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Gerrard, we have made progress


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29 March 19

Steven Gerrard: Rangers have made progress this season - regardless of the Premiership gap to celtic

Christopher Jack  @Chris_Jack89 Group Senior Sports Writer

THE statistics only tell part of the story. For Steven Gerrard, the reality is more important than the perception when it comes to the Old Firm.

Defeat for Rangers at Parkhead would end their faint hopes of a Premiership title challenge and leave them 13 points adrift of celtic at the top of the table.

After 31 games last season, the gap was 11, albeit Rangers were behind Aberdeen in the standings.

The debate about what progress Rangers have made under Gerrard has been ongoing for some time and it will no doubt continue long after the final whistle on Sunday. For Gerrard’s detractors, the numbers say it all.

“It’s a question that could have opinion from everywhere,” Gerrard said.

“If you are the type of person who sits behind a computer and puts comments on a forum, you are probably saying ‘it’s nowhere near good enough, we haven’t closed the gap, it’s a disaster, it’s the same problems, blah, blah, blah.’

“But if you know football, you are educated and you analyse it properly, I think you will be aware there has been progress made.

“Would we like to be closer in terms of the points? Of course. But people talk about closing the gap to celtic. Obviously, the gap is ten points. That’s the reality.

“Everyone’s opinion is the same on that, but we analyse ourselves on where we are. We’re not where we are because of us v celtic because we have won one and lost one.

“We are where we are because we have hurt ourselves and we have drawn games where we should have been good enough to take maximum points i.e. three draws against Hibs, one away against Dundee, we never turned up against St Johnstone.

“That’s where we fell short. It’s a completely different question than ‘have you closed the gap on celtic?’ “

The league table doesn’t make for pleasant reading for Gerrard or a support that have been starved of success for so long.

He is confident that his side are on the right track, however.

“We have closed the gap on celtic because they took three points and we took three points,” Gerrard continued. “And I think you would all agree that the contests are a lot closer than they were 12 months ago. But the reality is that it’s 10 points.

“If you’re keyboard man, you’ll probably say ‘no, we haven’t closed the gap’. I analyse it properly and I believe we are closer. I believe we are better. I believe we are moving forward. The reality is that we have put a nice base, a strong base in here.

“Further down the line, we’re going to have to try to decorate the cake and that means adding to what’s already here, improving in certain areas of the pitch so that we are better in the games against Hibernian, better in the games against St Johnstone, so we have more quality in certain areas, more people who can unlock the door. We are scoring just as heavily, if not more than last year.

“We are conceding fewer than last year so there has definitely been progress, but it’s a very interesting conversation for anyone at the moment. ‘Have you closed the gap? … blah, blah, blah’. It’s a very interesting conversation.”

When Rangers won at Ibrox in December and moved level with celtic, there was a feeling that the title race was on and the third derby clash of the campaign could prove to be defining in the Premiership. As it turns out, there are only really bragging rights at stake now.

If Rangers are to put even a kernel of doubt in celtic’s minds, Gerrard knows his side must win away.

“The reality is 13 points would be a big blow for us,” he said. “It would be disappointing and a lot of criticism would be flying. That’s certainly what we don’t want to experience. A draw is not really helpful and it’s not the result we are going there for.

“We are going there to win the game but it is a big ask. It is a good team and a good manager.

“They have got the opportunity to put right what was wrong at Ibrox. They will be fired up for it themselves. We need to be ready for it. We know what’s coming. But if we are to go there and get the result we are all looking for, of course it does make it more interesting than it is right now.”

It was at Parkhead in September that Gerrard suffered his first defeat as Rangers boss. Just hours after clinching a Europa League berth in Ufa, his side were well beaten.

The game was still memorable for Gerrard as an occasion. Now he wants a victory to cherish on his second trip across Glasgow.

“I used to watch the Old Firms as a player with Liverpool and wish I could play in them,” he said. “At the time, for either team, I used to say ‘I’d love to play in one of them’.

“We used to put them on the telly, the atmosphere, the build-up, the commentary. I’d be sitting on the edge of my seat thinking ‘I’d love to play in one of them’.

“As a player, Everton away, Man United away, they were my most hostile atmospheres, similar to how celtic Park will be for James. I will honestly admit I preferred the away fixtures to the home fixtures because I thrived off them. I liked playing on the edge.

“Sometimes I got it wrong or didn’t play well, certainly in my younger years, but when the fixtures came out, they were the ones I looked forward to the most.

“The opening minutes [at Parkhead] were a bit like a ‘wow’. The first time I experienced it, wow, the game is quick, there’s a lot happening.

“It took me some minutes to settle down, but once I settled, it was fine and I enjoyed the experience. It was a good game and I think it will be very similar on Sunday.

“It will be fast, there will be tackles, it will be a typical derby in the opening scenes, but the players have got to thrive on that and really enjoy and look forward to that. I mean, what a game. What a game. Of course, we won’t have many fans to cheer us on, but that’s just the way it is. celtic came here and had to put up with it at Ibrox. We will have to go and do the same. That’s just life

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There is progress of course, but is there enough? The stupid mistake excuse,  well, how many lost points  were down to stupid mistakes under his predecessors? So there's not much progress been made regarding that.

