Getting out of the group after losing first 2 games

We have had a bit of good fortune with the pot 3 side we drew. They were easily, by an absolute country mile, the weakest side in pot 3. I'd have expected us to won the h2h against all pot 4 sides with the exception of Galatasary however so Brondby being the bottom ranked team is a most point.

We have also been fortunate that Lyon have won every game as it effectively made it a mini league between us and the other 2 for 2nd place. However, if we didn't get the good fortune from pot 3, the n maybe we could be going into the final game with a chance to win the group as maybe one of the stronger pot 3 sides could have taken points from Lyon and the group be a bit more open. So it's swings and roundabouts in that regard.

The way the fixtures have fell has also been favourable, given we had Lyon in matchday 1 and 6. Its kind of made games against them irrelevant.

Its a great achievement though. The coefficient points and financial rewards don't care who are in the group. Can only beat what is put in front of you.
 
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Laudrup1 said:
In 40 years of going to Ibrox, I've never known steady European performances and results like this. We're maybe not at the very top table just now and the CL is a massive step up but even when you consider the talent at our disposal during the Souness, Smith and Advocaat years, we could never compete in the Uefa cup to the level we do now on a regular basis either.
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The game has been fixed by UEFA to ensure the CL is basically a closed shop. I know we need the money but the Europe is our level, we are competitive there and it gives us incredible European night like Thursday.

I'm not looking forward to going into the CL and being whipping boys for oil clubs spending hundreds of millions every season tbh.
 
SDF said:
I felt we struggled at Ibrox against them TBH. Huffed and puffed.

Ran then ragged the first 30 minutes in Rotterdam, scored before conceding the same goal twice despite Amo demanding Klos put a man on the post for the second free kick and being told no.
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Van Hooijdonk should have been red carded at Ibrox for his tackle on Stephen Hughes (broken ankle?) which of course would have dramatically changes events in Rotterdam
 
mkgers said:
Qualifed with a game to spare as well! That's some achievement.

I'm sure it'll have been done before but surely not many times?
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Sure it's been mentioned, and it's not a pleasant memory, but...celtic did it 07/08. We went out having won our first two. Of course we ended up in a final that year, but I was gutted after the CL group stage.
 
Always the same doom n gloomers on here that are never happy and talk down any achievement.Am absolutely delighted.
 
Great achievement. It's like the opposite of watching Rangers growing up.

So many times we had a great first 2 games and fucked it up in the last home game or something.
 
mkgers said:
Qualifed with a game to spare as well! That's some achievement.

I'm sure it'll have been done before but surely not many times?
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think Newcastle got out of their Champions league group back in 98 or something after losing their first three.

7 points got us into the last 16 in 2005 as well. And Werder Bremen did likewise with 5 points one year to I'm sure
 
Laudrup1 said:
In 40 years of going to Ibrox, I've never known steady European performances and results like this. We're maybe not at the very top table just now and the CL is a massive step up but even when you consider the talent at our disposal during the Souness, Smith and Advocaat years, we could never compete in the Uefa cup to the level we do now on a regular basis either.
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Not disagreeing with you mate - the results since Gerrard became manager have been excellent and going away in Europe and coming back with impressive wins has been great. All came as a huge and welcome surprise to me as in the darkest days of the lower divisions I feared I'd never see big European nights again with Ibrox bouncing.

What I would say though - and am happy to be corrected as my memory is bad - Souness/Smith and Advocaat were mostly playing at the top table in the European Cup/Champions League and facing a higher level of team.

There have been a couple of posts expressing concern that we will be whipping boys next season if we make the Champions League.

With regards to this season and qualifying - Lyon dominating the group has helped us secure second as neither Sparta or Brondby have been able to steal a result of the leaders of the group.
 
daven37 said:
Not disagreeing with you mate - the results since Gerrard became manager have been excellent and going away in Europe and coming back with impressive wins has been great. All came as a huge and welcome surprise to me as in the darkest days of the lower divisions I feared I'd never see big European nights again with Ibrox bouncing.

