Furman To Bradford

[ian1964 10,668]

If this is true,it could be a good move for him.

 

Rangers will send midfielder Dean Furman on loan to Bradford City so that the South African can gain more first-team experience. (The Sun)

[craig 5,199]

If he isnt going to get a game then fine. I just hope it isnt the beginning of the end for him

[Frankie 8,394]

Yep, he's unlikely to get a game now with the recent influx of midfielders, so it's probably best for him to gain first team experience elsewhere.

[calscot 0]

I think it's a good idea as he's still a bit young for a run in the first team at Rangers when the fans are in a hyper-critical mood.

 

Walter Smith get's the pelters for not playing youngsters when it's not even true - all he does is not play teenagers much - Naismith at 20 got a run and Lafferty at the same age seems to be too.

 

However, the biggest danger for the youngsters is the new breed of fan who has no patience and criticises everything and everyone whether they deserve it or not.

 

You only have to look at the young players who have recently suffered at the hands of some of our support - Ross, Hutton, Malcolm, Namouchi, Adam, Burke, and slightly older ones in Boyd and Broadfoot. Bardsley and that young left winger whose name I've forgotten weren't exactly fully supported either although Clement escaped much criticism. Webster hasn't had much of a game and is already written off.

 

Lafferty is already getting criticism and in no way was warmly welcomed. Naismith wasn't exactly given huge support, more treated with indifference as fans couldn't make up their mind about him.

 

We narrowly missed out on a glorious quadruple last year and the fans turned on the club - in that atmosphere, I don't know how we can send teenagers into that kind of cauldron.

 

I don't know about fans becoming like Tims, but they are becoming like women in that they just don't really know what they want, and tend to want opposite things at the same time without much thought about the consequences, and the club are treated like men in that they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. And many of the fans don't half nag...

 

I think the fans want to influence much more now, but don't realise how much they already influence things indirectly with their "mood".

[maineflyer 0]

I don't think it's entirely fair to say players suffer "at the hands of" supporters at this club. I've followed the team since the sixties and I think players mostly get the reaction from the support that they earn. Good performances attract adulation while poor performances are treated with disdain. Lack of effort is almost always treated with the contempt it deserves.

 

Alan Hutton was a classic example of a player who reaped what he sowed. When he played like a dork he got pelters but when he played like a fullback he got universal praise. The others you mention did little enough to deflect any criticism.

 

Football fans are not all the same and some will be more inclined to leap to decisions in either direction. Some will obviously judge players on different criteria and some will simply go along with what the guy sitting next to them is saying. However, on the whole, I think you'll struggle to find an example of a Rangers player who was treated badly by the fans while playing well.

[calscot 0]

Players may reap what they sow but if a teenager is thrown in at the deep end at an unforgiving club like Rangers and makes a few mistakes does he really deserve the reaction?

 

A teenager is more likely to make mistakes - especially against seasoned professionals, because in football, experience matters.

 

He's also more likely to take criticism to heart and let it affect his confidence.

 

That's why teenagers tend to be protected by managers such as Smith at clubs such as Rangers.

 

There are exceptional teenagers who buck the trend, such as Rooney, but they are few and far between.

 

The point is that you can't blame WS for not playing teenagers when they reap what they sow for playing badly. They need to be introduced gently to slowly acclimatise.

 

Playing on loan for a team like Bradford will definitely help them get to a competitive level without risking the team's results or the ire of the fans.