Glenn Middleton - Striker?

MSF

Well-Known Member
What do we think?

I’ve just watched the highlights from the reserve game against them with Middleton playing as a number 9, where he scored his 7th & 8th goal in 5 games.

Starting in a central position, making intelligent runs across their backline to create space by dragging defenders around,

His first goal is during a counter attack, a run across their defence & got in behind at just the right time using his pace after being picked out by Kai Kennedy & a fantastic finish.

His second goal was again a counter attack, picked out by Stephen Kelly this time and used his pace and strength to get the better of their defender before another good finish.

Some of the runs he made in the highlights you’d think he has always been a centre forward, I don’t know how often he played there for Norwich or Scotland.

I did wonder how he would get on with a deeper defence and recieving the ball with his back to goal as they played a high defence he could get in behind, but his second goal against Ayr United was from a central position with his back to goal and he took a fantastic touch to get in behind 2 of their defenders and finished it.

Can’t help but think with his pace, strength, finishing & game intelligence that he is a cert to end up a centre forward.
 
When I watched him in the cup Vs Ayr, I thought with the way he played and his finishing he had potential to play through the middle.

Maybe needs a season on loan somewhere as a centre forward, before getting a chance here.

If Defoe’s here next season, I can’t see him getting a game ahead of him.
 
Obviously not a target man or a hold up player of any sorts but I think he would be very effective in a front two, wouldn't mind seeing him and Defoe together at some point
 
It seems easy enough to say with hindsight but I thought this before the semi final against sheep that I would have played him through the middle instead of Sadiq. Gerrard is still learning and has my full backing but that game was a major blunder.
 
What do we think?

I’ve just watched the highlights from the reserve game against them with Middleton playing as a number 9, where he scored his 7th & 8th goal in 5 games.

Starting in a central position, making intelligent runs across their backline to create space by dragging defenders around,

His first goal is during a counter attack, a run across their defence & got in behind at just the right time using his pace after being picked out by Kai Kennedy & a fantastic finish.

His second goal was again a counter attack, picked out by Stephen Kelly this time and used his pace and strength to get the better of their defender before another good finish.

Some of the runs he made in the highlights you’d think he has always been a centre forward, I don’t know how often he played there for Norwich or Scotland.

I did wonder how he would get on with a deeper defence and recieving the ball with his back to goal as they played a high defence he could get in behind, but his second goal against Ayr United was from a central position with his back to goal and he took a fantastic touch to get in behind 2 of their defenders and finished it.

Can’t help but think with his pace, strength, finishing & game intelligence that he is a cert to end up a centre forward.
Could you post a link for the highlights please mate
 
It seems easy enough to say with hindsight but I thought this before the semi final against sheep that I would have played him through the middle instead of Sadiq. Gerrard is still learning and has my full backing but that game was a major blunder.
I thought the same.
 
His pace and finishing ability could certainly be useful through the middle, I'd happily see him tried out there.
 
i watched him play for scotland unders up front earlier this season, posted on here that maybe its a better position for him and 2 posters got all angry 'aye but who were they playing' or 'its under ffs'.

it worth trying
 
Can’t help but think with his pace, strength, finishing & game intelligence that he is a cert to end up a centre forward.
Good post. He’s a very good player and should have had more game time in my opinion. All the things you highlight show that he has what it takes to potentially play along a front 3 in a modern 4-3-3 as well as a more traditional left wing position. He is totally underrated by our fans, a narrative has taken hold on this board that he needed removed from the 1st team, he’s one dimensional etc etc. Prime example of how much of an echo chamber this place can be.
 
He has got the pace to play on the shoulder and can clearly finish was a big mistake playing Sadiq instead of him in the league cup semi
 
What do we think?

I’ve just watched the highlights from the reserve game against them with Middleton playing as a number 9, where he scored his 7th & 8th goal in 5 games.

Starting in a central position, making intelligent runs across their backline to create space by dragging defenders around,

His first goal is during a counter attack, a run across their defence & got in behind at just the right time using his pace after being picked out by Kai Kennedy & a fantastic finish.

His second goal was again a counter attack, picked out by Stephen Kelly this time and used his pace and strength to get the better of their defender before another good finish.

Some of the runs he made in the highlights you’d think he has always been a centre forward, I don’t know how often he played there for Norwich or Scotland.

I did wonder how he would get on with a deeper defence and recieving the ball with his back to goal as they played a high defence he could get in behind, but his second goal against Ayr United was from a central position with his back to goal and he took a fantastic touch to get in behind 2 of their defenders and finished it.

Can’t help but think with his pace, strength, finishing & game intelligence that he is a cert to end up a centre forward.

There's the issue for us, we have players who are brilliant on the counter, our issue is breaking teams down and you rarely get counters against hibs, killie, etc.
 
He was a stand out in the reserve highlights, his movement and composure in the final third were tremendous.

I thought Kelly and Palmer showed up really well too.
 
What do we think?

I’ve just watched the highlights from the reserve game against them with Middleton playing as a number 9, where he scored his 7th & 8th goal in 5 games.

Starting in a central position, making intelligent runs across their backline to create space by dragging defenders around,

His first goal is during a counter attack, a run across their defence & got in behind at just the right time using his pace after being picked out by Kai Kennedy & a fantastic finish.

His second goal was again a counter attack, picked out by Stephen Kelly this time and used his pace and strength to get the better of their defender before another good finish.

Some of the runs he made in the highlights you’d think he has always been a centre forward, I don’t know how often he played there for Norwich or Scotland.

