Helander out for the foreseeable future

Prod Wallace said:
Would love someone like King to get an opportunity here, at least an opportunity to train more with the first team.

Helander is one of our best players, not just best defenders. It's a major disruption, especially to Thursday.

Brings Jack coming back into even more focus due to the brilliant work he does screening the back 4.

We really need him back asap to lessen the blow of losing Helander.
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We are far better set to deal with this than if Alfie, Kent, Davis or Kamara got injured.

People act like our defensive options drop off a cliff quality wise after Fil and Conor.

They don't.

Balogun is a similar level to Fil, but different attributes. People act like the difference between Helander and Balogun is like its King stepping in for Helander.

The reasonable drop off in quality occurs after the first 3 CBs. And again after the 4th.

This is a blow, but we are well placed to absorb it.

The fact that Leon often started key games ahead of Fil in the past 14 months or so shows this.

Leon is a far, far better player than FF give him credit for. Simpson is probably a little bit better than the common opinion. And sorry to say it, whilst an excellent player, Helander is not quite as good as the mythical status he enjoys on here.
 
Back 4 of

Tav, Goldson, Balogun, Bassey

If either CB gets injured we have two youths or Bassey can come inside, with Barisic filling in.
 
Dado’s Purse said:
Huge error of judgement letting Katic go out on loan! Really is, I said it at the time.
Helander, great player and love him, but his injury history is not great. Management team should have known better. I know Katic needed games but why not keep him and play him every week in the B Team to get his fitness up and monitor his progress close to home. Then, as he got more time under his belt start integrating him into the squad in cup games (for example). Had we done this - we’d have had cover for this Helander injury.

Very, very short sighted decision making in my opinion.

As it is now, we are one more injury away from a defensive crisis.. poor judgement
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Terrible post.

Nearly everything in it wrong

We have 4 senior CBs. 2 looking to bridge the gap from youth to senior. And a LB who can play CB in a pinch.

We couldn't keep Katic around and its far better for his development that he goes and gets regular senior football, not B team crap. He's well beyond that.

No amount of trying to be captain hindsight makes you any less wrong.
 
Tailwind said:
We are far better set to deal with this than if Alfie, Kent, Davis or Kamara got injured.

People act like our defensive options drop off a cliff quality wise after Fil and Conor.

They don't.

Balogun is a similar level to Fil, but different attributes. People act like the difference between Helander and Balogun is like its King stepping in for Helander.

The reasonable drop off in quality occurs after the first 3 CBs. And again after the 4th.

This is a blow, but we are well placed to absorb it.

The fact that Leon often started key games ahead of Fil in the past 14 months or so shows this.

Leon is a far, far better player than FF give him credit for. Simpson is probably a little bit better than the common opinion. And sorry to say it, whilst an excellent player, Helander is not quite as good as the mythical status he enjoys on here.
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I was with you all the way here until that last sentence :))
 
Manhattan_Loyalist said:
Massive blow but the headline "out until next year" always sounds worse than it is.

He will be out for up to 2-3 months but if he's managed correctly there's a chance he can be back for that run of games late December and into January away to Celtic, Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen and maybe even Lyon away (best case scenario).

Balogun really needs to step up. He's very hit or miss for me.
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When are any of our injured players ever back on or before schedule?
 
Dado’s Purse said:
Huge error of judgement letting Katic go out on loan! Really is, I said it at the time.
Helander, great player and love him, but his injury history is not great. Management team should have known better. I know Katic needed games but why not keep him and play him every week in the B Team to get his fitness up and monitor his progress close to home. Then, as he got more time under his belt start integrating him into the squad in cup games (for example). Had we done this - we’d have had cover for this Helander injury.

Very, very short sighted decision making in my opinion.

As it is now, we are one more injury away from a defensive crisis.. poor judgement
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Gerrard himself says he wants needs 4 CB’s and his chosen 4 were Goldson,Helander,Balogun & Simpson so Katic going on loan was the correct thing to do as he needs 25 games this season.

It’s unfortunate that Helander is now out until December but you can’t live life in hindsight.We’ve got cover and Bassey can fill in in an emergency.

It would have been pretty silly to keep 6 first team CB’s(if you include Edmunson)just in case someone got injured when at least 2 of them wouldn’t have seen much game time including one who needs to be playing regularly this season.
 
KensingtonBlue said:
Katic went on loan for a reason - he's not rated as highly as the backup centre-backs we already have.
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This is pretty much factually incorrect.

