pete 2,499 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Tomorrow Tuesday the 19th of July Annan Athletic make there way up North to Ibrox to face Rangers in the new look Scottish League cup. Annan were one of the teams who we met on our climb back through the divisions and in fact the last time we played them they beat us 2-1 with Love and Hopkirk scoring overturning a goal by Andy Little. That was then and this is now as they say and Rangers are a far cry from the Ally McCoist team that faced Annan then. Mark Warburton who stepped into the Rangers managers seat at the beginning of last season has structured a total new type of attacking football that we could only have dreamed about back then. At this moment Annan sit on the top league division 2 just 3 letters in front of Arbroath. On Saturday they lost 2-1 to Stranraer while Rangers topped the mini-league on goal-difference, by beating fellow premier league team Motherwell 2-0 at Fir Park. East Stirling who make up the 5 team mini-league have yet to play a game. The Rangers defense looked shaky for the first 15 minutes and looked to have all the same flaws as last season. Rangers were in fact lucky not to be a couple of goals down after that period with Andy Halliday even clearing a Motherwell chance off the goal-line. Rangers took control after that though and got their passing game in motion, looking far the better team for the rest of the game. Just after the break Martin Waghorn cut the ball back to Tavernier who hit a stunning shot into the top right hand corner of the net to give Rangers the lead. Just before the end Tavernier returned the compliment, with an almost identical goal, cutting the ball back to Waghorns who curled the ball into the bottom corner of the same post. Mark Warburton has stated that he will make 6 or 7 changes for the Annan Game with Joey Barton due to make his début coming on for the last half-hour. Barton, when up to full fitness will almost definitely fit into the defensive mid-field role which should help out to steady the defence. Matt Gilks will also make his début in goal and Lee Hodson is probably a certainty for the right-back spot. Clint Hill will be another making his first appearance for the club and hopefully the 37 year old's experience will learn Danny Wilson and Rob Kiernan the finer arts of defending so as they can defend better in the future. Josh Windass will probably be on from the start with the possibility that Joe Dodoo may also get some playing time if his transfer is finalised. There may also possibly be a place for Ryan Hardie up front. I think the starting Line-up will be: Matt Gilks Lee Hodson Rob Kiernan Clint Hill Lee Wallace Josh Windass Jordan Thompson Niko Kranjcar Michael O’Halloran Ryan Hardie Harry Forrester. Jordan Thompson may be more hope as he will probably keep Halliday in there for his experience until Barton comes on after 60 minutes. Edited July 18, 2016 by Frankie 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,677 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Thanks for that Pete. I don't think you'll be too far off with that team. I do think both Waghorn and Forrester will start though given their respective efforts to get fully fit after injury. Not sure Kranjcar will but it's certainly not easy to pick the correct XI at the moment. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 If Waghorn does play then he will be in the centre I think instead of Hardie. I think O’Halloran is a certainty for the wide position. Midfield is difficult to pick as they are not all fit yet. One question. I don't see Fraser Aird on the pool number thread but he is in the player list on the Rangers website which has been updated to Clint Hill. Is he still with us or not? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,780 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Annan Training Gallery http://rangers.co.uk/news/galleries/annan-training-gallery/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,677 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 If Waghorn does play then he will be in the centre I think instead of Hardie. I think O’Halloran is a certainty for the wide position. Midfield is difficult to pick as they are not all fit yet. One question. I don't see Fraser Aird on the pool number thread but he is in the player list on the Rangers website which has been updated to Clint Hill. Is he still with us or not? Aird is still on loan on the MLS. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,677 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Manager has said Kranjcar, Gilks, Hodson, Windass & Hill will all start against Annan. Dodoo pictured training also. Edited July 18, 2016 by Frankie 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 Manager has said Kranjcar, Gilks, Hodson, Windass & Hill will all start against Annan. Dodoo pictured training also. The reason I thought they would play is they either didn't play or only had a half-hour. I am curious if he will give Thompson a place. Did he mention anything about that? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,677 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 The reason I thought they would play is they either didn't play or only had a half-hour. I am curious if he will give Thompson a place. Did he mention anything about that? No but I'd imagine he'll feature at some point - either from the start or a sub. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Personally, I hope there aren't too many changes, three or four, or maybe even five, is fine but I'd like to see the team evolve into the preferred choice while also resting players and giving others a chance. I don't really think you can learn that much from two very different lineups and you don't end up with a settled side. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,677 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) I doubt he'd change the team so drastically normally but the manager has said he's using these games as pre-season matches so it's not a surprise to see us rotate from game to game for the League Cup. Edited July 18, 2016 by Frankie 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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