We Deserve Better - Rangers v Aberdeen

[Gaffer 1,665]

Titter, nothing like that at all as it happens.

 

Peña looks good inside the box and for a moment last night, his long range shot, out side the box too.

 

He spends the vast majority of the match outside of the box.

 

I'm not trying to be funny, but I really don't know what you mean. The only player I know who spends the majority of the match inside the box is the goalkeeper. Is your point that you don't like Pena? I can understand that if that's the case. He splits opinion, and a couple of people in my family find him a strange one too. As Gonzo said earlier, one minute he looks amazing and then at other times he's a passenger. The manager's job is to find out how to get the best from him.

 

I think that when he plays that number 10 role with a striker who gives him space, and a midfield which quickly plays the ball to him to run at defenders, he's got to be one of the best I've seen at doing that. If our system can use a player like that, we MUST play him because he's the most effective player we have at the club. If the new manager opts for a different system, he doesn't seem to me to be an adaptable sort of player, and I'm judging him having watched him play for a few years. I hope he does fit into the new manager's way of playing, because he can be such an exciting player to watch. He, Candeias, Jack, Alves and Morelos (and now Young Ross) have to be in the team every week. And our system has to get the best out of our best players.

[buster. 5,185]

I thought Pena really burst a gut tracking back too. In one instance I recall him sprinting back quite aggressively -- only for McCrorie to overtake him and clatter the Aberdeen player... legally.

 

If we can make space for him, then he'll do a job in and around the box; that's where is his most dangerous. His build-up play can be quite good, but paradoxically also very bad. 5 goals in 10 games speaks for itself.

 

The McCrorie v Pena sprint was a one-sided contest ..... but Pena eventually arrived at the right time, so as to be able to recycle the ball and pass it to a blue shirt.

 

That one incident illustrated that Pena will do a job IF others bust a gut.

 

If a new manager has good man-management skills and can communicate with the Mexican and persuade Carlos to buy into a project, become fitter and want to be involved (Derek: I'm available for hire as translator/ very reasonable rates ) ,....then we have a Mexican Internationalist on our hands. Thereafter, the problem may switch to him having to take long flights to play for Mexico on International breaks.....

 

....mibbes thats a tad optimistic for a cycnical bastard like me.

[Rousseau 10,605]

Pena entering the dressing room at half-time like...

 

[Gaffer 1,665]

I just burst out laughing when I saw that post Rousseau

[cooponthewing 1,139]

Pena entering the dressing room at half-time like...

 

 

What’s that guys name again? I think the film is Moana (is that right?) I watched it (yup, I did). Pena has a new name but I can’t remember what it is????(I wasn’t paying much attention)

Edited December 1, 2017 by cooponthewing

[ian1964 10,723]

[ian1964 10,723]

Peña did some good stuff in attack but anywhere else still looks poor.

 

I thought the team looked reluctant to pass to him.

 

Pena is a hard one for fans, he is the type of player who finds space in the opponents half and is quite clinical, so far!, he is not the type of player who does the dirty work but then so is/was Kranjcar!, he wants to stay in a more advanced role to create and score chances, if the team can cope with that and allow him that freedom he will score goals no doubt

[ian1964 10,723]

I have actually just watched this and think it is worth posting, see the difference in Murty and the way he made changes to the team, he deserves a lot of credit for that.

 

[video=youtube;rPNaHEekB-k]

[ian1964 10,723]

Barry Ferguson:

 

So there I am, lying on the settee. If truth be told, I’m a wee bit nervous. I’m not sure I fancy Rangers chances here - and I’m not particularly looking forward to it - but there’s no way I’m not watching it. You know how it is.

 

I’m trying to relax, to stay calm and detached so I can study the way the match plays out tactically. It’s Aberdeen at home so I’m fully expecting them to make it a really tough night.

 

And then it starts. All of sudden I’m seeing a Rangers team playing the way a Rangers team is supposed to play. People flying into tackles. First to every ball. Playing with an aggression - and a look in the eye - that I’ve not seen from them in such a long, long time that I’ve almost forgot what it looks like.

