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***PreMatch Analysis***


nvager

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Rangers vs Falkirk at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, on Saturday August 15th. 2009. Kick-Off 3:00 PM. SPL game #1.

It is the start of the new season and Rangers as champions open up at home and the championship flag won last season will be unfurled. A joyous occasion indeed after three years of being runners up.

We are in a peculiar position in that the some decent performances in preseason have left us feeling pretty confident, but the lack of money has meant that the first team squad has been reduced and no-one has been signed to strengthen the team. The result of this is that we are very susceptable to injuries and suspensions. Already Novo has been injured in training and long time injured players such as Thomson, Edu and Broadfoot are doubtful for the start of the season. Broadfoot and Edu will definitely not be ready. Lafferty will miss the first three games through suspension. Novo is out for a spell through injury. One good piece of news is that Naismith is back stronger and fitter than ever.

A clear worry is the lack of defensive cover, as Weir is coming to the end of his career and the only cover is McCulloch or 17 year old Danny Wilson. How long Davie's legs can last is a guess for now, but his lack of pace will definitely be exploited by others especially in the CL. If Bougherra or Weir get injured/suspended we are up against it. Adding to that worry, is the lack of cover at cornerback. Our cornerbacks are not the best defenders to start with but we have simply no cover with Broadfoot out injured. There is no recognized reserve right back and S. Smith does not look great at left back. In other words defence is a worry especially with the ACON next year.

The remaining sections of the team have fairly good cover with Davis, Mendes, McCulloch, Thomson, Edu when fit, Fleck and Naismith all available at central midfield and Aaron, Beasley, Naismith, Lafferty (after suspension)and Novo when he returns from injury all available out wide.

Up front we can choose from Miller, Boyd, Naismith, Velicka, Lafferty (after suspension)and Novo when he returns from injury.

This will be a difficult season with Celtic spending some money and CL games added to the schedule again. On the bright side Thomson and Naismith being fully fit will give us a big boost and we will get another boost when Edu and Broadfoot return. A lot may depend on how our younger players perform if pressed into action and in that regard I would have liked to have seen them get more time in preseason games, but it appears that Wilson had a strain that kept him out. Fleck got a start today and that was important.

The big question is how will we do this season? Will it be a good one or will we struggle? I saw glimpses of some splendid football in preseason and I feel that we will be fine if not hit badly by injury and suspensions. I do hope and suspect that we will bring in at least one defender. We need to. I also suspect that near the end of August we will receive a bid for one of our starters. Anything can happen then. We have seen it before with Hutton, Cuellar and Cousin.

As far as Falkirk are concerned we should win easily. They had a bad European experience and have a different manager. We should be fresh and up for this at the start of a new campaign as champions. We will be confident and I cannot see us losing this one.

My prediction is Rangers 4-0 Falkirk, with Miller and Boyd leading the charge and a great start to the season.

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