SIRB_72

Matondo is injured mate. 

Glad he's back in the team.
I was honestly not his biggest fan and always thought he was a drop off on Helander first time round but they two alternating during 55 worked really well.
However with Goldson dropping off at an alarming rate and Souttar being Souttar he has just managed to put in consistent performances.
He's given Goldson and Barisic confidence earlier this season and I'm sure will do the same with Souttar.
Mentioned this before but he's the only guy in our squad who has won something every year he's played with us. He's clearly a good influence in the dressing room, adores the club and I'm assuming isn't on massive money either.

Glad he's back in the team.
I was honestly not his biggest fan and always thought he was a drop off on Helander first time round but they two alternating during 55 worked really well.
However with Goldson dropping off at an alarming rate and Souttar being Souttar he has just managed to put in consistent performances.
He's given Goldson and Barisic confidence earlier this season and I'm sure will do the same with Souttar.
Mentioned this before but he's the only guy in our squad who has won something every year he's played with us. He's clearly a good influence in the dressing room, adores the club and I'm assuming isn't on massive money either.

Glad he's back in the team.
I was honestly not his biggest fan and always thought he was a drop off on Helander first time round but they two alternating during 55 worked really well.
However with Goldson dropping off at an alarming rate and Souttar being Souttar he has just managed to put in consistent performances.
He's given Goldson and Barisic confidence earlier this season and I'm sure will do the same with Souttar.
Mentioned this before but he's the only guy in our squad who has won something every year he's played with us. He's clearly a good influence in the dressing room, adores the club and I'm assuming isn't on massive money either.

He’s not very good, but if Sima’s injured it’s him that should be starting on the left

Prefer Sima on the left tbh

Getting into final is the most important thing and we've done that. We were never going to be perfect after the last week.
Hopefully Sima is okay as his goals will be vital on this run in.
Good to keep a clean sheet. I see it this way with our attacking options if we defend well and keep clean sheets then the reliance on them becomes even less as we dont need 3/4+ goals. It gives us a real chance.

Getting into final is the most important thing and we've done that. We were never going to be perfect after the last week.
Hopefully Sima is okay as his goals will be vital on this run in.
Good to keep a clean sheet. I see it this way with our attacking options if we defend well and keep clean sheets then the reliance on them becomes even less as we dont need 3/4+ goals. It gives us a real chance.

Getting into final is the most important thing and we've done that. We were never going to be perfect after the last week.
Hopefully Sima is okay as his goals will be vital on this run in.
Good to keep a clean sheet. I see it this way with our attacking options if we defend well and keep clean sheets then the reliance on them becomes even less as we dont need 3/4+ goals. It gives us a real chance.

Getting into final is the most important thing and we've done that. We were never going to be perfect after the last week.
Hopefully Sima is okay as his goals will be vital on this run in.
Good to keep a clean sheet. I see it this way with our attacking options if we defend well and keep clean sheets then the reliance on them becomes even less as we dont need 3/4+ goals. It gives us a real chance.

Getting into final is the most important thing and we've done that. We were never going to be perfect after the last week.
Hopefully Sima is okay as his goals will be vital on this run in.
Good to keep a clean sheet. I see it this way with our attacking options if we defend well and keep clean sheets then the reliance on them becomes even less as we dont need 3/4+ goals. It gives us a real chance.

Getting into final is the most important thing and we've done that. We were never going to be perfect after the last week.
Hopefully Sima is okay as his goals will be vital on this run in.
Good to keep a clean sheet. I see it this way with our attacking options if we defend well and keep clean sheets then the reliance on them becomes even less as we dont need 3/4+ goals. It gives us a real chance.

Getting into final is the most important thing and we've done that. We were never going to be perfect after the last week.
Hopefully Sima is okay as his goals will be vital on this run in.
Good to keep a clean sheet. I see it this way with our attacking options if we defend well and keep clean sheets then the reliance on them becomes even less as we dont need 3/4+ goals. It gives us a real chance.

Nice to see Balogun back in. Sterling is wasted at left back and the left side is too narrow. Sima better off the left but we'll see

Have no idea why anybody would start Roofe. Did they watch him at all this season or Wednesday night?

Chelsea must be the only team in the UK that has worse finishing than us

We’ve all got two teams, the one we’d pick if it was up to us and the one we all know Clement will pick.

