[FT] Progres Niederkorn 2 - 0 Rangers

[pete 2,499]

On Tuesday Rangers travel to the Duchy of Luxembourg for the return game against Progres Niederkorn to defend a slim 1-0 lead. No! Sorry that can't be right I will start again. On Tuesday Rangers travel to Luxembourg for the return game against Progres Niederkorn to add to their one goal lead. Surely even suggesting that Rangers could lose to what many call a pub team from Luxembourg would be bordering on insanity? A team from one of the smallest states in Europe and with only a population of over 500,000. No C'mon Ibrox was a fluke performance from Prógres that can never happen again. This time we will open them up and score at least five or six. Possibly but the fact is Prógres, is as Luxembourg City, a fortification. As we know one thing that Rangers have struggled with in the past five years is breaking down fortifications.

Under Warburton the tactics were keep hitting your head against the fortress wall and eventually the wall will collapse. If it doesn't collapse then we hit it harder with our heads. Unfortunately for him it was Warburton's strategy that collapsed and he moved on to Nottingham where he attempted to become a Robb'n hood. That fizzled out in the heart of Nottingham forest where he crapped it to take his case to the Sherriff of Nottingham. The sad thing is he made the Rangers giant Davy Weir into his own version of Little John in the eyes of the supporters.

 

The Question is: Has Pedro improved us? At this moment the answer has to be No. Yes, the first half on Thursday produced some sublime football, but that was also the case under Mark Warburton. We also had periods of sublime football with his team. Apart from one situation of fantastic thinking by Niko Kranjcar and Kenny Miller to score the only goal, we still battered our head against the proverbial brick wall. The worrying thing for me was that the team ran out of steam in the second half. The early in the season excuse was banded about but where in the season are this pub team from Luxembourg? Surely they are also in a pre-season situation.

I will give Pedro the benefit of the doubt that he is still carrying most of Warburton's team but you are looking for a manager to improve players and I have seen little evidence of that up until now.

 

Looking at Individual performances then Niko Kranjcar stuck out like a sore thumb producing some brilliance and running the whole Rangers attack. Martin Waghorn also stood out like a sore thumb but a real sore thumb. Not totally his fault though as I feel as he was given very little support and that has been a part of rangers recent history we just do not get players in the opposition box. Waghorn was shouting and pointing in numerous occasions that there should be more players in the box. So while it is easy to make Waghorn the enemy of the state for every attack, and he does miss too many chances, It is difficult for every striker when you are stuck on a desert island.

 

One player that has given the team a lift is Ryan Jack.(excuse the pun) Ryan has been excellent in breaking up play and been very safe in his placement of the ball to his team mates. The one thing that I feel we can be maybe a little bit critical about him is, that he may play too safe. He comes very deep to get the ball and then mostly plays it square. If we want to play the pressing game then it would be better if Ryan plays in a slightly more advanced position if we have the ball. Fabio Cardoso looks more than capable of bringing the ball forward. With Cardoso and Alves together we may just have a modern day Butcher and Gough partnership.

 

Dalcio played well in the first half but disappeared in the second. Again it was not totally his fault as the whole team seemed to capitulate. The jury is still out on him.

Daniel Candeias came on for Jason Holt and that upset the balance of the team for a while as Kranjcar began to tire. Credit to the manager who saw he had made a mistake with his substitution and brought on Jordon Rossiter to try and regain control. We never really played like we did in the first half again but we did manage to create a few chances which if we scored would have made tomorrow's game a lot more comfortable. Candeias did look very quick and also looks if he could be a more skillful Michael O'Halloran with hopefully an end product. Again it is too early as we have only seen a half-hour of him.

