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Reply | Everything but the goal - Report
at 09:30 2 Dec 2024
Good report. Enjoyed reading one where I thought we played well. Overall agree with the sentiment that this was our best ‘performance’ of the season. Really noticeable over the last 2 games how the team seems more together and having each others back which is great to see.
The only area I’d probably disagree is Paul Smyth. I didn’t see it as his best performance of the season, in fact I thought his end product/final ball was regularly disappointing. I remember one great cut back to Saito but that’s about it. Saw a fair bit of effort and some good defensive work but struggled to get any decent delivery into the box and seemed a bit wasteful with the basics. A game of opinions though and perhaps I’m being harsh on the lad. He has pace which as we all say is massively lacking in this team but I do want more from him. |
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Reply | Just back.
at 19:34 30 Nov 2024
It’s all about opinions but I didn’t really see that. Thought he was average and missed a chance he should have buried. Some nice stuff which was good but needs to do a lot more. What I would say though, and applies to Wednesday too, he seems to be working much harder, running around and pressing a lot more and think I even saw a couple of tackles, including a yellow early on. I think it’s positive he’s starting to get stuck in a bit more and run around but in the position he was playing today, I do expect more. |
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Reply | Willock?
at 17:22 29 Nov 2024
Agreed.
Les or Christian? Is Madsen a classy act that will come good? Saito or Chair? Is Sam Field really that good? We won’t ever progress with Jimmy D at right back? Could Frey and Celar play together? I’ve seen better semi-pros then Paul Smyth, but he’s quick? What was the point of Niko Hamalainen…
Yep, reckon although the football’s rubbish, there’s quite a few things that would be better discussed over a beer with this Rangers side.
Talking of which, that's me done for the day, time for the pub. |
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Reply | Willock?
at 16:11 29 Nov 2024
The Ainsworth thing I don't get, it annoys me when people pick out some of the "dire displays" stuff and throw it at Willock and why Ainsworth didn't use him. Was at that Cov game, and think Willock came on as a sub from memory, did a mistake trying to make something happen in one of the worst performances of the season, and people start using it as material to support Ainsworth and his actions. What about Ainsworth's failure to use Willock at all? bringing him on in games that were already over for a minute or two at the end?
Those decisions of Ainsworth made me, and probably others think Willock was just waiting for his contract to expire and didn't care about the team, wouldn't risk anything (injury wise) to help in our survival and would just be half arsed if played...how wrong we were. The new manager came in and restored Willock to the team and Willock started to perform and add value, and in my opinion was a major reason we stayed up. He wasn't vintage Willock, but he worked hard and put in some decent performances - Preston away springs to my mind where it certainly wasn't a performance of a player not looking to help the team.
So, you may look it as Ainsworth being absolutely right in his management of Willock, I look at it as a failure to utilise a key resource, which was proven to be the case when Marti arrived and got a tune out of him. |
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Reply | New boys
at 10:29 29 Nov 2024
It's a boring thing to say, but if anything, this season shows us that it's too early to form judgements on players after so few games. I thought Dembele looked the real deal, and was going to be a star, has since, due to a combination of injuries and loss of form declined fairly rapidly, I still think he will come good. Saito keeps getting better and better and the more I see of Morrison the more I like. Nardi has probably been the one that has consistently performed well, while Madsen divides opinion. I can see both sides with him - a player, that amongst absolute slop has shown he has a high degree of technical quality, but also someone that hides, doesn't show for the ball enough or work hard enough. Cardiff was promising because he worked much harder, he still has a chance.
Celar, I don't think he was the type of striker we needed, as Wednesday showed, his finishing looks class, but everything else about his game appears limited - pace, hold up play, strength etc. Can it be improved? Can we adapt our style to bring out the best in him? Would he benefit playing alongside Frey, especially when playing at home? probably, but doubt we'd ever do that, which is a shame.