Chelsea must be the only team in the UK that has worse finishing than us

It's as tedious as watching the players who all of this clearly effects. It is a major factor if not the defining factor for a good chunk of this squad and there are plenty of trends to show it.
SInce Gerrard joined in 2018 after the winter break when we are a minimum of 2 points behind celtic or better we've had 3 occassions when we've dropped 9+ points to celtic between the first game after the break and the 3rd game of the season against celtic. In 2019 we had a drop of 10, in 2020 a drop of 11 and in 2022 a drop of 9 to celtic.
We obviously never got to play that 3rd game against them in 2020 but in 2019 and 2022 we went onto to lose 2-1 on both occassions. After these two defeats we had a record of 5 wins out of 6 afterwards.
Win% between Janurary and 3rd celtic game - 50% in 2019 and 2022. Win% after the celtic defeat - both 83%.
I'm not going to denegrate our 55 success but I do think less external pressure did help and I think that helped this squad under Beale and now Clement and the numbers show it again.
Beale comes in and we're 9 points behind celtic which carries on until, again, we lose to celtic in the 3rd game of the season after failing to beat them at Ibrox in December and the League Cup final. So we were comfortable with celtic at a distance but as soon as there was a chance to beat them in an important game we dont win.
Which brings me onto results against celtic in general in these specific periods. So after the winter break our record when celtic win the league in all comps is 3 wins in 11. 1 win was that superb cup win under Gio and the other two were when we were 9pts behind celtic in 2019 and 13 points behind last season when celtic were confirmed champions both times. 
Clement comes into similar circumstances with us 7 behind and chips away and chips away celtic who drop more points than they did when Beale was here. We look like a proper team but lose at parkhead. So another big loss to celtic and 8 points behind (and I'm not counting games in hand because as we seen last night it means fuck all).
Ater defeat at parkhead we bounce back and win 9 in a row and get ourselves to the summit and then another collapse where once again we've failed to beat celtic and are on a run of 1 win in 5 - not for the first time.
This is the 4th time in 6 season that we've gone on a disastrous run when we only manage 1 or 2 wins in 5 or 6 matches. So between New Year and 3rd celtic game in 2019 we had a run of 2 wins in 5 and a cup KO to Aberdeen in between, in 2020 it was 1 win in 5 and a cup KO v Hearts but we managed to beat Braga in the EL (funny that) and in 2022 we went on a run of 2 in 6 but managed to knock out Dortmund - again maybe just a coincidence and nothing to do with pressure? Now we're on a similar run at just a different time in the season.
Clement's managerial reign at Rangers has  encapsulated every bit of failure parts of this squad has had under Gerrard, Gio and Beale just with some differences in timing.
The big gap behind and the big run of wins when everyone thinks the league is done. Failing to beat celtic within a 9 point margain after January. A 5/6 league run that we fail to win even a third of those games which means celtic just have to have the most basic level of consistency to cause a major point swing. We're in the middle of a 5 point swing as we speak over the last 3/4 weeks and as I mentioned before history shows it'll probably get worse before it gets better. We've even had the underdog Euro performances. We've already won a cup so I'm assuming we'll cap this run off with defeat to Hearts or lose to celtic in the final and we'll have had the full bingo card either way.
What is the one constant through this? Players. Specifically Tav, Goldson, Barisic and Ryan Jack. Roofe, Wright, Balogun and Lundstram also had a part to play in these seasons and the tradition is now getting passed through to newer members of the squad.
It may be tedious but we're seeing trend and after trend that we've seen every year from this core group. Managers and other players have come and gone and here we are seeing the exact same traits from this team we've been seeing for 5/6 years.
They're not just lacking in quality or tactical implementation or help with sports science they are also scarred and lack belief to go and win things regularly.

