The season effectively ended on Tuesday night with a dire performance. The manager should shoulder some of the blame but i'm still in favour of giving him another season, in his first ever season in management he exceeded expectations and got us into the Europa League groups, second place should be secured and we have an Old Firm victory under our belts. That is undeniably progress from where we have been.
That said it looks as though we need another summer of investment, only the board really know how much is there to play with in the summer but the best part of 20m is needed imo.
The manager himself needs to take heed of the lack of impact his substitutions are having, he's reactive rather than proactive and it's becoming a real annoyance with me, someone remind him Morelos isn't immune from being subbed when he's spent 60mins missing every chance that's come his way.
His signings.
McGregor - Excellent
Firth - Cover
Barasic - Big improvement required.
Goldson - Decent
Katic - Needs games.
McAuley - Done a job but no future.
Worrall - Done a job but no future.
Flanagan - Flopped.
Kamara - Good
Coulibaly - Promising start and been all downhill since.
Polster - Not played, looking slightly pointless.
Arfield - Key player
Davis - Massive flop.
Grezda - Massive flop.
Kent - Great in patches, decision making still poor.
Defoe - Clinical but needs more minutes.
Lafferty - Not had many chances but not done much with the ones he's had, time to move on.
A real mixed bag, that needs to improve.
Our current squad
McGregor
Firth
Foderingham
Alnwick
McCrorie
Too many keepers even if McCrorie goes on another loan. Preferably Alnwick or Firth to go seen as Fod is a decent stand in.
Wallace
Barasic
Halliday
Wallace is out of contract in the summer, is going into another season with just Barasic and Halliday fighting for LB smart?
Goldson
Katic
Worrall
McAuley
Worrall's contract is up and McAuley's surely won't be renewed. Leaves us again searching for 2 CBs, at least one of needs to be a proper leader and first name on the team sheet type.
Tavernier
Flanagan
Polster
Tav might have some offers this summer, i hope we can hold on to him because he is key for us. Flanagan can go but who would take him? Polster who knows not likely to play much if Tav stays anyway.
Davis
Coulibaly
Jack
McCrorie
Kamara
Arfield
Dorrans
Rossiter
Docherty
Holt
Coulibaly and Davis' loan deals come to an end and surely will not be given permanent deals. I'll lose the plot if he signs Davis and the noises coming from Rangers seem to suggest we will be.
Holt can go, he's a year left but someone should take him. Dorrans in the same position is finished which is a shame as he has quality but hasn't done enough or stayed fit for any length of time.
Rossiter and Docherty, two promising young players excelling on loan. Rossiter has one year left on his deal and i wouldn't be surprised to see him moved on, something we could come to regret. Docherty surely gets another chance, i could see him doing what Arfield does.
Jack, Kamara, McCrorie will all stay but imo only 1 of them should be starting at any time, they are all defensive midfielders and Kamara is the best of the bunch. Arfield has been good on the whole.
So that would leave us with 3 DM's and 2 Box to Box types. Desperately crying out for some creativity in their. Who we get for that will be key to how next season goes, a fit Dorrans in there would have been nice to see because he could play that role.
Wingers
Kent
Middleton
Murphy
Grezda
Candeias
Dodoo
Dodoo has a year left but he can go. Middleton is finding minutes hard to come by so a year on loan at a bottom half side would be ideal.
A fit Jamie Murphy makes such a difference to us. Candeias splits opinion, i'm one that thinks he's not good enough to be a starter. An option yes.
Grezda, what is he? apart from schite. He cost a couple of million so chances are we are stuck with the cant. Kent on loan again would be a bonus.
Up top.
Morelos
Defoe
Lafferty
Herrera
Hardie
Herrera still has another year he's scored a few though hopefully someone takes him. Lafferty hasn't been effective enough, tries hard but if a chance came to move him i would hope we take it. I'd rather see Hardie play.
Morelos, an enigma of a player really. I'd take 15m in the summer, he's too much of a loose cannon and his finishing is erratic.
