Where do we go from here?

[Malkytfp1 19,619]

55 minutes ago, STEPPS BOY said:

That should be the case but it isn’t.

We haven’t won an away game in league since the end of April.

We drew with a dugshite Hearts team first game of season.

 

And scraped by a depleted Motherwell

[Blueshoff 12,770]

28 minutes ago, crazy bob swollenbaws said:

The basics. Football is a team game. The 11 players need to function as a coherent entity, not 11 individuals. We have all seen managers come in and get performances from players even for a short time that tells me there is some ability there. They cannot ALL be bad players unless we are going out of our way to sabotage our chances by signing generations of rubbish repeatedly. 

We need to give these players some reason to expect better performances and results. In other words we need to change something in the team that gives them confidence and an expectation of improvement, that some weaknesses have been resolved.

For me, given that a wholescale clearout is not possible and not desirable anyway given the money situation, I would work on the following:

FITNESS - costs little to fix this given we already have Auchenhowie. I actually would have them back to gullane however for solid intense but low impact fitness work. If their weight etc is not already monitored/managed then it should be.  We looked fucked early doors. Whether that was genuinely physical or more mental remains to be seen but it is about giving these guys confidence and a reason to expect to compete. They need to be able to move to space when team mates have the ball just to distract opposition players to help the ball player create something.

PEOPLE CHANGES- 

Tav - goodbye. Now. This minute. Not having a viable , fit fullback on that side is glaring, needs others to cover for him and drains energy from other parts of the team. We want fast flowing football. He cannot supply that.  Likewise, having inadequate leadership on the pitch IS hurting us. Tav is not the role model for the other players to look up to. I seriously would try sterling at RB. 

Dessers - Benched for use against the dross of the league. We have seen his pathetic performances so often now none of us can see him as the man to rely on when the chips are down. Our front line needs pace across the whole line. Oppositions need to fear them. Dessers lack of pace alone means that does not happen. They can therefore play their game unhindered by what we may do to them.

Motivation -

Captaincy - we dont have many candidates. It cannot stay with Tav however. Try soutar or even Propper who has done it before. The lack of aggressive bastards in our team is worrying tho. Would love more scots in our midfield if I am honest.

 

 

 

I have often wondered if we have a sports psychologist - if we do he's obviously shit and if we don't we should have one! 

[MidSussexBlue 1,299]

3 hours ago, graeme_4 said:

McInnes is also bottom of the league with 1 point from 4.

What we actually need is to try and replicate what the filth do on the park, 100 mile an hour, high press, attacking football.

Muscat in hindsight might have been the right call.

Still go no idea what PC is asking / coaching the players to do. 

He seems to tell them that when Carter-Vickers gets the ball on the edge of his 18 yard box, let him run to halfway into our half before we put in any attempt at a challenge.

[hammer93 15,462]

Footballing wise we are miles behind them, I had zero nerves yesterday because I had an acceptance that we would be facing another defeat, when it gets to knowing another defeat is on the cards then I know how far behind them we are

The starting 11 was probably what most of us would have picked with what we have at our disposal, some may even looked at the bench and thought it was looking a good bit healthier.....the reality is they have been recruiting so much better than us for years now, yes they have signed their fair share of crap over the years but they have for years signed young players and moved them on for big money.....going back to van dijk I've seriously lost count of the money they have brought back into their coffers, that and the champions league money has absolutely crippled us, they get 25 million for MO and they spent 30 million in this window and they don't look any worse off....yip 5 million they have effectively spent, 3 million on Bernardo, the cunt ran the show yesterday, 3 million can get you decent signings if you are looking in the right places, we clearly aren't looking in the right places as we seldom get value for money 

The manager is all over the place with his ramblings in his pressers, I am losing faith very fast that he knows what he is doing but I still have to give him some sort of leeway as we clearly look like we have moved shite out and replaced them with more bang average players, we clearly can't afford to buy better players after the last 3/4 years of mismanagement this rot started with the board and will ultimately end with them, they are not fit for purpose and need to sell up.....problem is are their any serious investors out there willing to take our basket case of a club over....in a nutshell the dark clouds are getting darker

[Badger 9,091]

58 minutes ago, Inigo said:

Don't think people will accept that tbh. 

Yeah, and I think our expectations as a club and as a support at times are holding us back.

We are in a position now where the reactive approach is only harming us. We keep trying to build a house on shoogley foundations and it keeps collapsing.