 

Due to it being a fortress, plus the size and geographical position of Luxembourg it has made it the first country to be invaded in most wars. With Belgium(Earlier part of the Dutch empire) France and Germany bordering it, it is influenced by the French and German Cultures. Formed originally as a part of the Roman empire it has been under the rule of of France, Austria, William the 1st of Orange from the Netherlands, and obviously the Germans during the World wars. Tomorrow night it will be invaded again. Not by any of the major countries of the past this time, but by anything up to 10,000 Rangers supporters. Prógres have moved the game to Stade Joey Barthel Stadium where the National team play their games to let as many Rangers supporters possible attend the match. A nice little financial boost for the small Luxembourg club. Many supporters are travelling even without tickets in the hope of acquiring one at the ground.Lets hope all supporters behave themselves whether they have a ticket or not. The last thing we need is to be banned from Europe after just one round. Thankfully the Luxembourg supporters are not known for causing trouble so it should be a party atmosphere.

 

I expect we will will start with the same team as at Ibrox but I do think there will be a place for Herrera and possibly Pena later on depending on their fitness levels :

 

Foderingham

 

Tavernier Bates Cardoso Wallace

 

Holt Jack

 

Miller Kranjcar Dacio

 

Waghorn

 

I would love to see Morelos in instead of Waghorn to see what he can do but I think Pedro will stick to the plan he had in the first leg.

As Frankie commented in the first leg preview,"Failure is not an option."

C'mon the Gers!!!!

[BrahimHemdani 1]

I would love to see Morelos in instead of Waghorn to see what he can do but I think Pedro will stick to the plan he had in the first leg.

 

I think that's probably correct.

 

what many call a pub team from Luxembourg

 

I've only seen one person on here refer to Progres in that way and he was rightly taken to task by Craig for insulting the opposition.

 

It will not be a walk over but I'm travelling in confidence.

Edited July 3, 2017 by BrahimHemdani

[Jimmy Mac 0]

Obviously it depends on match fitness but I really hope we don't start with that team.

 

I hope we replace Holt with Rossiter Miller with Candeas and Waghorn with Morelos.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

 

"Many supporters will give RDV after the match at the Rives de Clausen to celebrate in peace and mutual respect!" (Google translation)

Edited July 3, 2017 by BrahimHemdani

[pete 2,499]

I think that's probably correct.

 

 

 

I've only seen one person on here refer to Progres in that way and he was rightly taken to task by Craig for insulting the opposition.

 

It will not be a walk over but I'm travelling in confidence.

 

I read other sites where there are many and are not taken to task.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

I read other sites where there are many and are not taken to task.

 

They have 2 Germans, 5 Frenchmen a Portuguese and an Armenian in their squad alongside the Luxembourgers so they must have been on a pub crawl around Europe.

[Gaffer 1,665]

Very interesting read Pete, but I would pick up two points. Firstly, I'd be surprised if anyone thinks PC has not improved us. For the first time in 3 seasons, we have a defence that gives us confidence. Wouldn't you agree? Secondly, I know we have been out of the European scene for some time, but we shouldn't perpetuate the same ignorance and lack of knowledge of these leagues as our pundits do. There are very few teams, if any, in European competitions that should ever be regarded as easy games. If that applies to any team, it should be us, so I'm not one for throwing stones from a glass house.

 

Given the play I saw from us on Thursday's first half, I'd expect us to score goals, and I saw enough in that defence to suggest that we are capable of preventing many teams from scoring. Confident of a win? Yes! Easy game? No chance.

[pete 2,499]

They have 2 Germans, 5 Frenchmen a Portuguese and an Armenian in their squad alongside the Luxembourgers so they must have been on a pub crawl around Europe.

 

It is not me calling them a pub team. It is me that is pointing out that some people do it and later I used it in a sarcastic way.

[lenny3k 668]

Obviously it depends on match fitness but I really hope we don't start with that team.

 

I hope we replace Holt with Rossiter Miller with Candeas and Waghorn with Morelos.

 

Exactly the same as my thoughts

[Gaffer 1,665]

Exactly the same as my thoughts

 

I'd challenge the need to replace Holt because I thought he did very well in the first half last week, however I completely agree with the other two. I can't fault the effort and work rate of Waghorn and Miller, but I think we need the quality of Candeas (sp?) and the finishing prowess (albeit still to be proven for us) of Herrera or Morelos.