Frankie 8,562 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 (edited) Preview from Pete: Just about 10 months ago Mark Warburton walked through the doors at Ibrox. After 10 months it can be safely said he has turned Rangers on a complete 180 degree u-turn. Right away after taking charge there were signs to see that things were changing inside our club. While I dislike running Ally McCoist down, I think one thing that will be remembered is that he was lying on the beach in Portugal 2 weeks before we had to play a very important European match. Defeats against Malmo and Malibor saw a weak unfit looking Rangers slip out of Europe against the Scandinavian teams who were well into their season. Fast forward 4 years and Warburton calls the few players he still had left, (as 11 players were released) 5 weeks before the start of the season. Warburton had a team to build and wanted his team to play a high pressing, high tempo kind of football. Very few could have imagined in their highest dreams the Rangers team that that hit the start blocks and tore their opponents apart. All the promotion pretenders including Hibernian, St Mirren and Queen of the South were blown away with the high tempo and movement this Rangers team was producing. Then all of a sudden the championship teams seemed to have caught on to the Rangers system. Teams were playing tight at the back and their fitness levels seemed to improve vastly. Yes they were parking the so called bus but in my mind nobody can deny the level the fitness and tempo of the whole Championship had rocketed to a new level. Now there are always surprises in cup games but if we look at how the cups have fathomed out, nearly every premiership team has lost to a championship team. We could even be looking at a Scottish cup final that is a championship event. You have to ask yourself has Mark Warburton not only raised this Rangers team but has he also raised the top of the championship to a level at least equal to the premiership? Personally from what I have seen from premiership matches the tempo and fitness levels are far higher in the Championship. Hibs victories over Aberdeen, Hearts and Inverness, plus, Dundee chasing shadows against Rangers in the Scottish cup is testament to that. Premiership clubs can of course point to the St Johnstone win against Rangers and Ross County beating Hibs in the League cup final, but the fact is Hibs and Rangers dominated large parts of these games and naivety and luck probably played a bigger role than skill and Stamina. Another big point on the premiership's side was Ross County whipping Falkirk 7-0. I don't think anyone knows where that result came from and I am sure Peter Houston would have been shell-shocked, but life does throw up some freak things at times and this result stuck out like a woman with 2 heads. Falkirk are in fact one of the teams that raised their game and and knocked premiership Partick Thistle out of the the league cup. Any season will throw up a couple of surprises but when you look at all the championship teams that have knocked, Premiership opposition, out of the cup competitions, this points more to a trend. Dare I say that Mark Warburton started a process that not only changed Rangers but has turned Scottish football upside down and possibly apart from Celtic the Championship is the strongest league in Scotland. Roll on a Championship cup final. Rangers visit Falkirk tonight which will be a daunting task. Peter Houston has Falkirk playing as a well drilled, extremely difficult to break down team. Add to that the fact they can also be awesome going forward, makes a recipe that has put them in second position in the league. They are 3 points ahead of Hibs all be it with Hibs having 2 games in hand. With the poor form Hibs have been showing recently only a brave person would put their money on Hibs winning these games. The last time we visited the Falkirk Stadium we recorded our second defeat in the League. A goal early in each half answered by a single goal by Barrie McKay gave Falkirk a 2-1 win. Martyn Waghorn missed a penalty in the dying seconds which should have given Rangers a share of the points. Mark Warburton has stated that this is not a revenge match but just another 3 points in the race to the Championship title. The title and promotion to the top tier comes nearer with every passing game. With Rangers having a far superior goal difference 10 points should be enough to take the title. Deep down and away from the camera's though I think Warburton and his players will feel that they want to amend that defeat and the smell of revenge will be sweet. Waghorn, Zelalem and Templeton are all still out injured and will play no part in the game. One has to question whether we will see any of them again this season and in the Templeton and Zelalem case that would mean we may never see them pulling on a Rangers top again. I doubt if many Rangers fans will lose sleep over that but it would be nicer to see players leave the club in a blaze of glory instead of slinking through the front door to a mass silence. I think the team will be: O'Halloran, Lets hope revenge will be sweet and we see a grumpy Mr Houston after the game. Falkirk though, could follow us to the the Premier league through the play-offs. I think it will be the Championship team that gets promoted as Scottish football is, in my opinion, standing on it's head. That will become apparent on sunday April the 17th but for now "One game at a time. Come on the Gers!!!! Edited March 18, 2016 by Frankie 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,721 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Opposition Focus: Falkirk RANGERS take on Falkirk on Friday night and we’ve pulled together this preview looking at them and matches between the sides. CLUB INFO: FORMED: 1876 NICKNAME: The Bairns LEAGUE POSITION: 2nd MANAGER: Peter Houston CAPTAIN: David McCracken VICE CAPTAIN: Will Vaulks PREVIOUS MATCH STATS: ALL MATCHES WON: 158 DRAWN: 34 LOST: 24 FOR: 533 AGAINST: 189 AWAY MATCHES WON: 69 DRAWN: 18 LOST: 18 FOR: 235 AGAINST: 106 TOP SCORERS: RANGERS: Martyn Waghorn 28 FALKIRK: John Baird 18 ONE TO WATCH: Danny Rogers Goalkeeper Danny Rogers joined the Bairns as Peter Houston’s first signing of the summer and a direct replacement for Jamie MacDonald who moved up a league to join Kilmarnock. Rogers, 21, also has international experience having been capped at both under 19 and under 21 level for Republic of Ireland despite being born in New York, USA. He is on loan for the season from Aberdeen and has played in 34 games already this season, keeping 14 clean sheets and conceding 33 goals playing 3,060 minutes. Rogers also saved a stoppage time penalty