If the shoe was on the other foot their fans would be exactly the same. It's something unique about the environment up here.

[Somemightsay7 3,094]

It's bizarre just how similar our situation is to Man Utd's.

A team that consistently won trophies, has failed for 10+ years due to poor ownership, terrible and scattergun recruitment, a bloated wage budget with poor players on huge salaries they couldn't get rid of, inability to sell players for any sort of value, a 32 year old who used to be good but is now past it costing them games (Tav, Casemiro), a deluded manager who is using nonsensical stats to try and justify a 3-0 loss to their biggest rivals. 

The difference is Utd seem to have more competent people running the club now, are replacing the likes of Casemiro and have a unlimited money pot to make things right. 

We have the same board, refuse to even consider replacing Tav and have no money. 

We just need to accept this season is going to be rough and hope we make some progress and get our recruitment right next season.

[qwerty 3,792]

4 games in 5 points behind Aberdeen.  What the actual fuck?

[bluenoz 32,382]

Bennett believes as a major investor that he can call all the shots. He can't. He doesn't know enough about the ins and outs of football. Souness is right. An experienced CEO and DOF with extensive footballing background have been required for ages. It starts at the top.

Clement needs to be more open-minded. He has a stubborn streak. If he doesn't rate a player, they are toast. And please, stop talking about stats and analyze the game with your own two eyes!

Leave all egos at the front door and get to work. Players, manager, and board. Too many bigheads and not enough grafters.

Like the rest of us, I could probably go on...

 

[KingKirk 26,457]

Whatever happens either way I hope we remain classy and don't result to personal abuse like we seen in some of the videos yesterday. Emotions are high but I'd like to think we are better than that. Protest by not going to games or voicing your concerns outside the front door. Just leave the personal stuff out of it tho. it's on them all not just the manager or captain. 

[lau03143 133]

39 minutes ago, BlueSuedeSambas said:

You know things are bad when the gullane sands patter comes out

 

Yep - and it's absolute nonsense as well. If we want slow, leggy players, that can run up a hill, then fine. Not footballers, who need fast reactions and be able to cover shortish distances quickly.

There is so much wrong with the team, with I believe mentality being the biggest issue. 60,000 unwashed shouting that we're shite, the players getting back to Ibrox to be shouted at that their shite, it will and must affect them.

Clement needs to build resilience in this team. He needs to start making big decisions, especially around Tav. It's been clear for 2/3 years he's the weak link against them, and all our major defensive concerns, and now it looks like he's either chucked it or legs are gone. He needs dropped. Sentimentality does nothing for us.

That's the short term actions. Longer term, we should expect improvements, but we need to see clear evidence of a bigger plan. It's been clear their focus has been to maximize additional revenue streams which is key to what we need to do in the future, but it has been at the expense of the playing side. We have continually failed to qualify for the CL when given the opportunity to do so. This just reinforces the Tim's dominance over us financially. For all Gerrard's progress he made with us, he f*cked it against Malmo, and we've repeatedly fucked it since. Even through the Europa League has been good to us as fans, and allowed us some great nights, the pay day for the club just doesn't match the CL. 

 

[Southsider 387]

1 hour ago, Blueshoff said:

The greatest danger now is apathy.  We are becoming used to failure and mediocrity.  

Can't believe the lack of financial acumen amongst the board but until someone buys them out we are stuck with them.

As for Clement I'd stick with him, there did seem to be a plan yesterday and we looked good for 15 minutes.  The players though couldn't carry it on which is more concerning.  We have just had a huge turnover of players, maybe given a few weeks we'll see a change in line ups and mentality.

I don't think it was a plan that can beat them.  As soon as they move past our no 10 they have acres of space and 3 against 2. Plus a couple of wide players, one of whom has our captain on toast.  You'd need an exceptional pair in midfield to make that work.

[SeparateEntityMyArse 55,323]

1 hour ago, BridgeIsBlue said:

Plainly obvious now that the new contract for Clement was to stop him walking, another fuck up by the board. 

To stop him walking or to mitigate for moving the goal posts re what they'd pledged to him for transfer budgets.

A short term sweetener for him that's going to sting badly in the not too distant future.

[Bears r us 31,318]

I have been supporting Rangers for nearly 60 years, and have been through some poor times, but with the tarriers seemingly flush with money and already having a team who have been together for a number of years and winning title after title, it is a grim outlook for us.

