*****The Official Braga vs Rangers Thread*****

[southcoastbear 1,639]

Just now, The Specky Liar said:

Are you suggesting we rest players for this game with a view to the rest of the season?  

Are you suggesting we have them break down and be without them for the rest of the season

What about the second leg when we will want a more attacking formation and need Balogun,  no short sighted or nothing are you.

[teddybear1975 2,111]

3 minutes ago, southcoastbear said:

Are you suggesting we have them break down and be without them for the rest of the season

What about the second leg when we will want a more attacking formation and need Balogun,  no short sighted or nothing are you.

Tbf I think we play our strongest team available as tinkering too much with squad players playing in a changed formation could leave us with the tie over first leg.

[GeeSS 512]

1 hour ago, mclovin9091 said:

We have a history of playing players out of position and expecting better results. Sometimes this has paid off. Albertz was bought as a LB. Ricksen was a RB but had is best season as a winger, same when Whittaker was moved to a more attacking RB.

 

Itten hasn't been given the chance here as a CF with a partner (neither has roofe) and is clearly not a winger yet often has been brought on in that position.

Albertz was bought as a midfielder who could also play at full back  Ricksen was a full back who could play central midfield ( never ever played as a winger)  Whittaker was bought as a full back but played occasionally as a central midfielder and even centreback 

[sausagetrunks 6,102]

id play JM infront of McGregor.  this will be a very tough game for us. id take a draw, actually bite your hand off for a draw. 

[sausagetrunks 6,102]

think we should change shape, no one can lead the line like Morelos. Roofe looks lost.  

[JCDBigBear 10,864]

23 hours ago, ForeverAndEver said:

I think I’d break into tears if that was our lineup.

So what is your favoured line-up?

[ForeverAndEver 72,135]

5 minutes ago, JCDBigBear said:

So what is your favoured line-up?

I don’t have one

[JCDBigBear 10,864]

11 minutes ago, ForeverAndEver said:

I don’t have one

Surely you can at least clarify who you don't like or in what positions from the line-up I posted?

I should also clarify that the first five in defence are those whom I expect GvB to play.  The rest (midfield & attack) I have chosen from those still available in our rather poor squad based on current form and with a change in formation to try to prop up the defence and also to have more of an attacking threat than we showed on Sunday.

[Creampuff 22,628]

Don’t think we have much choice but to play Balogun if he’s at all fit tbh. If he dies, he dies. 

Helander will be fine coming back into the league, he looked every bit a player we shoved back into pro football when he had only just re-learned how to walk.

[southcoastbear 1,639]

36 minutes ago, teddybear1975 said:

Tbf I think we play our strongest team available as tinkering too much with squad players playing in a changed formation could leave us with the tie over first leg.

That's fair enough but look where always playing our strongest team has left us regarding Alfredo, seriously comprimised for rest of season IMO.

[teddybear1975 2,111]

1 minute ago, southcoastbear said:

That's fair enough but look where always playing our strongest team has left us regarding Alfredo, seriously comprimised for rest of season IMO.

Not disputing that mate. Yes there were several times the squad should have been utilised better ( especially Morelos in Belgrade and Dundee) but when you're in a european quarter final the strongest team plays. 

[Hilly86 714]

4 minutes ago, Creampuff said:

Don’t think we have much choice but to play Balogun if he’s at all fit tbh. If he dies, he dies. 

Next Rangers manager attitude right there .

It's not fair that we're struggling for fit, reliable defenders but Goldson is the ever-present one.

[McEwan's Lager 30,879]

45 minutes ago, GeeSS said:

Albertz was bought as a midfielder who could also play at full back  Ricksen was a full back who could play central midfield ( never ever played as a winger)  Whittaker was bought as a full back but played occasionally as a central midfielder and even centreback 

Tbh I thought Ricksen was a far better CM than RB, even though he was bought as an RB.

Thought at RB he was average at best.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 66,215]

57 minutes ago, southcoastbear said:

Are you suggesting we have them break down and be without them for the rest of the season

What about the second leg when we will want a more attacking formation and need Balogun,  no short sighted or nothing are you.

What in the actual fuck are you slabbering on about

The Europa League and Scottish Cup are our priorities going forward, if anyone needs rested we do it in the league

[DW1872 1,213]

I'm honestly finding it difficult to garner much enthusiasm for this game or the rest of the season.

I'm so devastated with how this season has turned out and I'm struggling to get my head past the Aussie debacle.

Hopefully (of course) we get a positive result. No Alfie is a disaster for us though. 

[BlueKnight87 17,438]

3 hours ago, Prso's headband said:

I’m in this camp just now as well. 2 different managers and 3 collapses out of 4 after Christmas really only points to the players. 
 

