Are Rangers ready for the Champions League

[Guest]

<p style="text-align: justify;">I have to say firstly that I’m delighted with where we are in the League at present and with the job Walter and his team have done so far. With the league title all but in the bag we have a lot to be grateful for.

That said I have some serious concerns about our playing staff for next year in terms of the Champions League if we have no new owner and no serious investment in the team.

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[bouncy 315]

ready? ....first time in ages i will say no we are not

untill a signing or two is made then maybe reconsideration may take place from me but as of now a no no

[fonics7 1]

no, we are not ready for the champions league at all.

we got pumped 3 times at home this season - we were fucking awful

[sdunsmb 43]

Nowhere near We need to strenghten in several positions and hopefully hold onto our key players or replace them adequately if they leave.

First time I can remember that I have low expectations of Gers in Europe, but we really are so far behind the other European leagues. Having said that, we have a history of upping our game against the big boys, and of course Ibrox can be a fortress so anything can happen on the night. But all in all, I am more pessimistic than ever.

[Guest SandyIniesta-Nordahl]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

[papaguy51 912]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

This.

[bluenose andy 1]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

This.

X2

[mrwin 393]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

This.

These

[cooper1989 0]

DUDE, No way are we ready for the CL.. But let me read the article first! lol

EDIT:

Read it... agree. This campaign has me worried. Last year -- we got off to a great start. it all went tits up after that -- although it shouldn't have.

This year.. has me worried.

Remember this?

Boogie's goal v Stuttgart (The famous commentary!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Huk1VzfVRs

Boogie interview after his goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlSYrbULBJI

[simplythebest 11,453]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

This.

Nobody is going to tell me we couldn't have got more out of the Champions League this season, some of the performances and tactics were pathetic. The squad of players we have weren't that far behind Stuttgart and Unirea that we weren't capable of at least putting up a challenge against them both at our home ground, and we should have been able to see the game in Romania out after scoring late on.

I was never expecting miracles in the Champions League but we should have been able to do better than we did.

[Ozblue 4,331]

As I said in another thread regarding this question; We are in NO WAY ready for the CL with the current pool of players we have at our disposal even now.If we lose our better players like McGregor(Unless we get a good back up keeper for Alexander) Weir, Bougherra,Davis,Boyd, Edu, or even good talent like Danny Wilson next Season and not replace them with as good or better players,I don't think we will be ready for the SPL fight, never mind the CL.IMO.

[ChrisVanDarche 23]

If we register a win in this competition next season I would be chuffed.

[bjorkland 13]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

This.

X2

Thirded

[Papa Sasac 164]

To be honest, I'm happy we're there and the money is essential for us at the moment. We were extremely unlucky I think- Sevilla at home,we just collapsed after we should have had a penalty, could have got a draw? Unirea at home, was it 3 deflections and two of the worst performances I've ever seen from Whittaker and Jerome. Unirea away, again unlucky, fantastic strike. We need to pray for another 'good looking' group, as long as we are not embarrassed again.

[Sherbs123 0]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

Spot on.

[ronniemca 479]

only in it for the prize money im afraid, hence the reason for the first time since 1958 im not interested in going to euro matches

[MrSifter 181]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

Spot on.

Depends what you think the expectations were. I for one expected third place as an absolute gimme.

Perhaps no wins, two draws and last place were your expectations in just about the best group we could've got.

Smith is a disaster in the Champions League and always has been, one very fortuitous run apart. This doesn't detract from his domestic dominance in anyway. However the sad fact is that no matter how big or small his budget, he is guaranteed to heap Champions League humiliation on us.

[DavidCF2 29]

I doubt very much we will be.

No matter what anyone says, we should have done a lot, lot better in this seasons campaign.

Im not meaning last 16 qualification but at least performed with a sense of belief and made the Europa League.

[Sherbs123 0]

I'll just be grateful we are in it, the expectations this year were far too high. Anything we get out the competition will be a bonus

Spot on.

Depends what you think the expectations were. I for one expected third place as an absolute gimme.

Perhaps no wins, two draws and last place were your expectations in just about the best group we could've got.

Smith is a disaster in the Champions League and always has been, one very fortuitous run apart. This doesn't detract from his domestic dominance in anyway. However the sad fact is that no matter how big or small his budget, he is guaranteed to heap Champions League humiliation on us.

I suppose i should have highlighted the "I'll just be grateful we are in it" and chopped the rest of the post.

Being last was not my expectation, I thought 3rd was the least we could have managed.

[MasterD 7,435]

we're a LB, RB, CB (maybe2), RM, LM, ST away from being ready

[canadian_bear 1]

Interesting brief article on the problem, although I would take issue with the notion of the weakness of talent in our central midfield. (I personally feel that the fundamental problem is the lack of depth in the team and not with the individual players themselves.)

During the last group stage, I took the opportunity to visit some relatives in Northern Ireland via Glasgow and attended Rangers home match with Sevilla and did not think that we were completely outclassed at all. It is true we gave up four goals, but it was not as if the difference in performance merited a 1-4 scoreline. We were rather unlucky in both games against Unirea Urziceni and reasonably in this group, with these opponents should have made the Europa League.

If we cannot do anything about our lack of depth on the playing roster, it would be at least better to set up differently in Europe such that we are actually trying to attack our opponents. An inability to score regularly in Europe is damning to our chances and we often don't look as if we are trying to do much else than contain our opponents. It is not a bad strategy away from home, especially against a superior opponent, but it has its limits.

As of right now, we are not ready for the Champions League. Perhaps with some summer investment, but there are few signs of that happening at present. The silver lining, if you want to look at it, is that of the clubs entering the group stage, at least 10 on average are not ready for the competition either. This may be even more so this season coming up as England, Spain, France and Italy all have teams with little European pedigree contesting the playoff positions in their leagues.