Helander out for the foreseeable future

It is what it is unfortunately, however Im sure the management team have a plan. They knew the Euro squad and would have had a contingency for injuries and suspensions.
Its a blow but we move on
 
December, that is a scunner. 13/14 league games plus group stages and a few rounds of the cups. Then he will need sharpness and fitness. Time for Connor Leon and Jack to step up and be counted every game. Well wishes for the big man.
 
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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Europe is my concern. Domestically I have no trouble in us going with the current options we have.

i think you are being pragmatic, but verging on being flippant when it comes to Helander. He makes Goldson a better player and our defence up against top level opposition for me is a better proposition than with the Goldson and Balogun pairing.

That being said I agree, none of what is happening should detract from Balogun being a more than capable deputy and a good player in his own right.

I just feel though we will miss Helanders impact on Goldson and consider him our best centre half. Goldson needs to get back to last seasons levels, maybe going with the same pairing most weeks will help continuity wise, who knows.
 
I think Helander is our best defender, but he is another player who seems to be very injury-prone.
We have a few key players of that ilk, unfortunately.
 
Prod Wallace said:
Europe is my concern. Domestically I have no trouble in us going with the current options we have.

i think you are being pragmatic, but verging on being flippant when it comes to Helander. He makes Goldson a better player and our defence up against top level opposition for me is a better proposition than with the Goldson and Balogun pairing.

That being said I agree, none of what is happening should detract from Balogun being a more than capable deputy and a good player in his own right.

I just feel though we will miss Helanders impact on Goldson and consider him our best centre half. Goldson needs to get back to last seasons levels, maybe going with the same pairing most weeks will help continuity wise, who knows.
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Im the opposite.

im worried about the league and how we are defending.

the europa league is a bonus, nothing else.

the only prize this season is the league and probable riches of the champions league that would bring.
 
LoganBear said:
Im the opposite.

im worried about the league and how we are defending.

the europa league is a bonus, nothing else.

the only prize this season is the league and probable riches of the champions league that would bring.
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Given Leon can’t play every and the type of player Simpson is ie a more technical guy should we play JS in EL games and have LB focus on domestics ?
 
LoganBear said:
Im the opposite.

im worried about the league and how we are defending.

the europa league is a bonus, nothing else.

the only prize this season is the league and probable riches of the champions league that would bring.
Click to expand...
I agree now we are in the Europa League group stages and guaranteed reasonable cash that the league is now the priority.

But both Balogun and Simpson are plenty good enough for the SPFL.

They will have the odd bad game but so did Fil. I love the big man but he had a pretty crap game against feckin MoH before getting injured.

Id be far more concerned if Goldson got injured.

Rember the match thread when Balogun started at RB against Celtic? Some had literally given up before kick off, it was tragic! He ended up playing brilliantly against their new wonder boy and was MOTM.

It’s a blow, but not a devastating one.
 
Bowery Boy said:
That poster doesn't have a clue.
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Says you? Who are you to make such an assertion? The forum is about opinions and mine is that Helander struggled against pace and trickery on Saturday as he has done in the past.

The evidence was pretty graphic as it was against Benfica, ffs Brophy and Dykes ran him ragged. Helander is a good back to goal defender so much so that the manager often plays Balogun in Europe for that very reason because we play a high line.
 
Craigie said:
No idea of the validity of this one but it is a route we will have to look at...
Screenshot-20210915-200839-Chrome.jpg


Ghanian CB who left Shakhter Karagrandy in the summer.


https://twitter.com/x/status/1438121473529548801
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He spent some of his formative footballing years at "Sporting St Mirren" FFS :D
 
Southpaws said:
Says you? Who are you to make such an assertion? The forum is about opinions and mine is that Helander struggled against pace and trickery on Saturday as he has done in the past.

The evidence was pretty graphic as it was against Benfica, ffs Brophy and Dykes ran him ragged. Helander is a good back to goal defender so much so that the manager often plays Balogun in Europe for that very reason because we play a high line.
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Have to agree with this opinion , well beaten at the goal and unfortunately his injury was an indirect result of being beaten for pace again.
 
Southpaws said:
Says you? Who are you to make such an assertion? The forum is about opinions and mine is that Helander struggled against pace and trickery on Saturday as he has done in the past.

