Forget Mols, Boyd & Jelavic - Current Ibrox star is Rangers' best since McCoist

[Dennis Reynolds 1,329]

27 minutes ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

That same squad that finished 3rd in the spfl that season, behind hearts? 

Morelos has played with some stinking players, however the bulk of the he has been with since gerrard came and is going to win the league with them, 

Compare the players in each positions from back then till now, hutton and Ferguson are probably the only two to get into our team now, 

Wattereus over shagger, nope 

Hutton over tav, aye

Kyrgiakos over goldson, nope

Rodruiguez over helander, nope

Smith over barisic, nope

Hemdani over davis, doubtful

Ferguson over jack, aye defo

Burke over hagi/aribo, no chance

Buffel over kent, no chance

Namouchi over hagi/aribo, no chance

Lovenkrands over morelos, no chance 

On the bench, klos beats mclaughlin, ricksen over kamara, not for me, bernard, andrews and gavin rae over guys like roofe, itten, balogun, not even close

Yeah we had a 60cap greek defender, a CL finalist centre half etc but how they were for us at the time is the thing, Rodruiguez was honking, fanfan was abysmal, Hemdani couldnt handle the rough of scotland, 

In Gerrards first season.... Grezda, Ejaria, Middleton, Lafferty, Coulibally, Flannagan, McCrorie, Halliday and Worrall** all played more than 15 games..... most of them played in excess of 30 games.....this season is about the first time Morelos has played in a squad with depth to shout about, even under Gerrard our previous squads have been pretty average carried quite far thanks to the contribution of Morelos, he has helped excel the level of the sides he has been part of it, Prso arguably only helped do that once. 

**FWIW, the likes of Grezda, Worrall, Flannagan and Halliday weren't that great when with us either....all had a far lower pitch of talent than players who had played in CL Finals etc.... 

The side you have selected isn't the strongest side Prso played in.... the best squad he was part of was 04/05 which was far removed from a 3 man team and featured the likes of Ricksen, Novo, Rae and Andrews who for that season were fucking outstanding if using your own criteria of performance while with us being relevant.... as well as that it had the likes of Klos, Boumsong, Lovenkrands, Ferguson, Ball and Arveladze. It was a squad littered with players we had spent a fucking fortune on, . 

Your comment about Hemdani is a bit daft TBH, it's a bit overstated to say he couldn't handle Scotland, he was named our POTY, wee bit of revisionist nonsense that. 

[McEwan's Lager 30,493]

23 minutes ago, The Dude said:

I grew up watching McCoist and have been going to Ibrox for just shy of 30 years.

Do you want a medal?

 

 

My comment wasn't necessarily in response to your article. I know how old you roughly are I wasn't including you in the generation of younger fans.

[graeme_4 34,350]

15 hours ago, The Dude said:

Not guilty. Never approached anyone looking for freebies to promote their brand and have turned down offers from people to promote their stuff. I just really like talking and writing about fitba. 😂

Why kind of offers have you had to promote things? Find the whole ‘influencer’ concept mental. 

[Nelson loyal 552]

Mols before the injury was the greatest forward player I have seen at Ibrox, he was tearing the best defenders in Europe apart and but for the injury would have played at the highest level for club and Country for years to come. 

 

[Bakbear 3,580]

Just now, Nelson loyal said:

Mols before the injury was the greatest forward player I have seen at Ibrox, he was tearing the best defenders in Europe apart and but for the injury would have played at the highest level for club and Country for years to come. 

 

He was 29 when he joined us wasn’t he? 

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,493]

11 minutes ago, Dennis Reynolds said:

In Gerrards first season.... Grezda, Ejaria, Middleton, Lafferty, Coulibally, Flannagan, McCrorie, Halliday and Worrall** all played more than 15 games..... most of them played in excess of 30 games.....this season is about the first time Morelos has played in a squad with depth to shout about, even under Gerrard our previous squads have been pretty average carried quite far thanks to the contribution of Morelos, he has helped excel the level of the sides he has been part of it, Prso arguably only helped do that once. 

**FWIW, the likes of Grezda, Worrall, Flannagan and Halliday weren't that great when with us either....all had a far lower pitch of talent than players who had played in CL Finals etc.... 