What I would say though - and am happy to be corrected as my memory is bad - Souness/Smith and Advocaat were mostly playing at the top table in the European Cup/Champions League and facing a higher level of team.

There have been a couple of posts expressing concern that we will be whipping boys next season if we make the Champions League.

With regards to this season and qualifying - Lyon dominating the group has helped us secure second as neither Sparta or Brondby have been able to steal a result of the leaders of the group.
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Smith had some absolutely shocking results against rubbish. A couple of good seasons across that time but generally very poor.

Advocaat flattered to deceive in Europe. A few great results obviously but not getting out of any groups was a failure.
 
BWO said:
Van Hooijdonk should have been red carded at Ibrox for his tackle on Stephen Hughes (broken ankle?) which of course would have dramatically changes events in Rotterdam
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Went right over the top of the ball and caught him on the shin.

Funnily enough, he did the exact same thing to Gazza at Parkhead in 1995.

A coward's tackle.
 
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stillAlwaysblue said:
How are we doing money wise. I would hate to go out on the playoff and then septic go on in the conference which is easier.
Need to give Gio as much as we can if he wants new players.
Great to see these Sparta racist thugs go out.
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We should always be trying to compete at the highest level.

We were good enough to qualify from our group, they weren’t. Simple as that. No matter what they do in the ECL.
 
GovanFront4 said:
Smith had some absolutely shocking results against rubbish. A couple of good seasons across that time but generally very poor.

Advocaat flattered to deceive in Europe. A few great results obviously but not getting out of any groups was a failure.
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Can't disagree with you mate. I still reckon the level of the average team we faced over those eras was higher than the level we are playing at now - I'd balance that out though by saying the players back then were better than the current players.

In no way playing down our current players and fine form in the Europa over the last few years - it's been fantastic to be getting results at this level again. Can't play down Gerrard's influence in getting results at this level.

GovanFront4 said:
We should always be trying to compete at the highest level.

We were good enough to qualify from our group, they weren’t. Simple as that. No matter what they do in the ECL.
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Agreed. I wonder how we will get on in the champions league next season if we get there.
 
daven37 said:
Not disagreeing with you mate - the results since Gerrard became manager have been excellent and going away in Europe and coming back with impressive wins has been great. All came as a huge and welcome surprise to me as in the darkest days of the lower divisions I feared I'd never see big European nights again with Ibrox bouncing.

What I would say though - and am happy to be corrected as my memory is bad - Souness/Smith and Advocaat were mostly playing at the top table in the European Cup/Champions League and facing a higher level of team.

There have been a couple of posts expressing concern that we will be whipping boys next season if we make the Champions League.

With regards to this season and qualifying - Lyon dominating the group has helped us secure second as neither Sparta or Brondby have been able to steal a result of the leaders of the group.
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I disagree with that.

The CL was nowhere near as strong a competition then as it is now, especially when Smith and Souness were managers.
 
Bigbluebear said:
I disagree with that.

The CL was nowhere near as strong a competition then as it is now, especially when Smith and Souness were managers.
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Well we are currently not playing CL football - we have been competing in the Europa League for the last few years and competing consistently well.

The CL, or European Cup, was still at a very very high level back then.

I really hope we get the opportunity to play in the Champions League next season and see how we do. Would be amazing to hear that music at Ibrox again.
 
daven37 said:
Well we are currently not playing CL football - we have been competing in the Europa League for the last few years and competing consistently well.

The CL, or European Cup, was still at a very very high level back then.

I really hope we get the opportunity to play in the Champions League next season and see how we do. Would be amazing to hear that music at Ibrox again.
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Our team was much closer to the level of other CL teams at the time. Performances were poor.
 
daven37 said:
Not disagreeing with you mate - the results since Gerrard became manager have been excellent and going away in Europe and coming back with impressive wins has been great. All came as a huge and welcome surprise to me as in the darkest days of the lower divisions I feared I'd never see big European nights again with Ibrox bouncing.