Defoe i'd like to see more of, his clinical finishing alongside another buy would be ideal.
So Rangers fans, do you want Gerrard to stay and what do we need to do to our squad to kick on again next season?
Apologies for the length
Rangers - Where are we?
posted on 14/3/19
Crosses it in better than Candeias the other night...
posted on 14/3/19
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 14/3/19
Some good analysis in the OP.
I pretty much agree with the points made.
The outlier might be Grezda as he cant really be as average to rubbish as we have seen.
But he could be.
Good OP
posted on 14/3/19
Rangers need an experienced manager. Gerrard is using Rangers to further his manager experience. As soon as an attractive job in England opens up he will be gone. Just ask Celtic about their recent experience!
posted on 15/3/19
comment by The Duke (U10059)
posted 13 hours, 19 minutes ago
Some good analysis in the OP.
I pretty much agree with the points made.
The outlier might be Grezda as he cant really be as average to rubbish as we have seen.
But he could be.
Good OP
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Agree with that
Grezda and Katic should be getting a run in the team now. Seasons over. So no point leaving them on bench then having to rely on them next season
posted on 16/3/19
Fluck me...I honestly cant believe people are calling for Gerrard to go already...the fickle world of football.
Have they forgotten Caixinha, FC Progres and 3rd spot already ffs?
The only downside to this season is that Aberdeen have put us out of both cups; whereas last season we were comfortably beating them every game.
There have been a couple of other disappointing performances and then plenty of poor results that havent reflected a dominant match; but both of these can be forgiven considering our current position.
It is like night and day between the quality of the teams though.
Rob Kiernan at CB??
Joe Garner up top??
Get a grip on how far we've actually come!!
posted on 16/3/19
comment by brooklynbrawler (U7253)
posted 10 hours, 20 minutes ago
Fluck me...I honestly cant believe people are calling for Gerrard to go already...the fickle world of football.
Have they forgotten Caixinha, FC Progres and 3rd spot already ffs?
The only downside to this season is that Aberdeen have put us out of both cups; whereas last season we were comfortably beating them every game.
There have been a couple of other disappointing performances and then plenty of poor results that havent reflected a dominant match; but both of these can be forgiven considering our current position.
It is like night and day between the quality of the teams though.
Rob Kiernan at CB??
Joe Garner up top??
Get a grip on how far we've actually come!!
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The only downside to this season is that Aberdeen have put us out of both cups;
**************************************************
brooklyn,
What an in-depth analysis! If it wasn't for that damned Aberdeen side you would be having a great season? Quick clue for you, the teams that play Rangers are always supposed to try to beat them, it is Rangers job not to let that happen!!!
posted on 17/3/19
**************************************************
brooklyn,
What an in-depth analysis! If it wasn't for that damned Aberdeen side you would be having a great season? Quick clue for you, the teams that play Rangers are always supposed to try to beat them, it is Rangers job not to let that happen!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok lets go into more detail;
1. Gerrard was brought in as a long term solution so that he could *develop* as a manager. Let him do that; we're already bearing the fruits of it imo.
2. Theres no point in ditching managers every time theres a bad run of results. It isn't like he's clueless ala Caixinha and defending garbage displays - he can see theres a problem so let him address it.
3. Who else do we get?
We've tried s couple of club legends, promoting from within, a young upcoming foreign coach, a tried and tested English lower leagues coach...it isn't like Mourinho or Zidane are clamouring for the Gers job here ffs. We even had McInnes turn us down ffs. Back the guy who is doing the job.
4. His European streak speaks for itself.
At a much higher level than the SPFL, we didnt look out of place at all. The players were up for it - but they dont seem to be up for the league games on a consistent basis. The ones who keep failing to deliver should be first out of the door before the managers position is even given a 2nd thought.
I get that its Gerrard's job to make sure they are up for it - but hes had half a season to do anything about it so far.
If it takes a couple of seasons to get the right balance in the squad, hes at least earned that.