It's as tedious as watching the players who all of this clearly effects. It is a major factor if not the defining factor for a good chunk of this squad and there are plenty of trends to show it.
SInce Gerrard joined in 2018 after the winter break when we are a minimum of 2 points behind celtic or better we've had 3 occassions when we've dropped 9+ points to celtic between the first game after the break and the 3rd game of the season against celtic. In 2019 we had a drop of 10, in 2020 a drop of 11 and in 2022 a drop of 9 to celtic.
We obviously never got to play that 3rd game against them in 2020 but in 2019 and 2022 we went onto to lose 2-1 on both occassions. After these two defeats we had a record of 5 wins out of 6 afterwards.
Win% between Janurary and 3rd celtic game - 50% in 2019 and 2022. Win% after the celtic defeat - both 83%.
I'm not going to denegrate our 55 success but I do think less external pressure did help and I think that helped this squad under Beale and now Clement and the numbers show it again.
Beale comes in and we're 9 points behind celtic which carries on until, again, we lose to celtic in the 3rd game of the season after failing to beat them at Ibrox in December and the League Cup final. So we were comfortable with celtic at a distance but as soon as there was a chance to beat them in an important game we dont win.
Which brings me onto results against celtic in general in these specific periods. So after the winter break our record when celtic win the league in all comps is 3 wins in 11. 1 win was that superb cup win under Gio and the other two were when we were 9pts behind celtic in 2019 and 13 points behind last season when celtic were confirmed champions both times. 
Clement comes into similar circumstances with us 7 behind and chips away and chips away celtic who drop more points than they did when Beale was here. We look like a proper team but lose at parkhead. So another big loss to celtic and 8 points behind (and I'm not counting games in hand because as we seen last night it means fuck all).
Ater defeat at parkhead we bounce back and win 9 in a row and get ourselves to the summit and then another collapse where once again we've failed to beat celtic and are on a run of 1 win in 5 - not for the first time.
This is the 4th time in 6 season that we've gone on a disastrous run when we only manage 1 or 2 wins in 5 or 6 matches. So between New Year and 3rd celtic game in 2019 we had a run of 2 wins in 5 and a cup KO to Aberdeen in between, in 2020 it was 1 win in 5 and a cup KO v Hearts but we managed to beat Braga in the EL (funny that) and in 2022 we went on a run of 2 in 6 but managed to knock out Dortmund - again maybe just a coincidence and nothing to do with pressure? Now we're on a similar run at just a different time in the season.
Clement's managerial reign at Rangers has  encapsulated every bit of failure parts of this squad has had under Gerrard, Gio and Beale just with some differences in timing.
The big gap behind and the big run of wins when everyone thinks the league is done. Failing to beat celtic within a 9 point margain after January. A 5/6 league run that we fail to win even a third of those games which means celtic just have to have the most basic level of consistency to cause a major point swing. We're in the middle of a 5 point swing as we speak over the last 3/4 weeks and as I mentioned before history shows it'll probably get worse before it gets better. We've even had the underdog Euro performances. We've already won a cup so I'm assuming we'll cap this run off with defeat to Hearts or lose to celtic in the final and we'll have had the full bingo card either way.
What is the one constant through this? Players. Specifically Tav, Goldson, Barisic and Ryan Jack. Roofe, Wright, Balogun and Lundstram also had a part to play in these seasons and the tradition is now getting passed through to newer members of the squad.
It may be tedious but we're seeing trend and after trend that we've seen every year from this core group. Managers and other players have come and gone and here we are seeing the exact same traits from this team we've been seeing for 5/6 years.
They're not just lacking in quality or tactical implementation or help with sports science they are also scarred and lack belief to go and win things regularly.

1 win in our last 5. 9 scored and 9 conceded. 10 points dropped. 

Similar to the 22/23 collapse under Gio where we dropped 12 points from 15 games. 

Similar to the 21/22 post winter collapse under Gio where we got 3 wins from 8. 

Similar to the 19/20 post winter collapse under Gerrard where we got 3 wins from 8. 

Similar to the 18/19 post winter collapse under Gerrard where we got 5 wins from 10. 

Wonder when the penny will finally drop?

Part of that history and success is guaged on the cups as well as the league titles. Rangers need to win both. Just because we dont win the league shouldn't mean we just dont give a fuck about the cups.
If celtic win the double they will have equaled our domestic trophy haul which was unfathomable even when we returned to the top flight.
I take your point about the league being the priority, I don't think anyone would disagree, but I wouldn't be dismissing the importance of picking up cups especially now when our statement of the "most successful team in football" is at risk to them over the next 6 weeks.

Could play until next week and still not score.
Glad to see us get a clean sheet and weren't too bad defensively apart from that first 10 minutes and when we were "chasing" late on. If we were going to do anything tonight and going forward we need clean sheets because, as we seen tonight, we dont have the firepower.
Slow, ponderous and unbalanced. Sterling is wasted at left back, absolutely wasted, and when you look at how unathletic that centre of midfield is Sterling is, along with Dio, what we're crying out for in there. For me, as much as a shitebag he is, Barisic has to play if Yilmaz isn't available. We have 4/5 other bed wetters out there but at least another one might help us out tactically, even at least so I don't have to watch Tav hit about 10 corners in succession.
Since we're on the left Silva is shite as is Matondo. Get Sima back out there and get McCausland back on the right with Tav getting forward. One side you have Barisic playing balls down the channel for Sima and on the other McCausland coming inside while Tav exploits the space.
I'm not his biggest fan but alongside Sterling we should be trying Raskin. As I said that midfield tonight was as unathletic as you can get. At least Raskin and Sterling can sprint and I suspect he might be a better number 8 than Lawrence, Dowell and whoever fucking else we can chuck in before him.
Cantwell is our only 10 at this point and he was a huffy we shite tonight. Didn't turn up and was right to get hooked.
As much as Desser is a pain in the arse there is a reason he plays before Roofe and we seen why tonight. Roofe, unfortunately for him, is done.
The manager is very limited here but I think there's other things he could be doing rather than what he is.
 

There is - but in the end it won't work till the shitebags have gone they bring down every aspect of the team and there really isn't a personality amongst the new players who has the influence to change that at the moment. Which is rather sad and pathetic really. 

We win that game tonight if Barisic plays left-back. Not because Borna wins it, but because Sterling influences the game in midfield.
Dhana and McCowan have had too much time on the ball in the last two games.
Lawrence is not an 8 and Dowell can't defend. 
That's where we dropped the points.