As usual with FF the usual suspects fail to see the middle ground.
Warburton -
Hit the ground running, with a young, exciting team playing attractive, free flowing football. A style of football I haven’t seen rangers play, probably ever before.
In hindsight, the warning signs about his tactical nous were there from the beginning. Bringing his cronies into it and changing his transfer policy didn’t help matters either. But I will remember that first season fondly because it was an absolute breath of fresh air, coupled with regime change at boardroom level. A far cry from what we were the 3 previous seasons. We were on deaths door.
He refused arrogantly to change and ultimately I think his real station should be as a first team coach rather than a manager. And of course he totally ratted us alongside Davie but hope I one day see past what DW did because I loved him as a player.
As others have said, the first transfer window was a roaring success. Holt for 65k, Wilson for free, Foderingham for free, Tav and Waghorn for 200k combined. Halliday free. All decent players and all are/were capable of being true rangers squad players at the very least. The last good signing he made was Windass for 60k who has serious potential too. The latter two transfer windows were an absolute shambles due to his changed policy and McParland
Pedro -
Someone I’d rather forget to be honest. Got lucky with a few signings, didn’t really seem to implement much of a style of football and had some horrendous results as manager. Those who get pass marks for me are Candeias, Morelos, Jack, Dorrans and Alves. Cardoso still in with a shout. However, the signing of Dalcio, Nemane, Herrera and Pena have been disastrous and costly.
Reasons for Optimism -
The cream of the crop from both these managers transfer dealings, as well as Murtys signings, along with a bit of our own youth, has lead to what I see as the first ‘Rangers team’ we have had since Admin. Many of these players have been put through the ringer and many leaders are emerging in that team, as well as boys with plenty of talent.
I truly believe we are now at a point where this team is worthy of being named a rangers team. We’ve got good people in charge, fan ownership stronger than ever, the club is making improvements all over and on the pitch and we look likely to be in a title challenge for the foreseeable seasons should we build on this platform.
Three years ago I think was the lowest ebb for most of us as Rangers supporters. The vultures were circling and our club was being deliberately ran into the ground by shysters, and we looked doomed in the championship with a managerial crisis and shit players. Crowds were dwindling due to boycotts and stay aways, Our infrastructure was crumbling and we were haemorrhaging money.
Fast forward to 2018, and we are perhaps about to mount a title challenge in the premier league against Celtic after a long and painful absence. Our Youth programme is perhaps the best it has ever been, and is definitely the best in Scotland as it stands, competing with the likes of Bayern Munich and Man Utd. Ibrox and it’s surroundings are being upgraded continually and gradually. Auchenhowie is being upgraded continually and gradually. Our club is being run well by rangers men at the helm (they aren’t perfect, not by any means) and the club is in a far better place financially. And last of all the fans are as loyal as ever and we now hold an extremely significant stake in our club, something that seemed a pipe dream a matter of years ago.
We are a club continually on the up. If you look at the big picture and what Kingco said three years ago, we knew there would be bumps in the road. Rebuilding a club of our size to the magnitude and respect it demanded 7 years ago was never going to be easy after all that happened. It’s only a matter of time until 55 and I truly believe that day will rival any in our proud history.
Please look at the bigger picture folks.