Central Midfield

[STEPPS BOY 75,046]

Just now, Ibroxholm said:

He only needs to get back to the form he showed before he got injured to show he can be an important player for us.  Would say he lacks match sharpness at the moment which will be emphasised in matches like yesterday.  I like Diomande but I thought even he struggled with the pace of play yesterday which he’ll learn from.

Near 30k a week, injury prone and going into last year of his contract.

He should be sold in summer.

[BlueSuedeSambas 54,438]

Just now, Ibroxholm said:

He only needs to get back to the form he showed before he got injured to show he can be an important player for us.  Would say he lacks match sharpness at the moment which will be emphasised in matches like yesterday.  I like Diomande but I thought even he struggled with the pace of play yesterday which he’ll learn from.

That was a tiny sample size tbh. He only played what 5 or 6 games before he got injured under Gio?

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

2 minutes ago, BlueSuedeSambas said:

Lost count of how many players we’ve used this excuse for now tbh - coming back from injury, they need time to settle, wait until they get a chance under a proper manager - I feel like it’s just a bit overused at this point.

Similarly, I’ve lost count of the players over the years that fans have dismissed when coming back from injury and have gone to be major contributors to us once they get back up to full match sharpness.

[STEPPS BOY 75,046]

Said it before on here but it’s no coincidence we done well in OF games when we had Davis and prime Jack and Kamara.

They gave us a level of control in these games and Euro games and that just now is what we miss.

The manager has a decision now to make. Does he stick with the 4-2-3-1 or go for a more solid 4-3-3 when we go to their shithole.

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

2 minutes ago, BlueSuedeSambas said:

That was a tiny sample size tbh. He only played what 5 or 6 games before he got injured under Gio?

That was enough to show he had good quality.  Also saw him play for Derby and he was the best player they had.

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

4 minutes ago, STEPPS BOY said:

Near 30k a week, injury prone and going into last year of his contract.

He should be sold in summer.

Any of our players can be sold if we get the right price for them or indeed pick up a bad injury.  Still doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a good player on his day and will contribute next season if he’s still with us.

[STEPPS BOY 75,046]

1 minute ago, Ibroxholm said:

Any of our players can be sold if we get the right price for them or indeed pick up a bad injury.  Still doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a good player on his day and will contribute next season if he’s still with us.

He’s vastly over-rated and isn’t good enough for where we want to get too.

[AGM_72 3,729]

Said it before but I don't think Lawrence has the required athleticism/dynamism - especially in these types of games. Too slow in his actions and in a foot race.

[SeparateEntityMyArse 54,284]

6 minutes ago, Ibroxholm said:

Any of our players can be sold if we get the right price for them or indeed pick up a bad injury.  Still doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a good player on his day and will contribute next season if he’s still with us.

Its very rarely his day though.

How many standout, impactive performances have we seen from him?

We need players playing well, not just finding fitness or filling jerseys who previously looked very good.

[Hadron Collider 31,333]

10 hours ago, Ibroxholm said:

Lawrence was off the pace today but is still a good player imo.  It takes a long time to come back from a year long injury.  Doubt we’ll see the best of him until next season.

Sorry mate. He’s not what we require. 

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

16 minutes ago, STEPPS BOY said:

He’s vastly over-rated and isn’t good enough for where we want to get too.

Doesn’t seem to be vastly overrated on here this morning.  He had a poor game yesterday along with the rest of the team.  On that evidence, none of our current players are good enough to get where we want to get to (wherever that may be)

I still think he’s a player who can contribute and improve us.  Clearly, there are better players out there if we can afford them.  Again, that could be said for anyone in our team.

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

6 minutes ago, Hadron Collider said:

Sorry mate. He’s not what we require. 

I’ll trust my own judgement on that which at the moment seems to align with our manager.

[Hadron Collider 31,333]

1 minute ago, Ibroxholm said:

I’ll trust my own judgement on that which at the moment seems to align with our manager.

Just a few weeks to go then we will see for next season. It’s my opinion that he’s not good enough. Sound fair?

[ayro 3,149]

Lawrence is better coming off the bench for us right now.

We have options back in attack that means Sterling can be used in midfield to give us the option of playing a 4-3-3 than 4-2-3-1 as with the two of Lundstram and Diomande recently we have lost control of games and it’s been a bit frantic.

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

17 minutes ago, SeparateEntityMyArse said:

Its very rarely his day though.

How many standout, impactive performances have we seen from him?

We need players playing well, not just finding fitness or filling jerseys who previously looked very good.

Clearly his appearances have been limited by long term injury but he looked the pick of the bunch before he got injured.  Do any of our current team match up to your requirement to give standout, impactive performances.  I don’t think so.  
All I’m saying is he’s a good player in terms of what we have available at the club at the moment.  

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

5 minutes ago, Hadron Collider said:

Just a few weeks to go then we will see for next season. It’s my opinion that he’s not good enough. Sound fair?

I hope I’m right and you’re wrong.  Although I think it’ll need a good preseason to see the best of him, we do need him to produce the quality I think he has in our remaining games.  It could just make the difference and we need our better players to produce because, to be honest, we’re not a great team at the present time.

