Gerrard on Grezda and Barisic

klosrfc said:
Need the duo to toughen up a bit. Don’t wanna see another Ejaria situation
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I think for Barisic it’s physically rather than mentally. The two can’t be compared.

Grezda, I’ll give you that. He seems to be a confidence player. It looks like it’s going to take a bit of getting used to with the pressure of being a Rangers player before he starts kicking on. He looks utterly terrified of making mistakes. He’s not used to our supporters groaning yet when it happens.
 
Uncle Albert said:
Grezda was a Papac recommendation. We took a punt on him.

Gerrard is a rookie manager and will make errors of judgement and I think that's one he probably regrets.
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Surely a good football set up would not allow a 2.5M gamble-a really big fee for us-to be down to what you suggest?
Plus he'd had a really bad injury etc etc.
 
DylanGer said:
To be frank there's a lot of crap posted about our football set up I'm yet to see a player plucked from anywhere that looks like a shrewd piece of scouting that is not directly related to managers or assistant managers.

What is not up for debate is that SG has been able to gel a team quickly but I remain unconvinced that the whole football set up has a strategy beyond the obvious. A dug with a Rangers scarf would have come up with Davis and Defoe for Jan signings....and SG being involved in highlighting the best he's seen elsewhere in Scotland does not a great football set up make.
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I wasn’t really intending to question the overall strategy, whatever that actually is, simply stating that we can’t blow £4m - a comparatively hefty chunk of our resources - on a couple of players that then fail to make the grade and not expect questions to be asked about the intel that went into procuring them.

I think that’s fair enough and I’m pretty sure both Gerrard and Allen would understand and accept it.

Of course, as others have rightly pointed out, if we do win 55, it’s probably academic anyway.
 
I think Grezda may prove to be a very good player in the long run. He arrived injured and has only been involved fleetingly. He needs to be fully fit and get a run of games. It can take a player a while to settle. Take big Hately for instance, he didn't start very well at all but became an absolute star for us.
 
Empire said:
I think for Barisic it’s physically rather than mentally. The two can’t be compared.

Grezda, I’ll give you that. He seems to be a confidence player. It looks like it’s going to take a bit of getting used to with the pressure of being a Rangers player before he starts kicking on. He looks utterly terrified of making mistakes. He’s not used to our supporters groaning yet when it happens.
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I would have said BB looked like a player who very quickly started to freeze under the pressure of playing for us albeit over a relatively short period. He's not unique-the pressure here is incredible but unlocking this issue will be key to future success. Maybe ultimately it's more down to genuine quality which when is a bit under par on confidence/mentality can cope with life at us.....
 
omegaman said:
Gerrard and Allen are fine - quite clearly they’ve exceeded almost all expectations - but these two players are their most expensive signings to date and if they don’t work out, I think questions might be asked.

For what it’s worth I think Barisic has looked good on the few occasions he’s been fit, but Grezda is a worry, which Gerrard himself echoes in the article.

There’s still plenty of time though.
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How much was goldson? Just asking. Thought he was over 3m? What I do remember is 2m or whatever was figure in the papers for barasic but gerrard said we didn't pay anywhere near that much.
 
omegaman said:
We spent £4m on this pair.

They need to succeed otherwise questions will arise over the judgment of Gerrard and Allen in the transfer market.
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The current good mood around means very few will agree with you...for now.

I see where you're coming from, however. In other circumstances a manager criticising a player he spent a decent wad on might be questioned as to why he bought him in the first place. Especially when you think of it alongside one of his loan signings giving up, another in Coulibaly looking pretty ordinary, and another being Sadiq. Worrall was labelled a donkey by plenty on here before the celtic match, too.

But Gerrard has bought himself a LOT of leeway (quite rightly, he deserves it). And he needed to bring in bodies in the summer.

I have faith in Barasic working out. Grezda has always seemed an odd signing.
 
omegaman said:
We spent £4m on this pair.

They need to succeed otherwise questions will arise over the judgment of Gerrard and Allen in the transfer market.
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Our net spend in the summer was around £4.5 -£5.5m as our manager recently pointed out. That was to rebuild almost a whole squad with 15 signings in total. Overall I think the board will be delighted with our summer transfer dealings.
 
DylanGer said:
To be frank there's a lot of crap posted about our football set up I'm yet to see a player plucked from anywhere that looks like a shrewd piece of scouting that is not directly related to managers or assistant managers.

What is not up for debate is that SG has been able to gel a team quickly but I remain unconvinced that the whole football set up has a strategy beyond the obvious. A dug with a Rangers scarf would have come up with Davis and Defoe for Jan signings....and SG being involved in highlighting the best he's seen elsewhere in Scotland does not a great football set up make.
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Who identified Goldson? Katic, who despite being out the team after his injury looked a good player?

Also, any management team will initially bring in players they know, thats to be expected.

