match thread (image) [FT] Kilmarnock 1 - 2 Rangers (Arfield 16; Goldson 90+1)

[pete 2,499]

1 hour ago, the gunslinger said:

I would say katic provided the scares today. Some of his clearances were properly frightening

You must watch a different game to me. You hit the nail on the head though with clearances. A clearance is a clearance then it is up to others to defend further.

 

1 hour ago, Frankie said:

Goldson was certainly the better of the four defenders today but we leaned far too much on him for passing when Davis and Aribo should have been doing much more. 

I have no idea where you dig that up from. He had at least 4 passes direct to an opponent in dangerous areas. There was one good defender on the park today and the only one to have an opponent and that was Katic. Goldson had no opponent and still managed to give the ball away.

[Doc 280]

We got out of jail today, no doubt about it. But I'll take 3 points over having played well and only coming away with 1 or none any day of the week. The league will be won in encounters like today's and taking 3 points as many times as we can. We're 2 points closer to Celtic than we were at the same point last season and as long as we stay nipping at their heels they will crack at some point as we have to be there to take advantage. The won ugly plenty of times last season against Killie, Hearts and Hibs and those points earned late on or in injury time were ultimately the difference. The performance can be better but the result was what mattered.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

1 hour ago, Frankie said:

Goldson was certainly the better of the four defenders today but we leaned far too much on him for passing when Davis and Aribo should have been doing much more. 

He was. All 3 of those mentioned were awful at long passing. Our short passing wasn't much better mind you. 

[forlanssister 3,114]

49 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

I'm pretty sure the lads celebrating were not aware they were jumping on a disabled shelter.  Of course it was daft but we've all lost it when Rangers have scored a last minute winner...haven't we?

I know for a fact they were fully aware of exactly what they were dancing on just before they landed on me and my friends, how none of us were seriously injured is simply miraculous.

 

Behaviour such as that has been highlighted to both Kilmarnock stewards and Rangers security for years, they were fully aware of our concerns but did absolutely nothing to address them other than patronise us.

[Frankie 8,562]

24 minutes ago, pete said:

I have no idea where you dig that up from. He had at least 4 passes direct to an opponent in dangerous areas. There was one good defender on the park today and the only one to have an opponent and that was Katic. Goldson had no opponent and still managed to give the ball away.

Not for the first time you talk nonsense about Goldson.  Almost every post you call him a bombscare when it's just not true and it's pretty tedious to be honest.

 

Goldson did give the ball away too much today but that's because, in the second half mainly, Jack, Davis and Aribo all passed the buck when it came to getting the ball forward or breaking the lines with their passing.  Instead, time after time, they gave it back to Goldson who either had nothing on, or did pass it and got it straight back.  He'd then play it long and not always to a Rangers player which isn't good enough.  I've criticised him for that lack of patience but he wasn't the only one guilty of it.  Katic ballooned a few of his effort too unfortunately, whilst Tav was awful (last 5mins aside) and Barisic largely hid after half-time.

 

In terms of his defensive duties though Goldson, as usual, was as solid throughout and I can't remember him giving the ball away in dangerous areas once, never mind four times.

 

As for Katic, I'm as big a fan of his no-nonsense style as anyone else but his distribution is very, very weak and his positioning isn't as good as it can be.  That often leads to Halliday or Barisic playing further inside than they should be leaving us open to the cross-field pass and a few times that was an issue in the second half.  That's why the manager has paid £3m for Erlander.

 

By all means criticise players and support your favourites Pete but be fair and a bit more measured.  Goldson is our first choice defender and rightly so.  If he was any sort of 'bombscare' he wouldn't be in the team and wouldn't be vice-captain either.  He's certainly not perfect and his lack of pace (or at least his weakness on the turn) is a concern for me but he's more reliable than anyone else and organises the defence more than the other centre-halves we've had of late.  Can Edmundson or Erlander displace him?  Perhaps they can and they will rightly be rotated in but Goldson has had a fine 14 months at Rangers and I have as much confidence in him as the manager thankfully does.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

24 minutes ago, pete said:

You must watch a different game to me. You hit the nail on the head though with clearances. A clearance is a clearance then it is up to others to defend further.