5. Aberdeen have beaten us on a few occasions - but it is critical to point out that they have been very lucky in most of the games.
Some might say its McInnes tactical nous, but bar the last game - which was fully deserved; the outcomes were affected by poor refereeing decisions and some poor finishing in games we otherwise fully dominated.
So does ONE particularly poor result mean the manager has to go? Not a chance imo.
And I also get that it was the biggest game of the season and that everyone from the supporters to the players knew that going in.
It's not like I'm 100% happy with where we are either - but you have to be realistic here; Aberdeen have also given Celtic (who are still on 4x our budget) a good game every time this season too.
As have Killie.
And Hearts, Hibs and some others have also shown up on a few occasions.
The gap between the teams is shortening, across the board.
We're no longer in a position where we can go out and buy a world class player to set us apart.
We're in the same market for players as the teams around us - the loan market for up and coming PL players and veterans.
Yes, we are a better option that most others and would be a more attractive choice to the players - particularly with Gerrard in charge, I may add - so we probably have closer to first dibs of these players...but theres nothing between the Maddison/Wilsons and the Kent/Coulibalys.
Some fans need to wake up to that fact.
posted on 17/3/19
comment by brooklynbrawler (U7253)
posted 14 hours, 3 minutes ago
**************************************************
brooklyn,
What an in-depth analysis! If it wasn't for that damned Aberdeen side you would be having a great season? Quick clue for you, the teams that play Rangers are always supposed to try to beat them, it is Rangers job not to let that happen!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok lets go into more detail;
1. Gerrard was brought in as a long term solution so that he could *develop* as a manager. Let him do that; we're already bearing the fruits of it imo.
2. Theres no point in ditching managers every time theres a bad run of results. It isn't like he's clueless ala Caixinha and defending garbage displays - he can see theres a problem so let him address it.
3. Who else do we get?
We've tried s couple of club legends, promoting from within, a young upcoming foreign coach, a tried and tested English lower leagues coach...it isn't like Mourinho or Zidane are clamouring for the Gers job here ffs. We even had McInnes turn us down ffs. Back the guy who is doing the job.
4. His European streak speaks for itself.
At a much higher level than the SPFL, we didnt look out of place at all. The players were up for it - but they dont seem to be up for the league games on a consistent basis. The ones who keep failing to deliver should be first out of the door before the managers position is even given a 2nd thought.
I get that its Gerrard's job to make sure they are up for it - but hes had half a season to do anything about it so far.
If it takes a couple of seasons to get the right balance in the squad, hes at least earned that.
5. Aberdeen have beaten us on a few occasions - but it is critical to point out that they have been very lucky in most of the games.
Some might say its McInnes tactical nous, but bar the last game - which was fully deserved; the outcomes were affected by poor refereeing decisions and some poor finishing in games we otherwise fully dominated.
So does ONE particularly poor result mean the manager has to go? Not a chance imo.
And I also get that it was the biggest game of the season and that everyone from the supporters to the players knew that going in.
It's not like I'm 100% happy with where we are either - but you have to be realistic here; Aberdeen have also given Celtic (who are still on 4x our budget) a good game every time this season too.
As have Killie.
And Hearts, Hibs and some others have also shown up on a few occasions.
The gap between the teams is shortening, across the board.
We're no longer in a position where we can go out and buy a world class player to set us apart.
We're in the same market for players as the teams around us - the loan market for up and coming PL players and veterans.
Yes, we are a better option that most others and would be a more attractive choice to the players - particularly with Gerrard in charge, I may add - so we probably have closer to first dibs of these players...but theres nothing between the Maddison/Wilsons and the Kent/Coulibalys.
Some fans need to wake up to that fact.
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Brooklyn,
Good detailed thoughts! I think that the Scottish PL will be all the better if it can shed the Celtic - Rangers domination factor. The more strong teams the better both for the game and attendance numbers.
posted on 18/3/19
Gerrard should stay for next season.
Unless Walter's getting bored at home