posted Feb 14, 2008

If you look at the chances we had then there is one easy solution.... Kris Boyd. How often does he put chances like that away? then we have player who want to leave playing.

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posted Feb 14, 2008

Boyd wouldn't have had the touch or made the runs to get into those positions, but he certainly would have mad more of finishing it off. I never understand why he sticks with Charlie Adam, his distribution and crossing is dreadful, the number of times he gave away simple passes was ridiculous and he doesn't exactly offer a magic creative spark on the wing either.

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posted Feb 14, 2008

Im not a fan of Adam either, but i think Smith sticks with him because he has a bit of European experience and can supposedly deliver a free kick and corner, although his delivery last night was way below par.

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posted Feb 14, 2008

Whilst Smith has sorted out our defence making us a threat domestically his european record since returning is awful. Not taking into account the freak Lyon game look at his results. Last season = one good performance at home against a rubbish tel aviv side (drawing the away game), drawing at home to Osasuna (last minute equaliser) and losing away.
This season = Seeing off a terrible Zeta side then beating Red Star one nil on aggregate (thanks to another last minute goal). In the champions league beating stutgart thanks to a penalty. Then Two goals scored (in a game we lost) and eight goals conceded in our last four games. What possible reason does he think that his 4-1-4-1 formation is succesfull, other than we are still in the lesser cup by the skin of our teath. We need more than one creative player in the team cause unless Barry has a great game we have no threat. Also the quality we have beat is poor as Red star finished bottom of their UEFA group. Come on Walter, grow some balls and give the players an oppurtunity to show what they can do.

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posted Feb 14, 2008

I think its a joke that walter smith plays one up front on a home european game .. now we will have to play 2 in greece and get caught on the break .. why play one up front against panathanikos ? when we are the superior team

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posted Feb 14, 2008

Why do people insist in chnting for Boyd. What basis does anyone have for believing that he would have been able to get in any of the positions Novo did last night?
By the way what do people think of the crowd response to Cousin last night?

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posted Feb 14, 2008

I thought last night Papac was doing wonders on the left but no 1 seemed to give him the return passes to mount up a cross, when adam got into the box he could've laid it nicely for McCulloch or Novo yet him being greedy cost us atleast 1 goal, i thought most of the players where class tonight, Papac, Novo, Davis, Cueller and Ferguson all had decent games, as for Cousin, you must be joking he can't get another run out did anyone see him at the start of the game on the bench? or how he was trying to pass on other strikers even though he was a single striker? i mean come on he did more in midfield, and that bloody pass he could have laid nicely for Davis yet he passed it to the left wing, to a Pana player, Walter is our man but honestly this cousin business is driving me up the wall he must surely know that hes messing us about you could see it on half our players faces they where unhappy with him, hes a black sheep keep him out for good even if he doesn't get his transfer.

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posted Feb 14, 2008

Not so bad a performance over all but a terrible result. Bad enough to see the Gers out on the away leg unless we get some away luck. Clean sheets at home are okay but no where near good enough. A single home goal could have at least ensured that Pana would be forced to come at us in the away leg and that could give us the chance to het in at them on the counter.
Got to agree that 4-1-4-1 as a formation in front of the home fans was and is a poor choice. Away with a lead then perfect. Shut the opposition out and progress. Sounds fair.
Back to front performance in my opinion:
McGregor:
Almost egg on face with the cross that he selected to punch back to the opposition for a strike when it was originally going nowhere. Fortunate he managed to get back up and block the return strike. Other than that a very quiet night thanks to quality defending from the CB’s.
Papac:
I know he is not a natural left back but maybe Walter and the coaching staff can work on that and get him believing in himself in that position. He was far superior down that side than Adam. His crosses were more efficient and his determination to get forward far out shone Adam. He has a great left foot and I just think that if he was given more direct training and instilled with more belief he would do really well in that position. He is fast, direct and not scared of a challenge. Come on Sasa, here is one Gers fan that believes you could do really well in that role.
Weir:
Big Davy was as efficient as ever and I find it very hard to discredit the man. Has to be though, as there are a number of players able to play his position but no knocking the man.

Cuellar:
Again no complaints about Carlos. A big limp wristed brick wall that really knows what the fans expect and want to see. He and Davy were the reason Pana were only getting shots from 20+ yards and that is a good thing even though shots from that distance have been known to go in on occasion.

Broadfoot:
Decent performance from Kirk. Could have gotten forward a little farther on a lot of occasions. Seemed to stop his runs either as soon as the ball arrived at his feet or the second he saw the opposition coming to close him down. Could maybe try knocking it forward a bit and trying to outpace the opposition then he could get a cross in from a better position rather than from the half way line up to the oppositions box. No Hutton but maybe with some more belief he could get there. Whitaker still the better option at the moment for that position though it is close.