 

I have no idea where you dig that up from. He had at least 4 passes direct to an opponent in dangerous areas. There was one good defender on the park today and the only one to have an opponent and that was Katic. Goldson had no opponent and still managed to give the ball away.

Not when you head it into a dangerous position. One being the ground about a yard away from you in the box. 

 

I think frankie has covered your goldson nonsense well enough. 

[Bill 13,717]

When all is said and done, we're two points better off than we were at the same stage last year and we're three points better off than in both games at Rugby Park. That's how we'll close the gap and achieve number 55.

 

There are going to be a lot more games like this across the season if we're going to win this league championship, as there have been in every season where we've come out on top. I'd keep the despondency for when we lose and enjoy the fact that this was one of the very few times in recent years where we've lost a lead late in the game but have then fought back to win.

[Gonzo79 15,292]

5 minutes ago, forlanssister said:

I know for a fact they were fully aware of exactly what they were dancing on

Well then they are idiots.

 

6 minutes ago, forlanssister said:

Behaviour such as that has been highlighted to both Kilmarnock stewards and Rangers security for years, they were fully aware of our concerns but did absolutely nothing to address them other than patronise us.

That's disgraceful.   I have now seen footage of the idiots dancing on the roof and I'm shocked the security team just stood by and let them do it.  Sheer negligence.

[Frankie 8,562]

5 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

Not when you head it into a dangerous position. One being the ground about a yard away from you in the box. 

 

I think frankie has covered your goldson nonsense well enough. 

Ironically a few dodgy moments aside, I think we've looked pretty solid at the back with both Katic and Goldson doing well in amongst a few worrying losses of concentration.  I've no idea why people want to make it some sort of competition between the two.

 

I'd argue the main issue is we're too exposed on the counter.  Teams play it into the half-space on one side (usually in behind Tav) and that player then switches it to the other as our players have been sucked to the ball: Goldson/Jack to cover Tav, Katic to cover Goldson and the left-back to cover Katic.  It leaves too much room and Brophy should have scored in the second half through exactly that kind of move.

 

But, aye, to say constantly one of our better players is a bombscare whilst ignoring the faults of others isn't really playing cricket.

[pete 2,499]

2 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Not for the first time you talk nonsense about Goldson.  Almost every post you call him a bombscare when it's just not true and it's pretty tedious to be honest.

 

Goldson did give the ball away too much today but that's because, in the second half mainly, Jack, Davis and Aribo all passed the buck when it came to getting the ball forward or breaking the lines with their passing.  Instead, time after time, they gave it back to Goldson who either had nothing on, or did pass it and got it straight back.  He'd then play it long and not always to a Rangers player which isn't good enough.  I've criticised him for that lack of patience but he wasn't the only one guilty of it.  Katic ballooned a few of his effort too unfortunately, whilst Tav was awful (last 5mins aside) and Barisic largely hid after half-time.

 

In terms of his defensive duties though Goldson, as usual, was as solid throughout and I can't remember him giving the ball away in dangerous areas once, never mind four times.

 

As for Katic, I'm as big a fan of his no-nonsense style as anyone else but his distribution is very, very weak and his positioning isn't as good as it can be.  That often leads to Halliday or Barisic playing further inside than they should be leaving us open to the cross-field pass and a few times that was an issue in the second half.

 

By all means criticise players and support your favourites Pete but be fair and a bit more measured.  Goldson is our first choice defender and rightly so.  If he was any sort of bombscare he wouldn't be in the team and wouldn't be vice-captain either.  He's certainly not perfect and his lack of pace (or at least his weakness on the turn) is a concern for me but he's more reliable than anyone else and organises the defence more than the other centre-halves we've had of late.  Can Edmundson or Erlander displace him?  Perhaps they can and they will be rotated in but Goldson has had a fine 14 months at Rangers and I have as much confidence in him as the manager thankfully does.

Sorry if you think I am tedious but it is the way I see it. Look at 90% of balls into the box and it is Katic that clears it. I also can't help if you can't see the amount of mis-passes Goldson makes. Thursday's is one you must have missed that almost caused a goal. I agree people pass to him too often but that is another story. We all see a game different and just because you see it different from me doesn't make you right and me wrong.