match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 3 (Aribo 36; Sweeney OG 55; Morelos 70) - 0 Dundee

[Bill 13,717]

19 minutes ago, rbr said:

And some fantastic saves to be fair 

The Dundee keeper had a really good game

[RANGERRAB 3,653]

I think the new manager GVB has made a very good start indeed.

But as I see it he’s still very much assessing the squad he’s inherited.

Some,such as Arfield, he clearly feels should be more involved than his predecessor thought. And others may be less involved as he maybe looks to replace them.

An immediate concern for him however will be the CB’s where SG left us hopelessly short iMO. Balougen and Helander are currently injured leaving only Goldson as the only fit recognised first team CB. This will need sorted out next month.

Both Goldson & Balougen’s contracts expire at the end of this season. Will he try to offload them in January? And does he have replacements identified ? We don’t know 

In fact a lot of things are now up in

the air. My own view is we lost a manager & replaced him with a better manager. 

 

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,751]

6 hours ago, Bill said:

The Dundee keeper had a really good game

Agreed.  His save in the 2nd half from Sakala was world class IMO

[CammyF 8,079]

2 hours ago, BlackSocksRedTops said:

Agreed.  His save in the 2nd half from Sakala was world class IMO

Yeah it was and after watching the highlights his block from Alfie just before half-time was like watching Greegs in his prime. Thought at the game that it was a bad miss but it was a brilliant block.

[Uilleam 5,929]

14 hours ago, alexscottislegend said:

Didn't see the game; what's he done this time?

 

[compo 7,030]

Don't let me take the shine of our win but  an own goal an in off and one goal scored far to many chances scorned and if you shoot it always helps to get the ball on target. 

Mon the gers 

[Gonzo79 15,292]

Griffiths is the personification of all things yahoo, isn't he.  

 

Criminal record - check.

Sexual deviancy - check.

Looks dodgy - check.

Plays the victim - check.

[alexscottislegend 2,318]

9 hours ago, RANGERRAB said:

I think the new manager GVB has made a very good start indeed.

But as I see it he’s still very much assessing the squad he’s inherited.

Some,such as Arfield, he clearly feels should be more involved than his predecessor thought. And others may be less involved as he maybe looks to replace them.

An immediate concern for him however will be the CB’s where SG left us hopelessly short iMO. Balougen and Helander are currently injured leaving only Goldson as the only fit recognised first team CB. This will need sorted out next month.

Both Goldson & Balougen’s contracts expire at the end of this season. Will he try to offload them in January? And does he have replacements identified ? We don’t know 

In fact a lot of things are now up in

the air. My own view is we lost a manager & replaced him with a better manager. 

 

Souttar's contract at Hearts is nearly up; think we could get him on a pre-contract? When Helander returns we then only have to worry about back-ups.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

9 hours ago, RANGERRAB said:

I think the new manager GVB has made a very good start indeed.

But as I see it he’s still very much assessing the squad he’s inherited.

Some,such as Arfield, he clearly feels should be more involved than his predecessor thought. And others may be less involved as he maybe looks to replace them.

An immediate concern for him however will be the CB’s where SG left us hopelessly short iMO. Balougen and Helander are currently injured leaving only Goldson as the only fit recognised first team CB. This will need sorted out next month.

Both Goldson & Balougen’s contracts expire at the end of this season. Will he try to offload them in January? And does he have replacements identified ? We don’t know 

In fact a lot of things are now up in

the air. My own view is we lost a manager & replaced him with a better manager. 

 

The form of so many have improved. Mcgregor, goldson, barasic, Morelos are just some 

 

Arfield should be playing a lot for us he is such a good all round player. 

[JohnMc 2,750]

Dropping Kent and Davis was fairly bold management, and it worked so credit for that. Also thought it was interesting he left Morelos on after he was booked and the game was won. I can't decide if GVB simply doesn't know his past and how he's refereed differently to others or if he simply has more faith in his professionalism than I do. 

That was a Dundee side in good form going into the match made to look very poor. 

 

I can't claim to be a master tactician but even I can spot the difference in what's expected from our full backs since GVB took control. So much of our attacking play under Gerrard came from our full-backs, they were often our furthest forward players. I felt other clubs were starting to nullify that threat more, they'd figured out how to play us. The last couple of matches has seen a subtle change there, with Tav and Barasic still venturing forward but not all the time and as an addition to the attack, not its mainstay. So far it's worked, I think both Livi and Dundee would have caused us more problems had Gerrard still been in charge, we were huffing and puffing against those types of sides earlier in the season. Interestingly I think Barasic has benefited from this change, but Tav seems more subdued. 

Everyone played well but I thought Arfield was man of the match. I felt he worked exceptionally hard and his running and attacking created space for others to exploit. That said another 3 or 4 were also excellent so I've no complaints with Aribo winning the official award.

 

A 1-0 win for Dundee Utd today would see us go level on goal difference with the team in second place, it seems only a few weeks ago they were miles ahead on that measurement. 

 

Overall you have to give enormous credit to the board and Ross Wilson as well as to Gio and his staff and indeed the players, for the almost seamless transition of management team. I'm not sure all of us fully appreciate how seismic our entire first team management team walking out on mass must have been.