What I would say though - and am happy to be corrected as my memory is bad - Souness/Smith and Advocaat were mostly playing at the top table in the European Cup/Champions League and facing a higher level of team.

There have been a couple of posts expressing concern that we will be whipping boys next season if we make the Champions League.

With regards to this season and qualifying - Lyon dominating the group has helped us secure second as neither Sparta or Brondby have been able to steal a result of the leaders of the group.
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Souness, possibly in the old format got unlucky with draws against the loke of Bayern, Gladbach, Cologne and an excellent Steaua side.

I think by the time Smith was in charge, that one season, there were far too many losses to average sides like Prague, Gothenberg, Athens, Levski and Grasshoppers.

I can absolutely excuse defeats to Juve, Ajax and the elite level teams.

It wasn't until Advocaat there was some level of consistency against more teams but even then he was underperforming with the budget he had. The win versus Parma was the peak...we didn't really repeat it again another top side.

I reckon whole were maybe a level down just now l think there's still a consistency we've never had and particularly when we consider our current budget.

You're right though. A lot of Advocaats efforts were stymied by luck of the draw at our peak and not having the likes of a group with one runaway winner.

I'm certainly enjoying our Euro stuff post 2018. I think the 90s means I don't take it for granted at all.
 
It was a good recovery. We did win 2/3 of our home games which considering the loss was against Lyon was an acceptable home record. The away results have been poor really, Sparta Prague are ordinary and we should have got a point there and really we should have been beating the awful Brondby away. Nevertheless that's the third time in a row we have got out of the EL group, this looks to be our standard performance now and it is welcome. The Sparta Prague victory, it was a like a traditional Ibrox performance in Europe since SG arrived, a great win and GVB will lead us forward once again.
 
Laudrup1 said:
Souness, possibly in the old format got unlucky with draws against the loke of Bayern, Gladbach, Cologne and an excellent Steaua side.

I think by the time Smith was in charge, that one season, there were far too many losses to average sides like Prague, Gothenberg, Athens, Levski and Grasshoppers.

I can absolutely excuse defeats to Juve, Ajax and the elite level teams.

It wasn't until Advocaat there was some level of consistency against more teams but even then he was underperforming with the budget he had. The win versus Parma was the peak...we didn't really repeat it again another top side.

I reckon whole were maybe a level down just now l think there's still a consistency we've never had and particularly when we consider our current budget.

You're right though. A lot of Advocaats efforts were stymied by luck of the draw at our peak and not having the likes of a group with one runaway winner.

I'm certainly enjoying our Euro stuff post 2018. I think the 90s means I don't take it for granted at all.
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The Grasshoppers performance was the worst - that was a real shocker. The Unirea result was also a shocker around 2010.

We had some good wins under Advocaat - Bayer Leverkussen, PSV home and away, PSG and Monaco. Some of the football we played at home to Sturm Graz and away in Munich was top drawer but yes ultimately we fell short.
 
To be fair and if we are honest with ourselves we have been pretty lucky to get to next stage with game spare after losing first 2 games. After a shocking champions league qualifying it has given us a well needed morale boost. I have to add that it doesn’t help that the qualifiers for the champions league comes when it looks like our players have just got off the plane from Ibiza.

I look forward to who who we will draw in the play off for last 16. Great to get the 2-0 victory though we really chanced our luck with the Czechs the last 15 mins or so of the game. Big applause for Allan‘s left foot as well.
 
Growler said:
We need to be winning as often as we can in Europe; so that automatic CL qualification becomes the norm, and so that the groups become easier as we become higher and higher seeds.
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It will never become the norm.
We are struggling to maintain it this year.
The jump from 4 to 5 teams in Europe (with 3 knocked out almost before a ball is kicked) will always drag us back down until the coefficient equation is changed.
And with 4 we'll always move up again.
It's a perpetual yoyo that we as a club can't really ever do much about, which in itself renders the whole model flawed.
 