Hemdani:
A rare occasion when Brahim makes a mistake and again last night was no different I can think of very few if any occasions where his passes were poor or he was dispossessed easily. He seems to be heading for the door in my opinion and I doubt I would blame him if he did. I know Ferguson shall be glad to see him go. Typical Barry disliking any player that does not cow tie to him. I can remember maybe twice when Fergie passed to Brahim and that is starting to become the usual. It is as though Barry is scared to be shown up by a far superior player. On the occasion when the pass does happen Barry expect the ball straight back so he can run back down field with it, as per usual. Enough said but I shall be sad to see Brahim leave just because of Fergie.

Adam:
Oh dear what a shame. What has happened to Charlie? Last season he started to take shape as a valuable resource to the team and now he seems to have resorted to reserve levels of performance. He looked shaky and lacked any real conviction and ideas. His deliveries were very poor and his possession was negligible at best. Maybe it is time for him to take a good look at his performances and decide where his convictions lie. Needs to do a hell of a lot better to get any real respect as a Rangers player.

Davis:
Credit to the lad. Lacking match action and a lot of respect for his endeavours in his first game in the light blue. The lad has got potential and desire. A little lacking in some places though over all he really went for it. Got around a fair bit as is required from your midfield. Tried the crosses where available and even tried a shot or two. Maybe on a better day and with a little more match action under his belt I would say he looks a creditable player. Lucky to walk away with no yellow for that high tackle outside the box all down to very good Italian refereeing.

(I am Rangers) Ferguson:
I always give Barry the benefit of the doubt but have been to often proven to be hoping for to much. I feel if we get 20 mins of Barry at his best then we should not hope for more. To often he seems to have no idea whether he is a defensive midfielder, attacking or even just supporting. Is he the striker or maybe one day he could try goal keeping then we would not need to put 11 men on the field we could just put in Barry. After all he is Rangers and there is no better player in his mind. Okay when he is on form I have a lot of respect for the man but to often all he does is take the ball from other players feet, run around in a couple of circles whilst he decides which non foreign player is in the best position and then passes it back to the defenders so he can have a wee rant at every one else. Some times this is the best choice but not always. Just get on with it Fergie, either get up front and make yourself available or get in defence and do the job but please stop trying to be the ultimate all rounder. Could think of one or two I would rather try in his place for a game or two. No knocking his attempt from the edge of the box through the crowd though. Damn good Pana keeper.

Novo:
I like wee Nacho, I just wish he would accept the right winger position rather than a strikers role. I know he is listed as a striker but I shall always respect the way he could get down the wing to the by-line and whip in an evil cross. However last night that was gone and he just wanted to get into the box. Glad he did or we would have had no-one there on most occasions. He had some great chances and maybe he should have gone down in the box for a definite penalty but he chose to continue and I can’t knock him for it. He was unlucky on a few occasions and made the wrong choice on others but all credit he gave it his all even though there was a lack of real class.

McCulloch:
Big Lee tried for the first quarter but no luck. His positional perceptions of his supporting players was a mile of the mark. To often flick on's were in the wrong direction. Needed a second striker along side last night. I do agree with comments stating the fact that he should have been out on the left last night and unfortunately when he did get moved to that position he was knackered and just did not have the energy to make an impact.

SUBS:
Cousin:
Got to be hard for Daniel. No match action for several weeks and no idea whether he shall be on his way to Fulham. Must be hard for Big Walter also. No idea whether he shall be our man till summer and in truth Cousin seems to have made it quite clear that he would rather be away. One good touch and one real shocker was his only contribution. Hope this can all be resolved as soon as so he can either get his head down and show his worth or get lost.

Burke:
Flat to start then found his footing but no real impact on the game. Another player like Adam that seems to under perform when needed the most. We know he has got the ability maybe he wants away as well. Probably of to America to be with all his family over there and to play easier footie. Come on Burke, big money now so start earning it.

So I have had my say and now all that remains is to wave goodbye to Europe for another season. Pana are not that good a team from middle to front but at the back they did impress though if there had been 2 strikers at them I feel we would have found a way through. To easy for them to keep big Lee closed down but easily troubled by Novo when he came forward to provide another option. Was disappointed we did not change to 4-4-2 at half time we were the better team and they were no real threat Still there was no knocking their keeper, he was fast and used his brain well. Not a case of bad luck on our behalf for the majority of the attempts just damn good keeping.

Still think Walter should make better use of his big squad. To often we just keep with the same under achievers when maybe a change of players would motivate the starters back to top form and ambition. So come on Walter shake them up and get them moving forward with a little more determination.

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posted Feb 14, 2008

I thought we maybe should have got a lead heading to panathinaikos next week. We need to be a bit more adventerous at home, although having said that i am happy not to have conceided an away goal last night. However, i do feel this way of playing in europe suits us better away than it does at home. Our last 3 european home games, we have not scored a goal, but in our last 3 european away games we have scored 5 goals, so i do feel we have a chance. But, i said when we rangers drew panathinaikos that over the 2 legs i thought panathinaikos would go throught and i stick by that.
We will see what happens though
We are the people!

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posted Feb 15, 2008

We saw last nite, aberdeen will go and play 2 up front against bayern munich at home and yet walter smith will only play 1 up front at ibrox.

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