A disappointing defeat but is Warburton winning?

[Frankie 8,652]

Although fans are usually fairly interested in pre-season friendlies to check the progress of the team ahead of the new campaign, last night's fixture against Burnley was different for various other reasons - primarily the fact it was our only home friendly of the summer and, indeed, the only game fans could watch/attend while, of course, it was also the Ibrox début of the new management team with eight new players also playing their first game in Glasgow! This resulted in a decent crowd of over 22,000 fans while thousands more watched the game online via RangersTV.

 

Unfortunately, the final result wasn't what the watching fans were hoping for. On the face of it a 0-1 reverse at Ibrox is a disappointment but only the most negative of viewers would take that outcome alone from the game. In fact, for the first 30mins especially and for most of the last 20mins, Rangers were by far the better side and on another day would have scored several goals; not to mention being denied a stonewall penalty from referee Steven McLean in the opening period. Furthermore, while the performance was good per se, most Rangers fans will be equally enthused by the style of play. Long balls were kept to an absolute minimum and from goalkeeper Wes Foderingham out, every single player was expected to retain possession and build from the back. Conversely, when not on the ball, the rest of the team (outwith the striker and, interestingly, one of the wide-men) worked hard to defend in numbers. Indeed, other than some poor defending at the Burnley goal, we restricted the Championship side to very few chances and looked well organised for the bulk of the game.

 

Let's look at the positives and negatives of the game:

 

Positives:

 

- Nearly every player showed up well with only one or two falling out of the game for short periods.

- Was particularly impressed with Tavernier, Halliday, Holt, Aird and Walsh.

- Excellent football at times; full of short triangles, width and exploitation of space.

- Every player had their own responsibilities and most delivered accordingly.

- We tried our best to play from the back at all times despite some very tight situations.

- Lots of hard work from the midfield as they not only supported the attack but covered defensively.

- A fair number of good openings and chances created. On another day we would have scored three or four goals.

 

Negatives:

 

- A very poor goal to lose direct from a goal-kick.

- After we conceded the goal, we lost our focus and shape for five to ten mins.

- We were perhaps over-elaborate in and around both boxes at times.

- Waghorn and Clark did OK as the lone striker in each half but were occasionally isolated and the lack of an alternative (e.g. a genuine target man) is a concern.

 

 

Despite the problems listed above, it was nevertheless pleasing to note the manager acknowledge these issues in his post-match interview whilst correctly pointing out the fact we're only midway through our pre-season schedule. However, while Mark Warburton clearly considers the Challenge and League Cup games over the next ten days as somewhat less important than the league kick-off proper in a fortnight, fans may be less understanding if we struggle against Hibs and/or Peterhead over the next two weeks. Most supporters will certainly appreciate it takes time to put together what is effectively a whole new team and style of play but Warburton will surely be as keen as the expectant fans to hit the ground running at Easter Road on Saturday lunch-time.

 

To that end, another two to three signings would be agreeable. Certainly the acquisition of Jason Holt will help in a creative sense and we seem to have enough depth defensively as well - even if Marius Zaliukas may be deemed surplus to requirements and moved on. Similarly, in midfield the manager used nine players last night and, if the inescapable Scott Allan rumours finally firm up, that gives us at least ten options there (though again you'd expect at least two players to be sold or sent on loan). This means, we are only really short on numbers in attack and, given our lack of goals last night and through last season, this issue is worth some specific comment.

 

Clearly the purchase of Martyn Waghorn will go some way to solving this conundrum and it's unfair to judge the player on 60mins in one friendly after just a day at the club. However, if we're being candid, his goalscoring history isn't great and our other options remain equally unproven and, well, unreliable. For example, Kenny Miller and Nicky Clark have shown up well in patches and will certainly work hard in every game but the fact remains they don't score enough goals and may not provide the physical presence such a lone striker role demands. This leaves Ryan Hardie who, despite being an exciting young talent, is also rather raw and lightweight to lead the line for a whole season. As such, signing another striker should be a priority and the rumours about Stevie May may well fit with the kind of player we need but even he has risks attached. Unfortunately, good strikers and goalscoring target men don't come cheaply so it remains to be seen if Warburton goes with what we have or looks to Dave King to provide a fair whack of our season ticket money to bring in a striker that will compliment his impressive work so far. Perhaps once the English sides submit their squads for the season, one or two quality targets may become available then?

 

All in all, last night's performance was a good one and there can't be many Rangers fans out there who won't have acknowledged the obvious improvement in our style of play. The new management team deserve credit for implementing this in such short order and it will be genuinely exciting to see this new squad develop over the coming weeks as last night showed we're close to putting a dangerous Rangers team on the park again for the first time in a long time. In that sense, the jigsaw is taking shape but we're still one or two pieces away from completing the puzzle. Let's hope that happens quickly...!

[BlueMazza 0]

Thanks Frankie. I never got a chance to see the game last night so this was a useful summary

[trublusince1982 243]

The plan looks superb.

The manager is fantastic.

Think I have a man crush on travernier!

Halliday was far better than I thought he would be. Very impressed.

Law looks far better in this line up.

 

Unfortunately he doesn't have the players this year. Whoever said Kiernan and Wilson were good with the ball at their feet has been drinking the coolaid.the keepers a donkey. Bell will be number 1. We don't look like scoring. Don't see even 30 goals out the front 3.

 

All in, things look very very good in the long run. Short term we have big problems.

[Frankie 8,652]

The plan looks superb.

The manager is fantastic.

Think I have a man crush on travernier!

Halliday was far better than I thought he would be. Very impressed.

Law looks far better in this line up.

 

Unfortunately he doesn't have the players this year. Whoever said Kiernan and Wilson were good with the ball at their feet has been drinking the coolaid.the keepers a donkey. Bell will be number 1. We don't look like scoring. Don't see even 30 goals out the front 3.

 

All in, things look very very good in the long run. Short term we have big problems.

 

I thought Foderingham was absolutely fine - dealt with everything thrown his way and had no chance at the goal. Some of his longer kicking/passing wasn't always accurate but it's still at least as good as Bell's. Generally his distribution and work with the ball at his feet was very good.

 

As for Kiernan and Wilson, I thought their passing was fine as well - though again their longer balls weren't as good but these were kept to a minimum. I was more concerned that they misjudged a long ball or two but this was highlighted at the goal so should be addressed easily enough.

 

The final third was the main issue and I suspect that will be sorted. Allan and Holt look as if they'll come in along with another striker. Meanwhile, I'd expect Templeton, McKay and Shiels to leave if we can find them clubs.

[chilledbear 16]

Agree about the front three, Waghorn I can forgive and hope he comes good with more time. Templeton and McKay are wingers and too slight, which is not enough for 4-3-3. We need a stronger presence to play up front, ideal would be Jamie Murphy [sheffield United] and Dallas [brentford], though perhaps would cost too much.

[Guest GHMan]

I thought Foderingham was absolutely fine - dealt with everything thrown his way and had no chance at the goal. Some of his longer kicking/passing wasn't always accurate but it's still at least as good as Bell's. Generally his distribution and work with the ball at his feet was very good.

 

As for Kiernan and Wilson, I thought their passing was fine as well - though again their longer balls weren't as good but these were kept to a minimum. I was more concerned that they misjudged a long ball or two but this was highlighted at the goal so should be addressed easily enough.

 

The final third was the main issue and I suspect that will be sorted. Allan and Holt look as if they'll come in along with another striker. Meanwhile, I'd expect Templeton, McKay and Shiels to leave if we can find them clubs.

 

Tend to agree with all your response Frankie. Left the ground reasonably happier but feeling we need to add a striker. Hopefully MW can do something on that in next 10 days or so.

[Frankie 8,652]

Tend to agree with all your response Frankie. Left the ground reasonably happier but feeling we need to add a striker. Hopefully MW can do something on that in next 10 days or so.

 

Cheers mate.

 

Welcome to the forum!

[RANGERRAB 3,732]

The plan looks superb.

The manager is fantastic.

Think I have a man crush on travernier!

Halliday was far better than I thought he would be. Very impressed.

Law looks far better in this line up.

 

Unfortunately he doesn't have the players this year. Whoever said Kiernan and Wilson were good with the ball at their feet has been drinking the coolaid.the keepers a donkey. Bell will be number 1. We don't look like scoring. Don't see even 30 goals out the front 3.

 

All in, things look very very good in the long run. Short term we have big problems.

 

Bell No1 ? Not a chance !!

[gisabeer 409]

The plan looks superb.

The manager is fantastic.

Think I have a man crush on travernier!

Halliday was far better than I thought he would be. Very impressed.

Law looks far better in this line up.

 

Unfortunately he doesn't have the players this year. Whoever said Kiernan and Wilson were good with the ball at their feet has been drinking the coolaid.the keepers a donkey. Bell will be number 1. We don't look like scoring. Don't see even 30 goals out the front 3.

 

All in, things look very very good in the long run. Short term we have big problems.

 

Very over critical comments given the short space of time the management team has been in the job. I had doubts about our signing policy, more so the age and quality of the players brought in but at no time during last nights game did i think that any of our players were out of their depth. I was very impressed with our passing, our movement and our overall game play. It wasnt 100 percent perfect but there was enough to see (for me at least) that we have a manager that has the potential to take us to where we want to be.

 

There is a key word in every interview in Warburtons interviews. Its development. Bringing a young squad of players through and making them better players for the benefit of the club. That takes time and patience not only from the manager but from the support too. Their will be slip ups along the way and disappointments to boot, as fans we ave to sit back and let Warburton do his job. We also have to stop jumping on the critical bandwagon every time we falter.

 

Give our new manager the time and space to do his job and give him the support that he needs . I am convinced he will be a success at our club what ever level we are playing at.

Edited July 22, 2015 by gisabeer

[der Berliner 3,803]

Perhaps we, as a support, should relax a little too and hold back with utter black & white comments. The English language is quite diverse and there simply is not just brilliant and woeful, nor star and donkey.

 

Regarding yesterday, we should keep in mind that e.g. Waghorn was playing a game after about half a day's of training with his new colleagues. It will take all a few days more to create compact units and getting to know each other's wave-length. I doubt that this will happen within the next few days, albeit there is hope it will. The "good" thing regarding Saturday is that Hibs will have no idea about some 7 or 8 players that will run out for us.