Match Thread [FT] Kilmarnock 1 - 0 Rangers

[Rousseau 10,602]

Me: Ooh - MNF tonight! whoo--

 

*Special guest Aaron Ramsey*

 

Me:

 

[CammyF 8,079]

28 minutes ago, der Berliner said:

Neither SG, nor Beale, nor Gio did anything different. Over on our German board, our admin said: it really doesn't matter whom we sign, almost all managers go with this one-striker thing. Which is probably true. Yet, only a dozen or so managers have to manage games in Scotland against the anti-football that is being played here.

 

And even worse ... over the last decade or so, these hard Scotsmen and Britishmen adopted the "Don't touch me, or I'll fall" attitude that you "hated" the Iberians for. Remember when Sutton was falling down around the box in his Green-Grey days? It says a lot about the game in Britain that he's one of the main talking mouths in Scotland these days ...

But Gerrard and Gio had options as to who played number 9 and they all brought something different to the team. 

 

Morelos - strong and could score.

DeFoe - most natural finisher we've had since McCoist.

Roofe - best finisher we've had since McCoist.

 

During 55 season we had those 3 plus Kent, Aribo, Tav, Arfield all chipping in with goals and assists. You could even add in Barisic assists as well. 

 

We've gone from that to a situation where if Dessers (taking away any discussions of his ability) doesn't score, we don't score. And we're wondering why we can't win games? 

 

It's being marketed as a "rebuild" but in reality is cost-cutting and points to our financial situation being worse than we all think. 

[Gonzo79 15,292]

4 minutes ago, CammyF said:

It's being marketed as a "rebuild" but in reality is cost-cutting and points to our financial situation being worse than we all think. 

I thought the club made it quite clear there'd need to be some downsizing, which was understandable when considering some of the silly wages we were paying. 

 

The surprising thing is how tactically inept and uncompetitive we are.

[CammyF 8,079]

9 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

I thought the club made it quite clear there'd need to be some downsizing, which was understandable when considering some of the silly wages we were paying. 

 

The surprising thing is how tactically inept and uncompetitive we are.

Well, that's down to one person and one person only. How long do we suffer before we make a change?

[Rousseau 10,602]

1 hour ago, CammyF said:

So who's fault is it? Clement and Clement alone decided to start this season with 1 fit striker and spent over £1M on a player who he told us wasn't ready to start. 

 

That £1M+ would have been better spent on a striker (or a number 6) who could have contributed before October (Igamane still isn't contributing and Danilo is still injured).

 

We are basically trying to win cups, leagues and progress in Europe with 1 striker. 

 

Why can't Clement be held fully to blame / responsible for that? 

It's partly Clement's fault, but it's mainly the DoF's fault. As in, he is responsible, but I wouldn't blame him, per se, as I did like the recruitment strategy as a whole. 

 

We were in for an experienced 6 (Jordan) but it didn't work out. 

 

I would assume we were looking for forwards, too - I couldn't be certain, though. 

 

It's clear, evidenced by his recent interview, that the DoF chose not to persue players that weren't veted by the scouting process when our first choices didn't work out. I see that as a prudent approach - even if I was disappointed we couldn't strengthen properly with more first team players.

 

In response to your other point, elsewhere, about cost cutting - I think that was necessary. That doesn't mean we should accept being less competitive, though. The reality is that our wage bill is higher than their's, so it's not that we're being out-spent, it's just that we have not been using what we have wisely. Again, Koppen's more prudent approach is the correct solution in that regard. 

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,751]

1 hour ago, CammyF said:

Just had a wee catch up with a mate and inevitably the conversation quickly veered onto our beloved Rangers. 

 

When discussing Clement's time my mate mentioned that Clement's best result and performance was away to Betis which is hard to disagree.

 

The team that night included Davies, Barisic, Cifuentes, Dessers, Lammers and Roofe. 

 

In fact, his best spell and run as Rangers manager featured those mentioned above. 

 

So what happened? How did we go from beating Betis away and sitting top of the league (and being favourites to win it) to where we are now? 