We’re shopping in the bargain basement, there will always be mistakes, its far too early to write off either of Barasic or Grezda though.
 
Cambuslang Bear said:
In my defence I am quite a positive person, I just don't think Grezda is going to cut in. I'm not the only one. If you don't agree with me then fair enough

But I think you are getting me mixed up with the poster CambuslangBear. I have a space in my username
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My apologies, It appears I had you mixed up with the half glass empty Cambuslang chap. Sorry.
 
Uncle Albert said:
Grezda was a Papac recommendation. We took a punt on him.

Gerrard is a rookie manager and will make errors of judgement and I think that's one he probably regrets.
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i've read on here he was signed because Barisic reccomended him, i suppose it doesnt really matter. Bottom line is he needs to improve or we will move him on.
 
DylanGer said:
Barisic to be frank looks like a player out of the box yes but got increasing ineffective before his injury including a game at the Piggery where like the rest of the team looked out his depth.

Way way overrated on here based on what we've seen. Lots of time to asses him and give him time to recover etc but I would pay heed to SG's comments...looks like he's a very honest individual happy to voice concerns over players and actually says...yup you've got talent I bought you...now it's up to you.
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Every thread about Barisic you come flying in with 2 feet to talk about how overrated he is and question why people rate him.

I have no idea why you do this but whatever. I'm especially surprised you picked out the piggery game as in the second half he was the ONLY player who looked like he might make something happen.

All I'll say is that it's very clear to anyone with 2 eyes that he is our best left back, and offers a fantastic attacking threat down the left. He is a Croatian international and his ability to link up with his winger and find space for a cross is far and away better than any other full back in Scotland. The fact we got him for the fee we did is incredible.

To quote Gerrard:

“There’s no doubt both have got quality. Borna has shown that regularly when he’s played"

Question his injury problems if you must, but his quality is not in doubt.

Grezda is more up for debate.
 
Gerrard has improved Halliday to such an extent that he was man of the match in an old firm game. Absolutely no one would’ve predicted Andy’s upturn in fortunes at the beginning of the season. That’s far more impressive than simply buying players and hoping they settle in quickly. Ryan Kent has also kicked on under him after lacklustre spells elsewhere. I have no question marks over him after he’s led us into Europe and defeated the darkside, all in the space of 6 months with a new spine.
 
omegaman said:
I wasn’t really intending to question the overall strategy, whatever that actually is, simply stating that we can’t blow £4m - a comparatively hefty chunk of our resources - on a couple of players that then fail to make the grade and not expect questions to be asked about the intel that went into procuring them.

I think that’s fair enough and I’m pretty sure both Gerrard and Allen would understand and accept it.

Of course, as others have rightly pointed out, if we do win 55, it’s probably academic anyway.
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But the overall strategy is crucial....the opposite is true if we fail this season question marks will arise over where the budget was spent. 2.5M for us on a gamble on an injured player was frankly daft-he wasn't the only player in Europe.

Everything can be second guessed of course-the Jan window is based on adding experience but probably more of a genuine push to deliver players that might place the league challenge on a knife edge. If it goes that way yup it'll look sound...if it doesn't?

For me you need to have an overall strategy-we have went all over the place and are smelling the scent of possibly having a quicker return rather than saying SG genuine 3/4 year plan to win a title.

I have faith in the manager in general terms but a genuine framework/approach doesn't appear obvious to me. That's not to say that can't work but it doesn't reflect our DOF etc is in charge of an overall approach.
 
WalterLoyal said:
Our net spend in the summer was around £4.5 -£5.5m as our manager recently pointed out. That was to rebuild almost a whole squad with 15 signings in total. Overall I think the board will be delighted with our summer transfer dealings.
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Of course they will be given where we are, but again, you spend £4m on a couple of players that then don’t deliver, you’ve got to expect to be pulled up on that.

It probably needs stressing though that it’s way too early to suggest either won’t make the grade with us.
 
Earth Worm Jim said:
The way he speaks about grezda is similar to the words about Sadiq

I don't think we will see grezda this time next year tbh
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Thats what i read into it, he's not sticking up for Grezda there saying hes been injured, he needs to adapt to Scottish football, he needs games to get up to the pace of the game and gel with the team etc.
Its basically a shape up or ship out..
 
omegaman said:
We spent £4m on this pair.

They need to succeed otherwise questions will arise over the judgment of Gerrard and Allen in the transfer market.
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Fella, that’s just silly. Both are good players, one is getting injuries (Borna) and clearly that wasn’t happening in Croatia. One came with an existing injury (Grezda) and definitely needs a full pre season. Writing them off now is just mental.
 
Barisic had a storming game away to Hibs in his last 90 before his injury. He’s been patchy but can really kick on. I agree that Grezda looks to be a confidence plwyer who needs to get used to the physical nature of the game here. That can also come. He arrived late & injured. Way too early to be writing either off.
 
