The result is great but ....

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

Nonsense.

Right then.

[graeme_4 35,359]

For me, a central defenders performance is judged on how well he defends.

If JIG deserved to keep his place (which he did) then it should have been up front, with Daly sitting on the bench.

Saying 'aye, but he scored a hat trick' means nothing with regards to his defensive performance (which was actually decent).

Unfortunately, JIG at CB meant Faure at Rb (and with Wallace injured) which meant we have no width from our fullbacks which is needed when your midfield contains a DM, 2 CMs and a CF.

If you have unadventurous fullbacks, then you need natural wingers on the side. Ours sat on the bench.

We won, and by a big margin, but it doesn't mean Ally didn't get it wrong with tactics and selection yet again.

[AlBear. 8,499]

I'm not focussing on hat-tricks. I'm referring to his true position on the park. McCulloch is not a centre back. The only place I would play him is up front.

"True position"? What pish.

He played at LM for Wigan in the EPL.

McCulloch is a footballer. He has the ability and football intelligence to play a number of positions well.

[AlBear. 8,499]

We won, and by a big margin, but it doesn't mean Ally didn't get it wrong with tactics and selection yet again.

Hopefully he keeps getting it wrong, if we're going to be winning games 5-1 when he does.

[elephants stoned 2,994]

I think you need to take availability and actual performances into account. If Clark had been on top form, then Little may have been the best, fully option. Changing it when it wasn't working and then getting a good result seems reasonable enough.

I'm a stickler for players in position that's all yes it worked changing it and I'm happy for Ally to try things with the new players like Peralta as we need to see where they are best played but we already know Little's much better up front than inmidfield and that Faure is not ad comfortable at RB as at CB so it seems unnecessary to put them there when we have players who are best in those positions on the bench.

[graeme_4 35,359]

Hopefully he keeps getting it wrong, if we're going to be winning games 5-1 when he does.

Won't be saying that when we aren't up against amateurs and part timers and we get pumped and humiliated by some average Premiership teams.

Of course we should beat Arbroath comfortably with our squad, we have far superior footballers. It's when we come up against teams of similar ability / talent that games are won by small margins. Errors like this for Ally will cost us against better teams.

[elephants stoned 2,994]

Can I just say its great to be arguing over football again and the real stuff like where should Jig go and what the best formation is down with the boardroom threads football threads rule OK

[JCDBigBear 10,865]

"True position"? What pish.

He played at LM for Wigan in the EPL.

McCulloch is a footballer. He has the ability and football intelligence to play a number of positions well.

At Rangers he should only be played up front. Before we ended up in the lower divisions, I wouldn't have had McCulloch at Ibrox at all as I never rated him as being good enough. In the lower leagues he has been successful when we play him up front. He is simply not a centre back. When used in the CB position it should only be a stop-gap occurrence if injuries or suspensions dictate.

[AlBear. 8,499]

At Rangers he should only be played up front. Before we ended up in the lower divisions, I wouldn't have had McCulloch at Ibrox at all as I never rated him as being good enough. In the lower leagues he has been successful when we play him up front. He is simply not a centre back. When used in the CB position it should only be a stop-gap occurrence if injuries or suspensions dictate.

We've conceded 2 goals, both crackers, in the league with Jig primarily at CB. Don't think he's doing too bad there.

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

For me, a central defenders performance is judged on how well he defends.

If JIG deserved to keep his place (which he did) then it should have been up front, with Daly sitting on the bench.

Saying 'aye, but he scored a hat trick' means nothing with regards to his defensive performance (which was actually decent).

Unfortunately, JIG at CB meant Faure at Rb (and with Wallace injured) which meant we have no width from our fullbacks which is needed when your midfield contains a DM, 2 CMs and a CF.

If you have unadventurous fullbacks, then you need natural wingers on the side. Ours sat on the bench.

We won, and by a big margin, but it doesn't mean Ally didn't get it wrong with tactics and selection yet again.

For everyone else, a central defenders performance is judged on, well, his performance as a whole. He defended well, scored a hat trick and was our most inspirational player.

Faure also defended well but offered us nothing going forward, unlike Smith on the other side. As for natural wingers, I assume you mean Templeton who missed the entire pre-season with a bad injury. Clearly Ally feels he is not ready yet to start.

What people seem to be ignoring is we made 7 changes yesterday, with a few lacking match practice. Once the squad settles and we find our balance then we will be fine.

