If we’ve ‘fixed’ Wright, can the same be done for Sakala?

melonhead

melonhead

Well-Known Member
Early days obviously, but it seems that Wright is turning a corner, and the assumption is that this is due to effective coaching. Given Sakala suffers from many of the issues Wright did (poor first touch, no final product), is there a redemption arc for Sakala? Like Wright, he clearly has the pace; can he be developed in areas relating to touch etc?
 
Have we fixed wright? I think he’s had a couple of very decent showings, it’s probably more about confidence than anything. If there’s one thing I’d love Makaay to do though it’s teach Sakala how to lift his head, take a deep breath and pick his spot, as opposed to just lashing the ball at goal as hard as he can.
 
RFC_Champions said:
Wright’s a squad player for when we get fücked with injuries. So is sakala.

We need new players who’ll come straight into the first 11.
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Don’t disagree with that, but I’d like Sakala to be a more effective squad player - hence the question.
 
Sakala rarely actually resolves the tactical purpose he is put on the park to serve.

He has been frankly awful as the forward used to help us break on the counter, he doesn't link and bring others into the game well when playing up front, he isn't logical in his play when playing as a winger either IMO.

I would like us to sign forward and wide options who would be used before him.

Wright has a slightly better upside in that he meets home grown criteria
 
RFC_Champions said:
Wright’s a squad player for when we get fücked with injuries. So is sakala.

We need new players who’ll come straight into the first 11.
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This is really important - last summer seemed to be all about filing the squad for whatever reason.

We need one or two centre halves, potentially a leftback (depending on how we see Bassey developing), another striker who is more Morelos-like, potentially replacements for Kent and/or Aribo so both the wider forward roles.

Bringing squad players in would be disasterous.

Wright is a useful player but I can’t see him being an out & out first pick.
 
Sakala is ok against a lot of the run of the mill SPFL teams but has looked slightly lost when coming on against quality. I don't think he's suited to playing on the right either in fairness.

Wright seems to be improving which is great. Because he's Scottish and we have the homegrown rule he's worth having in the squad. However, I hope he goes back to being a backup / fringe player and we bring in starters to replace them both.
 
No, neither are going to fundamentally change as players. Both can contribute and can have spells of good form, but you aren’t going to suddenly change their strengths and weaknesses.

We’ve had this countless times before where, for example, people thought Kent had fixed his finishing because he was on decent form at the time, only to discover later that no, he is still largely the same type of player and finishing is still a weakness.
 
If he can clear his head, and learn to look up and pause momentarily he will become a top player, but that is often one of the things that distinguishes between the greats and the good. A full preseason and coaching will answer the question, but I don’t see why not.
 
Pirlo said:
Have we fixed wright? I think he’s had a couple of very decent showings, it’s probably more about confidence than anything. If there’s one thing I’d love Makaay to do though it’s teach Sakala how to lift his head, take a deep breath and pick his spot, as opposed to just lashing the ball at goal as hard as he can.
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I just came on to post that we need Sakala to lift his head, to see what is going on around him before shooting or selecting a pass.

He has pace to burn, is a decent finisher and for his size reasonably good in the air so there is a good base for our coaching staff to work on. I genuinely believe there is a more than decent footballer in there, we just need to knock it into shape.
 
I think you can see elements of Sakala's game are improving already. He's very harshly judged among our fans, in my opinion. His games are often appearances from the bench where he'll come on in one position, then be moved around once or twice in the short time he has on the park - it's no surprise consistency doesn't follow in that case.

But he'll be a very effective member of the squad, as he was this season, for a good while yet.
 
Absolutely. Almost every player we sign is with a view to develop them and hopefully sell for a healthy profit, I'd imagine Sakala is the same in this regard. He's certainly going to need a hell of a lot of coaching and training though
 
strider said:
I think you can see elements of Sakala's game are improving already. He's very harshly judged among our fans, in my opinion. His games are often appearances from the bench where he'll come on in one position, then be moved around once or twice in the short time he has on the park - it's no surprise consistency doesn't follow in that case.

But he'll be a very effective member of the squad, as he was this season, for a good while yet.
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What player doesn't move position TBF?

It is a massive part of football being able to move and play in other areas of the park.
 