He went on load because he missed a year of football and needs regular games more than anything else

He is rated lower than Goldson and Fil/Leon so would not get the games he needs
 
Tailwind said:
We are far better set to deal with this than if Alfie, Kent, Davis or Kamara got injured.

People act like our defensive options drop off a cliff quality wise after Fil and Conor.

They don't.

Balogun is a similar level to Fil, but different attributes. People act like the difference between Helander and Balogun is like its King stepping in for Helander.

The reasonable drop off in quality occurs after the first 3 CBs. And again after the 4th.

This is a blow, but we are well placed to absorb it.

The fact that Leon often started key games ahead of Fil in the past 14 months or so shows this.

Leon is a far, far better player than FF give him credit for. Simpson is probably a little bit better than the common opinion. And sorry to say it, whilst an excellent player, Helander is not quite as good as the mythical status he enjoys on here.
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Which is all fine if the best 2 remaining centre backs stay fit and available for every big game we play for the next 3 months or so, and at no time do we suffer injuries or suspensions (or covid) at the same time to 2 of the 3 we have left.

We are now relying more on good luck than we would want to be.
 
Manhattan_Loyalist said:
Hence why I said if managed correctly and best case scenario.

Our injuries are ridiculous.

I remember at the time, Dick Advocaat halfway through his first season with us said he can't believe the bad luck we have with injuries and he has a theory about it but will "keep it to himself" - and he never told us what he thought it was.

Always wondered.
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Apparently our training complex at Auchenhowie is built on an ancient burial ground.
 
dynamo_rosco said:
I was with you all the way here until that last sentence :))
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Sorry.

He's "overrated".

Don't get me wrong. He's a very good defender. In SPL terms he is excellent. But that applies to Goldson and Balogun too.

People go on here like he's Maldini.
"Balogun has proven time and again he can't play at Europa league level"? He's had about 2 bad games at that level for us, same as Fil.

His status on here is mythical.

As I say, he, along with his 2 Rangers team mates, are head and shoulders ahead of anything else in Scotland. And by and large all 3 perform well in Europe bar the odd chasing; Leverkusen, Benfica etc.

Helander is a "similar" level to Goldson and Balogun. Horses for courses. The fact the Conor is first CB name on the team sheet and Leon often starts Old Firm games and tough European ties ahead of Fil shows there is no gaping chasm in ability between Leon and Fil that exists only on FF.

Helander may be better. But not by much.
 
Tailwind said:
I'm not sure if you are special or just acting that way
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Is that right ? Who are the 4 answer the question ? Because you will find we don’t have 4 . As I said we have gone from 6 to 2 , we should have 3 but Simpson isn’t registered. PS what do you mean by “ special “ you fancy clarifying that ?
 
Godson if back and Balogun alongside for Thruusday......if Goldson fails then Bassey and Balogun.....thats if Bassey can play there
 
dh1963 said:
Which is all fine if the best 2 remaining centre backs stay fit and available for every big game we play for the next 3 months or so, and at no time do we suffer injuries or suspensions (or covid) at the same time to 2 of the 3 we have left.

We are now relying more on good luck than we would want to be.
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OK.

Where do you stop.

If Goldson gets covid, Leon gets injured and Fil is out, we're down to Katic and Edmundson with Simpson as back up. Better sign another CB or 2. And if they get injured or suspended, better sign 2 more.

Gerrard said he wanted 2 players for every position.

We had Conor and Fil as first choice. Leon vying with Fil. Simpson as 4th choice CB. Bassey can fill in if we have really and luck. And we have a couple of youths chapping on the door.

Thats potentially 7 options at CB. With 4 senior pros in the squad, or 2 players for every position.

Why should it be more for CB than any other position.

Financially can we afford to have 27 CBs? Or do we draw a logical line somewhere. I..e 2 for every position
 
Tailwind said:
OK.

Where do you stop.

If Goldson gets covid, Leon gets injured and Fil is out, we're down to Katic and Edmundson with Simpson as back up. Better sign another CB or 2. And if they get injured or suspended, better sign 2 more.

Gerrard said he wanted 2 players for every position.

We had Conor and Fil as first choice. Leon vying with Fil. Simpson as 4th choice CB. Bassey can fill in if we have really and luck. And we have a couple of youths chapping on the door.

Thats potentially 7 options at CB. With 4 senior pros in the squad, or 2 players for every position.

Why should it be more for CB than any other position.

Financially can we afford to have 27 CBs? Or do we draw a logical line somewhere. I..e 2 for every position
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I'll remember your condescending pish when Goldson or Balogun gets their inevitable injury.

