rangersross

Ha, it was a bit Madjid.

Thank fuck, was sure this would be off.

Reminding me of that shite friendly against Sunderland that eventually got binned after ages.

This is ridiculous. You can clearly see.

Be finished by midnight at this rate.

They must be worried the Scot Foam Stadium will float away.

Yes but I think we’ll get him in the summer not January.

100%. Another big wage gone too.

Interesting that Roofe’s been sent to a sports recovery place in Belgium this week. Clement maybe favouring his own network rather than the club’s go-tos.

I don’t think anyone’s suggesting he’s going to come in and be our best player, but the alternatives are Lawrence (better but struggling with injuries), Lowry (still a young player who isn’t starting every game for Hearts), and Lammers (no explanation needed). It’s totally reasonable to think he could offer something to the squad - especially if Lawrence isn’t able to play.

I don’t expect him to set the league on fire but at the moment I’d be very happy to replace Lammers with him. He’d offer a lot more over a run of games (as would Lawrence and Lowry).

He’s an upgrade on Lammers we can afford. Because of Beale’s misfires, we’re not going to have much to spend in January at all, so we’ll have to make do. I’d rather bring him and Lowry back and spend the cash we do have elsewhere. People also seem to forget he was top in the league on assists in the 20/21 season.

I'm assuming Wilson just wanted someone in the building he could look down on.

There are definitely a number of players who simply aren't good enough - e.g., Dessers, Lammers, Yilmaz - so we'll have to rely on the rest of the squad until January. That said, I don't think we can overstate how tactically inept (and unfit) we were under Beale, and I think it's realistic to expect Clement to get more from this squad (even its weakest links) as time goes on. Hopefully that's enough to get us through to January when the new DOF can use the (limited) available funds wisely.

Our attacking options really are a joke. With the wages that were becoming available, I thought there was almost zero chance we couldn't find upgrades on last season's Kent and Morelos, but we've managed to sign two guys who are legitimately worse than options we had in the Championship (is there anyone who wouldn't have swapped Dessers for 2015/16 Waghorn yesterday?). These two are going to be a ballache to get rid of, but we've got another two top earners coming off the wage bill in the summer (Roofe + Lundstram), so we'll have an opportunity to recruit two key players again. Ideally a new striker and the quality winger we've needed for years now.

I totally sympathise with that, and I would too, but - as I've just mentioned in another post - I think it's a lot harder for a manager to actually do that than it is for a fan to suggest it. He's ultimately got a boss and, if we'd have started any of the subs up-front and lost, it would've been very difficult to explain it 'when you've got a striker who's scored 10+ continental goals for Feyenoord on the bench'. Of course, I totally agree that Dessers and Lammers are shite (I have since very early on), and I can't wait for them both to go. I just think we have to appreciate that Clement has very, very few viable alternatives available. And that's Beale's fault.

I understand, but I think the point I'm getting at is, if you're a manager, you're still going to pick Dessers. He's clearly rubbish, but - unfortunately - Clement is ultimately a guy with a job he can be sacked from, so it's very difficult for him to justify dropping a guy who's played up front for Feyenoord to try something wild like Wright up front. We just need to hope/wait for other players to come in/back as they're signed/return/recover because very few managers would have the stones to try a line-up that doesn't include Lammers or Dessers just now.

Straightforward solution, but only once Danilo is able to play ninety minutes (or even ~70').

Wright's produced next to nothing for us in his preferred position over multiple seasons. Above all else, his problem has been a lack of end product. I don't think making him a lone striker is likely to improve things.

Well, exactly. Shite situation but there's nobody better to come in. McCausland can at least come in to replace Lammers, so if you drop Dessers and put Lammers there, you've managed to drop one of them. Otherwise you've got to player way out of position or you're stuck with both.

The bench today was: Souttar Jack Cifuentes Dowell Wright McCrorie Devine McCausland Danilo Knowing that Danilo couldn't play 90, who would you have started up front if you were dropping Dessers?

I totally understand you wanting to drop Dessers at any cost. I wouldn't be against putting Lammers up top (where he's supposed to have played most of his career) and keeping McCausland in. Genuinely can't wait until we have the players to drop them both. Whether that's new signings or just injuries / loan players coming back.

Look at the bench though. Who do you play? He'd have started Danilo if he was ready to play 90 - better to finish the game with him (as we've just seen). If Lovelace wasn't injured, I'm confident Clement would be giving him a chance.

Reminds me of Novo in some respects. Hope we see a lot more of him in coming weeks.

Just rubbish. The only upside is he's done well in the Eredivisie before, so I'm somewhat optimistic that a struggling Dutch club will take him on loan in January. Maybe even a club in the Eerste Divisie.