The side you have selected isn't the strongest side Prso played in.... the best squad he was part of was 04/05 which was far removed from a 3 man team and featured the likes of Ricksen, Novo, Rae and Andrews who for that season were fucking outstanding if using your own criteria of performance while was us being relevant.... as well as that it had the likes of Klos, Boumsong, Lovenkrands, Ferguson, Ball and Arveladze. It was a squad littered with players we had spent a fucking fortune on, . 

Your comment about Hemdani is a bit daft TBH, it's a bit overstated to say he couldn't handle Scotland, he was named our POTY, wee bit of revisionist nonsense that. 

Walter only used hemdani for europe, thats telling in itself

As for the others, ball only started 14 games while here with prso, boumsong only 18, klos barely played again after his ACL injury 

Morelos has played with shite thats not under debate, but he's also played 2 seasons or more with the likes of goldson, tav, barisic, davis, defoe, kent, kamara, arfield, jack, shagger, even the rotated players gerrard uses, helander, balogun, katic, all better than andrews, rodriguez, fanfan and the likes of svensson (sp) and the rest of plg's signings that summer that were honking (papac aside) 

[Nelson loyal 552]

2 minutes ago, Bakbear said:

He was 29 when he joined us wasn’t he? 

Yep, the prime of his footballing abilities and still pains me to this day thinking about that night in munich. 

[The Dude 20,026]

2 minutes ago, graeme_4 said:

Why kind of offers have you had to promote things? Find the whole ‘influencer’ concept mental. 

Odd bits and pieces for clothing companies mainly wanting me to wear their branded tees on podcasts etc and they'll give me them as freebies plus a few others they wanted me to post photos wearing on social media. Also one from those make-your-own mugs place wanting to give us branded mugs to use.

The whole thing is really weird to me. There's nobody going to see me wearing a tshirt or drinking from a mug and think they must have one - and tbh, it's just one less headache in general given the nature of being 'involved' in Scottish fitba in some way or another.

[McEwan's Lager 30,493]

1 minute ago, graeme_4 said:

Why kind of offers have you had to promote things? Find the whole ‘influencer’ concept mental. 

Fan media are getting stuff to promote. I've noticed recently some of the accounts have started putting promotional disclaimers on their stuff.

I think this new Rangers Picks thing been pushing partnerships with them.

[Bakbear 3,580]

4 minutes ago, Nelson loyal said:

Yep, the prime of his footballing abilities and still pains me to this day thinking about that night in munich. 

He was phenomenal for us in the 19 games before the injury. He wasn’t too bad upon return. Just had lost the turn and the pace 
 

I loved Mols, but I do think we as a support exaggerate a little on what might have been. 

[The Dude 20,026]

9 minutes ago, McEwan's Lager said:

Do you want a medal?

 

 

My comment wasn't necessarily in response to your article. I know how old you roughly are I wasn't including you in the generation of younger fans.

I'll pass on the medal (although probably deserve one for some of the fitba we've sat through)

 

Wasn't sure if you were including me in there or not so just wanted to clear up that I'm coming at this from a position of seen every one of the 'post-McCoist' strikers in the flesh and aren't just in that success-starved place many of our younger fans are.

On their day, there have been better strikers for various different reasons but over the course of his (and their) whole time here, Morelos has edged ahead of all of them for his contribution. Others reached higher heights (Negri scoring 1000 goals by Xmas, Mols pre-injury etc) but Morelos has carried poor teams domestically for a few seasons and has taken much of the burden of being the man in Europe for us at the same time. Even when he's not scoring as often, like this season, he's still utterly vital to the team.

[Dennis Reynolds 1,329]

Just now, Jimbeamjunior said:

Walter only used hemdani for europe, thats telling in itself

As for the others, ball only started 14 games while here with prso, boumsong only 18, klos barely played again after his ACL injury 

Morelos has played with shite thats not under debate, but he's also played 2 seasons or more with the likes of goldson, tav, barisic, davis, defoe, kent, kamara, arfield, jack, shagger, even the rotated players gerrard uses, helander, balogun, katic, all better than andrews, rodriguez, fanfan and the likes of svensson (sp) and the rest of plg's signings that summer that were honking (papac aside) 

I don't think it is TBH - Hemdani looked perfectly competent domestically under other managers.... to the point he was voted our player of the season, he was simply more effective in Europe rather than a complete dud domestically. 

