corbyloyal84 130 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 talkSPORT's Drivetime presenter Adrian Durham discusses developments at Ibrox, and what it means for the team at Celtic Park... It’s official – Scottish football has lost its mind. It seems there really were people north of the border, even self-proclaimed experts, who genuinely thought Rangers would challenge Celtic for the title this season. Nobody with serious football knowledge thought that. And yet Mark Warburton leaves Glasgow with some buffoons thinking he has failed. “What about his budget?” is the cry from people I can only assume would have been happy to see Rangers demoted to oblivion rather than the third division a few years ago. These are the guys on social media who claim this is a new Rangers, the old one died and no longer exists according to them. Well if that’s true maybe a brand new club that has fought its way up to the top half of the top flight in the space of just a few years should be applauded rather than abused. image: http://talksport.com/sites/default/files/gettyimages-523466596_1.jpg Of course it isn’t true: this Rangers is the old Rangers, the soul, support and history of that club never died, despite a large number of people bizarrely wanting to kill it off. I have to ask if they are genuine football lovers, or are they fuelled by a hate not grounded in the positive aspects of sporting rivalry. When Rangers faced Celtic in last season’s semi final of the Scottish Cup, Mark Warburton suggested to me that the game had come too soon for his side. Rangers proceeded to outplay Celtic and beat them, but Warburton was right. In fact that day sealed Warburton’s fate, ironically. His mission was for Rangers to go up, beat Celtic, and get into the Champions League. He was clear of the plan, but unsure of the timescale, although it was clear anything but promotion in the first year would be unacceptable. Rangers and Hibs made the Championship more interesting than the Premiership in Scotland last season, and it was fitting that while Rangers won the league, Hibs went on to break their Cup duck. Celtic were stumbling along, going through the motions, and winning a league with no challengers whatsoever. Then that semi final hit Celtic like a ten ton truck. image: http://talksport.com/sites/default/files/gettyimages-521847220.jpg The media response was phenomenal. Rangers winger Barrie McKay made Celtic look like Scone Thistle that day. Celtic were made to look awful, Ronny Deila had to go, and all of a sudden Celtic was a club filled with fear – they had to do something about this Rangers side that was about to join them at the top table. Deila went, money was spent on a top manager from the Premier League, and something – I can only assume wages – persuaded Moussa Dembele to make the backwards step from English Championship to Scottish Premiership. That semi final defeat transformed Celtic, no question. It focused minds in the boardroom. Even so, only the most deluded would have thought Rangers would be serious challengers the first year of promotion. Yes, second best budget. But as the Joey Barton debacle proved, budgets won’t change mentality, if some people are unwilling to change. I’ve worked with Joey, and the level of professionalism he inspires in this latter part of his career is impressive. When giving his views on Rangers' big defeat to Celtic early in the season in a players' meeting, it seems others at the club couldn’t handle the standards Joey was demanding. At some point, those individuals will have to buck their ideas up, or they’ll end up transferred to a lesser club that will match their ambition. The truth is Rangers were totally broken only a few years ago. Off the pitch they’re struggling to cope with the demands of top flight status. On the pitch there are players still stuck in the backwaters, unable to accept they need to change and improve and become more professional in everything they do, or they’re still dining out on that semi final win against Celtic. Some of them even looked like they’ve dined out on it to excess against Hearts recently. RANGERS CHIEF TELLS TALKSPORT CLUB MAY APPOINT INTERIM MANAGER – CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY Brendan Rodgers is doing a CV repair job with a few trophies (it’s the equivalent of buying followers on Twitter, looks good, but in reality means very little), Moussa Dembele will get a big move this summer if he’s got a decent agent. Celtic will make money and add honours. Clever from the Celtic board. image: http://talksport.com/sites/default/files/gettyimages-626127414.jpg They’ve appeased their fans, and done some shrewd business. But it’s worth remembering they were only fired into action by that Hampden Park embarrassment at the hands of Mark Warburton’s Rangers last year. And so glory that day backfired on Warburton. As he said to me, it came too soon. It raised expectation to a level which was unsustainable for a club with the recent history of Rangers, on and off the pitch. In his final programme notes, Warburton asked for patience. No chance. He was vilified by the media for saying last week that Rangers were aiming for second place. It defies belief that serious football thinkers in Scotland believed they could challenge Celtic at the very top straight after promotion. Warburton will be fine, he will carry on building his excellent reputation in England, no problem. He knew it wasn’t going to happen quickly at Ibrox. Unfortunately there were some deluded fools who failed to realise the size of a budget won’t precipitate a change of culture throughout a club. And maybe with a new manager, the truth will finally click for some of those Rangers players, and they will increase their level of professionalism and quality to the required level. I suspect it may take a while. Mark Warburton has become a unique figure in Scottish football history. He’s the only manager whose success transformed both Rangers and Celtic. Good luck to him Read more at http://talksport.com/football/mark-warburton-transformed-rangers-and-celtic-now-his-ibrox-exit-proves-scottish-football#7EcKCheObLe6uW5p.99 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fantana 28,894 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 One of the most straight to the point articles i've read, refreshing to see honest journalism. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negri's lovechild 14,054 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Good article and reading between the lines it shows why Barton lost the but. Some small time players at our club that will hopefully be shown the door soon Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dummiesoot 16,006 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Not too much to argue with there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueThunder 8,454 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Good article. Naturally one could ask who brought those players in though. I believe we would have got 2nd with Warburton. Others will disagree. It remains to be seen whether we will get 2nd with McLeish or whoever comes in. I wonder what folk will say if we finish 3rd or 4th. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gruggs 221 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Can't disagree with what's written there Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
