[FT] Ross County 1 - 1 Rangers (Hill 8)

[der Berliner 3,744]

.. more like: the Killie game showed how we can play if everyone is up for it. Quite a few can't raise their game when this is not the case and leadership on the park as well as people taking responsibility are not there right now. Something rather evident so far this season, which makes the Killie game the surprising as well as disappointing blip from the norm.

Edited November 8, 2016 by der Berliner

[StuGers 477]

.. more like: the Killie game showed how we can play if everyone is up for it. Quite a few can't raise their game when this is not the case and leadership on the park as well as people taking responsibility are not there right now. Something rather evident so far this season, which makes the Killie game the surprising as well as disappointing blip from the norm.

 

The problem is though that the Killie performance may have not been because of our team but the team we were playing. Killie sat back and that was working for us. As soon as any team presses us high on the pitch we are a shambles.

[pete 2,499]

The problem is though that the Killie performance may have not been because of our team but the team we were playing. Killie sat back and that was working for us. As soon as any team presses us high on the pitch we are a shambles.

 

The warning signs were there when Raith Rovers did it to us last season. Had us all over the place.

[RANGERRAB 3,671]

We cannot expect to bring the ball out from the back in every game. Some teams won't let us & will push up.

When that happens the GK needs to be prepared to play the long ball which we can do now with Garner in the side.

[pete 2,499]

We cannot expect to bring the ball out from the back in every game. Some teams won't let us & will push up.

When that happens the GK needs to be prepared to play the long ball which we can do now with Garner in the side.

 

I agree but then the trick is to push them high up the park and to hunt them in packs as we did last season. that is just not happening this season we are hunting in 1's and 2's and teams like RC are just playing through us.

Edited November 8, 2016 by pete

[Bearman 9]

I'm not sure about the likes of Ross County having the ability to suss us out and 'press' us as some are saying.

 

Too many Rangers players looked to me as if they were having a bad day, sometimes good players can have an off day with others in the side carrying them, this happens often with any team you can think of. The whole team were rotten, no-one, with the exception of KM (just my take) looked up for the game - and that's a real worry.

 

10 times out of 10 the team who has everyone on their game destroys the opposition.

[der Berliner 3,744]

The problem is though that the Killie performance may have not been because of our team but the team we were playing. Killie sat back and that was working for us. As soon as any team presses us high on the pitch we are a shambles.

 

... hence I wrote: "Something rather evident so far this season, which makes the Killie game the surprising as well as disappointing blip from the norm." Our norm is not coping with e.g. County's pressing game, hence the Killie one was a surprise. Disappointing is the norm of us not coping well these days ... mainly because some players don't call up all their abilities.

Edited November 9, 2016 by der Berliner

[Davie P 4]

I have no problem with the Manager's footballing philosophy i.e. playing from the back. However, you do need to have a certain level of player capable of doing so. We do not have the John Stones, Claudio Bravo (moot point at the moment!), Mascherano etc. When you have a Foderingham, Kiernan, Senderos etc. then you need to consider a quicker release to by-pass the high press employed by the opposition. If that means a ball over the top every so often, for variety, then so be it. We dominate all possession stats, but I would be curious to see how much of that possession is actually in our own box, or deep in our defensive half. We just seem incapable of hurting any team and the only match in which we played well (imho), against Killie, they did not attempt to play the high press. As a result of their attempt to park the bus, we were able to have much more possession in dangerous parts of the field and could take the game to them for a change. Hopefully over time, the quality of the players being brought into the club is at a higher level and we can implement the philosophy more efficiently.

[calscot 0]

It really does seem naive to me that we don't force a pressing opposition back with some decent long balls that would bypass most of their team and have them scrabbling on the back foot.

 

As I said before, if we have a system that only works if we have much better players than the opposition then we are by definition, stuffed against Celtic and in Europe. Warburton should be able to recruit on a budget that is equivalent to the likes of Ross County, and use his system to beat them, or he's no better than your average SP manager.

 

I said before he came that if you concentrate on things like playing the ball on the ground and entertaining, you will miss out the task of finding out how best to win and be less likely to achieve that, and it seems to be coming true.

 

I'm again reminded of Yogi who had Falkirk playing a similar style, but due to their budget, it didn't work against more pragmatic sides, and they were subsequently relegated and he was sacked.

 

I've always said that playing football exclusively on the ground doesn't automatically win you games, or even entertain, and I can remember criticising the MK Dons for trying too hard to do so, and while they passed it around very well, playing from back, it ended up as U football, where they rarely attacked the goal, and became quite dull to watch. I did see them beat Wimbledon FC, who were a lower division, but it was pretty tedious going - and now the club that replaced them in south west London are quite a few places above them in League One.

 

There is no fixed football philosophy that wins you stuff - if there was, everyone would do it and so who would win - especially among equal sides? Winning managers are those that continually adapt to the situation and see ways of overcoming the opposition - even if it's not pretty. They are totally focused on winning while managers like Warburton are focused on other things. They beat other managers who have similar budgets and often greater, because they are better and smarter - while also generaly brushing aside the less well financed ones.

 

The much maligned Walter was capable of this, at least for Rangers and Scotland, and until the likes of MW get us to a European final, his type of philosophy will count for little.

Edited November 9, 2016 by calscot

[JFK-1 1,693]

Hopefully we can consider Ross County rock bottom and find a bit of consistency starting with Dundee at Ibrox because the next 4 games could put us right back on track despite all the recent disappointments. We're unbeaten at Ibrox in over a year and tend to play better there so if they turn up and put in a similar performance to that against Kilmarnock call that stage 1 of the recovery.

 

Following Dundee at Ibrox will be Partick away which again if they can just get some consistency going should really be another win. After that are two crucial matches which are they key to putting us back into the minimum second spot we require from this season. Away to Hearts then the sheep at Ibrox just 3 days later. Take full points from all 4 of these matches and we're back on track.

 

Now obviously given the recent inconsistency that may amount to a wish list on my part rather than a likelihood but I still believe this team are indeed capable of it if they just get the sleeves rolled up and their arses into gear. Ideally we want to be in a good position for the winter break and January window when we have been promised some team strengthening.