nvager 498 Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Rangers vs Hibernian at Ibrox Stadium, SPL game on Saturday March 22nd, 2008. Kick-Off 3:00 PM Rangers F.C. sits proudly at the top of the SPL table, on an extended unbeaten run, with 68 points from 27 games, three points ahead of Celtic FC who have 65 points from 28 games. It looks very rosy indeed, but there are plenty of problems lurking. We have a great spirit obviously within the squad and that is shown by our results, but the standard of football that has been on display recently has been very poor. Against Bremen we showed fantastic character to win through, but survived a colossal battering in the return leg in Germany. Then we followed that up by an awful display in the first half of the CIS Cup Final against Dundee United. If not for the magic goal snatching of Kris Boyd we would almost certainly have lost to Dundee United who were very unlucky to lose. Then Wednesday night we fielded a "rotated" team against Partick Thistle at Ibrox. We were odds on favourites to win. We made 5 or 6 changes to the team and brought in players who had not started/played too often recently. It did not matter, rested or not, they failed to impress and we scraped a draw at home to Partick Thistle. The standard of football on display was frankly embarrassing. Kris Boyd rescued us with a somewhat lucky scrambled effort of a goal. Now there is much at stake on Saturday versus Hibernian. We must win all our SPL games to keep our lead intact over Celtic as we play them the following Sunday. Celtic F.C. play this Sunday against a weak Gretna team at Almondvale, Livingston, a neutral venue, and it is extremely unlikely that Celtic will not win by a bunch of goals. Gretna's goal difference is a MINUS 41 goals! At the very least we must Celtic under pressure on Sunday by winning on Saturday. As stated above Rangers although winning have not been playing well recently culminating in a disastrous display on Wednesday evening. What is wrong? Is the team tired from so many games? Possibly but the players who needed games and had a lot to prove did not look good when given a chance to prove themselves against Partick Thistle. They were very poor. We seem to have no edge to our play. We are lacking pace and guile and cannot do simple things well. Wednesday night was very disheartening. Nobody could get by their man one on one - except C. Daily near the end. Naismith, Novo and Burke all had very poor nights and our midfield was terrible. No killer passes. No crosses getting to their man. Simply awful. Our full backs were poor too and it frightens me what a good team might do to them. What will Walter do vs Hibs? Will he put out a 4-1-4-1 formation or a 4- 5 -1 formation or play 2 up front? I sincerely hope he plays with Boyd plus D'archeville up front. I would like to see McGregor in goal, Daily and Papac at full back and Carlos and Weir in the middle. I would give that a try before the Celtic game. I would have Thomson in front of the back four. In the midfield I would have Davis, Ferguson and Adam and play JCD and Boyd up front. Recently, if Boyd does not score, we seem to be struggling mightily for goals. JCD can be a big help here adding pace to the attack. The Rangers website says he is fit again. Please Walter do not play L. McCulloch as a lone striker - it just does NOT work. This as all our games now are is a must win game. We want to be in a position the following Sunday that we are at least 3 points ahead of Celtic when we play them at Ibrox. We want to be in a position where we can virtually eliminate them from the SPL title race as soon as possible. That takes enormous pressure off us. Can we rally and win this game? Yes we can and will. The players will be anxious to atone for Wednesday night's display. It will not be easy as Hibs are a good team and will take heart from Partick Thistle's display. I predict we will win a tight game by 1 - 0. This may be yet another nail biting affair. Keep believing - it may not be pretty, but Walter has got the team winning yet again. Winning is everything now - nothing else matters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts