Fluidity of movement

[delamonty 992]

I only saw the match last night. A few points:

First. Brilliant Poppy display. When the match came on, I told my wife .. look at this! She was amazed! So well done to all!

I thought we were very good in the 1st half. What struck me was the fluidity of movement. Fleck, Naisey, Weiss... all looking very mobile. Kenny too. Why?

Now, I will not slag off Edu, or Big Lee but I believe in the SPL, it is one or the other. No need for two. And Big Lee was very decent yesterday. They do not complement each other in the SPL. In the CL? Perhaps.

But.. the main points.

• Flecky has an eye for a pass better than anyone in the side at the moment.
• When Weiss gets the ball in EARLY (as he did for Kenny's goal), he is far more effective,
• Naisey is one of the best players in Scotland. Hard worker, super touch, & unlucky not to score,
• Whittaker had some great tackles, and his forward runs were reminiscent of last year, Keep it up son!
• A win was vital. And we did that quite comfortably at the end of the day,
• Walter knows how to 'take it on the chin' and move on better than all of us.

Only 1 negative for me.

Madjid Bougherra. Pack your bags. Your heart is simply not into playing for The Rangers in the SPL. Still can't make a 10yd pass and your runs are becoming a bit of a bad joke. I know some of them come off.. but the ratio is about 1:10.

That Poppy display will live on forever.

[rfc_watp 1,503]

Summed it up quite nicely i'd say !

I can see Boughie leaving at the end of the season....hes become bored with the SPL and only the CL is keeping him here.

Nice to see Flecky back in the side, he can become an important player for us for the rest of the season.

[StewieGuerrero 1]

Our midfield looked much more balanced. Edu really isn't needed for the SPL or the CL, squad player at most.

I'm not McCulloch's biggest fan but he did a good job and offers more than Edu.

[Clemdog 39,388]

I agree with some points. I still wouldn't say we were that fluid in our passing in the first half, certainly not the best so far this season.

Hearts away we were much more free-flowing. Fleck has a good touch and an eye for a pass, but needs to get himself involved more in the game. Hopefully this will come with the experience.

The Bougherra point I couldn't disagree more, he has shown great loyality for a player who could of moved on along time ago. He's enjoyed his time at Rangers and still does. He may not of had his most consistent start to the season, but he acts as a second midfielder when we have the ball. People only comment when he loses the ball, and not on the majority of the time were he takes the ball and creates space and finds a short pass. His defending hasn't been at his best this season too, but I'm sure he isn't enjoying that either.

Cut the man some slack.

[docspiderman 1,122]

I think the complete lack of challenge and ability from the opposition especially in the central area made us look better than we actually are. The encouraging thing is that when we made shorter passes along the ground the team functions as opposed to the long hopeful attempts that just give away possession.Hopefully,this will have been noticed and will be worked on along with a higher tempo play.

[Bonkgers 3]

I only saw the match last night. A few points:

First. Brilliant Poppy display. When the match came on, I told my wife .. look at this! She was amazed! So well done to all!

I thought we were very good in the 1st half. What struck me was the fluidity of movement. Fleck, Naisey, Weiss... all looking very mobile. Kenny too. Why?

Now, I will not slag off Edu, or Big Lee but I believe in the SPL, it is one or the other. No need for two. And Big Lee was very decent yesterday. They do not complement each other in the SPL. In the CL? Perhaps.

But.. the main points.

• Flecky has an eye for a pass better than anyone in the side at the moment.
• When Weiss gets the ball in EARLY (as he did for Kenny's goal), he is far more effective,
• Naisey is one of the best players in Scotland. Hard worker, super touch, & unlucky not to score,
• Whittaker had some great tackles, and his forward runs were reminiscent of last year, Keep it up son!
• A win was vital. And we did that quite comfortably at the end of the day,
• Walter knows how to 'take it on the chin' and move on better than all of us.

Only 1 negative for me.

Madjid Bougherra. Pack your bags. Your heart is simply not into playing for The Rangers in the SPL. Still can't make a 10yd pass and your runs are becoming a bit of a bad joke. I know some of them come off.. but the ratio is about 1:10.

That Poppy display will live on forever.

Bit harsh on Boogie, If you no longer want him to play in the Roayal Blue who is it you want in the team ahead of him?

[Goianegra 4,600]

Good post, but I have to disagree with Boogie. Thought he was better against the sheep. Much improved.

[delamonty 992]

Well, on Boogy. I have been very disappointed in 3 areas.

• Headers from a defensive position. Far too often just headed back up the pitch... Never head the ball into a central area,
• Passing. Terrible. I mean really bad. His passes -- when they are in the 'general' direction of blue shirts are are 100 mph,
• Runs up the pitch. Where he made a bit of a name for himself are now a waste of time.

Is he still here because he didn't get the 10 million quid a year he thought he would after the WC? I don't know. But he's not the player we had last 2 years ago. (He only played about 23-25 games last year).

