“The Gap” - Thoughts on where we are early days

Blue Tack

Blue Tack

Well-Known Member
The first home game of the SPFL for us hasn’t even begun yet and already we have had a start to the season that I don’t think many envisaged ,steady and assured in Europe with flashes of brilliance and in the league we have been robbed of all 3 pts (proven by red card downgraded) .

The gap was as wide as the Grand Canyon and to be fair it probably was ,im talking of course about the gap to the filth,we were told yes TOLD it was too wide ,it’ll take years ,and even auld Kheevins said “As long as Brendan Rodgers is there then Rangers will always be in celtics shadow” ,bless the old codger .

I look now and i see the gap closing rapidly with every passing week ,I’m not just talking points wise I’m talking football wise and yes points and winning games are the proving ground ,it’s all for nothing if it’s not reflected in a league challenge .

However this gap they spoke about is disappearing ,what with all that toxicity at the piggery it looks like a bad place to be ,don’t be surprised if Hearts get a result tomorrow ,albeit it may only be a draw however that would send shockwaves through them and heap doubt and destabilise them massively before their game v AEK,if they go out of qualifying for UCL well that gap will diminish even more rapidly ,never in my wildest dreams would I have thought we’d be where we are football wise and I also never seen the filth implode internally .

We are about to close the gap ,the gap was part of the banter years ,that’s all gone as well ,all of a sudden it’s gotten very serious and we are more than tooled up for a massive scrap .
 
I went into this season hoping for improvement and getting a solid second and being more competitive, now I believe we are closing the gap rapidly and really fancy us to take them all the way.
 
I think if you view the defences and midfields there is little between them
I think the difference is in the front 3
We need 1 quality player up front and by using the Windass money and Declan John money along with another £3m we might be able to get one.
I’d like to see a player with pace and final ball signed someone in the Lovenkrands mold
 
alex wright said:
We don't have enough quality up top to win the league this season IMO, we also don't know how our squad will hold up to a whole season of hard press.

We are miles ahead of where I thought we'd be though.
Click to expand...
The window isn't closed yet, we scored more than any other team last year and we no longer have a defence that will concede tonnes of goals.
 
I've got 40 on Rangers to win the league at 9/1, if we play like the second half of Thursday night on a reasonably consistent basis I'll hopefully get minimum a run for my money, incidentally Septic are 1/10 which in my opinion is unrealistic considering how we've started the season and how they have, Rodgers in the papers threatening to quit and Rangers riding the crest of a wave but time will tell.
 
I remember feeling really confident going into the game against them about six months ago.We got pumped against 10 men.
Signs are good but I don't want to get my hopes up until we play them again.
If we are still close to them in points (or ahead) by then I will fancy our chances
 
Super A said:
ah Essex...
Im spending time in Halsted where can I watch the Gers midweek?
Click to expand...
You're not too far from Colchester and I think there is a supporters club in Colchester, it may be a bit closer to Ipswich though. Either that or the Britannia loyal in Southend. Both Ipswich and Southend are about 40mins drive from halsted unfortunately.
 
Based on current opinion.

If you break each team down to three areas, we are better defensively, they are better offensively and in the middle, probably on a par.

They have better strength in depth. Without question

BUT

A team lives and dies by their manager and the ability to pull the team together.

We won’t be far away imo
 
EssexLoyal said:
You're not too far from Colchester and I think there is a supporters club in Colchester, it may be a bit closer to Ipswich though. Either that or the Britannia loyal in Southend. Both Ipswich and Southend are about 40mins drive from halsted unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Ipswich loyal is the nearest to you, 30miles.
 
Been hear with Warburton and again with Pedro.
I get the feeling this is the real deal but the previous false dawns means we must be cautious. As stated previously lets hold fire until after the first scum showdown.
 
The winter break will be the time to see if we are back in the race, I still believe that Celtic will respond in some way. What's vital for us is the head to heads with them, the 12 point gap last year was basically winning our games at Ibrox against them, turn those two defeats into wins and we're there. We've strengthened in every department now, especially the defence which I'd say is better than theirs, one quality midfielder in and I'd say we were on a par with theirs but they have better attacking options while ours are so far unproven on the whole.

One thing for certain though is that we are on the ascend while they are clearly declining.
 
The thing about this Rangers side under Gerrard is their pressing game, it works only if the fitness is there...it is there. Hearts gubbed Brendas mob 4-0 using that tactic, that Hearts team showed how it can be done even without the super fitness required.

I'm quietly confident of us going to their cesspit in September and putting them in their place.
 
We’re starting to get ahead of ourselves again, a lesson I feel the fans never quite learn.

The best gauge of how much it’s closed will be how we do when we play them.
 
Last edited:
Blue Tack said:
The first home game of the SPFL for us hasn’t even begun yet and already we have had a start to the season that I don’t think many envisaged ,steady and assured in Europe with flashes of brilliance and in the league we have been robbed of all 3 pts (proven by red card downgraded) .

The gap was as wide as the Grand Canyon and to be fair it probably was ,im talking of course about the gap to the filth,we were told yes TOLD it was too wide ,it’ll take years ,and even auld Kheevins said “As long as Brendan Rodgers is there then Rangers will always be in celtics shadow” ,bless the old codger .