Still not sure about Sakala but I really liked what we saw from Wright over the last wee spell of the season there. Next season is big for him.
 
Sakala has a first touch like an electric shock. He has decent attributes as a goal scorer, but his overall game needs massive improvement. He just isn't a complete enough player to survive in the modern game, especially in the way Gio wants us to play.
 
TheMish said:
What player doesn't move position TBF?

It is a massive part of football being able to get and move and play in other areas of the park.
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It is, but most players don't have to do it as often as he does inside a 20 or 30 minute substitute appearance.

Expecting him to be consistently good in these circumstances is unfair, is my point.

But I do believe we're seeing improvements. Even on Saturday, within 2 minutes of coming on he'd drawn the foul that led to Halkett being booked then had a decent chance to score on the counter. He was playing on the shoulder really well and making the sort of runs we often criticised him for not making earlier in the season.

I truly don't understand the stick so many of our fans give him, given his return, workrate and attitude.
 
Sakala seems a great character but his finishing can be poor at times and often hits right at the keeper making his shots easy to save. I’d rather see someone with more intelligence in his play and a better finisher for sure. Easy to say but harder to find and afford
 
I think there is a player in Sakala.Considering he hasn’t actually started many games his goal return is good and he causes problems for a lot of teams when he does come on i thought he was good vs the mhanks in the last game hopefully he can kick on next season.
 
I’m not sure Wright is ‘fixed’.

He was always a better player than many gave him credit for on here, but neither is he the sort of quality that we need to take us onto the next level.

Simply put, he’s tended to look out of his depth in Europe, but a much better proposition domestically.

He’s a decent squad player for me.

The same is true of Sakala.

His pace causes a lot of problems, but he’s looked seriously lacking in composure in a striking sense.

We need significantly better quality in that department next season, IMO.
 
High Society said:
We’re a hard bunch to please and far to quick to judge. Wright is improving well and Sakala has a real chance if he develops under Gio
Both are quick, direct and willing to shoot.
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I’m not denying they offer something, but would you be content with Wright and Sakala being first 11 replacements for Kent, Aribo and/or Morelos if they were to be moved on?
 
strider said:
It is, but most players don't have to do it as often as he does inside a 20 or 30 minute substitute appearance.

Expecting him to be consistently good in these circumstances is unfair, is my point.

But I do believe we're seeing improvements. Even on Saturday, within 2 minutes of coming on he'd drawn the foul that led to Halkett being booked then had a decent chance to score on the counter. He was playing on the shoulder really well and making the sort of runs we often criticised him for not making earlier in the season.

I truly don't understand the stick so many of our fans give him, given his return, workrate and attitude.
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I would question that TBH when it comes to those players off the forward, the likes of Kent, Aribo and Hagi when doing that are constantly rotating and moving around the park and having to go and do their work in other areas they aren't just stuck in one place, same with for instance Lundstram it is CB, CDM, 8, RB, LB cover

His chance at the weekend was to me, evidence he isn't improving rather than is, he was turgid with time at the start of the season, and still is now.

I think the stick/critique he gets is because, work rate and attitude are a bit meh, he seems sound, no doubt about that, but in reality it means little.
 
It is almost like people do not understand that coaching exists and that players can work on things. We have not 'fixed' Scott Wright, we have trained him to be better at some aspects of his game. It is exactly the reason footballers have coaches. Players, on the whole, improve with better coaching.
 
melonhead said:
Early days obviously, but it seems that Wright is turning a corner, and the assumption is that this is due to effective coaching. Given Sakala suffers from many of the issues Wright did (poor first touch, no final product), is there a redemption arc for Sakala? Like Wright, he clearly has the pace; can he be developed in areas relating to touch etc?
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When I see a ball fired into Scott Wright with pace whilst he is being tightly marked and he kills the ball dead or takes a ball retaining first touch, only then will I accept that he has been fixed.

Meanwhile, I will concede the lad has improved massively.
 
Rangers dont and never will have many world class players in the team. We need players like Wright who has excellent pace and will give all for us and is prepared to play anywhere on the park when asked. AS for Sakala as mentioned coaching is needed in order that we can get the best out of him but he also has pace and confidence.
Our coaches may have been good players but the number of chances that go flying over the bar because we dont get our head over the ball if high and could it be possible that maybe our coaching has some failings in certain areas of play.
 