My gut feeling is Barasic will be an absolute star and Grezda will flatter to deceive. You can see straight away that Barasic has a natural movement, control and delivery to be effective while Grezda appears like a rabbit in the headlights. I’m confident that if Barasic is feeling the pressure of playing for a high profile team he will quickly adapt. Not so sure about Grezda though.
 
omegaman said:
I suppose Dave King might simply shrug his shoulders and say, “No problem, these things happen. Here’s another £4m to buy a couple of replacements.”
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Agree we cannot afford to waste 4 million time will tell hopfully they will play there part in putting the scum.in their place
 
Art Corvelay said:
Every thread about Barisic you come flying in with 2 feet to talk about how overrated he is and question why people rate him.

I have no idea why you do this but whatever. I'm especially surprised you picked out the piggery game as in the second half he was the ONLY player who looked like he might make something happen.

All I'll say is that it's very clear to anyone with 2 eyes that he is our best left back, and offers a fantastic attacking threat down the left. He is a Croatian international and his ability to link up with his winger and find space for a cross is far and away better than any other full back in Scotland. The fact we got him for the fee we did is incredible.

To quote Gerrard:

“There’s no doubt both have got quality. Borna has shown that regularly when he’s played"

Question his injury problems if you must, but his quality is not in doubt.

Grezda is more up for debate.
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It's hardly every thread for a start.

He started well and has got consistently poorer...it's over a short period no reason he can't go back the other way.

In terms of technical ability based on what we've seen is he our best LB? Yes but he 's up against two player who aren't exactly the quality required to seriously put in a league challenge and I was the guy sticking up for AH a lot on here but he is limited.

As it stands whatever way you dress it up when you come to Rangers it's a headfuck ...a real real pressure cooker I personally haven't seen BB sustain the quality required and as such the jury is out.

I'm saying he's a lot to prove many are saying nonsense he's the finished article...well he ain't. To be frank look at his fee and where he came from.
 
I think all the signings have contributed to some extent apart from Sadiq, who was a dud.
Grezda has probably contributed the least though.
He needs to harness what he did in the first 45 against Hearts. That should be his benchmark.
 
The Grezda crocked thread made me chuckle. There was nothing too outlandish.

But this one is truly bemusing.
 
yarrumdavid01 said:
Goodson takes an injection to play against Celtic and these guys seem to rip their tights and down tools.

Warning shot from Mr G
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If you’ve ever pulled or ripped a hamstring then you’ll know that taking an injection makes no difference at all. As for Grezda- he had a serious ankle injury so he’s hardly at fault either ?
 
DylanGer said:
But the overall strategy is crucial....the opposite is true if we fail this season question marks will arise over where the budget was spent. 2.5M for us on a gamble on an injured player was frankly daft-he wasn't the only player in Europe.

Everything can be second guessed of course-the Jan window is based on adding experience but probably more of a genuine push to deliver players that might place the league challenge on a knife edge. If it goes that way yup it'll look sound...if it doesn't?

For me you need to have an overall strategy-we have went all over the place and are smelling the scent of possibly having a quicker return rather than saying SG genuine 3/4 year plan to win a title.

I have faith in the manager in general terms but a genuine framework/approach doesn't appear obvious to me. That's not to say that can't work but it doesn't reflect our DOF etc is in charge of an overall approach.
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I kind of agree that the overall strategy looked or looks a bit piecemeal.

I also think the win over the Beasts has seen us all float back up to the top of the happy tree convincing many we’re better than we may actually be, but Davis and Defoe look like a couple of solid, experienced additions for the run in, and that’s probably exactly what we need at this point in time, so kudos there at least.

Interestingly our two early targets for the summer are a couple of guys plying their trade in Scotland already, so that could suggest a rethink there in terms of strategy, although I’m sure it’ll be broader come the end of the season.

I guess it’s simply a case of some signings working out and others not - Walter had plenty of duds in his time, all managers do - but I stand by the argument that when money is as tight as it is at the club now, when King & co. are determined that we live within our means, we can’t be wasting relatively large sums of money on punts without there being consequences.

That’s just a responsible approach to any business.
 
DylanGer said:
It's hardly every thread for a start.

He started well and has got consistently poorer...it's over a short period no reason he can't go back the other way.
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He was very good against Hibs and I would say this is flat out just wrong.

DylanGer said:
In terms of technical ability based on what we've seen is he our best LB? Yes but he 's up against two player who aren't exactly the quality required to seriously put in a league challenge and I was the guy sticking up for SH a lot on here but he is limited.
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Agree with this.

DylanGer said:
As it stands whatever way you dress it up when you come to Rangers it's a headfuck ...a real real pressure cooker I personally haven't seen BB sustain the quality required and as such the jury is out.
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No one has seen it, he hasn't been able to 'sustain' it. As I say - his injury problems might be a genuine issue, we don't know yet.