There really is no need to be so patronising when someone has thd cheek to disagree with you.
 
given the now standing only 3 first team CBs
hopefully they are fully vaccinated so to avoid Covid isolation
 
dh1963 said:
I'll remember your condescending pish when Goldson or Balogun gets their inevitable injury.

There really is no need to be so patronising when someone has thd cheek to disagree with you.
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Balogun is injury prone. He’s certainly not playing three games a week. Simpson will feature a lot more. Unless we decide to bring Bassey into left side of centre of defence.
 
CaptainCourageous said:
Balogun is injury prone. He’s certainly not playing three games a week. Simpson will feature a lot more. Unless we decide to bring Bassey into left side of centre of defence.
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I'd be bringing in Simpson for games against the diddies at Ibrox to build him some confidence and help him settle in to the side in less pressurised fixtures. They'll just need to roll the sleeves up and get on with it.
 
During the game going by Helander's reaction I was expecting to get the sh!t news his season was over.

Out till December and 4 weeks of that at least are taken up with International Breaks in October and November.

Could have been much worse.
 
I feel comfortable with what we have tbh and I think some folk are just getting their knickers in a twist.

Aye, Helander is a huge miss. But we still have the best defence in the league. We will be fine.
 
KensingtonBlue said:
Katic went on loan for a reason - he's not rated as highly as the backup centre-backs we already have.

We're fine for the moment. Another injury would mean we'd probably need to look at reinforcements, but with our current squad we have enough depth. Can't Bassey also play centre half?
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That's not the reason he went on loan though.
 
That’ll be him out into 2022 knowing our luck, not ideal but thats why we have the big squad.

Luckily for us Goldson rarely misses a game and Balogun has done ok when filling in, this might be the making of Simpson.
 
Leopold said:
People saying they are ‘sick’ and that this is absolutely disastrous isn’t simply displaying disappointment.

Considering you think Balogun is the back up RB, what you say doesn’t carry much weight.
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Tailwind said:
Terrible post.

Nearly everything in it wrong

We have 4 senior CBs. 2 looking to bridge the gap from youth to senior. And a LB who can play CB in a pinch.

We couldn't keep Katic around and its far better for his development that he goes and gets regular senior football, not B team crap. He's well beyond that.

No amount of trying to be captain hindsight makes you any less wrong.
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Who is Captain Hindsight? Everyone is entitled to their opinion mate
 
Valley Bluenose said:
Yup, these guys - the experienced ones at least - are either not seen as good enough or their demands to sign-up are deemed extortionate. Otherwise they'd have clubs. Given our situation now, were we to approach one of them then their demands would likely escalate, given the position we are in.

I think we will stick with what we have, especially as any new signing would be no good to us in EL groups.
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Agree to an extent but It's the £Mills, thats a gimme for winning this years League, that we also have to consider.
 
Not good news but you could see by the players reaction on Saturday it was serious. If it is 3 months and he is not out for the rest of the season then it’s not the worst news we could have received
 
Really don't understand the negative hysteria with Simpson. The boy has never had a run in the team or even played that many mins, but when he's been called upon he has done ok.
 
dh1963 said:
I'll remember your condescending pish when Goldson or Balogun gets their inevitable injury.

There really is no need to be so patronising when someone has thd cheek to disagree with you.
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It’s not wrong though is it

Trying to play captain hindsight about one Cb getting injured when the gaffer has said for years he wants 2 players every position, and we have 4 CBs (with 7+ options total) isn’t really a valid argument. And if Leon or Conor get injured it’s still not a valid argument because the gaffer never intended to have more than 4 CBs and financially we probably can’t afford to carry more than 4 senior CBs.
 
It doesnt bear thinking about a statement from us saying foreseeable future after all days usually mean weeks and a few weeks usually means months. It could be guess what year he might be back o_O
 
EC54 said:
It doesnt bear thinking about a statement from us saying foreseeable future after all days usually mean weeks and a few weeks usually means months. It could be guess what year he might be back o_O
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Later statement from the Club indicates December. For now.
 
It's a HUGE loss, gutted.

Absolutely no doubt in my mind we will concede more goals as a result of this injury.
It's a massive challenge for Balogun and Simpson to replace Big Fil.

Balogun has a great attitude and has the mentality to have a great season and minimise the damage for us, Simpson I'm not as confident of but he will get his chance.

The consistency we had with so few goals conceded last season will dip but that doesn't mean we can't still win games, I do think it will cost us a few points however.
 
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