Sima played a huge part in Clements initial good spell IMO. 

[CammyF 8,079]

40 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

It's partly Clement's fault, but it's mainly the DoF's fault. As in, he is responsible, but I wouldn't blame him, per se, as I did like the recruitment strategy as a whole. 

 

We were in for an experienced 6 (Jordan) but it didn't work out. 

 

I would assume we were looking for forwards, too - I couldn't be certain, though. 

 

It's clear, evidenced by his recent interview, that the DoF chose not to persue players that weren't veted by the scouting process when our first choices didn't work out. I see that as a prudent approach - even if I was disappointed we couldn't strengthen properly with more first team players.

 

In response to your other point, elsewhere, about cost cutting - I think that was necessary. That doesn't mean we should accept being less competitive, though. The reality is that our wage bill is higher than their's, so it's not that we're being out-spent, it's just that we have not been using what we have wisely. Again, Koppen's more prudent approach is the correct solution in that regard. 

That's your opinion and you are entitled to it as I am to mine. 

 

I said at the time and remain of the same opinion that the signing of Igamane for the outlay was incorrect. 

 

The manager must have approved this and approved the decision to go into the season with 1 fit and available striker (whom was also just back from an injury), a decision that has bitten squarely on the arse I'm sure we'll all agree. 

 

Igamane doesn't look capable (at the moment) at this level, so the entire burden of 60 games lies on Dessers shoulders, that is completely unfair on him. 

 

The stats show that if Desssrs doesn't score, we don't score. So as well as having the full responsibility of being our only number 9, he has the added responsibility of being the only player who regularly scores goals, again completely unfair. 

 

The overall strategy sounds fine, but the proof is in the pudding. I've yet to be 100% convinced on any of the Koppen/Clement signings. 

 

Mentioned this previously, we need to look at Bassey, Aribo and Kamara as the template. No player Koppen / Clement have aigned appear to be as good as those three or likely to be sold for the profit of those 3. 

 

Those 3 were strong, aggressive, physical and skillful all attributes we are crying out for. 

 

[CammyF 8,079]

4 minutes ago, BlackSocksRedTops said:

Sima played a huge part in Clements initial good spell IMO. 

He did, and is another player he inherited. Pity we couldn't tempt him back this season. 

[Rousseau 10,602]

11 minutes ago, CammyF said:

That's your opinion and you are entitled to it as I am to mine. 

 

I said at the time and remain of the same opinion that the signing of Igamane for the outlay was incorrect. 

 

The manager must have approved this and approved the decision to go into the season with 1 fit and available striker (whom was also just back from an injury), a decision that has bitten squarely on the arse I'm sure we'll all agree. 

 

Igamane doesn't look capable (at the moment) at this level, so the entire burden of 60 games lies on Dessers shoulders, that is completely unfair on him. 

 

The stats show that if Desssrs doesn't score, we don't score. So as well as having the full responsibility of being our only number 9, he has the added responsibility of being the only player who regularly scores goals, again completely unfair. 

 

The overall strategy sounds fine, but the proof is in the pudding. I've yet to be 100% convinced on any of the Koppen/Clement signings. 

 

Mentioned this previously, we need to look at Bassey, Aribo and Kamara as the template. No player Koppen / Clement have aigned appear to be as good as those three or likely to be sold for the profit of those 3. 

 

Those 3 were strong, aggressive, physical and skillful all attributes we are crying out for. 

 

I don't disagree with any of that. 

 

I just think it's a bit unfair to put all the blame on the manager.

 

I think he wanted a 6 and more forwards, but for whatever reason we couldn't get the deals done. I don't think he would have wanted to go into the season with just Dessers (he even wanted him sold, if we are to believe the rumours, so must have expected a replacement). Sometimes deals don't work out. 

 

That's not to say he doesn't share some of the responsibility, though. 

 

I blame him more for not getting more out of what he has. 

[Rousseau 10,602]

9 minutes ago, CammyF said:

He did, and is another player he inherited. Pity we couldn't tempt him back this season. 

We tried to, didn't we?