bmck 117 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 although the tactics - a defensive formation with no match winners and a lone striker who cant hold up the ball - were clearly wrong, i think the harshest reality for me last night was that our players, in general, just aren't cut out for this level of football. this may be harsh, but there was no slick passing and moving - no-one who could take the ball in in a tight area play a pass, and then make space. we were being closed down, but so to were ossasuna, but slick passing got them out and into an attacking position despite us essentially playing five midfielders. i dont think players like adam, murray, boyd will ever reach this level - hutton might get there, burke may, ferguson (our worst player last night?) arguably is - ehigo (?) is past it, weir was decent, and klos was the only player who looked comfortable. super_ally's thread and cammy's posts last week have driven it home just how bad we are. we're like the nine in a row squad with a lower callibre of squad player and none of the match winners. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudbertz 0 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Agree with that Barry. Alot of the team were bad last night, but especially on the left side we were totally ineffective. It will be a joy when Stevie Smith is fit again. I know alot of people will disagree, but id still like to see Boyd in the team.... but Prso is a must starter at this point im afraid. We simply dont have a player as intelligent as him, who's able to drive at a defense and get a result out of it. Klos made some very important saves last night, some that i dont think MacGregor would have saved. Ehiogu did have an absolute nightmare, my heart was in my mouth when Klos came out to claim the ball and Ehiogu got in the way. There's no bones about it.... spending is an absolute must in the summer, and i dont mean on players like McCulloch, Macdonald and the likes. If thats the calibre of players we're going to be bringing in from now on then we can wave bye bye to trophies for a couple more seasons. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CammyF 8,017 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Agree with that Barry. Alot of the team were bad last night, but especially on the left side we were totally ineffective. It will be a joy when Stevie Smith is fit again. I know alot of people will disagree, but id still like to see Boyd in the team.... but Prso is a must starter at this point im afraid. We simply dont have a player as intelligent as him, who's able to drive at a defense and get a result out of it. Klos made some very important saves last night, some that i dont think MacGregor would have saved. Ehiogu did have an absolute nightmare, my heart was in my mouth when Klos came out to claim the ball and Ehiogu got in the way. There's no bones about it.... spending is an absolute must in the summer, and i dont mean on players like McCulloch, Macdonald and the likes. If thats the calibre of players we're going to be bringing in from now on then we can wave bye bye to trophies for a couple more seasons. Thing is Chris, like the last 7 previous close season, we won't spend - our 'better' players will go and they will be replaced by cheaper alternatives. Until we rid the club of the parasite that is masquarading as our Chairman, the only way is down I am afraid. Cammy F 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudbertz 0 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Thing is Chris, like the last 7 previous close season, we won't spend - our 'better' players will go and they will be replaced by cheaper alternatives. Until we rid the club of the parasite that is masquarading as our Chairman, the only way is down I am afraid. Cammy F I know Cammy, that's the way im looking at things too. As i said, spending is an absolute must, but i have severe doubts that DM will do anything but buy second best yet again. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazza_8 233 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 this may be harsh, but there was no slick passing and moving - no-one who could take the ball in in a tight area play a pass, and then make space. we were being closed down, but so to were ossasuna, but slick passing got them out and into an attacking position despite us essentially playing five midfielders. I sat in my seat at Ibrox last night shaking my head at the level of performance. No movement, poor passing, poor 1st touch and no the player who has the ball has no awareness of what's going on around him. I said to my dad that apart from the early Advocaat years we have always been inferior in europe home and away against mediocre teams. Average teams come to Ibrox and rip us to shreads. It's like we play with 9 men in europe. Watching the Osasuna players trap passes they way they did made me jealous. The Rangers players 1st touch is about 6 yards away from them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascender 352 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 If we don't spend and bring in 2 or 3 players who are a clear class above who we have at the moment, its going to be another very long and frustrating season for us. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leppardized2001 0 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Throwing money at the problem and buying 2-3 class players isn't the answer to our problems. Go back to the Laudrup/Gascoigne era, 2 players who at that time would have graced any team in the UK, and we were still getting turned over by teams in the European arena. Rangers problem is the fact that when it comes to coaching kids, Scottish football is about 10-15 years behind the rest of Europe. Only when the white elephant that is Murray Park is correctly utilised, when our youngsters are taught the correct basics, and the overall coaching level at the club improves can we expect to see any sustained improvement. Malky 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CammyF 8,017 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Throwing money at the problem and buying 2-3 class players isn't the answer to our problems. Go back to the Laudrup/Gascoigne era, 2 players who at that time would have graced any team in the UK, and we were still getting turned over by teams in the European arena. Rangers problem is the fact that when it comes to coaching kids, Scottish football is about 10-15 years behind the rest of Europe. Only when the white elephant that is Murray Park is correctly utilised, when our youngsters are taught the correct basics, and the overall coaching level at the club improves can we expect to see any sustained improvement. Malky Cracking post - said similar for years. If, when DA chucked it, DM put all resources into MP we would be reaping the dividends but DM doesn't do long-termism. Cammy F 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I totally agree with all the youth part of what is said above but on last nights game there is one man responsible for the way we played and that is Walter Smith. One striker for a home game against mediocre opposition is an absolute disgrace. We started with our defence on our own 16 metre line and they stayed there for seventy minutes due to weir and hedgi-hog punting the ball up to Boyd who headed it to Mr Nobody, or him proving he couldn't hold a fish supper. Le Guen may have misjudged his signings and the high ball game we play but he understood tactics better than Smith ever will. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elderslieblue 0 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Klos made 2 good saves last night and for that I'm thankful. [McGregor MIGHT have saved them too]. But for me, it was evident from around the 5th minute that the fact Klos was in goal was affecting the whole defence. They'd obviously been told to put the ball anywhere but back to Klos. This in turn affected the midfield who had to play well behind the ball at any potential dangerous situation. Sad fact is, and I've been saying it since he signed for Rangers, Klos is the main weaklink in our side. He refuses to come more than 6 inches off his line and causes pandemonium in the defenders. As a shot-stopper, I've seen very few to beat him. But as a former centre-back myself, I would HATE to have that man playing behind me. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.