The evidence was pretty graphic as it was against Benfica, ffs Brophy and Dykes ran him ragged. Helander is a good back to goal defender so much so that the manager often plays Balogun in Europe for that very reason because we play a high line.
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Says someone who has watched you talk nonsense about Helander since the day he walked in the door. The guff about Dykes simply underlines it.
 
Bowery Boy said:
Says someone who has watched you talk nonsense about Helander since the day he walked in the door. The guff about Dykes simply underlines it.
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Your opinion. Let’s agree not to correspond as you don’t have the manners to be civil or indeed the capacity to be objective…Helander was honking on Saturday!
 
The Redcoat said:
It would take free agent players about 3 months to get match fit and back firing on all cylinders anyway.
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I heard that said earlier too I’m not sure that’s the case tbh people looking for work will be keeping in good condition and if ur talking an experienced grade player they will be able to pick it up for Spfl level fairly quickly . Let’s say FH is out until January that would mean your getting the option of the player in for two months . Would that be key ?
this is all condiotional on the right player and personality being on the market .
 
Prod Wallace said:
Europe is my concern. Domestically I have no trouble in us going with the current options we have.

i think you are being pragmatic, but verging on being flippant when it comes to Helander. He makes Goldson a better player and our defence up against top level opposition for me is a better proposition than with the Goldson and Balogun pairing.

That being said I agree, none of what is happening should detract from Balogun being a more than capable deputy and a good player in his own right.

I just feel though we will miss Helanders impact on Goldson and consider him our best centre half. Goldson needs to get back to last seasons levels, maybe going with the same pairing most weeks will help continuity wise, who knows.
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I appreciate the common sense and reasonable approach to your post which is sadly lacking on this forum.

But it also sparks another issue.

Players getting credit for another players performance, that seems rife on here. Goldson is a good defender because he is a good defender. Helander doesn’t get any credit for Goldson’s performances. I remember in the past Goldson used to get credit for other player’s performances. Maybe the other player just is a good player and played well.
 
December actually not to bad considering the injury required an op , Gerrard has more faith in Simpson than me to keep him as one of the 4 and send Katic out on loan , happy to be proved wrong though
 
Southpaws said:
Says you? Who are you to make such an assertion? The forum is about opinions and mine is that Helander struggled against pace and trickery on Saturday as he has done in the past.

The evidence was pretty graphic as it was against Benfica, ffs Brophy and Dykes ran him ragged. Helander is a good back to goal defender so much so that the manager often plays Balogun in Europe for that very reason because we play a high line.
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It doesn’t matter that Helander struggles against Brophy because I like Helander, so I will ignore those 4 or 5 games where he has struggled against pace and pretend it doesn’t happen against shit footballers like Brophy and MoH. But I will remember until my deathbed the 2 games Balogun played badly in Europe and I will bring them up every day that I live, have them mentioned in my obituary and engraved on my tombstone.
 
HeyBert said:
December actually not to bad considering the injury required an op , Gerrard has more faith in Simpson than me to keep him as one of the 4 and send Katic out on loan , happy to be proved wrong though
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Agreed, December is certainly not the end of the world. I was expecting it to be longer.
 
Log in…. Read the OP

several hours later…. Don’t believe everything you read!

……fully prepared for helander to be missing for a number of months! Very vulnerable in terms of “strength in depth” in that dept now.
 
The only praise Simpson received from the support was the 4v1 victory over Celtic mainly due to the opposition and nature of the victory , he was poor that day to
 
BlueSevenTwo said:
Have to agree with this opinion , well beaten at the goal and unfortunately his injury was an indirect result of being beaten for pace again.
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Helander is an outstanding defender for Rangers.

If he was the player FF holds him up as, he wouldn’t be at Rangers.

His pace is an issue. As you highlight. But we pretend it isnt because, actually I don’t know why. We don’t pretend our other players weaknesses aren’t weaknesses, so I don’t get why we do it here…

Balogun is “rash“ and defends by attacking the ball. Sometimes it’s rash and it costs chances. Sometimes it stops attacks before they start.

Goldson has a mistake in him, not many, but he does and occasionally it hurts us

Helander is “slow” and no amount of “reading the game” makes up for the fact that fast players cause him problems occasionally. But the kind of guys who love xG and xP will not allow this perfectly valid criticism of his ability as a defender.

There is a reason Goldson and Balogun have often started our toughest games when all CBs are available.
 
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