The only hope is serious investment (and yes I know financial rules are more difficult now) and I keep repeating myself in saying IF the board/main shareholders were real Rangers men, they would have been looking after a couple of years of taking over for wealthy investors/buyers to take us forward, but I think the Parks and Bennett want to be top guns and care more for themselves than Rangers.

Yes we can sack Phil, but unless we sort out who is in charge of the Club at the top, nothing will change IMO. 

[NeoGeo7 11,263]

2 minutes ago, SeparateEntityMyArse said:

To stop him walking or to mitigate for moving the goal posts re what they'd pledged to him for transfer budgets.

A short term sweetener for him that's going to sting badly in the not too distant future.

Maybe the board gave him a deal that had a clause where he could be sacked if he didn’t meet objectives to lessen the financial hit for sacking yet another manager…..

[Laudrupsleftfoot 12,208]

4 minutes ago, Southsider said:

I don't think it was a plan that can beat them.  As soon as they move past our no 10 they have acres of space and 3 against 2. Plus a couple of wide players, one of whom has our captain on toast.  You'd need an exceptional pair in midfield to make that work.

The gap between the 10 and midfield two is far far too big.

There’s just no connection in there at all.

Clement actually chewed the face off some fan media person who brought up the importance of midfield battle in the pre match press conference.

[Loyal72 13,580]

4 hours ago, The Ibrox Derry said:

Yesterday was just so fucking predictable.

Was anyone in their heart of hearts really surprised?

Could have written the match report at 12 noon

It went the way I thought it would.

Lucky it wasn't 6 or 7.

Dont think any of us were surprised. Just full of misplaced hope, and it kills ye every fuckin time.

Expecting different results while we're so basket case is dumb man, as you say, could've wrote the report at 12, Stevie Wonder could see what was coming.

Fucking hate this 

[RossS1873 2,597]

1 hour ago, Inigo said:

We are? I don't think we are. We're starting to see the beginnings of restlessness. Only way a long term plan is anything like acceptable to a fanbase like ours is if a completely new group takes over at the top. Even then, 2 or 3 more years of being behind them isn't going to pass without drama with a fanbase like ours. 

Bearing in mind there are no guarantees from a 3-5 year plan. You could just end up being even further behind.

We're in a really bad position. As classic a catch 22 as you'll find.

The thing is, and I can't believe I have to use this, Gerrard came in and we knew it was going to be a 3 or 4 year plan and we kind of accepted it. It only really kicked off in his 2nd season after we went to Parkhead, won then completely collapsed. You're spot on, a complete catch 22 but people have been more shouting from a distance for long enough and nothing changed so maybe they feel like they aren't being heard and, whilst screaming in Taverniers face doesn't really fix anything, it proves to alot of people that there is seriously loads at breaking point

[The Ibrox Derry 9,220]

9 minutes ago, Loyal72 said:

Dont think any of us were surprised. Just full of misplaced hope, and it kills ye every fuckin time.

Expecting different results while we're so basket case is dumb man, as you say, could've wrote the report at 12, Stevie Wonder could see what was coming.

Fucking hate this 

Things couldn't have been mismanaged any worse since summer 2021.

Europa League Final apart, everything has been pretty poor, mediocre, shite, and utter shite since.

Poor managerial appointments, piss poor recruitment, hobbling over the line in 2 cup final wins,  champion league humiliation, umpteen losses to the fenians, stadium balls up, league mediocrity. The list goes on and on

[lau03143 133]

People talk about wealthy investors etc? Where do they think these people come from? They aren't just going to pump money into Scottish football for the fun of it. There's got to be something in it for them, and like it or not, that means we need to have a marketable brand. So we're seeing an massive uptake in the commercial side of the club, improvements to stadium, making the match going experience something that can be marketed.

They tried exporting "the Old Firm" and that fell flat in their face, but I bet it will be resurrected, as like it or not, they need to be able to export the one thing that attracts people to Scottish football and that is the "Old Firm". 

The playing side is taking a hit, and it will take the hit for a while. I see this as a long term rebuild, but the board aren't going to come out and say "we're fucked, we're 3 years into a 10 year plan", because that is what it is, or at least feels like. 

 

[Redmond7 1,506]

3 hours ago, Badger said:

As hard as it is, I think we need to forget about competing with celtic for a couple of years and impliment a 3 to 5 year plan. Get the foundation right and build from there. If we don't do that, I'm afraid this is the norm.