Who would I have? Well.. we need 2 center backs since Davie has to chuck it at some point. It's a problem. Doesn't mean we need to stick with Madjid though. If he is SO good therefore sellable, sell him in January for 5 million, get another in for 2-3 and sell him 2 years from now for 5. Helluva piece of business in any business if you can make 100% in 3 years?

IF there were any serious bids for him in the summer, he would have been gone. And (lastly) I can';t stand the way he has started to speak to the Refs.. shaking his finger all the time -- after he f*cks up.

[Clemdog 39,388]

And (lastly) I can';t stand the way he has started to speak to the Refs.. shaking his finger all the time -- after he f*cks up.

That is a good point, he's already had a yellow this season for backchat but still he persists in saying the referee is wrong.

Most referees in Scotland are pretty shit, but as a player it's not going to get you anywere other than in trouble.

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

Agree on Bougherra.

The only problem (a stronger word than I want to use) with Fleck is that he is still so young (and Weiss) and no matter how good getting consistency of performance from young players is extremely difficult. ALL young players, no matter what there ability or potential struggle for consistent levels of performance so while he may get 2 - 3 games they are not season long answers. I wish it were different but its not (oh and how quick we as a support turn on a youngster if they have one or two bad games! )

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

I also meant to say (and have said elsewhere) how great to see Shagger rolling the ball out nearly every time he has it and the team building from the back - we have done that so well this season.

[Scott-RFC 308]

Bougherra is still by far our best defender.

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

I also meant to say (and have said elsewhere) how great to see Shagger rolling the ball out nearly every time he has it and the team building from the back - we have done that so well this season.

This is so long overdue and a welcome change in tactics - the big hoof up the park is a relic of the Boyd era.

[gunslinger 270]

our tempo was much better without edu. but alot of it was to do with the rocket up the players arses.

for me its either edu or jig and i would go with jig, alongside fleck or davis.

[Davie2909 21]

I personally dont think that Boogie is bored of the SPL i just think that he has become complacent due to lack of serious competition for the CH position the only real competition and cover is sick not Webster. Last season Wilson was challenging him for the CH position with some good performances.

[we_are_the_people 2]

I still wouldn't say we were that fluid in our passing in the first half, certainly not the best so far this season.

Hearts away we were much more free-flowing.

Our best display in the SPL? I would say so.

That day we had a midfield four of Weiss, Davis, Edu and Naismith which IMO should be our four every week.

I know there seems to be a bit of heat towards Edu on here but for me he is much better than McCulloch.

[Adoniram 1,919]

I actually think Bougherra looks about a stone or two heavier than the World Cup.

He looks slower and more cumbersome as a result.

[gunslinger 270]

I actually think Bougherra looks about a stone or two heavier than the World Cup.

He looks slower and more cumbersome as a result.

he does love his cakes and chocolate.

its possible.

[Bonkgers 3]

Our best display in the SPL? I would say so.

That day we had a midfield four of Weiss, Davis, Edu and Naismith which IMO should be our four every week.

I know there seems to be a bit of heat towards Edu on here but for me he is much better than McCulloch.

Agreed, our best performance of the season (Valencia at home) had Edu playing a blinder with no McCulloch, then Big Lee is back for the return leg and we look as hopeless as ever and we normally play better away

[Tristan 11]

Hearts our best performance in the SPL? We were fucking rotten until the last 20 minutes, and Weiss particularly was abysmal

[we_are_the_people 2]

I wonder if you actually watched that match because we dominated Hearts for the whole game and I remember thinking at half time how we had not scored at least two or three goals.

Kello made some outstanding saves and we had 20 shots that day with 12 on target.

We were brilliant that day, but feel free to post matches we played better in?

[gunslinger 270]

Hearts our best performance in the SPL? We were fucking rotten until the last 20 minutes, and Weiss particularly was abysmal

we were really good throughout that game.

[Tristan 11]

I wonder if you actually watched that match because we dominated Hearts for the whole game and I remember thinking at half time how we had not scored at least two or three goals.

Kello made some outstanding saves and we had 20 shots that day with 12 on target.

We were brilliant that day, but feel free to post matches we played better in?

We haven't played consistently well over the course of 90 minutes in any match really but as a whole, i would place Hibs 3-0, Dundee United 4-0, Motherwell 4-1, Celtic 3-1, and Aberdeen 2-0 as better performances than the Hearts game

[Tristan 11]

we were really good throughout that game.

We never looked like scoring until Lafferty's free kick. Kevin Kyle also missed 2 sitters, at 1-0 and at 1-1

People remember the last 20 minutes where Papac hit the post and Davis hit the post with that scissor kick and think that we played like that for the whole game. We really didn't.

[we_are_the_people 2]

We haven't played consistently well over the course of 90 minutes in any match really but as a whole, i would place Hibs 3-0, Dundee United 4-0, Motherwell 4-1, Celtic 3-1, and Aberdeen 2-0 as better performances than the Hearts game

I agree with the first part that we have dropped the level at times in all games this season.

First half against Hibs, Celtic and Aberdeen we were average and created little.

We played well against DU and Motherwell at home but the free flowing football was more impressive at Tynecastle, imo.

Each to their own.