How Do Clement and Koppen Turn The Playing Squad Around?

Hooty

Hooty

Well-Known Member
Looking to the future, how in the %^*& does our Manager turn this squad around given the lack of resources at his disposal?

I’m struggling to see a way in which we get the required quantity of quality players in place that will actually start winning league titles.

All of sudden, getting rid of drek like Scott Wright is the least of our problems. It’s the players that have revelled in domestic failure for years now, and they’ve been joined in the last 2 years by players that have no idea what it takes to win a league.

So what is our solution and how do we get out of this mess?
 
Hooty said:
Looking to the future, how in the %^*& does our Manager turn this squad around given the lack of resources at his disposal?

I’m struggling to see a way in which we get the required quantity of quality players in place that will actually start winning league titles.

All of sudden, getting rid of drek like Scott Wright is the least of our problems. It’s the players that have revelled in domestic failure for years now, and they’ve been joined in the last 2 years by players that have no idea what it takes to win a league.

So what is our solution and how do we get out of this mess?
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Let's be honest who is going to take tav and goldson on roughly 60k+ ?

It's going to be really difficult to get rid of them however if we see either in the line up come the first game we are fu©ked before we even start.May aswell hand the other lot a 55th league title now!

A clear out of the old guard is needed, no mater how difficult it is...
 
It needs a change of personnel and mentality. Walter always talked about players having a good pedigree. Players who worked hard, weren't intimated, not bullied and wanted to win. We don't have that and it shows. Sterling is the only one who shows that kind of mentality.
 
Let all expiring contracts run out. Not one of them should be retained.

Do the absolute best to get buyers for Goldson and Tavernier. They are done.

Look to more creative markets than previous regimes. Diomande, Cortes and the Jefte links suggest we're already doing this under Koppen.

Try and bring in a young Scottish contingent. Lewis Ferguson before he goes to Serie A. There are players in this league we could bring in, improve, and get plenty of joy out of on the park and on the balance sheet down the road.

Sadly, whatever we do costs money and that has to come from somewhere. Do you sell Butland, Ridvan? We should be opening up a significant amount of salary expenditure with expiring deals, so that's a positive at least.

I fear we'll bring in 3-4 players and keep the majority of this squad because we don't have the money, or ambition, to do anything more.
 
Goldson is on almost £2m per annum good luck trying to find someone to take his wages on especially as he’s approaching 32 years old.

Someone like Ben Davies is getting paid £1.4m per year to be spectacular I doubt he’s moving anywhere soon.

Same goes for about half a dozen others.
 
It's the biggest question facing the club.

I think we need to focus on quality over quantity and operate with a significantly reduced size of squad. The squad can be supplemented by players from the youth academy. Even if they're not ready, I'd rather have a Rice as back-up than say a Kieran Dowell on 20k a week.

We need to release every one of the OOC players and get as many of the high wage earners (Goldson, Matondo, Davies, Lawrence etc.) out of the club as possible - even if we need to subsidise their wages for a period.

A competent football operation would also be able to bring in transfer fees for the likes of Dessers, Lammers, and Hagi.
 
He just needs to be ruthless. I said the other day just Get rid of all OOC and loan players, sell Butland, Tav, Goldson, Davies, Lawrence, Dowell, Cifuentes, Lammers, Dessers, Cantwell, Raskin, Matondo. Wright, we might get very little on some or even losses but some were free’s so even a million pound a player is something, although I’d hope we’d get nearer £10 mil for Butland and maybe our money back on Dessers/lammers/cifuentes. Even if we don’t sell them, tell them they are fringe players and won’t be near first 11.

Play McRorie as No1, Sterling and Devine as RBs, Souttar as RCH, New LCH, Yilmaz and Fraser as LBs, Diamonde a new Attacking midfielder, perhaps 2. Bailey-Rice, McKinnon, King as back ups, McAusland, Cortez and Sima and Danilo as forwards, buy Shankland and Miovski if we can get him. And hopefully Koppen can source some gems from any remaining cash.

But we also need to adopt a faster, more aggressive style. Fast football, more energetic players. 1 touch rather than 2. Shoot on sight, get to byline more and cut backs, I’d even try going 3-5-2 to load middle to front. 433 with our slow players leaves big gaps between our team.

just want Clement to be ruthless.
 
