Footie season 2019/2020

[rmcin626]

Poor scrappy first half, should have taken a couple of chances though.

[struth]

Poor scrappy first half, should have taken a couple of chances though.

See they got beat. Typical I have to say. Too many players think they are "good"

[Marco]

I thought that Rangers would've sneaked it over the 90+ mins, bit it wasn't to be. TBH, this result has been on the cards since Rangers came back from the winter break, which is something that they don't seem to enjoy. Last season 3 points were dropped at Kilmarnock, this time it's Hearts...

It's all very well scraping wins and getting the three points, as has happened recently, but when nothing is changing in the team in order to improve performances, then eventually you run out of steam and/or ideas, and the poor performances resulting in lucky wins start turning into draws or defeats. And for me, that's what's happened to Rangers since the break: too many players look stale/jaded, and combined with them missing key players such as Morelos, and even more importantly, Tavernier, that has contributed to the current malaise.

It's also obvious that the quality of back-up players Rangers have in most positions, aren't up to the same standards as those from Celtic, and if that isn't addressed by the end of this transfer window, I think it's what will ultimately lose Rangers the title. Celtic haven't been particularly great either since coming back from the break, but even with injuries to key players, those that come in don't really weaken the team, and so we've still had enough to win both league matches comfortably - and unlike Rangers, we have a number of creative players able to break down tight defences, home or away.

So Rangers dropping three points today has effectively nullified us losing at Celtic Park, and it now means that every game Rangers play is a 'must win', because if they were to lose again and the gap became 8 points, even with Rangers having a game in hand, I don't think they'd come back from that... *But* Celtic also need to keep on winning and, crucially fielding their strongest starting 11 in each position, rather than Lennon simply playing a lot of his favourites!

The respective results from the upcoming run of home and away games, for both sides of the old firm, I feel will be pivotal, in terms of where the title will go. In that respect, with Rangers having their next few games at home, they *must* take full points from them and hope that they can get Tavernier back, ASAP, as he's such a vital player for Rangers, and also get more from some of their key midfield players who, as Grant says, perhaps think they're a bit better than they actually are, and can simply stroll through games.

Well done though to Hearts. I was pleased for their manager, as I like how he's trying to get them to play, and with most of their big guns back and new signings looking good, I think they'll get more good results now and start rapidly climbing the table.

Marco.

[Marco]

No further thoughts - Grant or Robin?

Marco.

[Alex_UK]

Spoiler alert on the Liverpool game, hit the back button quick if you don’t want to know the result!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Well done to Shrewsbury - will be a great occasion for them to go to Anfield for the replay.

[rmcin626]

No further thoughts - Grant or Robin?

Marco.

Yeah we were shite, and I think several players were well below acceptable levels.

[Marco]

A man of few words, as usual, lol! I like to drill down into the details, whether my team wins or loses

What I don't get is the halfhearted attempt by the Rangers board to stop us winning 9-in-a-row, and their lack of activity in the January transfer market. They either go all out and back Gerrard 100% with all the money they can, or simply resign themselves to having an inferior squad of players, and give us the upper hand.

Not much point, IMO, in refusing to sell Morelos because he's too vital to their title challenge, but then ignoring other areas of the team that need strengthening...

Marco.

[Marco]

Spoiler alert on the Liverpool game, hit the back button quick if you don’t want to know the result!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Well done to Shrewsbury - will be a great occasion for them to go to Anfield for the replay.

Lol - well done, indeed. Always good to see the wee teams giving the big ones a shock in the cup! I'd expect Liverpool though to finish the job at Anfield, but they may also decide that as the league is their priority, they'd be better off without contending with cup games, but knowing how much of a winner Klopp is, I doubt it

Pleased also to see Norwich won yesterday at Burnley

Marco.

[rmcin626]

A man of few words, as usual, lol! I like to drill down into the details, whether my team wins or loses

What I don't get is the halfhearted attempt by the Rangers board to stop us winning 9-in-a-row, and their lack of activity in the transfer market. They either go all out and back Gerrard 100% with all the money they cam, or simply resign themselves to having an inferior squad of players, and give us the upper hand.

Not much point, IMO, in refusing to sell Morelos because he's too vital to their title challenge, but then ignoring other areas of the team that need strengthening...

Marco.

This transfer window has been very disappointing although there are a few still left, I though a few more would have offloaded, we are badly needing a few more in. We have a team that are good enough to beat anyone in the league if they all play well but there were 8/9 having a bad day. Beating Celtic is one thing but that doesn’t win you the league.

[Alex_UK]

Lol - well done, indeed. Always good to see the wee teams giving the big ones a shock in the cup! I'd expect Liverpool though to finish the job at Anfield, but they may also decide that as the league is their priority, they'd be better off without contending with cup games, but knowing how much of a winner Klopp is, I doubt it

Pleased also to see Norwich won yesterday at Burnley

Marco.

Nah, I’d agree, Klop is too competitive, and has a strong enough squad to do both. I’d expect them to win at Anfield too, but you never know. And that’s what makes cup competitions so exciting!

Of course happy to see the Canaries progress to the last 16 - as long as the confidence spills into the Prem. I still think we have enough to survive, but it will be close if we do. Last time we won a cup was League Cup in ‘85, but also got relegated the same season. Hoping history doesn’t repeat itself, although we’ve never won the FA Cup so of course I would want to see us do well there, but Premiership survival would just about trump it in order to help us build. Have to keep reminding myself that the Farke/Webber 5 year plan didn’t expect us to be in the Premier this season so we’ve already exceeded expectations.