Bleeding the youth in cup games?

Badger

Badger

Well-Known Member
If we aren't going to use cup games to bleed the youth then I'm not sure when we can?

I suspect the team won't be changed too much as we try build consistency and I think Gerrard wants a cup too much to not play his best 11.

Patterson, Kelly and King should at the very least get some game time against Livi.
 
I would like to see whatever CB Gerrard thinks is most ready get some game time . Been unconvinced by king abd would like to see if we have a better alternative to cover helander injury when Goldson /balogun arnt playing/can’t play every game
 
Badger said:
If we aren't going to use cup games to bleed the youth then I'm not sure when we can?

I suspect the team won't be changed too much as we try build consistency and I think Gerrard wants a cup too much to not play his best 11.

Patterson, Kelly and King should at the very least get some game time against Livi.
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If we want to win the cup it is full strength all the way. Look at what happened against St Mirren last season.
 
We need to play through this.

a freshen up here and there wouldn’t be bad but not the likes of Leon king etc

Patterson and Kelly more than capable to start/feature
 
There is always, always an excuse not to play youth if you don’t want to.

Takes balls to do it. Easier to pretend Jack Simpson is good enough because is 25.
 
Bassey and Patterson will start for sure. Maybe McCrorie as well but depends if the management would rather give McLaughlin the game time. I’d like to see Kelly start but he’s probably more likely to get 20 minutes if we’re up by a couple of goals.
 
If they are making it hard for the manager to ignore them then yes.

Just for the sake of giving them a game, then no.
 
I don't think king is ready from what I've seen so far.
Would agree with giving the likes of Patterson , Kelly , bassey and even mcrorie some game time though.
 
Bring in Patterson, Bassey, Kelly and Bacuna. Give Kelly and Bacuna a chance to see what they can bring to the first 11. These boys need to get a chance at some point and they can't possibly be worse than what we saw yesterday.
 
OnTheWay said:
Bring in Patterson, Bassey, Kelly and Bacuna. Give Kelly and Bacuna a chance to see what they can bring to the first 11. These boys need to get a chance at some point and they can't possibly be worse than what we saw yesterday.
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Yeah let's lessen our chances of cup success because our very good 66 minutes didn't stretch to 90?
 
I can't see Gerrard risking losing a game by bringing in too many.

I can see Patterson playing ahead of Tav for example and potentially Kelly.
 
SG needs to deliver in the cup competitions, if the youth players were good enough they would have moved others aside. They clearly arent at the required level to do that yet.
You earn a place, arent handed it for the sake of inclusion.
 
We need to win a cup and the youths are getting blooded in the lower league. If they are good enough for first team they will progress to it.
 
Badger said:
Is that just because the team haven't hit form yet or is it best 11 always for you?
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Just like winning silverware mate, it's not some training camp where we give kids a chance. They have training 6 days to grab that chance, there is absolutely nobody from that squad who has burst through and grabbed a shirt. If the kids are the best, then play them but they're not and it's knee jerk to call for kids with a cup semi final at Hampden at stake
 
It's an important cup tie against the team that beat that mob on Sunday. It's not a game we should be taking cheaply.
 
It is a difficult one in that when do you give these other players a chance
Pressure is on to win a cup
Pressure is also on to regain some form with 1st half showing the potential for that coming
But
I think looking forward in general Gerrard needs to get games for as many of those he sees as starting our next 3/4/5 games, by starting them in all of these games to try & get a bit of consistency into our team selection as whilst numerous players didn't have a proper pre season, injuries, suspensions & Covid19 have seen us make too many changes from game to game which for me which hasn't helped in how we have started the season.
Is that tough on other, probablybut tots all about what's best for Rangers & right now that's winning games, but also trying to get some form back & a more settled team will help that being achieved
 
It would be easier to do if we had shown even a hint of form or consistency, however we've shown neither, therefore I expect to see few changes for Wednesday [hopefully Davis rested].
 
I'd play a mix of younger players, squad players and regulars which should still be good enough to see off Livi

McLaughlin

Patterson
Goldson
Balogun
Bassey

Arfield
Lundtstram
Bacuna

Wright
Sakala
Hagi

Ideally off the bench would give some game time to Kelly, Defoe and if we are comfortable, Simpson - I think with Livi being a long ball side Balogun is the better option to start.
 
Livi beat celtic yesterday?
Folk had pitch forks out for the gaffer after St M and St J last year.

I agree we need to get minute's in the squad is essential with our current injury list, but %^*& playing a weakened team in the cup.
 
TheMish said:
If Gerrard wins the league and we pick up a few wins in the Europa very few will actually give a shit if we don't win a Cup, he isn't going to be sacked if he does that rather than "needing" to do it
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Wrong.

And the Manager has himself conceded we need to do this.

His job security isn't an issue.
 
TheMish said:
If Gerrard wins the league and we pick up a few wins in the Europa very few will actually give a shit if we don't win a Cup, he isn't going to be sacked if he does that rather than "needing" to do it
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Obviously the league is priority but I will certainly give a shit if don’t win one of the cups

our domestic cup record is a joke, the treble was thrown away last year that is for sure.
 
The Lone Sniper said:
What would you say if we did that and lost?
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100%, thats the balance Gerrard has not found in the cups!!

These should be the games where they come in, I just don’t see it happening.

All the positives with Gerrard, the lack of opportunities for younger players is certainly a negative.

Time will tell but assuming we lose Goldson, Davis, Arfield, Kent, Kamara etc over the next couple of years, will they be replaced by King, Kelly, Mcpake, Wilson etc (just examples)
 
I think generally we should be using cup to give some youngsters a chance and keep our squad players match sharp. And personally, if that means we end up going out of the cup early as long as we do the business in the league I don't mind.

However, at the moment we've been struggling for consistency and form, might not be a bad idea to just play our best 11. We really need to click into gear soon if we want to do anything in Europe.
 
Bleeding youth at Rangers has always been hard as the expectation is to win every game and 1 bad performance 1 bad decision 1 bad pass means - they wont be seen again for months / ever in some cases.

only the absolute elite break through - Ferguson / Paterson / McGregor for example.

As much as it doesn't matter now - that's where Celtic had a huge advantage when we were down the leagues they could bring in 17-20 year old youth players and give them game time as they had literally no competition so they then had seasoned pros already played 50-100 games in the top league.
 
Badger said:
You've got me questioning if it's the correct term haha
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Blooding rather than bleeding.
I’d love us to make more use of the youngsters and, as noted above, on current form a couple could make a legitimate case for starting places. However, chucking seven or eight because we’re pissed off with the usual starting eleven isn’t likely to do the team or the youngsters any favours.
 
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