DylanGer said:
I'm saying he's a lot to prove many are saying nonsense he's the finished article...well he ain't. To be frank look at his fee and where he came from.
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What? Not really sure what your point is here at all. If he had been £10m from a premier league club... he wouldn't be at Rangers. I think you need to understand the context here. No one is claiming he's David Alaba or Marcelo. He is however, more than good enough to be a key player in a Scottish premier league winning team. That much is very very clear.
 
RFC97 said:
How can Barisic be getting written off. When he plays he looks a class above.
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cos he has barely managed 7 games since he signed. Players arent much use unless they are fit to play, as much as i like Borna as a player if he cant get fit we need to move him on he is no use in the physio room
 
Sutton_Blows_goats said:
cos he has barely managed 7 games since he signed. Players arent much use unless they are fit to play, as much as i like Borna as a player if he cant get fit we need to move him on he is no use in the physio room
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He’s only been here half a season. He’s also shown quality.

It would be absolutely bonkers to be writing him off.
 
omegaman said:
We spent £4m on this pair.

They need to succeed otherwise questions will arise over the judgment of Gerrard and Allen in the transfer market.
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The majority of people on here couldn't believe we got Barasic for £1.5mil after the Osijek games.

He was a class above everyone in that team
 
Hammerinho said:
Clearly not happy with Grezda so far, hopefully he takes heed and we see more from him.
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I guess Gerrard is like the posters on here that dont understand about "settling in time, getting up to speed with Scottish football", etc
 
Art Corvelay said:
Every thread about Barisic you come flying in with 2 feet to talk about how overrated he is and question why people rate him.

I have no idea why you do this but whatever. I'm especially surprised you picked out the piggery game as in the second half he was the ONLY player who looked like he might make something happen.

All I'll say is that it's very clear to anyone with 2 eyes that he is our best left back, and offers a fantastic attacking threat down the left. He is a Croatian international and his ability to link up with his winger and find space for a cross is far and away better than any other full back in Scotland. The fact we got him for the fee we did is incredible.

To quote Gerrard:

“There’s no doubt both have got quality. Borna has shown that regularly when he’s played"

Question his injury problems if you must, but his quality is not in doubt.

Grezda is more up for debate.
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Yeah this. Barisic was our best outfield player at Parkhead. He's looked excellent at Easter Road, Villareal, Fir Park, St Mirren at home and others. His injuries have been unfortunate but you can't really help that sadly.

The Grezda thing is a bit less clear. There appears to be a growing feeling that it might not work. It's too early to say but you just get the feeling that Gerrard doesn't quite feel it with him.
 
The Busby Bear said:
My gut feeling is Barasic will be an absolute star and Grezda will flatter to deceive. You can see straight away that Barasic has a natural movement, control and delivery to be effective while Grezda appears like a rabbit in the headlights. I’m confident that if Barasic is feeling the pressure of playing for a high profile team he will quickly adapt. Not so sure about Grezda though.
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Agreed.

My mind isn’t made up yet but I do have my doubts about Grezda.

Regarding Barisic, it’s clear there’s a player there.
 
DylanGer said:
But the overall strategy is crucial....the opposite is true if we fail this season question marks will arise over where the budget was spent. 2.5M for us on a gamble on an injured player was frankly daft-he wasn't the only player in Europe.

Everything can be second guessed of course-the Jan window is based on adding experience but probably more of a genuine push to deliver players that might place the league challenge on a knife edge. If it goes that way yup it'll look sound...if it doesn't?

For me you need to have an overall strategy-we have went all over the place and are smelling the scent of possibly having a quicker return rather than saying SG genuine 3/4 year plan to win a title.

I have faith in the manager in general terms but a genuine framework/approach doesn't appear obvious to me. That's not to say that can't work but it doesn't reflect our DOF etc is in charge of an overall approach.
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Our DOF gave an interview a while back when he talked about our signing policy. He said we would only sign players that fitted our 'ethos, philosophy and footballing strategy'. Of course he didnt explain what any of this meant. The masses lapped it up.

I had a boss like that a few years back. Talked a lot but said very little.

Incidentally, I think we're doing very well in the transfer market. I just wish we had a spokesperson that did some straight talking like Gerrard does in his interviews.
 
Well one things for sure, the gaffers comments won’t do Grezda any favours in terms of keeping the fans off his back and easing the pressure, but among those comments also implies he doesn’t feel the player has been pushing himself particularly hard.
 
omegaman said:
I suppose Dave King might simply shrug his shoulders and say, “No problem, these things happen. Here’s another £4m to buy a couple of replacements.”
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Ok so supposing both these signings don't work out, what in your opinion would King do?
Genuine question
 
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