Ssaint said:
To be fair and if we are honest with ourselves we have been pretty lucky to get to next stage with game spare after losing first 2 games. After a shocking champions league qualifying it has given us a well needed morale boost. I have to add that it doesn’t help that the qualifiers for the champions league comes when it looks like our players have just got off the plane from Ibiza.

I look forward to who who we will draw in the play off for last 16. Great to get the 2-0 victory though we really chanced our luck with the Czechs the last 15 mins or so of the game. Big applause for Allan‘s left foot as well.
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It's not fair, we had the most difficult tie, first and last.
So being fair, things have worked out exactly as they should have.
We were unlucky in Prague, and the outcome there after is the epitome of "fair".
We are the second best team in the group, if you take Lyon out and make it a 3 team group, we've shown and proven that.
And that opinion is only backed up by the fact we play Lyon last in a game that means zero to anyone bar our accountant and the most staunch in our support.
 
MightyGersLand! said:
It will never become the norm.
We are struggling to maintain it this year.
The jump from 4 to 5 teams in Europe (with 3 knocked out almost before a ball is kicked) will always drag us back down until the coefficient equation is changed.
And with 4 we'll always move up again.
It's a perpetual yoyo that we as a club can't really ever do much about, which in itself renders the whole model flawed.
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Celtic hold on the other night, we turn up against Malmö and Prague - and it is maintained. Understand what you’re saying though, and you’re right, it’s unlikely to become the norm; but that doesn’t mean we give up on it - particularly in games where Lyon will be playing reserves due to a crunch tie with Lille a few days later.
 
MightyGersLand! said:
It's not fair, we had the most difficult tie, first and last.
So being fair, things have worked out exactly as they should have.
We were unlucky in Prague, and the outcome there after is the epitome of "fair".
We are the second best team in the group, if you take Lyon out and make it a 3 team group, we've shown and proven that.
And that opinion is only backed up by the fact we play Lyon last in a game that means zero to anyone bar our accountant and the most staunch in our support.
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I get your point. I agree that Lyon dominating the group has been great for us too. If we hadn’t won 2-0 then would anyone be confident of getting a result over there to progress. I wouldn’t be.

Anyway, a brilliant result for us against the Czechs and hope not to get a giant in the play off for last 16.
 
mkgers said:
Qualifed with a game to spare as well! That's some achievement.

I'm sure it'll have been done before but surely not many times?
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This achievement has already exceeded one of my expectations this season. After the start we had in the group I really believed we wouldn't get out of it! Now that we have made it I feel we've done exceptionally well, and I'm delighted.
 
Absolute stick up with this “knockout round” pish and only bring drawn against a 3rd placed CL team, UEFA pandering to the so called bigger clubs.
 
Just take a thought to where we were 4years ago in uefa rankings to where we sit now. The club has been in recovery mode recently and still is. Gerrard moved the club in the right direction and brought back respect to the name Rangers on the European stage. It’s now Gio’s time to keep the club moving forward by trying to secure the league and hopefully win the Scottish cup. Getting out of the group stages ticks a box .
 
TheMish said:
I mean aye, we have 7 points and are through right, but....

would you not rather BE OUT have 6 and have lost the best part of 3 goals a game instead?
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Some are saying this is a more creditable performance!
Of course, an idea exclusive only to those of a Celtic persuasion!
 
Ssaint said:
I get your point. I agree that Lyon dominating the group has been great for us too. If we hadn’t won 2-0 then would anyone be confident of getting a result over there to progress. I wouldn’t be.

Anyway, a brilliant result for us against the Czechs and hope not to get a giant in the play off for last 16.
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1-0 wouldn't have been the end of the world.
They'd have needed a 4 goal swing, I think with that in mind if we got to 70 odd minutes at 1-0 down, both ourselves and Lyon would have been happy to settle at that as long as Sparta were only 1 or 2 up.
 
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