But, one thing I would say, as others have, it was a major risk going into last season with Dykes, Kellman and Armstrong as our only strikers. It was absolutely criminal going into this one with an unproven Celar and an injury and unproven Frey. Regardless of the ability and potential sell-on value of the other signings, that was unforgivable. [Post edited 29 Nov 11:15]
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Reply | That's Entertainment!!!!
at 23:58 23 Nov 2024
I don’t know. When you watch games like that you realise how poor we are and how much we’ve declined as a team. Saito apart, everyone else looked dog sh*t to me today. Now I know Paul Smyth arguably caused them most problems and was one of our more dangerous players, but even he looked like a Sunday league player on a fairly frequent basis - picking the wrong pass, miss controlling the ball, over hitting the simple pass and yes I know Varane did some useful donkey work but his passing and willingness to go forward. Fck me. Whoever came up with sideways Ray nickname…digging out Wilkins for a safe pass with the midfield we’ve got. What I’d do for a sideways Ray now. I feel for the manager. A shocking injury list and pathetic recruitment. 2 strikers for the season? One unproven and one injury prone. Someone should be walking just for that decision. I do agree it was entertaining but I struggle to look beyond a Rangers team playing like a pub side with the ball. Such a shame. |
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Reply | an absolutely bonfire night of a show....
at 16:31 6 Nov 2024
Well you mentioned before that just being good on the ball, isn't the whole picture, which I agree with and you went on to say "If you have someone who doesn’t find space and provide an option for a pass to feet, who doesn’t press, doesn’t tackle, doesn’t track runners, does not read the game, doesn’t want physical contact, barely breaks into anything more than a trot"... I'd say the majority of those descriptions Adel would meet. I agree, he was great at demanding the ball, which is massive, but he didn't track runners, didn't ever tackle and he barely broke into anything more than a trot, (when he didn't have the ball). You've focused on one element of Adel without the ball - his willingness to receive it -, but clearly there's other parts which he lacked in.
If Madsen involved himself more, which I do think is partly down to the brand of football we're playing and poor confidence among the Team, and we found a more attacking role for him - he's not a holding midfielder or an 8 - some of the off the ball things he lacks in and which people are rightfully calling out wouldn't be such an issue. |
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Reply | an absolutely bonfire night of a show....
at 15:41 6 Nov 2024
That's all fair of course. Possible challenges to it being the Adel's of this world that wouldn't' (excuse the pun) pass a 'without the ball test' but was arguably the best we've had in recent years.
Now Madsen is not Adel and clearly needs to do more without the ball. But for balance, the Team is playing poorly, and not playing a brand of football which will get the most from this type of player. That first half, in terms of quality, was up there with one of the worst of the season. So many misplaced passes, so many unforced errors. When you're a team playing like that you need some roll up the sleeves types to fight for you and Madsen just isn't one of them. I do think it would be interesting how he plays in a team with more confidence, with 2 full backs that offer genuine attacking threat, a forward that can keep the ball and bring people into the game, centre backs having the confidence to ping it into feed and lots of movement and people wanting the ball, but in the middle of absolute chaos, Madsen is clearly not your man. |
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Reply | an absolutely bonfire night of a show....
at 11:10 6 Nov 2024
I disagree with this. I don't think he's playing well, not suited to both the Championship and how we're playing, but he can clearly play football. A pass last night he played was at a level nobody else in the team could play. But, I fully agree, that's not enough. His biggest problem is that he hides and doesn't work hard enough. But he can clearly play football he just needs to adapt to Championship and our style of play much quicker than what he's doing. |
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Reply | MC has got to go
at 10:54 6 Nov 2024
It's clear to everyone there are major problems with the Team. As a MC fan and someone that really wants him to succeed and remain Manager for many years to come, I have to admit he's made mistakes, Santos left back with Field alongside in the back 4 and a half arsed Chair providing wing cover was a recipe for disaster and that is on the Manager. But do you think the odd tactical error like that is why we're in this mess?
Surely, when you spend the money we have this summer and you end up with a right back at left back, an 18 year old academy boy in centre mid and your most hardworking centre mid playing centre half, something has gone seriously wrong. Throw in the increased injuries this season, and I'm not sure there's a Manager that can get us out of this hole but the one I'd trust most to do it, as he's managed it before, is the one still in charge.
Celar and Frey. How can people look at that as our striking options and be anything other than disgusted. We've just survived relegation and we're going into the new season with 2 strikers, both unproven at this level.
Now for the slightly controversial bit, but I think all our new signings, with the exception of Santos, and possibly Celar (I'm one that still thinks he could be a good striker played in a different setup), look like they have something to offer if part of the right team, and style of play etc. But a club as disjointed as us, and with so many new toys that aren't used to the Championship, with injuries biting and confidence at a very low level, they look even worse than they actually are.