from Martyn Waghorn the last time the Gers travelled to Falkirk, which if it had been converted could have drawn the match 2-2. FAST FACTS The most regular scoreline between Rangers and Falkirk has been either 2-0 or 4-0, which have both occurred on 17 occasions. Rangers tended to leave it late in matches with the Bairns last season. Of the nine league goals scored against Falkirk over the four games, seven were scored in the last half hour. This season, the Gers have scored three of their five goals within the last ten minutes of matches. Rangers have scored five goals against Falkirk this season, each scored by a different player with Dean Shiels, James Tavernier, Lee Wallace, Barrie McKay and Billy King all hitting the back of the net. Tully Craig (1935-50), John Prentice (1966-68 & 73-75), Ian McCall (2002-03) and Steven Pressley (2010-13) have all managed Falkirk since the war having previously played for Rangers. Both teams to score might be your best bet when it comes to this fixture. In the last six games between the sides both teams have netted at least once. Barrie McKay’s goal at the Falkirk Stadium during the 2-1 defeat in December was Rangers’ 400th league goal against the Bairns. Rangers have only failed to find the net in two of the last 96 league meetings with Falkirk, a 0-0 draw at Brockville in March 1974 and a 1-0 defeat at the Falkirk Stadium in December 2006, the latter being Rangers’ last loss in the fixture. OPPOSITION VIEW Will Vaulks: “I seem to only score good goals against them, so hopefully there will be another. I thought the last time we played them at home when we won 2-1 we were brilliant. “I thought we dominated that game against a team like Rangers, except from a bit of pressure in the last 25 minutes when we had to defend well. The fact that we have already taken points off them should give us belief that we can, especially with us being at home. I fancy us.” Peter Houston: “Our fans expect us to be in the play-offs but it does not mean they think we can’t beat Hibs or Rangers every time we play them. “There is more pressure when budgets are higher, when teams have more fans. Hibs have more fans than us and Rangers have more than Hibs. The expectations become greater the higher you go. “Our expectations from our punters were to get to the play-offs but I think now they’re to finish second – that’s the nature of the beast. Our expectations levels as a group is to get up.” PREVIOUS RESULTS Last 5 Away Results vs Falkirk L (1-2) 19/12/2015 D (1-1) 27/02/2015 W (3-1) 23/09/2014 W (2-0) 15/08/2014 W (2-0) 30/11/2013 Last 5 Results vs Falkirk W (1-0) 30/01/2016 L (1-2) 19/12/2015 W (3-1) 03/10/2015 D (2-2) 25/04/2015 D (1-1) 27/02/2015 THE LAST TIME Billy King was the hero for Rangers as his last-gasp goal gave Rangers a remarkable, and crucial, Championship victory over third place Falkirk at Ibrox. The on-loan Hearts man only signed for the club on Thursday but his impact was immediate this afternoon as he pulled his side out of a hole with a superb headed finish in injury time. With fans waiting for the final whistle and expecting both sides to share a point each, James Tavernier picked the ball up on the right and his accurate cross was met by King who glanced the ball past Danny Rogers before celebrating in front of a jubilant Copland Stand. It was a quite sensational way to end a match which, for 90 minutes, had failed to live up to pre-match expectations with both teams unable to hit top form. READ A FULL MATCH REPORT HERE HOW TO WATCH If you’re outside the UK or Ireland then you can enjoy the whole game live on RangersTV. Regular commentator Tom Miller will be joined by former Ger Hugh Burns to bring you full commentary throughout the 90 minutes. To purchase the game for £5.99 click here, or sign up for a RangersTV Unlimited subscription here to enjoy every game live. If you’re based in the UK/ROI you can relive the full match and extended highlights from midnight. To watch every competitive match this season on-demand you can subscribe from as little as £5 per month by clicking here http://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/opposition-focus-falkirk-4/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,743 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Friday - 18th March 2016 - KO 19.45 The Scottish Championship Falkirk Stadium versus Referee - Kevin Clancy Assistants - Stuart Stevenson and Stuart Hodge Fourth Official - Andrew Dallas Missing - David Templeton (Knee, back running), Martyn Waghorn (Knee), Gedion Zelalem (about 2 weeks away) Live on - BT Sport and Rangers TV 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 (edited) <Preview now in original post> Edited March 18, 2016 by Frankie 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,562 Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 [tweet]710772338673979392[/tweet] 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Falkirk had a go at Ibrox and looked useful going forward. Let's hope they make a game of it tonight. I think Forrester and O'Halaron will play as the squad is rotated. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Falkirk had a go at Ibrox and looked useful going forward. Let's hope they make a game of it tonight. I think Forrester and O'Halaron will play as the squad is rotated. Falkirk must go for a result as they need 3 points. They have nothing to lose really as the 4th place is miles behind them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacK1950 2,376 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Looks like poor referee again ,has done thirty games with 123 yellow cards given out and a good number of reds,obviously not one to let a game flow. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 6,082 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Falkirk must go for a result as they need 3 points. They have nothing to lose really as the 4th place is miles behind them. I believe Falkirk have a couple of first eleven suspensions and injuries reference tonight. Mark Kerr is suspended and Peter the Pointer's son is injured. A loss of experience, running power, and height in the midfield. Anyways, it's all about us; if we crank up what Houston refers to as, 'Rangers power play', we will prevail. Given the on going situation between BBC Scotland and Rangers, Houston will have both pre-match and post match stage to himself. I hope he is spitting venom with his bulldog licking pysh from a nettle face to the full fore. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 it's on BT sport so we'll get interviews with our guys as well 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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