BearInTheToon

Steady, mate. Think you need to rewatch it - that ain’t what happened.

Can’t see Davis not starting. Such an influential player and his vision and pass through to Tav for the Defoe’s goal was top notch.

McGregor Tav. Goldson . Katic. Barasic Davis Jack. Kamara Ojo. Jones Defoe

I think given we’ve signed 7 players already though, there is some justification. Many fans thought the squad was already too big and expected us to get rid of 6 or 7 of the deadwood. Then to see us properly kick on, many expected us (as MA and SG both strongly intimated/said in May) to sign 3-4 players that could walk straight into the 11. Now, the ridding of deadwood will still likely, and must, happen. But in terms of those who have actually come in, it hasn’t made too much sense or tallied with what was said in May.

Not disputing that about the goal tally but even though it's a great badge of honour, it means nothing if they're mainly being scored in a few hammerings and then we come unstuck and drop points against stuffier teams. That was our achilles heel big time last year - breaking down well organised opponents and not having enough goals from midfield. The points dropped against Aberdeen, Hibs, Killie etc weren't the cause of leaking lots of goals - it was down to not creating/taking enough chances. We should be putting 2-3 past these teams on most occasions, and expecting to concede 1 or 2 sometimes along the way. Agree with you on the tightening up of CB but, for me, it's about having 3-4 players who can unlock defences and put the ball in the net - we needed a couple of proper upgrades on Candeias, Murphy, Grezda. I really do hope I'm wrong and I'm not writing them off, but I just don't see Jones, Stewart and Hastie as being any better or having the necessary quality/cutting edge to make the difference when the going gets tough.

Have to say, if we had to go into the season tomorrow, I’d have the fear a bit. Really hope I’m wrong but I can well see us sitting here in a few months with loads on RM going mental saying our recruitment wasn’t strong enough. We were already needing much better than we had to truly kick on but I just don’t see Jones, Hastie or Stewart as being of the necessary standard required. And I don’t believe for a second Gerrard genuinely believes that these guys are the level of player he was hoping to add to the squad. Hope we’re not done by a long shot and that the board give him a bit of cash.

Loads of posts about an extra CB and striker, which I agree with, but I think we need some genuine quality for RW\RM. We’ve got loads of wingers/midfielders but few of serious quality. I know diamonds (such as Morelos and Kamara) are hard to come by for little money. But I’d really have preferred to have taken only 1 from the trio of Hastie, Jones and Stewart and instead focused our efforts on spending a bit more cash on one serious player who could make a genuine difference. And we’ve seriously got to shift the deadwood - we’re too bloated.

I’m sure Gerrard/Allen had good intentions when they said it however the cynic in me questions the real choice to use that language (at a time when season tickets were going on sale). Certainly, to date, none of the signings so far could be considered marquee/adding greater quality. In fact, we’re in danger of creating that age-old problem (which still stuns me how/why clubs do this) of having way too bloated a squad filled with lots of players vying for the same fee positions (CM and wingers). I do have massive faith in Gerrard but I am totally perplexed by the additions so far.

He wasn’t the quickest to begin with but he’ll have lost even more with the injury he’s had. Think he’s going to have a seriously tough job getting back into the team.

Walter with Davie Weir... that not a massive success?

There’s no way SG is going to play Morelos on the right. We’d lose way too much of his play/what he does for the team and he’d almost certainly lose confidence. It’s just not his game/position and he can’t be shoehorned into it. It’d be utter madness.

The drop ball, trying to smash the ball in Lego's coupon and stretching his arms out (ala Lego to Diouf) just sky rocketed my man-love for Arfield even more. Make no bones about, Arfield absolutely intimated the shit out of Brown, both in terms of the aforementioned instances and in terms of his play, in how he completely dominated him. You could literally see on Brown's face how totally rattled he was - he had nae comeback. Which is all pretty ironic as I met/sat and had a beer with Arfield 3 years ago down in Holmfirth when I got him and his mate comp tickets for a gig I was playing on. And he's genuinely the nicest guy you could ever meet. Which really is like getting the old Rangers back when we can say we've got absolute warriors who can balance having a bit of swagger while being humble, respectful guys off the pitch too. Unlike the other lot...

Dorans is done mate. And there’s no way Murphy will come back as good a player after his ACL injury. That injury, for a winger, is a game-changer. But definitely missing the other two.

Absolutely, and there’s no doubt SG will have said to them to take care/be wary of quick turns as the risk of injury is huge. It literally is a different ball game on those surfaces.

These two interviews with Peat just leave more questions than answers. I’m still waiting on a competent journalist asking him why, after he’s said ‘he saw no problem with extending the season to help Rangers’, that never happened. Why did it not happen, when everyone inside and outside football knew it was plain wrong to ask so much of one club to play so many games in such a short period of time? Maybe he was influenced after all... It was and is an utter shambles.

In the last 25 years+ of watching football, I honestly can’t remember a time like the past two seasons in which we’ve had so many outrageous decisions go against us. This season has been a joke already on that front and it’s barely started. I don’t buy into conspiracy theories, but it definitely feels like we’ve become a soft target for refs, without the fear of a WS and Advocaat to rip them a new one. It’s not helped either by the quality of our team having dropped compared to years ago, meaning these shocking decisions are having a greater, more negative effect. Frightening just how bad the refs have become though.

To be fair, I think it's definitely a feature of virtually all of our games so far this season, which the likes of EL qualification or a 4-0 skelping today shouldn't disguise. That is we're giving the ball away way too often, too easily in every game and putting ourselves under needless pressure. Really glad to hear SG not paper over that fact because keeping better possession really needs to become a must, and fast. It's what made us fall into Motherwell's hands and drop points, not lay much of a glove on the scum and has been a big feature in Euro away games to some extent too. Nail that, and we'll be a serious team to come up against.

Think big Coulibaly’s going to be a cracking player for us as his engine and presence are great in midfield. But, the one area I think he’s not been great in so far is keeping possession and using it wisely, which on Sunday could be brutal/suicidal of it happens too often.

Absolutely - throw in the fact we've had to play the vast majority of two games with only 10 men, and I'm not surprised we're seeing these issues.

I think it will/has had a detrimental effect on our performances as, for me, the past couple of performances have definitely seen us look a little more jaded, as though we've lost a little bit of spark. I think under Gerrard, that will return really soon and yesterday's performance and result will act as a shot in the arm/kick up the arse to the squad. But even if it is detrimental, I think being in Europe is crucial to what we're trying to achieve longer term. It's so important the Rangers name is back out there and circulating around Europe and qualification to the group stages, allied to Gerrard's standing in the game, should make us even more attractive for recruiting better players. Quite simply, better players want to be playing in the main/latter stages of Europe and competing for league championships. And in turn, we need better players to succeed in those objectives.

This 100%. Fucking usual scattergun, impulsive shite from people looking to attribute blame left, right and centre. I doubt they were moaning when McGregor saved us against Maribor etc.

I’d love for Gerrard in his pre-Motherwell press conference to talk about the role, responsibility and standards expected of a real captain and a real role model. Ultimate put down / ‘there’s yer dinner’ to their captain. I have a feeling he will too.

Yes

If the SFA were genuinely looking to uphold the standards and integrity of the game here, then they’d be charging him with bringing the game into disrepute and handing out an immediate muliti-game ban.

Cringe.