So who is in and out of form?

[Danny 0]

Ok, so clearly we have a lot of players in key roles who are currently in poor form, who are they?

 

Davis is a prime candidate, hasn't produced anything since Naismith was injured. He was pivotal prior to that. Been awful for ages now.

 

Wylde - isn't getting a lot of game time right now and isn't really doing much when he is.

 

McGregor - isn't making his usual brilliant saves, completely suspect from cross balls and has made quite a few clangers this season. Last night was the first time I actually realised Celtic's keeper is playing better than ours - his saves at Udinese were superb.

 

Whittaker - After an awful start to the season he improved, but has slipped back into mediocre form. Getting caught out of position a lot, and isn't producing the goods in attack that he used to.

 

Jelavic - has still been scoring a good amount but his touch is gone, his body language isn't what it was last year and he just isn't playing with the panache he used to.

 

The players who are ok or decent are:

 

Goian - apart from the mare he had against St Mirren he's been in very good shape, and has been consistent since he arrived.

 

Boca - been a very good signing - great positional sense, very intelligent reader of the game and is an attacking threat. Also uses the ball very well.

 

Wallace - hasn't done much wrong since joining. Gets forward well, and supports defence when he can.

 

Papac - been pretty consistent this season - probably the best he's played since joining.

 

Aluko - tough one to call, he's being played on his weaker side, but he is lively and can beat men. Problem is teams like Celtic mark him with about 3 men.

 

So we have maybe 5 key players out of form, and 5 key players doing well. Pity all bar one of the ones playing well are defenders.

[stewarty 2,123]

Shagger - agreed. Solid but not quite his usual standard.

 

Whittaker, Papac - agreed on both.

 

Boca was the standout last night I thought and has been pretty consistent.

 

Goian's had a dip in form I felt over the last few games.

 

Aluko - has flashes of good play but drifts a bit, especially second half.

 

McCulloch - only effective at times. Largely ineffective though.

 

Edu - good start to the season but our poor form has coincided with a dip from him. I don't think the team's form depends on Edu though.

 

Wylde - young and inexperienced wingers always likely to have periods of good and bad form. Needs to work on crossing the ball under pressure and also at keeping the team's width and playing more on the shoulder of his marker. With his pace he should get into more goal scoring positions, especially on the break.

 

Davis - has been awful for months. I'd drop him and give the armband to Captain America.

 

Jelavic - obviously has his head elsewhere. Time to cash in, as much as it pains me to say it. That said, he's thriving on next to no service whatsoever apart from hopeful punts from the back. No wonder he's maybe feeling disillusioned.

 

Lafferty - couple of injuries hampered him but has been pretty consistent and scoring fairly regularly. Similar to Jelavic though, he would score far more if he actually had some service that he can work with.

[Danny 0]

Can't disagree with much of what you said.

 

But if we dropped Davis, who would play the creative CM role?

[stewarty 2,123]

Can't disagree with much of what you said.

 

But if we dropped Davis, who would play the creative CM role?

 

There is a role for a creative midfielder in the team currently?!

 

Kidding.

 

I'd play Fleck. Seems to be a weekly saying of mine but he should get a minimum 10/12 starts consecutively. Tell the lad he's playing and what role we need him to play. We need to see if he's capable and we are short on other options. Every time you read other players talking of him they all rate him highly. Time for him to step up

[GovanAllan 0]

Can't disagree with much of what you said.

 

But if we dropped Davis, who would play the creative CM role?

 

Give Bendiksen and Fleck a go in the middle they can't be any worse than we have at the moment.

[Zappa 0]

But if we dropped Davis, who would play the creative CM role?

 

Give Bendiksen and Fleck a go in the middle they can't be any worse than we have at the moment.

 

Much as he probably deserves a stint on the bench, Davis will never be dropped for poor form because he's one of our biggest player assets and dropping him to the bench would reduce his transfer value.

[GovanAllan 0]

Much as he probably deserves a stint on the bench, Davis will never be dropped for poor form because he's one of our biggest player assets and dropping him to the bench would reduce his transfer value.

 

Playing like crap week after week will make him unsellable so his value is in decline both ways, a couple of games on the bench might just be what he needs.

[Zappa 0]

Playing like crap week after week will make him unsellable so his value is in decline both ways, a couple of games on the bench might just be what he needs.

 

Good point Allan.

[54andcounting 0]

All good teams have a 'Nightmare' spell, and Rangers are no different. That 15 point lead was never going to continue into a 20 or 30 gap. To be honest I started to think 'Gers just had to turn up and bag 3 points EVERY game, and no doubt the players thought so too, becoming over confident and thinking they just had to take to the field and everything would take care of itself, that's how MUCH better Rangers were than the rest after just 1/3rd of the season.

 

Probably for the best it's a whole new ball game now, we are behind and have to start taking it seriously. I'm 100% certain the players who have delivered in the past will wake up soon and say "Right lad's, let's go get those bastards, the holiday's over"

 

Most of our players have been out of form for a while now, when they get it all together again, the Mhanks will be panic. Can't wait!