26th of foot 5,931 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Two and a half years past, I witnessed a young Championship leading Rangers side swash buckle their way past ra Sellik in the Scottish Cup semi-final, at Hampden. We scored twice, made a host of chances, and scored the necessary number of penalties to see off the green'n'grey hordes. Since then, we have visited Hampden on six occasions, one was the final against Hibs, the other five were semi-finals in either of the national cup competitions. The Scottish Cup final was probably a game too far that season, particularly after a three week break without a game. The performance was there, we came from behind, went into the lead, and lost out to a last minute goal. Overall, the trend was on the up. The last five semi-finals have seen us lose three to ra Sellik, a collective seven zip. Throw in a two nil defeat to Motherwell and yesterday's one nil demise to the Dandies, and that equates to ten zip. All at Hampden, and there is not a performance among any of those games. The club must focus on the lack of performance at the national stadium. I have experienced three score years and always felt Hampden was our second home, we turned up and played. Six consecutive defeats, five consecutive failures to notch, and five consecutive non performances requires urgent focus. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 4,937 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Different managers, mostly different players.... The two that stick out are the Motherwell game and yesterday. Tav, Jack and Candeias are the only three to have played in both games. We need some stability at the helm and do without the annual purge of players.......and for the management team to develop the sqaud/team into something that operates at a better and more consistent level. Then we'll win more games at Hampden. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 6,463 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 There's no hoodoo, were just not good enough. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSocksRedTops 3,528 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 There is no hoodoo as such but what seems clearer by the days/weeks is that we are a very different team away from Ibrox. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,931 Posted October 29, 2018 Author Share Posted October 29, 2018 Of course, there is no hoodoo. I utilised a hackneyed headline, 'Hampden Hoodoo' to employ alliteration and highlight five semis without scoring, without looking like scoring. Truly woeful performances under different managers and different sets of players. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMc 2,547 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 I think we've got a leadership issue on the field. I don't feel Tav is the right player to be captain. I like him as a player however I've not sensed a 'win at all costs' mentality from him or see his as some sort of leader. He's certainly no Barry Ferguson far less a Davie Weir, Richard Gough or John Grieg. I appreciate that captaincy is about more than the 90 minutes on the park, but that's still a vital aspect of it. When things aren't going well I don't yet know who I look too for leadership or to lift that side. I wondered if Goldson might be that player and I think McGregor does offer some of that but his position doesn't lend itself to sorting out players on the park. Maybe Jack will become that person, but he's been so unlucky with injuries and suspensions I still don't know. Gerrard was the ultimate captain, providing inspiration through his play but also through his desire to never lose. You'd hope he could spot someone with similar potential. Maybe it came naturally to him and so he can't understand why everyone doesn't have it. Whatever it is we're missing it and have been for a few seasons now. Finding it would go some way to helping us win the big one-off games again. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo79 14,143 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Apart from the Maribor and Rapid matches, I'm struggling to think of a single 'big match' we've won since we beat that lot in 2016. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,424 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 3 hours ago, buster. said: Different managers, mostly different players.... The two that stick out are the Motherwell game and yesterday. Tav, Jack and Candeias are the only three to have played in both games. We need some stability at the helm and do without the annual purge of players.......and for the management team to develop the sqaud/team into something that operates at a better and more consistent level. Then we'll win more games at Hampden. I would assume that we gave SG a 4-year deal for a reason. We may not like it, but we may very well end this season without trophies again. But we are laying the foundations for success and stability. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Every confidence in Stevie Gerrard getting us to a place where we will be getting into finals and winning them, i can wait. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFK-1 1,690 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 It's nothing to do with Hampden. We're simply seeing the same problems we have become accustomed to when facing a park the bus strategy. Before they scored relatively late on the sheep were demanding the head of McInnes then he goes from villain to hero when all that changed was a goal. They puzzle me. McInnes sets up as he does because they don't have the quality to do anything else. Surely they would learn that's what they do because that's all they can do. All this vacuous babble about 'having a go' solving everything is mindless given their obvious limitations. They did exactly the same thing against hibs last round and got exactly the same result while being played off the park yet still in their view McInnes 'shites' it and needs to 'have a go' I wish he would because if he did we would be the ones in the final. And a far more entertaining final than they will provide. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.