Oleg_Mcnoleg 50 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 (edited) Living in 'that London', I've only been to five games this season. Although I've watched almost all the rest, it's not the same. However, that's not going to stop my ill-considered ranting. Finishing third is disappointing but not entirely unexpected in the first season back. We couldn't have anticipated the transformation in the Tims since last season. But the disappointment is the way we played for so much of the season and the total lack of progress. Players we expected to kick on seem to have gone backwards. It seems a long time ago that Halliday, Holt and McKay were overwhelming the Tims or ragdolling Dundee. I honestly thought they'd kick on and even be knocking on the door of the Scotland squad. Fuck knows what's been done to them but it now looks like they might all be gone and, tbh, not that much missed (though that's the case with most of them). I think that's huge shame. I was expecting a slightly mental, gung-ho season with us attacking a lot and getting undone on the break too often. But I thought we went backwards. We seemed to have kept the defensive flakiness but have lost the attack. The complete torpor afflicting the team going forward was almost painful to watch: it was like they'd all overdosed on Horlicks before the game. We seemed to have no pace, awareness of space, or movement off the ball. The midfield often seemed to offer nothing going forward or in defence. After MW's time at Brentford, and the performances against SPL sides in the cups last year, I really wasn't expecting that. We might have gotten away with it with something resembling a goalscorer but needed 15 chances to score one. We can blame the dreadful window last summer in large part. We know MW wanted a better central defence but couldn't get the players he was after and injuries to both Niko and Rossiter were unlucky (though not unexpected). But he did get Barton who, even if you ignore the off-the-pitch bollocks, was mostly crap. Who could think that Niko and Barton in a three man midfield would work? And MW wanted Garner who, the odd cameo aside, has also mostly been crap. If Garner had arrived with his shooting boots, we could have been at least 10 points better off, IMHO, and probably more (Waghorn culpable too, but he cost very little). Under Pedro things have been pretty much the same, haven't they? Hopelessly inconsistent in midfield, though better at the back. Scoring remains an issue. Because we made such a total arse of it, the challenge for this summer remains the same as it was last summer. We need a reliable source of goals, we need some dynamism and control in midfield and we need an experienced centre back (or two if Wilson's not a viable fourth choice yet). And we need to hope that that provides the platform for the rest to step up a level. Be interesting to see how we address that without the dead hand of Frank 'best in the business' McParland overseeing it. That was more negative than I thought it would be: I've tried to keep perspective all season. But seems like we're no further forward than this time last year but without the optimism. Edited May 22, 2017 by Oleg_Mcnoleg a million typos 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublusince1982 243 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 agree with all that davieP other than the c's for bates and beerman, handling the stress of the situation alone as well as they did should get a B. Most matches they have played they have been in the top performers . 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davie P 4 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 agree with all that davieP other than the c's for bates and beerman, handling the stress of the situation alone as well as they did should get a B. Most matches they have played they have been in the top performers . Aye, probably a wee bit harsh on them, and perhaps comparing them to titans of our past teams. I am just not sure that they are going to kick on and take us to the next level, but this will not be the first time that I hope to be proven wrong! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaffer 1,665 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 That was a good read Davie P. The one thing I'd pick up on is your suggestion that most fans expected us to win the league. I certainly went into the season full of optimism, but even I didn't think we would win the league, and I'm surprised if many did. Even if we recruit very well in the summer, I still don't think we will win the league. For me, to win the league you need that strong winning mentality, which is established from winning games. Therefore I think this coming season is about us consolidating our position in second, and perhaps getting to a cup final or three. ;-) 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublusince1982 243 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 is there any merit in getting the fans groups and forums to publish a single poll detailing the fans expectations/goals for the coming year and what realistic expenditure would be needed to achieve said goals in the fans eyes? I know the club usually states pre season the aims/goals for that season but with such a vast and diverse support maybe it would be a worth while exercise that would get the fans debating realistic measurable aims. Also stops papers from being able to say fans want this and that whenever it suits there agenda as example of just one of many benefits. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannochsidebear 2,420 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 A year ago we were all singing about a magic hat. The cup final was a huge disappointment which was the culmination of about 6 weeks of really poor performances after our week from heaven in winning the league, diddy cup & SCSF on pens against Delia's diddies. So last summer it was fairly unanimous on here that we needed to improve in all areas to compete in 16-17. We seemed to miss out on target after target and only signed squad players that were no better than the players we had, with our two marquee signings of Barton and Nico we went into the season with high hopes of running them close in second and hopefully winning a cup. The opening fixtures were in our favour and we should have went into the first OF game with a lead, therefore putting pressure on them. However it was clear from day one of the league campaign that we looked a poor side with a struggling draw. We have never got nearer than that to them this season. The first tactical capitulation from MW at the piggery saw us destroyed 5-1 and we went on to lose every big away game under MW as he failed to introduce tactics to deal with decent opponents who dealt with our formation and poor defending with ease. This also saw the Barton debacle where a falling out with MW saw him sidelined, and then effectively sacked. I dont think MW truly had the players on board after this. A brief response when we beat Dolly & Hearts in consecutive weeks at Ibrox had us all hoping we had turned the corner and we were well clear in second place at that point. However the wheels fell off again after the winter break, culminating in the shambolic handling of the MW "resignation" issue, and the 6 game Murty reign where he oversaw two good home wins in the cup, but a run of 1 win 1 draw and two dismal defeats in the league saw us lose our second spot and we would never regain it. The "search" for a new manager was finally resolved after 6 weeks with the appointment of Pedro and after a fantastic debut win at Ibrox over Accies, there were a couple of setbacks. Injuries also hampered his rebuilding of morale and the side and youth was forced into the team, who coped admirably in the face of some dubious tactical formations. The catastrophic capitulation at Ibrox to the tims when absolutely everyone knew we had to flood the midfield and deny them space and time but we went more open and offensive and got gubbed had a lot of Bears asking questions of Pedro's capabilities, but he can look to his record of 6 wins in 11 games with a poor side minus a lot of injured players with some hope for next season if he can get his targets in place. Two cup defeats to our biggest enemy hurt badly as well, and to only finish third a huge 9 points behind Dolly depsite having massively more resources is an utter embarrassment, of which I am truly ashamed as a Rangers supporter. To not win the league this year is acceptable, to come so far behind a workmanlike but still quite poor Aberdeen side is shocking. This was our season from hell, make no mistake. MW takes most of the blame, as he set the side up, bought inadequate players, refused to learn the tactical lessons from his first season, and had he not jumped he would certainly have been sacked long before the season ended. Turns out the magic hat was just a bread wrapper folded differently. Onwards and upwards bears, onwards and upwards! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaffer 1,665 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 That comment about the "magic hat was just a bread wrapper folded differently" was brilliant. It really made me laugh out loud. Nice one TB. :-) 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Thanks guy's some fantastic reading there. I will try and put my feelings on to paper tonight. I think they have been well documented though. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,724 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Damn Sevco Fans and their Offensive Fun http://thedailyphantom.weebly.com/home/damn-sevco-fans-and-their-offensive-fun 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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