy time with their position in the league and trophies recently won.

 

The CL is not somewhere we are in a position to compete at the moment and if European results were used to fire managers we'd have had about 40 managers in the last 50 years, so those results are irrelevant at this time.

 

Walter has bought himself time until our league position drops too many points behind the leaders.

 

In my opinion we have more chance of winning the league this season with Walter behind the helm than without him.

 

If people want a change of manager, then maybe it's time to show patience and thoal it until we either have a new regime at the top or until the end of the season.

 

It's time to deal with the reality of the situation instead of endless, nonconstructive whinging.

Edited December 3, 2009 by calscot

[Guest BillyMac]

there are lot things being said that I agree with and it is definitely time for Walter to move on formations are fine and well if you have the players with necessary skills to fulfill that role and playing players out of their natural position is almost criminal

if there is anybody out there that can tell me why we have all 11 players in and around our penalty at corners especially in the spl, if you look around the spl there teams with one or two players in their respective teams that can actually trap a ball

I ask the question what do they with their time at Murray park play cards its definitely not honing their skills

[CammyF 8,408]

If the spend of the Romanian champions can be compared with how much Walter has spent, then I have to say, he's looking pretty good compared to the managers of Seville and Stuttgart.

 

But back in reality, if players are on 10 grand a week in Romania then they are far better paid than our players in relative terms.

 

Does anyone understand world economics? Cammy - I don't know how much traveling you've done but you don't seem to understand that value of money does not translate between all countries.

 

Incredibly poor and repetitive argument that has already been dealt with on another thread.

 

If I have my head in the sand then how come so many people keep coming out with the same poorly thought out stuff that completely ignores all previous counter arguments?

 

These days, people on here seem more intent on brow beating and insults than actually making an attempt to convince people of their opinions with rational thought and factual evidence.

 

And before anyone childishly tries to tar me with that brush, please have a look back on my posts and have a proper think about it.

 

I have done as much travelling as the next man (or woman) and understand world economics as much as the next man (or woman). You just don't get my point - the romanian club have assembled a squad of players that are as good as, if not better than the one assembled at Ibrox for much less financial input and outlay. If they can attract players for fees of under �£350,000 and pay them a pitance compaired to us, then surely we can attract such players? I also said that they appear to be getting coached properly in comparison to Rangers players at this time.

 

Seville are currently well placed in their league and have qualified for the later stages of the CL. Stuttgart are struggling in their league and could be relegated. Yet, we they still OUTCLASSED us at Ibrox.

 

Walter Smith is the man charged with coaching Rangers and with setting out tactics etc. Taking last week as an example, he couldn't manage to break down an Aberdeen team who were reduced to 10 men and were playing without any recognised centre-halves.

 

Maybe if he didn't spend all our money on centre-halves and centre-forwards, we wouldn't have to witness players shoe-horned into positions and have 50% of outfield players playing out of postion. Again, taking last week as an example, we have one centre midfield player on the pitch and he was playing WIDE RIGHT

 

As I said above, WS has run out of defences, his time has come - he must go.

 

Cammy F

[Zappa 0]

You just don't get my point - the romanian club have assembled a squad of players that are as good as, if not better than the one assembled at Ibrox for much less financial input and outlay. If they can attract players for fees of under �£350,000 and pay them a pitance compaired to us, then surely we can attract such players?

There's no reason we couldn't attract those type of players or basically buy better quality players for less money, but as for paying them a pittance, you have to remember that the cost of living & property in somewhere like Romania is far far lower.

 

Stuttgart are struggling in their league and could be relegated. Yet, we they still OUTCLASSED us at Ibrox.

Stuttgart have started their season really badly, but they have a high quality squad & there's absolutely no way they'll get relegated IMO.