siddiqi_drinker 14,635 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Is that from the Daily Record Cannot disagree with any of what is written there Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbyloyal84 130 Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 I also believe we would of got second with Warburton but thinking back to that semi final win over them what the fuck happened after that. We went from that to utter mince and he didn't seem to have an answer to it and it had nothing ta do with a budget as even the last few games in the first division we was rotten Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintbob1969 1,459 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 20 minutes ago, dummiesoot said: Not too much to argue with there. except this doesn't explain Rangers sitting third and failing to thump Ross County and various other teams on a regular basis. Warburton's players. Warburton's non-tactics. Warburton's same old press conference nonsense. Warburton's failure to read up on opposition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbear 10,913 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 5 minutes ago, corbyloyal84 said: I also believe we would of got second with Warburton but thinking back to that semi final win over them what the fuck happened after that. We went from that to utter mince and he didn't seem to have an answer to it and it had nothing ta do with a budget as even the last few games in the first division we was rotten Everyone switched off after that, job done seemed to be the thoughts, we only glimpsed that form in flashes after that and in large patches we have been dire. It will be interesting to see how Warburton does at his next gig, he had us in freefall though with no answer to the form loss. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaddistonKnight 1,567 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 He's not everyone's cup of tea, and I don't always agree with what he says as he's a top notch WUM. But you can't really argue with any of the particulars in there. As for the players, I ain't saying MW is innocent and I ain't making any excuses for him, but you can lead a horse to water.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bighouse 1,012 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Durham also said Warburton was a future England manager. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cushynumber 25,178 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Its interesting that the article doesnt touch on any of the reasons MW was sacked. So lets for a second take the budget out of the equation, take the "aiming for 2nd" out the equation, take the semi final win out of the equation - the simple fact is that in the last 9 months MW has spent a small fortune on dross and the team was going backwards rapidly - everything else is just smoke and mirrors. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Agree with most of what he says. I do agree that playing the taigs the day we beat them was probably too early because they shat it after that and have pushed ever further ahead since. I can't see us beating them again this season and I also agree that no one really expected us to challenge this season but we still haven't done enough to call this a good season Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imodium 410 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Excellent article and hard to argue against. The Rodgers CV part is an interesting observation as well Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianferguson 2,619 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Sensible and accurate until he predicts Warburton will come good in England. Warburton has the luxury of being out of sight of his potential employers and just like Durham they've not watched his naivety be exposed week after week. That they believe Warburton is gone because of the gap between us and the tims shows their ignorance of the facts. Warburton will get one job down south and I'll be amazed if it's not his last. His only chance to succeed with so little experience was to have a top No2,sadly Weir is not that and imo they are actually bad for each other. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornabear 6,202 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Brilliant piece, strange how it takes a journalist from outside the SNP Peoples Republic to show the true face of reporting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AljayBoy 2,298 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 I expected to be 2nd at this point in the season but what I also expected was progress on the field in terms of player performances; and progress off it in terms of management and scouting abilities, and it's there W&W failed miserably. Failed in his tactics. Failed in his team selections. Failed in his substitutions. Failed in his player recruitment. Failed in man management. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbear 10,913 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Just now, AljayBoy said: I expected to be 2nd at this point in the season but what I also expected was progress on the field in terms of player performances; and progress off it in terms of management and scouting abilities, and it's there W&W failed miserably. Failed in his tactics. Failed in his team selections. Failed in his substitutions. Failed in his player recruitment. Failed in man management. Apart from that he was superb! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoGeo7 10,518 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Article seems to read well but it's missing out the fact Warburton is tactically inept and has no answer to the Scottish clubs that sussed out his style of play and proceeded to make idiots out of him, our players and our club as a whole. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchieshearercaldow 22,137 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Seems more of a let's feel sorry for Warburton article to me, i'd imagine the majority of Bears never thought we'd win 55 this season but as has been said many times, Warburton made a mess of his signings, he was obstinate in his style of play, this was a manager in his second season of building and he was failing, there were more questions than answers, we expected bad results just not as bad as they have been. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HG5 11,113 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 36 minutes ago, saintbob1969 said: except this doesn't explain Rangers sitting third and failing to thump Ross County and various other teams on a regular basis. Warburton's players. Warburton's non-tactics. Warburton's same old press conference nonsense. Warburton's failure to read up on opposition. Interestingly, just had his programme on & he's been having a go at Allardyce for exactly the same things that have been wrong with us. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Bob 1,360 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Fails to point out that SPL managers had sussed his tactics and Warburton did not know how to react. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courtyard Bear 41,357 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Good read to a point and that is that Warburton only has himself to blame. He bought the dross in the summer he couldn't control Barton he took the gamble on Krancjar. So they can fuck off with Warburton and his wonderful reputation intact the man is a fucking rat and will never manage a top club. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky. 6,927 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Durham is great. Enjoy listening to him and this article was another good piece. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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