But they did play though eh..... you can point at number of games I can still say... they did play, players like Boumsong and Klos and those who came in (Watereus and Kyrigakos) punched well above their weight when replacing them, that squad in 04/05 by your own omission literally had players the ilk of Ball, Arevaldze and Lovenkrands as squad players... 

Again, Andrews in 2004/05 was outstanding, he was literally excellent - you are positioning here as though he was a dud that season, he was far removed from that. In previous seasons it has been players the ilk of Worrall in the Rodgriguez role.. 

In 04/05 the squad Prso played with, was equal to (better than) what we currently have

In the 05/06 it was better than what we had last year, it's football, the markets have changed rapidly since then,  we were able to sign bosmans from sides like PSG and Marsielle then, now we look to bring in bosmans from sides like Wigan..

You are speaking about a side who got out a CL group and made the last 16 when speaking about 05/06.... they disappointed but it was still a side dosed in more talented players than that which Morelos has played with for the most part. 

 

[MurrayWilson 3,368]

4 minutes ago, The Dude said:

I'll pass on the medal (although probably deserve one for some of the fitba we've sat through)

 

Wasn't sure if you were including me in there or not so just wanted to clear up that I'm coming at this from a position of seen every one of the 'post-McCoist' strikers in the flesh and aren't just in that success-starved place many of our younger fans are.

On their day, there have been better strikers for various different reasons but over the course of his (and their) whole time here, Morelos has edged ahead of all of them for his contribution. Others reached higher heights (Negri scoring 1000 goals by Xmas, Mols pre-injury etc) but Morelos has carried poor teams domestically for a few seasons and has taken much of the burden of being the man in Europe for us at the same time. Even when he's not scoring as often, like this season, he's still utterly vital to the team.

Like you i am from the older generation and cannot remember for a long long time a striker who when on his game took the entire team to a different level like Morelos does, I would compare him more to Mark Hateley in terms of his all round contribution. Its not just the goals ,its the whole package.

[Nelson loyal 552]

13 minutes ago, Bakbear said:

He was phenomenal for us in the 19 games before the injury. He wasn’t too bad upon return. Just had lost the turn and the pace 
 

I loved Mols, but I do think we as a support exaggerate a little on what might have been. 

I don't think we do mate, a remember being in the Copland Rear those nights against Parma, Munich, PSV ect and seen World class defenders absaloutely tore apart in the champions league by Michael Mols. 

[JackAlex93 11,207]

I sometimes wonder just how good Mols would have been had he not gotten that injury. An outstanding footballer. That wee turn he used to do with his back to the defender and bang in to the net.

Boyd and Jelavic I hold in high regard as well along with Prso.

Morelos is going to be one of the best in europe and he will grow as a player when he leaves this backwater of a country and can concentrate fully on his football coupled with a better standard of player around him.

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,493]

27 minutes ago, Dennis Reynolds said:

I don't think it is TBH - Hemdani looked perfectly competent domestically under other managers.... to the point he was voted our player of the season, he was simply more effective in Europe rather than a complete dud domestically. 

But they did play though eh..... you can point at number of games I can still say... they did play, players like Boumsong and Klos and those who came in (Watereus and Kyrigakos) punched well above their weight when replacing them, that squad in 04/05 by your own omission literally had players the ilk of Ball, Arevaldze and Lovenkrands as squad players... 

Again, Andrews in 2004/05 was outstanding, he was literally excellent - you are positioning here as though he was a dud that season, he was far removed from that. In previous seasons it has been players the ilk of Worrall in the Rodgriguez role.. 

In 04/05 the squad Prso played with, was equal to (better than) what we currently have

In the 05/06 it was better than what we had last year, it's football, the markets have changed rapidly since then,  we were able to sign bosmans from sides like PSG and Marsielle then, now we look to bring in bosmans from sides like Wigan..

You are speaking about a side who got out a CL group and made the last 16 when speaking about 05/06.... they disappointed but it was still a side dosed in more talented players than that which Morelos has played with for the most part. 

 

Again though you quote talented bit part players, prso never had a sparkling array of talent week in week out beside him, he was lining up weekly with guys like namouchi, burke, malcolm, ross, 

Morelos had one season with guff on a weekly basis, the pedro season, the following season we ended up with guys like davis, defoe, goldson, katic, arfield, Jack tav and since then most of morelos starting teammates have been much better than prso's in terms of ability

Andrews was good, great even for one season, how was our backline overall the 2 seasons after helicopter Sunday 

Even the helicopter sunday squad, guys like steven thompson, stevie smith, gavin rae, christ bob malcolm played 29 times in the helicopter Sunday, would he start in our team right now? Infact the team that won at easter road, how many would get into the current side? Ferguson defo, who else, even andrews who wss flying that year, would you drop goldson or helander for him? 