A Manager that is trying to piece a team together without the quality of JCS, the experience and ability of Jack Colback, the on his day ability of Paal, the natural ability of Dembele, is going to struggle massively. Throw in the one physical striker we have also being injured and I'm not sure what people expect MC to get out of this team. That's all on the recruitment. [Post edited 6 Nov 10:55]
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Reply | Larkeche
at 13:47 5 Nov 2024
Thanks for the update which is good to hear and how a loan should work - player goes to another club to play games and develop with a view to returning and being a better player. It's what should have happened with Sinclair last season and Lloyd this. At least with Larkeche, he seems to have got a good club which is the most important thing, and they appear to be helping him develop, and he "should" return a much better player, although whether he's good enough remains to be seen. |
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Reply | Celar - Nothing Again
at 18:33 2 Nov 2024
Based on today. Feels harsh to dig out Celar too much. We need to try and get the most from our players even if they haven’t delivered for us and possibly weren’t the right signings. Keep up that level and it’s only good for the team. |
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Reply | Celar - Nothing Again
at 13:06 1 Nov 2024
Am definitely worried by Celar and it’s not looking good but I’m surprised how quickly he has been written off. His last 2 appearances have been very poor, but Burnley away…really? Did anyone expect anything from him? Especially when we were setting up to just get a point.
Quite a few substitute appearances have resulted in long hopeful punts to him - embarrassing service - yet Celar seems to be getting it for not being better in the air or closing down more. No doubt we needed a striker that didn’t rely on service and could instigate his own chances a bit but our recruitment didn’t read the obvious memo. But now we do have a striker that’s service dependent, let’s at least try and make it work and not let our midfielders and full backs off the hook for a lack of decent quality into him.
Play tomorrow with decent delivery/clever passes in behind and Celar is found wanting…fair enough, I’ll be first to admit he was rubbish but let’s demand more from our midfield too. We need more control and better service. Don’t let them off the hook by focussing on the one fit striker. |
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Reply | Just back
at 22:47 22 Oct 2024
Not perfect but bringing a youngster on when you’re searching for a point is brave, and the fact he got the equaliser probably entitles the Manager to a few more pats on the back then what he’s getting. |
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Reply | Celar - Nothing Again
at 22:38 22 Oct 2024
I thought his hold up play wasn’t great and some of his runs weren’t timed that well. Gave away 1 or 2 cheap fouls as well. Look, I’m not saying Celar was good, just want to calm down some of those saying Lloyd ahead of him, as based on what I’ve seen Lloyd has done his best work out wide and hasn’t looked great upfront. For me it’s Frey, and if he’s not around, then pluck a name out the hat. |
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Reply | Celar - Nothing Again
at 22:30 22 Oct 2024
Fair enough on Celar but Lloyd made absolutely no difference when he came on and I’d say made us worse. I think a poster summed it up saying we’re one of the worst clubs for buying strikers as I can’t think of the last decent one - Austin, perhaps Wells? although Frey may disagree. I haven’t given up on Celar just yet though. |
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Reply | Is this on Nourry?
at 09:19 20 Oct 2024
We were a poor side last season, but what was a major factor in getting us over the line was fitness - we actually had one of the best injury records in the league. This season we’re not being so lucky, and it is having an impact. I think if we’d retained the same fitness levels, we’d be in a different league position and wouldn’t be having this debate.
That said, last season I thought we were starting the season with one of the most worrying set of strikers we’ve had and didn’t think it was possible to be in a worse position, but somehow this season we’ve achieved that, with one of the most worrying forward options in many a year. That’s on the recruitment team.
Everyone fit, I think we’ll be ok. Injuries continuing to bite and I worry…a lot. |
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Reply | Sam Field substitution
at 22:59 19 Oct 2024
Surprised Fox survived and Field didn’t move back there. I get frustration, but ultimately Fox and his rustiness/lack of ability cost us. We needed a win, regardless of performance, and but for Fox, I think we’d have got it. I’m not sure what the Manager sees in him tbh, think I’d fancy my chances in a foot race with him. |
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Reply | Colback
at 18:05 18 Oct 2024
He’s a big loss and think there’s a few fans that are now starting to realise what Colback offers us. He was under appreciated with people too quick to moan at his yellow cards which is funny when so many moaned about us being soft and never getting a yellow. For a team that rarely tackles, seems a bit soft to me, we miss him massively.
All these injuries have made the decision to not sign a top pro like Hayden even more damaging to us. Hindsight I know but he would have made a huge difference. Field and who tomorrow?
Edit: didn’t mean to reply to Mick but yes, Andre starting tomorrow will inevitably end badly for us. [Post edited 18 Oct 18:08]
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