Where are we at?

[jhunter 0]

As I continue to say, it is September ... like in years gone by:

 

Rangers 2 Hearts 1

St. Johnstone 1 Rangers 2

Scum 0 Rangers 0

Rangers 1 Kilmarnock 2

Dundee 1 Rangers 1

Rangers 1 Partick 1

Aberdeen 2 Rangers 0

Rangers 2 Hibernian 1

 

Players involved ... Ally Maxwell, Richard Gough, John Brown, Stephen Pressley, Ian Ferguson, Mark Hateley, Ian Durrant, Alexej Mikhailichenko, Trevor Steven, Pieter Huistra, Davie Robertson, and Gary Stevens.

 

At the end of the season it was 6IAR. Obviously, those teams were much much better back then ... and those above were all new to the club at the time. Aye right.

 

that squad had won the treble the year before and were decimated by injuries after an absolute slog of a season

 

in the real world PC has won something like 9 league games in 17?

 

that is dreadful

[Gonzo79 15,299]

In our three 'big' home games, against Hibs, Hearts and that lot, we've taken a grand total of 1 point.

 

You get the feeling 3 or 4 good signings could turn this around but I don't see much improvement on anything we saw last season (under both managers). The fact that in his three matches against Celtc, PC has seemingly learned nothing and we just keep turning up and getting comfortably beaten. We had better players on Saturday than we did last season but the performance was ominously similar.

[der Berliner 3,808]

that squad had won the treble the year before and were decimated by injuries after an absolute slog of a season

 

in the real world PC has won something like 9 league games in 17?

 

that is dreadful

 

So by August and September all those seasoned pros I listed above (and I only included those who actually played) could not beat Dundee, Partick and lost at home to Killie! Because they were still exhausted? Dreadful, by your standards at least. Either on the park or because of bad management.

 

BTW, I do not expect us to win the title, but I do expect us to be were we belong this season ... at the END of the season.

[jhunter 0]

So by August and September all those seasoned pros I listed above (and I only included those who actually played) could not beat Dundee, Partick and lost at home to Killie! Because they were still exhausted? Dreadful, by your standards at least. Either on the park or because of bad management.

 

BTW, I do not expect us to win the title, but I do expect us to be were we belong this season ... at the END of the season.

 

93/94 was a dreadful season to watch for the reasons stated above

 

hateley's class basically carried the team to 6 in a row

 

this jam tomorrow patter really is dishonest IMO

 

we're not even in competition with celtc any more i think even the most fervent follower realises this

 

BUT we're already 6 points behind aberdeen that is deplorable

[Rousseau 10,823]

In mitigation for Alves he really didn't have a break during the summer or a pre-season because of the Confederation's Cup and that will take a toll on any player especially one at the latter end of his career. Players who don't have a 'pre-season' often pick up little strains and can struggle for fitness later in the season. It's a concern I have for Moreloss too. He joined us straight from a summer season in Finland, I think that's one of the reasons he started the league flying but at the same time fatigue might be an issue for him in a few months time. It's something I imagine the management team are aware but he's currently un-droppable so I doubt he'll be getting a rest anytime soon. Does he play for the Columbian national side? Trips to South America during the season can be energy sapping too.

 

As for 'where we're at' I think we're at the roughly the same place we were this time last season. I think tactically you can now see what the side is trying to do, something that I couldn't discern when PC took over, and the players understand their roles now.

I don't think we bought particularly well over the summer, based on how much we spent, although I also accept it's too early judge. For the money we spent I think we could have bought more players of a similar if not better standard than we did.

 

Our squad is shallow, as we saw on Saturday if we lose a couple of players we're throwing untried teenagers in and if Moreloss gets injured we're very short of goal scorers.

 

I disagree about speed, we were a faster side last season, McKay, Waghorn and Holt were all quicker and only Moreloss brings real speed to the side.

 

When our first choice defence is fit we're stronger there, middle of the park too, but wide areas are weaker and we've fewer options up front albeit our first choice centre-forward is better than anything we've had since Jelavic. We don't play as attractive a style of football this season for a similar return results wise.

 

It might surprise some of you to know that I'm not convinced our manager, or this team, is capable of winning the league, this season or in a couple of season's time, and we'd be better off facing that now. I understand why others feel differently though. We've had an easier start to the league this season than last season but a similar set of results. I don't think Pedro is good at motivating players and the side lacks fight and character. Despite the new faces we still look leaderless on the field and that's a concern.

 

I agree with the majority of this, but there is no way McKay, Waghorn and Holt are quicker than Candeias, Windass and Pena. Holt, IMO, was actually quite slow; the acceleration and agility is good, but actually quite slow over any distance.

 

Also, I actually find the transition game much more entertaining than MW's possession-game. Personal preference at the end of the day, though.

Edited September 25, 2017 by Rousseau

[JFK-1 1,693]

It's a concern I have for Moreloss too. He joined us straight from a summer season in Finland, I think that's one of the reasons he started the league flying but at the same time fatigue might be an issue for him in a few months time. It's something I imagine the management team are aware but he's currently un-droppable so I doubt he'll be getting a rest anytime soon.

 

I have a feeling his yellow cards may accumulate enough to give him an enforced rest and hopefully that's not when we have a key game coming up.

[JFK-1 1,693]

We could do with another target man up front, someone in the mould of big Hateley, a ball winner that can score and lay the ball off for Super Morelos.

 

I would like to see him paired with Moult who has only 9 months left on his Motherwell contract. I will hazard a guess that if he had any intentions of staying with them he would already have been signed on another contract because he's their goal machine as Morelos is ours.

 

Motherwell would likely take 'something' for him in January rather than nothing next June.

[der Berliner 3,808]

93/94 was a dreadful season to watch for the reasons stated above

 

hateley's class basically carried the team to 6 in a row

 

this jam tomorrow patter really is dishonest IMO

 

we're not even in competition with celtc any more i think even the most fervent follower realises this

 

BUT we're already 6 points behind aberdeen that is deplorable

 

And most likely 3 again by Friday night. Leads of 15 points at x-mas have been reduced to zero by the end of the season. And I for one doubt that any of the teams in the top half will have the stamina and personell to go all the way. Whether we will remains to be seen.

 

BTW, and as I said before, Herrera through the middle and the likes of Morelos, Pena and Candeias to feed off him will sure reap rewards. Might be an option in a 3-5-2 line-up.

[les186 271]

I would like to see him paired with Moult who has only 9 months left on his Motherwell contract. I will hazard a guess that if he had any intentions of staying with them he would already have been signed on another contract because he's their goal machine as Morelos is ours.

 

Motherwell would likely take 'something' for him in January rather than nothing next June.

 

Are you giving up on Herrera?

[Gonzo79 15,299]

And most likely 3 again by Friday night.

 

And Aberdeen will have a game in hand.

 

This acceptance of mediocrity is indicative of the current malaise at Ibrox. I'm not saying we should be winning the league or hammering Celtc but we should be doing better than this.

 

Our team has looked no better than also-rans and we're two months into the season with no evidence to suggest any improvements are occurring.