I’d hold him solely responsible for Aberdeen and them away. Motherwell and County are individual errors due to sheer idiotic defending and Sunday was a mixture of poor subs and individual errors again. 
 

The players for the most part have cost us far more points than tactical decisions by the manager. It’s the same team who couldn’t get themselves up for a semi final because they didn’t have a manager, the amount of hand holding they clearly need is ridiculous, it was a Hibs team that hadn’t beaten them in about 4 years ffs 

I'm 50/50 on gio just now.

These players have bottled it again and again. A clearout is needed and understand the point that a manager needs some time to build his own team. 

The issues I have with gio is I don't see a game plan he's trying for. He's really stubborn especially with mcgregor who been costing us points. 12 point swing and a 50% win record is also red flags. 

I can see a big turn on him coming for our support if he ends up losing to the taigs in the SC. 

[ForeverAndEver 72,135]

36 minutes ago, JCDBigBear said:

Surely you can at least clarify who you don't like or in what positions from the line-up I posted?

I should also clarify that the first five in defence are those whom I expect GvB to play.  The rest (midfield & attack) I have chosen from those still available in our rather poor squad based on current form and with a change in formation to try to prop up the defence and also to have more of an attacking threat than we showed on Sunday.

Midfielders and strikers and formation

[southcoastbear 1,639]

23 minutes ago, The Specky Liar said:

What in the actual fuck are you slabbering on about

The Europa League and Scottish Cup are our priorities going forward, if anyone needs rested we do it in the league

Your usual foul mouthed diatribe.

If hes out for the rest of the season you wont need  to rest him for the league.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 66,215]

4 minutes ago, southcoastbear said:

Your usual foul mouthed diatribe.

If hes out for the rest of the season you wont need  to rest him for the league.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest he will get injured for the rest of the season, I'll ask again wtf are you on about

[Laudrupsleftfoot 11,343]

4 hours ago, The Specky Liar said:

Unless he wins the Scottish Cup and gets us to Seville I want him gone.

 

Ooft, big turnaround but fair play for not being stubborn about it.

SC has to be the minimum to even have a chance.

I've actually softened a bit on him since the game away to celtic, think there have been plenty of positive signs. Albeit big red flag warning signs too.

He absolutely can't go three in a row getting beat against them particularly when they were all three huge games and not relatively meaningless ones (not that any game against them is meaningless).

[The Specky Forum Organiser 66,215]

1 minute ago, Laudrupsleftfoot said:

Ooft, big turnaround but fair play for not being stubborn about it.

SC has to be the minimum to even have a chance.

I've actually softened a bit on him since the game away to celtic, think there have been plenty of positive signs. Albeit big red flag warning signs too.

He absolutely can't go three in a row getting beat against them particularly when they were all three huge games and not relatively meaningless ones (not that any game against them is meaningless).

I actually thought he did well in the following weeks after the game against them, mainly swapping from Kamara sitting to Jack and Lundstram, but from Motherwell at Ibrox we've been utter shite domestically 

Sadly I think it will be 4 defeats against them come the end of the month

[Laudrupsleftfoot 11,343]

1 minute ago, The Specky Liar said:

I actually thought he did well in the following weeks after the game against them, mainly swapping from Kamara sitting to Jack and Lundstram, but from Motherwell at Ibrox we've been utter shite domestically 

Sadly I think it will be 4 defeats against them come the end of the month

Surely can't even be an element of doubt of him going if that happens?

Lundstram coming in out of nowhere and performing as well as he has been has been one of the positives.

I've thought for weeks we don't seem to have a coherent style though, I couldn't tell you what Gio's ideas are about football. The flexibility with formations has worked well a couple of times, the obvious one being Dortmund, but I can't really tell what type of team he's wanting us to be.

[SPWF 8,427]

Couldn’t give a flying fuck about this still. Can’t stomach looking at or listening to Gio or the players. 

[Duncn 247]

9 minutes ago, The Specky Liar said:

I actually thought he did well in the following weeks after the game against them, mainly swapping from Kamara sitting to Jack and Lundstram, but from Motherwell at Ibrox we've been utter shite domestically 

Sadly I think it will be 4 defeats against them come the end of the month

Stop I've been sick about that thought since Sunday 

[The Specky Forum Organiser 66,215]

3 minutes ago, Laudrupsleftfoot said:

Surely can't even be an element of doubt of him going if that happens?

Lundstram coming in out of nowhere and performing as well as he has been has been one of the positives.

I've thought for weeks we don't seem to have a coherent style though, I couldn't tell you what Gio's ideas are about football. The flexibility with formations has worked well a couple of times, the obvious one being Dortmund, but I can't really tell what type of team he's wanting us to be.

I'm genuinely not sure he knows himself and if he does he obviously can't get close to executing it with this squad.