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Looking forward to seeing how we go about the summer recruitment and pre season. Only next season can we judge the progress properly and have a good idea if we are going to make major strides. I think that is a fair timeline to judge on. 

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Let’s see what happens tomorrow first, another humping by the perverts and the argument for progress made will look shoddy 

Does Steve not realise some of the keyboard men he talks about actually spend hundreds into the thousands every year following the team and are well in titled to their opinion. We’re the cunts who stand in the freezing cold week in week out watching the shit performance against hibs st Johnstone etc.

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Progress😄 ,funny he never mentioned the livi result an utter embarrasment.  If you had a pole at the beginning of the season saying .

1. We wouldn't beat hibs all season

2. We would be knocked out of 2 cups by the sheep

3.the sheep would beat us twice at ibrox

4. We couldn't beat Dundee with 10 men ,who had lost their last few games and are a pub team

5. Get beaten by Livingston 

nobody in their right mind would have voted for that, nobody,

 

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2 minutes ago, Ivybank said:

Progress😄 ,funny he never mentioned the livi result an utter embarrasment.  If you had a pole at the beginning of the season saying .

1. We wouldn't beat hibs all season

2. We would be knocked out of 2 cups by the sheep

3.the sheep would beat us twice at ibrox

4. We couldn't beat Dundee with 10 men ,who had lost their last few games and are a pub team

5. Get beaten by Livingston 

nobody in their right mind would have voted for that, nobody,

 

Quite a one sided view.

you could flip it and say:

1) first team ever to qualify for Europa league after 4 qualifying rounds

2) drawing home and away with Villarreal 

3) finally beating the taigs

4) losing 1 out of 6 Europa league games in one of the hardest groups on paper

5) Massively increasing the value of players like Morelos etc 

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Along with others, it's a fucking RB we need who can defend and doesn't do fucking prisoners, far less a new captain.

The myth that is Tav, has run it's course. Ponderous, predictable and a hole in our defence. The partership with Candieas is done. Sussed, ineffective. LB remains makeshift, but not as big a weakness as we have on the right.

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8 minutes ago, plymouthranger said:

Quite a one sided view.

you could flip it and say:

 

4) losing 1 out of 6 Europa league games in one of the hardest groups on paper

 

Groups c , e , h , l , would have all been equally as hard  atleast  , but harder imo than our group 

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13 minutes ago, plymouthranger said:

Quite a one sided view.

you could flip it and say:

1) first team ever to qualify for Europa league after 4 qualifying rounds

2) drawing home and away with Villarreal 

3) finally beating the taigs

4) losing 1 out of 6 Europa league games in one of the hardest groups on paper

5) Massively increasing the value of players like Morelos etc 

6) learning how to spell “poll”

:pipe:

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33 minutes ago, Ivybank said:

Progress😄 ,funny he never mentioned the livi result an utter embarrasment.  If you had a pole at the beginning of the season saying .

1. We wouldn't beat hibs all season

2. We would be knocked out of 2 cups by the sheep

3.the sheep would beat us twice at ibrox

4. We couldn't beat Dundee with 10 men ,who had lost their last few games and are a pub team

5. Get beaten by Livingston 

nobody in their right mind would have voted for that, nobody,

 

He literally references the Hibs results, we’ve literally battered them in every game, but like he said we need quality. 

 

One game we had no striker, the other was just an absolute stinker, it happens in football. 

 

I agree that part is annoying as fuck. 

 

We were cheated that day, plain for all to see by the linesman. 

 

These type of results happen over a 38 game season. We’ve not been beaten again by the smaller teams before or since, so it’s a fluke and they always come around every season

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1 hour ago, backup said:

“If you are the type of person who sits behind a computer and puts comments on a forum, you are probably saying ‘it’s nowhere near good enough, we haven’t closed the gap, it’s a disaster, it’s the same problems, blah, blah, blah.’

“But if you know football, you are educated and you analyse it properly, I think you will be aware there has been progress made.

On the other hand big Roger's uncle famously said..."Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple".
 

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1 hour ago, AljayBoy said:

I'd agree that there's been progress under Stevie G, and think most would too, the real argument is whether there's been enough progress - and that's when the arguments start.

Not been enough and there's no getting away with that 

Of course he isn't going to concede that on the eve of an OF game 

 

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45 minutes ago, Blue Avenger said:

Along with others, it's a fucking RB we need who can defend and doesn't do fucking prisoners, far less a new captain.

The myth that is Tav, has run it's course. Ponderous, predictable and a hole in our defence. The partership with Candieas is done. Sussed, ineffective. LB remains makeshift, but not as big a weakness as we have on the right.

We are in agreement and will be again tomorrow night 

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53 minutes ago, plymouthranger said:

Quite a one sided view.

you could flip it and say:

1) first team ever to qualify for Europa league after 4 qualifying rounds

2) drawing home and away with Villarreal 

3) finally beating the taigs

4) losing 1 out of 6 Europa league games in one of the hardest groups on paper

5) Massively increasing the value of players like Morelos etc 

This whole post reminds me of the delusional positivity we saw during Pedro's time. Not good to see.

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1 hour ago, ger4life_1872 said:

He talks about a good strong base but arguably our best cb is on loan so needs replaced again ,  we prob need another new lb , loads of people want a new rb  ,its hardly a solid base too build off 

So who is our best CB that's out on loan?

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