[AlBear. 8,499]

Can I just say its great to be arguing over football again and the real stuff like where should Jig go and what the best formation is down with the boardroom threads football threads rule OK

Jig for chairman...

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

At Rangers he should only be played up front. Before we ended up in the lower divisions, I wouldn't have had McCulloch at Ibrox at all as I never rated him as being good enough. In the lower leagues he has been successful when we play him up front. He is simply not a centre back. When used in the CB position it should only be a stop-gap occurrence if injuries or suspensions dictate.

That much is crystal clear.

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

Won't be saying that when we aren't up against amateurs and part timers and we get pumped and humiliated by some average Premiership teams.

Of course we should beat Arbroath comfortably with our squad, we have far superior footballers. It's when we come up against teams of similar ability / talent that games are won by small margins. Errors like this for Ally will cost us against better teams.

That's 2 years down the road, don't be ridiculous.

[elephants stoned 2,994]

Jig for chairman...

Only if he stays up front

[scarkev 3,540]

Can I just say its great to be arguing over football again and the real stuff like where should Jig go and what the best formation is down with the boardroom threads football threads rule OK

That's what this forum should be about.....some (really just one) don't like any critical evaluation but in the main debating what we think are strengths, weaknesses, positives, things to work on, views on team selections etc is the purpose of this place. I think it's a good thing to evaluate the performance regardless of the result. As long as folk aren't being critical for the sake of it and provide some constructive points/opinions then its very worthwhile IMO.

Oh and AL I notice you have said a few times that the goal they scored was a stunner....I may be wrong as haven't seem the highlights yet but I'm convinced he was trying to clip it to the back post for a cross and got lucky.

[AlBear. 8,499]

Only if he stays up front

But he's a good defender. A valuable trait for a chairman...

[AlBear. 8,499]

Oh and AL I notice you have said a few times that the goal they scored was a stunner....I may be wrong as haven't seem the highlights yet but I'm convinced he was trying to clip it to the back post for a cross and got lucky.

Wish I got that lucky when I played. Was a beaut of a chip.

His reaction afterwards was priceless aswell. Kept rehearsing how he did it.

[scarkev 3,540]

Wish I got that lucky when I plaued. Was a beaut of a chip.

His body shape says to me it was a miss-hit but hey it got us out of first gear so doesn't really matter!

[govanblue 16,847]

That's what this forum should be about.....some (really just one) don't like any critical evaluation but in the main debating what we think are strengths, weaknesses, positives, things to work on, views on team selections etc is the purpose of this place. I think it's a good thing to evaluate the performance regardless of the result. As long as folk aren't being critical for the sake of it and provide some constructive points/opinions then its very worthwhile IMO.

Oh and AL I notice you have said a few times that the goal they scored was a stunner....I may be wrong as haven't seem the highlights yet but I'm convinced he was trying to clip it to the back post for a cross and got lucky.

Kev,

I haven't watched it on RangersTV yet (something wrong with the damn player!) but from where I was sitting (Main rear, just about level with him) it definitely looked like he 100% meant it. He looked up, gave a cheeky shrug, and chipped it. I might be wrong though, will see how the tv shows it.

[graeme_4 35,359]

That's 2 years down the road, don't be ridiculous.

Sadly, Ally has been repeating the same mistakes for near on 3 years.

[AlBear. 8,499]

His body shape says to me it was a miss-hit but hey it got us out of first gear so doesn't really matter!

Think you're just jealous kev.

Was a peach that anyone would have been proud of.

[AlBear. 8,499]

Sadly, Ally has been repeating the same mistakes for near on 3 years.

Not really. But carry on.

[govanblue 16,847]

Edit: I should add that he still looked as if he hit it more in hope than expectation though.

[AlBear. 8,499]

Kev,

I haven't watched it on RangersTV yet (something wrong with the damn player!) but from where I was sitting (Main rear, just about level with him) it definitely looked like he 100% meant it. He looked up, gave a cheeky shrug, and chipped it. I might be wrong though, will see how the tv shows it.

As-live not working but highlights are up on Rangerstv.

[scarkev 3,540]

Kev,

I haven't watched it on RangersTV yet (something wrong with the damn player!) but from where I was sitting (Main rear, just about level with him) it definitely looked like he 100% meant it. He looked up, gave a cheeky shrug, and chipped it. I might be wrong though, will see how the tv shows it.

Fair play GB, I was in govan rear so a gd but further away and from my angle it looked liked he was just trying to clip it to the back post! Will watch highlights later, fair play to the lad if he did mean it!