Heart and Hand Podcast: Winning in the Rain

[ian1964 10,724]

 

[JFK-1 1,693]

These guys have the same view I do, that this team Gerrard has built is better than even we think it is. The reluctance to accept that despite the fact the evidence is right in front of us stems from recent history. Some current stats.
 

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In all competitions so far this season Rangers have averaged an incredible 3.42 goals per game and with Rangers currently scoring an extra 1.47 goals per game on average.

There has only really been one blip if it could be described as that which was the game at Killie but the improvement is such that an away win at a side we couldn't beat in the league last season is still considered a blip. I had such thoughts at the time but now think it evidence that this team will continue battling and being capable of scoring right to the very last minute in any circumstances. They did it again against Hibs despite the fact it wasn't even needed.

They have been playing some incredible football for sustained periods across pretty much every match aside from maybe Progres away. But that was a dead rubber no one was really caring about. As was said at the time we had one team who didn't need to for it and didn't while the other did need to go for it and wouldn't. Both sat back and just played it out.

Then in the next Euro game we hit 4 goals away to Midtjylland who beforehand were judged to be strong in defence not known for shipping many goals. But then people are surprised when we hit Hibs for 6 on our own patch? They weren't beaten because they went down to 10 men they were beaten because they had been outplayed from the start a brief purplish patch aside.

 

Maybe Stevie G will prove to be a better manager than anyone gives him credit for. If he can convince this side that they can beat anybody and send them out there expecting to win against even superior opposition then that's a valuable managerial quality all on it's own.

He was known as the type of player who would just never give in while he played most of his career in relatively weak Liverpool sides during a period when the traditional and financial balance of power in England had shifted and he still excelled dragging that less than top quality side all the way to ultimate glory in the Champions league.

yesterday I felt this team were always going to score again even if there had been no red card. Even as the minutes ticked down before Defoe hit the clinching 3rd I was still always confident they would score again. The avalanche in the last few minutes also made me wonder if they are fitter than other sides due to this developing habit of scoring late goals.

We still need to see this form carried on over weeks but I believe all the signs are there indicating this is indeed a new era when we can start truly believing we will win every game.