RFC_Champions said:
I’m not denying they offer something, but would you be content with Wright and Sakala being first 11 replacements for Kent, Aribo and/or Morelos if they were to be moved on?
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No. Obviously. In an ideal world you replace your players with better players and the starters become the back-ups. In our situation if we sell the starters, the back-ups fill in until the new starters are good to go. The only deviation from that will be if we have young back-ups ready to step up.
 
Jury is still out on Wright. Big time.

He is far from fixed.

In all honesty if he was to be moved on in the summer I wouldn't bat an eyelid.
 
We're in trouble if we are relying on either heavily next season.

Wright has proven to be a decent squad option and I'll be delighted if continues to improve. Sakala is just wild.
 
melonhead said:
Early days obviously, but it seems that Wright is turning a corner, and the assumption is that this is due to effective coaching. Given Sakala suffers from many of the issues Wright did (poor first touch, no final product), is there a redemption arc for Sakala? Like Wright, he clearly has the pace; can he be developed in areas relating to touch etc?
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Redemption ark , FFS :D.
 
I see both as squad players, if the manger thinks the same then I would seriously consider if we have any of our own young talent that could do the same job
 
Wright has more technically ability though. He has more natural guile against a park the bus type defence. Sakala has always just ran at full pace. Works fine in counter attacking situations. Not sure he will change
 
Maida Vale Bear said:
It's another one of these pointless ones mate. He doesn't need fixed and neither did Scott Wright, the fella has turned up in some big games and I've felt he has ended the season better than he started it. He played the part in a squad that got us to the EL Final. We just love a whipping boy.
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Yes and there are loads ofothers you could add to that list who are now key members of the team.
As far as Sakala is concerned sometimes he lashes a few shots at goal when he has better options but considering his size he rarely gets out muscled is good in the air and and gets passed a player.
I am sure Roy Makaay will be working on his finishing.
 
Wright clearly has a good football brain in terms of how we play. He just needs to show it more often and be smarter still with his decision making.

Sakala is raw as can be. He has pace and there’s clearly talent with the types of goals he has scored. But he really is brainless. Sometimes he looks lazy in not making the runs. He overruns the ball too often. He can’t play with his back to goal (not necessarily a criticism of him), but that means he has to make the right moves if we are to play the ball ahead of him.
 
I really don’t know what peoples expectations are of Wright and Sakala, or squad players in general.

In the case of Sakala, any bit part player scoring 10+ goals a season and is content with their role in the squad is well worth keeping about.

Wright was unfairly made the whipping boy when the entire team weren’t performing. He has plenty of attributes that could potentially mould a very good player.

Neither Wright or Sakala cost a dime and will pick up a relative pittance compared to the big hitters in the squad. They’ll certainly do for me.
 
melonhead said:
Early days obviously, but it seems that Wright is turning a corner, and the assumption is that this is due to effective coaching. Given Sakala suffers from many of the issues Wright did (poor first touch, no final product), is there a redemption arc for Sakala? Like Wright, he clearly has the pace; can he be developed in areas relating to touch etc?
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Fashion Sakala isn't broken and Scott Wright isn't 'fixed'
 
I think both are decent squad players and bring something different when we’re up against it! Even without buying any new players, we have a good solid spine in the team and excellent choices coming off the bench. Even before we add a single player we could have:

McGregor, Tav, Souttar, Bassey, Borna,
Jack, Hagi, Lundstram
Wright Alfie Kent

Subs: McCrorie, Helander, Arfield, King, Lowry, McCann, Sakala, Roofe

And that’s assuming Kamara and Aribo go, with Davis, McGreggor and Goldson all leaving!
 
Calcio said:
Wright still has a long way to go.

He has however proven himself to be a useful squad member, nothing more.
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Wright has a long way to go but he has done very well so far. From being a young guy getting treated like shit by McInnes, not allowed on loan and not getting game time, he has improved immensley and adapted well at Rangers so far.

Given he is a dedicated, hard working and teetotal athlete, he has a fighting chance of improving further and being better than a useful squad member. Time will tell.
 
We haven't fixed Wright, he has shown some signs of improvement but not what we need starting wide right.

Fine for the squad in the spfl but we need some real quality starting 11 players coming in.
 
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