Frustrating as we probably had that foundation there just over 2yrs ago, but we've squandered it

Said this for a while now - something I harp on about at work too - the foundation needs to be secure, without a proper foundation, anything you build will just fall apart. We need to back and re-build the foundation. We shouldnt be in this position 12 years on from 2012, we've been so badly mismanaged its almost criminal, but the reality is this is where we are. If we dont do this, we're just going to go round and round in circles. 

I think the millstone round our necks is the taigs passing our trophy count, the taigs getting 10 in a row etc etc, well if we dont get our act together this will be the least of our worries so it might need to swallow some bitter pills in order to get back to the point we should be at. 

[Somemightsay7 3,094]

12 minutes ago, RossS1873 said:

The thing is, and I can't believe I have to use this, Gerrard came in and we knew it was going to be a 3 or 4 year plan and we kind of accepted it. It only really kicked off in his 2nd season after we went to Parkhead, won then completely collapsed. You're spot on, a complete catch 22 but people have been more shouting from a distance for long enough and nothing changed so maybe they feel like they aren't being heard and, whilst screaming in Taverniers face doesn't really fix anything, it proves to alot of people that there is seriously loads at breaking point

I think people would understand, to an extent, if the current plan was 2-3 years before we are competing, but where is the plan? The board have spent years talking about the 'player trading model' but have done absolutely nothing to implement it. 

We have a soon to be 33 year old captain, a 31 year old goalkeeper, just signed a 30 year old centre back, brought in a winger on loan that we have no chance of signing permanently even if he's good, a soon to be 30 year old striker, still relying on a 36 year old centre back and a soon to be 31 year old number 10.

Most of those players have been brought in in the last 18 months yet none of them will be here in 2-3 years.

Maybe things will change when the 2 new deadline day signings get playing and Cortes is back, but it's already too late for this season. 

[crazy bob swollenbaws 1,927]

1 hour ago, Redmond7 said:

Dont disagree with any of your points, however I doubt our frail players could cope with being put through their paces at Gullane.

All this shite Clement spouted about fitness under Beale and it doesnt appear to have changed at all.

Then they should not be footballers. Should start off at a level they can cope with and build up quickly. Needs done.

[The Ibrox Derry 9,220]

Let's be honest, Clements tenure has been a carbon copy of Beale, started in Oct / Nov, initially done really well only to start collapsing in Feb / March.

Couldn't beat celtic.

No real style of play.

Bizarre substitutions, game management poor

team appearing mentally weak.

cant do the basics right.

Players unfit or injured

Signings questionable, although Clements signings haven't had much time yet. One of the things that is giving us a bit of hope at least.

[crazy bob swollenbaws 1,927]

1 hour ago, Blueshoff said:

I have often wondered if we have a sports psychologist - if we do he's obviously shit and if we don't we should have one! 

I am sure I heard we have used sports psychologists but I may be mistaken.  Not sure they are being listened to however. 

Given that we have been using that Zone7 software to supposedly make decisions around player injury risk and also fitness, it feels like we are a technocratic club expecting to have success through theory rather than hard graft,teamwork, cameraderie, fight  etc.  Would not surprise me if any sports psychologist was ignored, especially if they criticised on pitch leadership.

 

[crazy bob swollenbaws 1,927]

52 minutes ago, lau03143 said:

Yep - and it's absolute nonsense as well. If we want slow, leggy players, that can run up a hill, then fine. Not footballers, who need fast reactions and be able to cover shortish distances quickly.

There is so much wrong with the team, with I believe mentality being the biggest issue. 60,000 unwashed shouting that we're shite, the players getting back to Ibrox to be shouted at that their shite, it will and must affect them.

Clement needs to build resilience in this team. He needs to start making big decisions, especially around Tav. It's been clear for 2/3 years he's the weak link against them, and all our major defensive concerns, and now it looks like he's either chucked it or legs are gone. He needs dropped. Sentimentality does nothing for us.

That's the short term actions. Longer term, we should expect improvements, but we need to see clear evidence of a bigger plan. It's been clear their focus has been to maximize additional revenue streams which is key to what we need to do in the future, but it has been at the expense of the playing side. We have continually failed to qualify for the CL when given the opportunity to do so. This just reinforces the Tim's dominance over us financially. For all Gerrard's progress he made with us, he f*cked it against Malmo, and we've repeatedly fucked it since. Even through the Europa League has been good to us as fans, and allowed us some great nights, the pay day for the club just doesn't match the CL. 

 

So do you think our fitness is already at the optimum level? If not how do you remedy?