I look now and i see the gap closing rapidly with every passing week ,I’m not just talking points wise I’m talking football wise and yes points and winning games are the proving ground ,it’s all for nothing if it’s not reflected in a league challenge .

However this gap they spoke about is disappearing ,what with all that toxicity at the piggery it looks like a bad place to be ,don’t be surprised if Hearts get a result tomorrow ,albeit it may only be a draw however that would send shockwaves through them and heap doubt and destabilise them massively before their game v AEK,if they go out of qualifying for UCL well that gap will diminish even more rapidly ,never in my wildest dreams would I have thought we’d be where we are football wise and I also never seen the filth implode internally .

We are about to close the gap ,the gap was part of the banter years ,that’s all gone as well ,all of a sudden it’s gotten very serious and we are more than tooled up for a massive scrap .
Click to expand...
That’s a decent post mate, summary is largely accurate.

For me, it’s much closer than it should / could be. We are realistically almost £100m behind over the last few years of lost revunue, yet no where near that margin where it matters, on the park.

Everything we lacked last year appears to be back, heart, physicality and not least, genuine footballing talent.

I feel I’ll repeat myself regularly over the early stages of the season, but my belief, this may not be THE league winning campaign. But, and it a big but, we’re fecking close, and closer than we should ever have been allowed.

P.s. if it adds any validly to this, my post right now is brought to you from the Grand Canyon, and I can see the papers within touching distance
 
It matters what we do, but others clubs in the SPFL can't roll over against them as they always do for us to really make it a title race this season. Aberdeen against us on Sunday won't be repeated when they play the Peasants.
 
as the manager has stated...it's all about the next game

let's just savour our form and not get carried away
 
Let’s see where we are after the first round of league fixtures. That will give us an indication.

The defence & midfield has improved. The overall shape of the team is more solid.

I’m still not convinced we have the quality or depth in attacking options. But I hope I’m wrong, or that we’ll bring someone in.

And as others have said it’s 1 thing to win games early on, but we have to mount a consistent challenge over 10 long months.
 
on this forum last season under PC many said that the filth would get beat and that they would be 'shiting it' to face us

one game at a time ffs
 
Too many false dawns to get mental this early but I must say it’s the first time I’m feeling this might go beyond an Indian summer. I never thought we would challenge for the league this year, but ask me at the end of October as for the first time we’ve been back I’m not as sure now. And for record I never thought MW we would when he kept Kiernan after the SC shambles or Pedro after our first European game. This is definitely a sea change , how quick remains in the results.
 
It has been said by myself and many other posters on here that we can only think of making a challenge after we stop dropping points against the smaller (no offence) teams and start making the four old firm games more meaningful, in terms of ultimate league position.

I really think we are there now. I believe we will drop very few points against the weaker teams, especially at Ibrox, where our recent record has been particularly poor.

The challenge will definitely be stronger, but how will the four games against them go? Last year’s performances may suggest that we have a bit more work to do. However, if present form is continued we will enter those games with confidence sky high.

More significantly, we don’t know how they will react when under pressure. After all, they have had a free run for the past six years.*


[*The above post assumes that impartial refereeing will be experienced in Rangers games now that Rangers alone have ensured that the Scottish game has attracted worldwide media attention.]
 
Like most have said its early days but I think we need a creative mid and a goal scorer and we can match them-or at least it will be damn close.

Again, I agree that i feel we are closer now than i expected at this point
 
Would have preferred be first OF game at home.

That said, Gerrard and the football dept have performed better than I was expecting this far, long may it continue.

We need a striker still and we do need to replace Windass. Biggest change though is mentality, Gerrard looks to have turned the squad 180, any sort of result at Parkhead and we could really take off.
 
Recoba's Miracle said:
Remember Hartson said it would take 70 million to close the gap so we are nowhere near to closing it:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Hartson’s predictions usually lead to fond memories for us and it looks like his 70mil one will be no different.

My favourite is when he wrote the article where he went through each player in our squad with a synopsis of why we wouldn’t win the league...
 
We need to judge where we are after first round of the league is past .
Let’s just savour every game as it comes and pray we continue to grow in confidence each game .
 
There were criticisms on here last Sunday after the draw... and there will be again. People swing from one extreme to the next.

The signs are very encouraging, though I think talk of Celtic's demise is rather premature. Wouldn't be a surprise to see them win tomorrow and sneak through during the week. We need to concentrate on ourselves.
 
Let’s take it one game at a time.

If your asking where we are weak.

Quality central defence cover
Maybe a playmaker esp with Rossiter and Dorrans fitness issues.
Our options up wide don’t score
We rely too heavily on Morelos, so need another striker.

I think though that SG knows this.
 
The only difference for me is they have two quality strikers but we have a much stronger back line now that will hopefully deal with that better. midfield will be interesting with our energy and high pressing style, brown wont like that one bit, i think he'll struggle against us just like he did in their cl group games when they meet decent opposition.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Latest posts

Back
Top