[Dennis Reynolds 1,329]

27 minutes ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

Again though you quote talented bit part players, prso never had a sparkling array of talent week in week out beside him, he was lining up weekly with guys like namouchi, burke, malcolm, ross, 

Morelos had one season with guff on a weekly basis, the pedro season, the following season we ended up with guys like davis, defoe, goldson, katic, arfield, Jack tav and since then most of morelos starting teammates have been much better than prso's in terms of ability

Andrews was good, great even for one season, how was our backline overall the 2 seasons after helicopter Sunday 

Even the helicopter sunday squad, guys like steven thompson, stevie smith, gavin rae, christ bob malcolm played 29 times in the helicopter Sunday, would he start in our team right now? Infact the team that won at easter road, how many would get into the current side? Ferguson defo, who else, even andrews who wss flying that year, would you drop goldson or helander for him? 

That's a bit of a myth TBH, those players weren't really featuring week in week out at all.

We win at celtic, they don't start

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/4278053.stm

We beat celtic at home, only Namouchi starts 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/4025379.stm

When celtic beat us early in the season they don't start

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/3601320.stm

Burke, was nothing like a regular or even playing often then at all. They were far removed from players of key importance and must starts. 

Ross was third choice RB after Hutton was injured and Zurab was being shunted around. 

Namouchi and Malcolm were rotated rather than starting games together often. 

The defense over the seasons that followed was patchy, dodgy and on occasion a bit shit, a bit like the two seasons just gone.... we won't even speak about the defence during Morelos first season, I will be kind. 

Gavin Rae? 04/05 nah mate you are just saying names now, he was fucked.... you have reanalyzed Smith a bit TBH, Smith was a perfectly adequate young upcoming LB at the time, offered more than Bassey does now, even then he played 4 games...Thompson was just a baw average back up forward for tactical use, he was hardly a regular.... they didn't really get in that side then either, Thompson was "in" that side in the way Itten is now, he was a 4th choice striker. 

Arveladze, Fergsuon, Ricksen, Novo, Andrews, Rae, Lovenkrands, Buffel, Kyrgiakos (04/05 version), Ball, Klos, Boumsong if placed in the current side could have all quite easily have performed and enhanced the current squad TBH. I wouldn't see us as measurably worse with them as direct replacements for certain players, the likes of Ricksen, Novo, Andrews, Rae and the aforementioned Kyrigiakos and Waterus all put down excellent seasons that year. 

[SPWF 8,205]

3 hours ago, The Dude said:

Is that only because we have far less of Jelavic's form to compare against. Morelos has been here almost four years. Jelavic didn't even last half that time.

There’s a few reasons tbh. Jelavic was technically a better footballer, and scored a much wider variety of goals. Taps in, thunderbolts, overhead kicks, side foot finishes, penalty’s, free kicks, headers. He could do the lot. Morelos only has a few of them in his locker, albeit when he’s on form he’s fucking deadly with them. Having said that I don’t think Jelavic would work leading the line in our current system, Morelos is perfect for that. The other thing that edges Jelavic for me is he won trophy’s. Literally he won them for us. His goal in the league cup final v the yahoos, and his form in the run in Walter’s last season won us them. Obviously Morelos is on his way to contributing to 55, and hopefully a Scottish Cup if it restarts, so if/when that happens there’s definitely more discussion to be had. 
 

TL:DR: Jelavic edges probably just because he won stuff for us. 

[bluenoz 30,679]

You can't compare a 24 yr old with players like Jelavic, Prso, Mols or Boyd. When Morelos reaches 30, his career will be very comparable to those mentioned.

They all have different attributes to offer but Alfie's stats will be up there with the best of them when all is said and done.

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,493]

1 hour ago, Dennis Reynolds said:

That's a bit of a myth TBH, those players weren't really featuring week in week out at all.

We win at celtic, they don't start

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/4278053.stm

We beat celtic at home, only Namouchi starts 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/4025379.stm

When celtic beat us early in the season they don't start

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/3601320.stm

Burke, was nothing like a regular or even playing often then at all. They were far removed from players of key importance and must starts. 

