13 Sep 2016 12:10:35
Can't pretend I'm not a sore loser so I went hiding for a few days but I'm back with my thoughts.

We lost 5-1 and we were dominated in midfield after the first 20 minutes of the first and the same for the second just after there third goal. At 3-1 we could actually come back into the game until the sending off.

I can see why MW with his philosophy bringing on Hill and going to damage limitation wouldn't be something he would do. Two reasons why, if we bring on Hill and it ends up being 5-1 anyway it looks even worse and the fact he would do that against anyone and maybe he thought he could sneak one and get another at the end he wanted to have a go.

We really missed Danny Wilson. His ability to bring the ball out from the back is second to none. I say it all the time but he is easily our best defender. Senderoff in my opinion is a plug in centre half till January where we can look at better options (aided by it only being a one year deal) Kiernan going off injured and the compete collapse of our defence due to sending off and injuries it meant at 3-1 it could have been any number regardless of how we could have performed before that.

Matt Crooks is made for a game like that, in comparison to Kranjcar he would offer pace and a real physicality in midfield alongside Barton and maybe even another injured hero Holt. Our game and complexion in there can completely change over the next few weeks as our team gets to fitness.

I said before the game it could be two or three weeks to early for us to make an impact and it really showed, Celtic have played a total of 19 games this season against oppositions like Leicester City, Barcelona, Wolfsburg as well as champions league games very important to there team before they even kicked a ball in the league. A total of 11 games before they played another quality opposition Hearts in there first league game. Rangers had one game in America and were then forced into a shitfred preseason campaign that, when eventually we got to Burnley showed us to be completely useless. We had 6 games before our first league game against the likes of Stranrar, Annan and East Stirling. Compare that to Celtic above with another five games being very important champions league qualifiers.

We then look to the start both teams made. Rangers haven't completed there business at this point and neither have Celtic. Celtic have signed significantly less players of high quality which has took there team no time to settle. Rangers have signed a lot of different players from different areas so it will take time for everything to come together.

To Celtic's credit and aid they had a much harder and challenging league campaigne which with there higher volume of quality games allowed them to come through with all the points. The earlier games, especially Hearts although a quality opposition, weren't as impressive as there most recent but there vastly improved preseason and there players being of a high quality has allowed them to start much faster than us and it really showed for me in that performance.

I'm not too worried about the hat or the squad I still feel second is very comfortable for us as a squad although I do feel we will need a little more time to gel and get the whole squad to fitness. I feel because of last season's start people are being a little harsh on how we have started this season with the step up in league and complete overhaul in personnel it will take time for us to gel and become the team you seen last season but as last season has shown we are very capable of doing so it will just take a little more time. We were looking much better against Linfield but Celtic are a million times better and it was just a few weeks to early for us to be competitive. Tough loss but in Warburton I trust.

1.) 13 Sep 2016
13 Sep 2016 12:52:52
Oofft I just thought you were awfull.

2.) 13 Sep 2016
13 Sep 2016 13:26:37
Just want to ask any rangers fan . has crooks actually played for yous yet? Keep reading how crooks would be better suited to midfield how he would slot into defence and control it .

I was just wondering if he had played or what your basing your opinions on?

3.) 13 Sep 2016
13 Sep 2016 13:27:43
Sorry Ross but many of your points are utter nonsense.

Firstly, other than the first 10mins of second half we were dominated. Fact.

MW didn't bring on hill to provide a ready made excuse. He did it because he is tactically inept. Name a single game in his reign where he has tactically outfoxed anyone- you can't because it has never happened.

Danny Wilson may be our best defender but to claim he is second to none at bringing ball out of defence is a ridiculous statement.

Then you say senderos is a stop gap till January- what do you base this on? King has lied about funding the team over and over again, anyone with sense will realise that there is no cash to spend on January.

Then you say crooks - who hasn't kicked a ball for us - would have made a difference. Ridiculous and desperate.

Your preseason point is also nonsense- if the bet Fred cup was such an obstacle then why did we not field our u20 side and allow full side to play meaningless friendlies like Celtic? We chose not forced to.

Then your it will all be ok in time claim because we need to gel. The team is getting worse with each game not better. This is Warburton fault for a quantity over quality transfer approach. All we needed was a striker, defensive mid and a central defender not 11 average or past it players.

Iv seen you be very harsh on other posters who you have attacked and you seem to hold a great deal of importance on your own opinion, even though it's nonsense.

4.) 13 Sep 2016
13 Sep 2016 13:32:53
even if you had another 2 moths to prepare you would still have lost convincingly.

5.) 13 Sep 2016
13 Sep 2016 14:26:52
Delbhoy 1988,
Crooks has played twice for the under 20's in midfield for about an hour each time. I think the clamour for Crooks to play is born out of sheer blind hope and not much more. He is a big lad (6'4") and has played central defence in the past but prefers midfield. He was named in the League Two team of the year and thought to be a real prospect as is only 22.Our other options in central defence are dire full stop (Kiernan, Hill) once OK but now dire (Senderos) and struggling but capable with the right partner (Wilson) . We also have a young lad Bates on loan from Raith who's been in the match day squad for the past few weeks. They are young, untried and it's probably unfair to throw them into the first team but I think a lot of Rangers fans think-can they really be any worse than the alternatives and maybe, just maybe they might turn out to be gems. So probably a lot more than you wanted to know or are interested in but you did ask. So in summary-hope plus a bit of desperation but after the horror show on Saturday can you blame us!

6.) 13 Sep 2016
13 Sep 2016 19:47:57
good points ross. Like you said, we are a decent team at the minute due to lots of games against quality sides although our CL campaign is likely to end in failure because we aren't at that level quite yet. Adjustment does take time, for everyone.

Your players haven't much top level experience in recent years so it will take time for that to happen. Some people think it should be an instant success but it never is. My opinion is that The Hat has done a reasonably good job. He may have been a wee bit deluded at the weekend but overall he seems a decent level manager.

7.) 13 Sep 2016
13 Sep 2016 22:03:05
Needs must!, I'm sure Crooks will be able to cover at CH and to tell the truth we have a lot of option on mid so the big man should be given a go oh and btw 0-7 now fair enough prob not a lot of expectations but that just shows how bad that team is, I mean 0-7.