Big Signings & Current Squad.

[orange-john 0]

We all miss the big signings from past seasons (or maybe decades), the Gazzas, De Boers, Laudrups etc... But do you think the shrewd signings by Walter Smith, the Davis"s Lafferty"s etc... & the likes of Naismiths current form & with our performance against Valencia, our current squad can match the heights of past squads that had big stars & now Rangers Legends in them?

[nvager 498]

We are a well knit team and very hard to beat, but not sure we are much more than that.

[Togs 179]

The Rangers team of 15 years ago would wipe the floor with today's team. That's just the swift decline in the financial backing of Scottish football. Can we match the successes of previous Rangers sides? Maybe not. But with our lack of high quality players there's an abundance of grit, determination and heart that I haven't seen in a Rangers team in a long time. The fact that we're not financially well off and that the club was in trouble bonded our squad. And having a well gelled squad with a true desire to play for the team is something you can't buy. I'm confident of the future as well because any youngsters coming up through the ranks with a first team as together as ours it will do nothing but benefit them.

[pcbear 10,913]

The photo that sticks in my head is of Laudrup Gazza Gough and McCall trudging off the park in the red and white strip after being humiliated 3-0 by Gothenberg.

Never happened for us with that quality for some reason, we had some right shockers.

[BouncingBear 23]

The Rangers team of 15 years ago would wipe the floor with today's team. That's just the swift decline in the financial backing of Scottish football. Can we match the successes of previous Rangers sides? Maybe not. But with our lack of high quality players there's an abundance of grit, determination and heart that I haven't seen in a Rangers team in a long time. The fact that we're not financially well off and that the club was in trouble bonded our squad. And having a well gelled squad with a true desire to play for the team is something you can't buy. I'm confident of the future as well because any youngsters coming up through the ranks with a first team as together as ours it will do nothing but benefit them.

Very well said

[MikeBlue 136]

The photo that sticks in my head is of Laudrup Gazza Gough and McCall trudging off the park in the red and white strip after being humiliated 3-0 by Gothenberg.

Never happened for us with that quality for some reason, we had some right shockers

Interesting isn't it? In those days we were often beaten by teams with less individual resources but which were well organised to defend in depth and then counter attack at speed. Pretty much what we've got now

[sdunsmb 43]

Can we match the heights of the days of our big spending days?

Yes, but only because our team in those days didn't really achieve anything in Europe.

We have already shown in Big Ecks CL campaign, the Uefa Cup run, and to some extent this season that we can match or in fact better the results of the days of De Boer, Laudrup, Gazza, Areteta, Flo etc.

The difference is the manner in which we get the results.

Tose days, we could stand toe to toe with top teams and play open passing football. A certain night in Munich anyone?

These days we have far less resources, but have a very strong team ethic, a very solid defensive unit and the ability to counter attack. Ironically, we've shown we can achieve the same, if not better results.

Of course, the campaign of 92/93 was the closest we have come to top level success in recent history where we were effectively in the semi-final. I think it's fair to say, it would take a mircale to achieve that in the current climate.

[Ozblue 4,331]

We certainly are a more organised and close knit unit now than we have been for many years,even although the current squad do not have the same skill level as teams from the past.

Since we started playing in Europe, we have had teams full of players who played "Off the cuff" and were brilliant one day then disappointing the next, so we would go out and annihilate the best in the business and then get gubbed when we thought the money was in the bag.

The one thing this team has in common with the teams of the 1950's up to the mid 60's is that we have got the very best Scottish born players plying their trade at Ibrox that are available, which is something that was always considered normal.

We might not see players with the panache and skill levels of a Gascoigne, Laudrup or De Boer these days, but it's as good as we can hope for considering the state of affairs.

[DietofWorms 2,063]

Can we match the heights of the days of our big spending days?

Yes, but only because our team in those days didn't really achieve anything in Europe.

We have already shown in Big Ecks CL campaign, the Uefa Cup run, and to some extent this season that we can match or in fact better the results of the days of De Boer, Laudrup, Gazza, Areteta, Flo etc.

The difference is the manner in which we get the results.

Tose days, we could stand toe to toe with top teams and play open passing football. A certain night in Munich anyone?

These days we have far less resources, but have a very strong team ethic, a very solid defensive unit and the ability to counter attack. Ironically, we've shown we can achieve the same, if not better results.

Of course, the campaign of 92/93 was the closest we have come to top level success in recent history where we were effectively in the semi-final. I think it's fair to say, it would take a mircale to achieve that in the current climate.

And that Team was a Team too...with it's fair share of Rangers men and grafters to match the skill.

[orange-john 0]

All very interseting & good posts lads, I think the main thing that comes across from all the posts made is that our current squad have a special bond & grit as mentioned.And as the Valencia game showed. Also under the current financial situation it is encouraging to see we have a squad with these qualities and a real passion for the club. Also its good to see home grown talent coming through that might have found it difficult coming through the ranks before, plus having more players at the club from the U.K. is a good thing as they have more of an understanding of the club and in most cases a real passion that they have had from their chidhood. As far as reaching the heights from when we had big names at the club, who knows. We had a UEFA Cup final not so long ago, as stated on another post the semi final in France was the last big achievement in Europe when we had the big names but we reached a Euro final with a lesser squad recently. I think we are quite capable of run of consecutive league titles like the past squads & simply just competing in the Champions League & having nights like this week is good for now.

[thedarvelmarvel 796]

i know what laudrup was capable of,but i,ve got to think hard to remember him having a blinder in europe.

[1st_Jan_1994 4,868]

i know what laudrup was capable of,but i,ve got to think hard to remember him having a blinder in europe.

Yup. Same with Gascoigne.

[The_Establishment_1873 46]

Yup. Same with Gascoigne.

Problem with the team from 10/15/20 years ago is we have some great players but also some poor ones, thats why we had so many dissapiontments on the big stage.

Todays team however is much more of a unit. We have quality in every area of the pitch.

McGregor, Whittaker, Weir, Boogie, Papac, Naismith, Edu, Davis, Weiss, Miller, Jelavic (when fit)

Not an obvious weakness anywhere! Thats not something you could have said in the past.

We've got the best team in the land and that why we're Champions

[biotechnology 2]

Interesting isn't it? In those days we were often beaten by teams with less individual resources but which were well organised to defend in depth and then counter attack at speed. Pretty much what we've got now

The Gers team of 15 years ago were tactically naive compared to this & I would back the current team over a 2 leg tie.

I seen so many games at Ibrox getting humped off diddies

[biotechnology 2]

i know what laudrup was capable of,but i,ve got to think hard to remember him having a blinder in europe.

1 springs to mind-against Auxerre at Ibrox they were up 2-0 & hitting on the break with ease, gazza scored a header & the French put THREE defenders on Lauders & he was still getting past them

[Clemdog 39,389]

We may not have a team ladden with top quality players nor do we have the same spending power that we used to, but we most certainly have a team that fights for each other.

They have coped with copious amounts of pressure during the hardest times. At a club were our expectations are so high, everyone single player has stood up and been counted.

And you simply cannot buy that.