Ross was third choice RB after Hutton was injured and Zurab was being shunted around. 

Namouchi and Malcolm were rotated rather than starting games together often. 

The defense over the seasons that followed was patchy, dodgy and on occasion a bit shit, a bit like the two seasons just gone.... we won't even speak about the defence during Morelos first season, I will be kind. 

Gavin Rae? 04/05 nah mate you are just saying names now, he was fucked.... you have reanalyzed Smith a bit TBH, Smith was a perfectly adequate young upcoming LB at the time, offered more than Bassey does now, even then he played 4 games...Thompson was just a baw average back up forward for tactical use, he was hardly a regular.... they didn't really get in that side then either, Thompson was "in" that side in the way Itten is now, he was a 4th choice striker. 

Arveladze, Fergsuon, Ricksen, Novo, Andrews, Rae, Lovenkrands, Buffel, Kyrgiakos (04/05 version), Ball, Klos, Boumsong if placed in the current side could have all quite easily have performed and enhanced the current squad TBH. I wouldn't see us as measurably worse with them as direct replacements for certain players, the likes of Ricksen, Novo, Andrews, Rae and the aforementioned Kyrigiakos and Waterus all put down excellent seasons that year. 

Burke played 14 games in helicopter sunday season,

Malcolm played 29 games

Vignal played 30 games

Khizanishvili played 25 games

Thompson played 33 games

Maurice ross 19 games

Buffel 15 games

Novo 48 games

Andrews 38 games

Kyrgiakos 17 games 

Wattereus 15 games

11 players who played a decent part of the most successful season prso was here for, not one of them would get in our current side 

And id even argue that boumsong would struggle to get in before helander and goldson right now, 

The following two seasons we were even worse, yeah morelos had to play with pedros team, but since gerrard came he's been playing with players regularly who are, imo, better than the ones prso played with regularly

God sebo even made 24 appearances in his time with prso, 

Both have played with outstanding quality and both have played with less than quality players, imo the less than quality players featured more often in Prso's time than they have done with morelos time

[Inigo 32,526]

3 minutes ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

Burke played 14 games in helicopter sunday season,

Malcolm played 29 games

Vignal played 30 games

Khizanishvili played 25 games

Thompson played 33 games

Maurice ross 19 games

Buffel 15 games

Novo 48 games

Andrews 38 games

Kyrgiakos 17 games 

Wattereus 15 games

11 players who played a decent part of the most successful season prso was here for, not one of them would get in our current side 

And id even argue that boumsong would struggle to get in before helander and goldson right now, 

The following two seasons we were even worse, yeah morelos had to play with pedros team, but since gerrard came he's been playing with players regularly who are, imo, better than the ones prso played with regularly

God sebo even made 24 appearances in his time with prso, 

Both have played with outstanding quality and both have played with less than quality players, imo the less than quality players featured more often in Prso's time than they have done with morelos time

Think one or two would be in with a shout. Particularly think Kyrgiakos would be in with a good shout of a first team spot now.

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,493]

Just now, Inigo said:

Think one or two would be in with a shout. Particularly think Kyrgiakos would be in with a good shout of a first team spot now.

Really? Before goldson and helander? Not for me, not even close

[Inigo 32,526]

Just now, Jimbeamjunior said:

Really? Before goldson and helander? Not for me, not even close

Yip. He was a better player than Balogun and would be in the mix with Helander and Goldson. Better player than generally is remembered as imo. Mind he was a stalwart of a defensively fantastic Greek team at the time. A team that won the Euros on the back of being solid at the back. He had 65 odd caps for that outfit. Hugely solid CB.

[The Dude 20,026]

5 minutes ago, Inigo said:

Think one or two would be in with a shout. Particularly think Kyrgiakos would be in with a good shout of a first team spot now.

There was a spell when you were guaranteed at least one overhead kick clearance a game from the big crazy bastard. He was really under-rated here.

[McEwan's Lager 30,493]

3 minutes ago, Inigo said:

Yip. He was a better player than Balogun and would be in the mix with Helander and Goldson. Better player than generally is remembered as imo. Mind he was a stalwart of a defensively fantastic Greek team at the time. A team that won the Euros on the back of being solid at the back. He had 65 odd caps for that outfit. Hugely solid CB.

From memory he was decent at Liverpool as well.