[SeparateEntityMyArse 54,284]

3 minutes ago, Ibroxholm said:

Clearly his appearances have been limited by long term injury but he looked the pick of the bunch before he got injured.  Do any of our current team match up to your requirement to give standout, impactive performances.  I don’t think so.  
All I’m saying is he’s a good player in terms of what we have available at the club at the moment.  

We're no longer where we were before he got injured. That player is gone on the evidence of most games now.

If you didn't know what Lawrence was like preinjury and just based it on now then I reckon most folk would want him dropped. We can't afford a passenger who is trying to get fit or find form but who does so little in the cam / 10 role.

Sterling, Lundstram, Butland have had good seasons, regularly impactive performances. Tavs stats make him impactive too despite not always being great in games.

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

46 minutes ago, STEPPS BOY said:

Said it before on here but it’s no coincidence we done well in OF games when we had Davis and prime Jack and Kamara.

They gave us a level of control in these games and Euro games and that just now is what we miss.

The manager has a decision now to make. Does he stick with the 4-2-3-1 or go for a more solid 4-3-3 when we go to their shithole.

Starting midfield of Lundstram, Sterling and Diomande (maybe slightly advanced) would be my choice.  Can bring on Cantwell or Lawrence later on in the game if we need a bit of invention.  
Its our defence that gives me the fear.

[stuart1994 4,417]

59 minutes ago, markem said:

Dowell effort for the third was unforgivable, would have taken little effort for him to apply a bit of pressure to the player who put the pass through. Honestly think we don’t concede that we would’ve won game. 

Aye mate totally. Didn't even get out of a jog.

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

2 minutes ago, SeparateEntityMyArse said:

We're no longer where we were before he got injured. That player is gone on the evidence of most games now.

If you didn't know what Lawrence was like preinjury and just based it on now then I reckon most folk would want him dropped. We can't afford a passenger who is trying to get fit or find form but who does so little in the cam / 10 role.

Sterling, Lundstram, Butland have had good seasons, regularly impactive performances. Tavs stats make him impactive too despite not always being great in games.

But I do know what Lawrence was like pre-injury.  Is that player gone?  You clearly think so, I think he’s worth persevering with because we don’t have a great deal of quality in our team in regard to composure and picking the right final pass.  
Ok, arguably the three/four you mention have had been the pick of the bunch this season.  Only four though, we need 7 or 8 at least.  

[stuart1994 4,417]

46 minutes ago, AGM_72 said:

Said it before but I don't think Lawrence has the required athleticism/dynamism - especially in these types of games. Too slow in his actions and in a foot race.

Chuck in his need to do a fake shot or chop every time he gets the ball.

[SeparateEntityMyArse 54,284]

9 minutes ago, Ibroxholm said:

But I do know what Lawrence was like pre-injury.  Is that player gone?  You clearly think so, I think he’s worth persevering with because we don’t have a great deal of quality in our team in regard to composure and picking the right final pass.  
Ok, arguably the three/four you mention have had been the pick of the bunch this season.  Only four though, we need 7 or 8 at least.  

Yes that player is gone. Thats exactly the point.

Persevering? As in by definition little or no indication of success? Good word choice.

Was there composure or picking the right pass on display from him yesterday? His passing was brutal.

He offers nothing, regardless of what he was pre injury or what he could be after a good preseason.  Nothing.  He's a man down and in a title run in we can't have that week after week. 

[OrangeRab 3,025]

We know that Lawrence doesn’t have the legs to press. So you hope his quality offsets that.

But I thought he panicked a lot yesterday. Countless forced passes that were intercepted. Really lacked the composure and quality you want from that position. 
 

celtic have a very good midfield. It’s their strength. And I thought Lundstrum and Diomande more than held their own. Whilst effectively being a man down with Lawrence.

A midfield of Lundstrum, Sterling and Diomande would be my choice for the next OF.

[OrangeRab 3,025]

Also Diomande’s corners look a big improvement 

[Ibroxholm 2,291]

18 minutes ago, SeparateEntityMyArse said:

Yes that player is gone. Thats exactly the point.

Persevering? As in by definition little or no indication of success? Good word choice.

Was there composure or picking the right pass on display from him yesterday? His passing was brutal.

He offers nothing, regardless of what he was pre injury or what he could be after a good preseason.  Nothing.  He's a man down and in a title run in we can't have that week after week. 

So on the back of a reaction to a bad performance yesterday, you going discard him.  And bring in who?  Who is this magic player aiming in the wings that’s going to solve our problems?  
And yes, persevering is the right word in the world Rangers function in at the moment.  We need to persevere with the players we have who we think have some quality because the days of going out and buying a DeBoer, Van Brockhurst and Gazza are long gone.  Any new players we bring in are essentially out of the bargain bin and we saw from our dealings last summer the level of success that brings.  Even with a good manager such a Clement, he’ll struggle to get good young players in our price range this summer.  
The relative success of Clement since he came in has been perseverance with not the greatest squad or the most talented of players.  Although more than likely they’ll be a few signings this summer, it’ll still be the same next season.