 

Within 60 seconds I find myself sitting bolt upright on the edge of my seat, leaning in towards the telly. I’m loving every second of this. I’m having to fight the urge to run up the stairs to put my Rangers strip and my boots on!

 

This is what playing for Rangers is meant to be all about. At long last, these guys seem to get it.

 

Yes, I must admit, Wednesday night didn’t half come as a welcome surprise even if I did get ordered off my favourite couch and sent through to the other room to watch it.

 

I don’t mind admitting it. I got a bit excited and a wee bit noisy. Let’s face it, it’s been a long time coming.

 

 

I know I’ve been critical of the Rangers players quite a lot lately so it’s only fair that I give them credit where it is due. The performance they turned in as they dismantled Aberdeen was nothing short of excellent and every single one of them deserves plaudits for the way they went about it. From the centre backs to the full backs, from centre midfield to out wide and the boys up front - they were all over Aberdeen like rats up a drainpipe. And that’s the way it’s got to be whenever you pull that shirt on.

 

I don’t want to pick any one player out but what I will do is give a special word to young Ross McCrorie. It’s early days for this young man but if he continues to progress and show the right attitude then Rangers are going to have a proper player on their hands for the next 10 or 15 years.

 

As for the rest of them? I’m still not convinced by a lot of the players who have been signed recently but, after what I saw from them on Wednesday night, I’m starting to wonder if a few of them might be able to change my mind.

 

No-one is expecting them to turn into Lionel Messi over night. But so long as the desire, hunger, application and aggression is right - so long as they are simply not prepared to accept anything less than a win - then they will do for me.

 

I swear to God, when I saw Carlos Pena chase 50 yards back into his own half I almost jumped up and tackled the sofa.

 

Now I don’t know if Pena is a proper player or not but I do know if he puts in that kind of effort every time he steps onto a pitch then he’ll be appreciated by the Rangers support. That’s all they’ll ever demand of their players and I know that from personal experience because I had more than my share of bad games for the club.

 

But never once did I step across that white line prepared to accept defeat. And that’s the mental approach which separates a real Rangers player from all the rest.

 

So, yes, I was delighted to see that attitude reflected in the eyes of every player the other night. It was the best performance I’ve seen from them in a long time. There was only gong to be one winner from the get go.

 

Now the trick is, they need to back it up. They had laid down a benchmark for themselves and there can be no excuse for them to fall below it now. They don’t need to be world beaters - they just need to be winners - and the way the home crowd reacted to them must have made the penny drop. Ibrox was bouncing, the atmosphere coming through my TV was electric and that’s something I haven’t experienced since the good old days.

 

It must have been a sight for sore eyes as far as Dave King was concerned because yesterday’s AGM was all set up to be an explosive affair had the team went down to a third successive defeat. But, by the sounds of it, it went off more like a damp squib.

 

And that’s another lesson learned because the board will have seen with their own eyes just how much easier their life can be so long as everything is going right on the pitch. One result changed everything as far as the majority of those shareholders were concerned so just imagine how much stress will be lifted from the boardroom if they get the right man in the dugout.

 

 

King said yesterday that mistakes have been made by the board and that’s a step in the right direction too - even if he then appeared to confuse everyone by saying that the appointment of Pedro Caixinha was not necessarily one of them.

 

Obviously, I was critical of the chairman myself last week in this column because I was frustrated at the lack of urgency being shown in finding Caixinha’s replacement. So I’m glad he addressed the situation yesterday by telling the fans that they have identified a manager or managers who are under contract elsewhere.

 

 

That’s all I was looking for, a little bit of leadership from the man at the top and some truth and transparency. Like the rest of the Rangers support will be, I am satisfied now that the board have selected a target and re moving down a certain path. Like them, I will understand if it takes them a little more time to get their man because the situation has been explained to us by the man at the top. That’s all that was required from the start as opposed to bland statements from a faceless spokesman.

 

Be honest with the Rangers fans - give them all of your effort - and they’ll give you their patience and their support in return. That’s a lesson which applies all across the club from the boardroom to the dressing room because that badge deserves nothing less.

 

And it’s an attitude which has finally got me back on the edge of my seat.

[ian1964 10,723]

Our last visit to the sheep pen