I did wonder how he would get on with a deeper defence and recieving the ball with his back to goal as they played a high defence he could get in behind, but his second goal against Ayr United was from a central position with his back to goal and he took a fantastic touch to get in behind 2 of their defenders and finished it.

Can’t help but think with his pace, strength, finishing & game intelligence that he is a cert to end up a centre forward.

I've thought this since the Ayr game. That we then started that fucking puddin' in the next round and got knocked out whilst Middleton sat on the bench was mental to me
 
Similar thing happened with Lovenkrands. Moved from being a winger to more central.
He actually started off as a striker.

Advocaat in his need to move players in different positions thought he could turn him into a winger.

Eck carried this on as he thought he was a winger until finally moving him more central again in the latter part of his Rangers career where he scored a few goals (particularly against them).

I definitely see the comparisons. fingers crossed
 
What do we think?

I’ve just watched the highlights from the reserve game against them with Middleton playing as a number 9, where he scored his 7th & 8th goal in 5 games.

Starting in a central position, making intelligent runs across their backline to create space by dragging defenders around,

His first goal is during a counter attack, a run across their defence & got in behind at just the right time using his pace after being picked out by Kai Kennedy & a fantastic finish.

His second goal was again a counter attack, picked out by Stephen Kelly this time and used his pace and strength to get the better of their defender before another good finish.

Some of the runs he made in the highlights you’d think he has always been a centre forward, I don’t know how often he played there for Norwich or Scotland.

I did wonder how he would get on with a deeper defence and recieving the ball with his back to goal as they played a high defence he could get in behind, but his second goal against Ayr United was from a central position with his back to goal and he took a fantastic touch to get in behind 2 of their defenders and finished it.

Can’t help but think with his pace, strength, finishing & game intelligence that he is a cert to end up a centre forward.

I’ve personally felt for a while he was wasted on the wing. He’s fast and direct, but has no end ball. He does, however, have a cracking finish on him. I’d definitely be looking to try him more through the middle.
 
We play 1 striker, so unless he suddenly starts outperforming Defoe or Morelos then no chance, however the more narrow formation we are now playing might suit him being able to get in more goalscoring positions
 
What do we think?

I’ve just watched the highlights from the reserve game against them with Middleton playing as a number 9, where he scored his 7th & 8th goal in 5 games.

Starting in a central position, making intelligent runs across their backline to create space by dragging defenders around,

His first goal is during a counter attack, a run across their defence & got in behind at just the right time using his pace after being picked out by Kai Kennedy & a fantastic finish.

His second goal was again a counter attack, picked out by Stephen Kelly this time and used his pace and strength to get the better of their defender before another good finish.

Some of the runs he made in the highlights you’d think he has always been a centre forward, I don’t know how often he played there for Norwich or Scotland.

I did wonder how he would get on with a deeper defence and recieving the ball with his back to goal as they played a high defence he could get in behind, but his second goal against Ayr United was from a central position with his back to goal and he took a fantastic touch to get in behind 2 of their defenders and finished it.

Can’t help but think with his pace, strength, finishing & game intelligence that he is a cert to end up a centre forward.

I think it will definitely end up being his position and should be his position for us right now. Not convinced he has enough to his game as a wide player at the moment v teams that sit in against us.
 
Watching his highlights he's got the rare quality of when he gets the balls onto his favoured foot you're already expecting the goal.

It's inevitable he will play up front. Maybe not striker but inside forward i feel

In the first team he has basically played left mid. Taking the ball from deep and trying to take his man on. That just doesnt look like his play
 
His attitude should be praised on here too. He's taken a hit getting put out of the first team, but seems to have bounced back well. To me, I think the current formation would allow him to play in any of the 3 forward roles. That versatility is vital to rangers when we need to change things up to get passed the parked bus. Good to see him playing well.
 
We play 1 striker, so unless he suddenly starts outperforming Defoe or Morelos then no chance, however the more narrow formation we are now playing might suit him being able to get in more goalscoring positions

we are not supposed to be playing one striker though - the 4-3-3 Gerrard wants to play is based on Liverpools where there are 3 forwards who are all strikers/forwards.

The problem we have is that we often play a "proper" striker with 2 other players who are wingers. Candeias isn't the player we want for this system (that's not a dig at him), Kent isn't scoring enough (yet) for it.

I think it would be interesting to see a forward 3 of Middleton - Defoe - Arfield

all 3 have the ability to score goals, and we have already seen the impact of Arfield playing further forward in recent games.

That leaves the problem of where do we play Kent of course.
 
I think this is where he’ll definitely end up playing, should have played there in the LC Semi instead of Sadiq
 
I think he’s the type of attacker we need in the front 3, not a winger but more of a forward. We leave our 1 striker too isolated when we play both Kent and Candeias, and neither of those two attack the back post enough when the ball comes in from the opposite wing.

I think Middleton is that type of player, Grezda was supposed to, or still could, be along with Murphy, Stewart and Hastie if they come in.

I think next season our forward play will be much more direct and pacy through the middle with the width provided by the full backs.
 
It seems easy enough to say with hindsight but I thought this before the semi final against sheep that I would have played him through the middle instead of Sadiq. Gerrard is still learning and has my full backing but that game was a major blunder.

I also thought the same as he was enjoying some reasonable form then and scoring.
 
I think this is actually a very good shout.

Playing more centrally & off a main striker could be the answer as I'm not massively convinced by him as a winger. Although he is only young so plenty of time to develop.

In saying that, there is a huge difference to playing in reserve games & then banging them in for the first team.
 
8 goals in 5 games, if that’s not deserving of a start I don’t know what is. Management team talk of a clear pathway for young players, let’s see it happening in these last 5 games. With Morelos out give him a go up top with Defoe.
 
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