Balogun, Barisic, Jack, Lundstram, McLaughlin, Roofe - out of contract, gone. Decent amount of wages saved.

Davies - you'd hope we'd find a buyer in England. He's had 5 seasons as a regular in the Championship down there. You've got to think a club has the money to match his wages and pay a fee. He's in his "prime"...

Goldson - difficult to shift on his reported wages but definitely worth exploring. He's Championship level and his CV, as it were, would be quite impressive to some.

Cifuentes, Dowell, Lawrence, Raskin - you'd hope to get a fee and get them off the wage bill. There's ability in there with each of them but they don't have the mentality to take us forward so they've got to go. Dowell and Lawrence have spent years playing in the Championship (Dowell even had a season in the Premier League!) so you'd think there would be some interest there.

Dessers, Lammers, Matondo, Wright - anything we can get for these guys to get them off the wage bill and far away from a Rangers teamsheet. No lack of effort on the part of Dessers or Wright, but there's a lack of ability. As for Matondo, great pace, a good strike in his locker but he's very limited and his reported wages need to be available for better players. Lammers, technically good, heart of a mouse but performance on loan should net us a fee.

So, 6 definitely out the door to free up wages. A further 10 to try to punt for fees where possible and to get them off the wage bill.
 
We need to shed plenty and he needs to figure out who has the heart and the tank to win a league for us. I think think we do have 6-7 players that will be up right up for it. Probably only a few of them on the pitch tonight. Recruitment is going to have to be spot on if we want to challenge next season.
 
Fr-Bear said:
He just needs to be ruthless. I said the other day just Get rid of all OOC and loan players, sell Butland, Tav, Goldson, Davies, Lawrence, Dowell, Cifuentes, Lammers, Dessers, Cantwell, Raskin, Matondo. Wright, we might get very little on some or even losses but some were free’s so even a million pound a player is something, although I’d hope we’d get nearer £10 mil for Butland and maybe our money back on Dessers/lammers/cifuentes. Even if we don’t sell them, tell them they are fringe players and won’t be near first 11.

Play McRorie as No1, Sterling and Devine as RBs, Souttar as RCH, New LCH, Yilmaz and Fraser as LBs, Diamonde a new Attacking midfielder, perhaps 2. Bailey-Rice, McKinnon, King as back ups, McAusland, Cortez and Sima and Danilo as forwards, buy Shankland and Miovski if we can get him. And hopefully Koppen can source some gems from any remaining cash.

But we also need to adopt a faster, more aggressive style. Fast football, more energetic players. 1 touch rather than 2. Shoot on sight, get to byline more and cut backs, I’d even try going 3-5-2 to load middle to front. 433 with our slow players leaves big gaps between our team.

just want Clement to be ruthless.
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Agree with a lot of that...butKing and Mascauland are not near good enogh either in my opinion
 
He’s going to have to put another plaster on this squad until the end of the season.
The one he put on when he first came is coming off.
We all know this squad has came to its sell by date, but I really hope his recruitment in the summer can hit the ground running.
 
Don't see much value in the squad to clear dead wood. Most of the players we want away people won't pay decent money for and we already have them at the top of their likely wage profile.

Same situation we've been in for over a decade now in different forms, but all comes back to failure in recruitment and getting the best value for players at the right time.
 
Veron said:
Balogun, Barisic, Jack, Lundstram, McLaughlin, Roofe - out of contract, gone. Decent amount of wages saved.

Davies - you'd hope we'd find a buyer in England. He's had 5 seasons as a regular in the Championship down there. You've got to think a club has the money to match his wages and pay a fee. He's in his "prime"...

Goldson - difficult to shift on his reported wages but definitely worth exploring. He's Championship level and his CV, as it were, would be quite impressive to some.

Cifuentes, Dowell, Lawrence, Raskin - you'd hope to get a fee and get them off the wage bill. There's ability in there with each of them but they don't have the mentality to take us forward so they've got to go. Dowell and Lawrence have spent years playing in the Championship (Dowell even had a season in the Premier League!) so you'd think there would be some interest there.

Dessers, Lammers, Matondo, Wright - anything we can get for these guys to get them off the wage bill and far away from a Rangers teamsheet. No lack of effort on the part of Dessers or Wright, but there's a lack of ability. As for Matondo, great pace, a good strike in his locker but he's very limited and his reported wages need to be available for better players. Lammers, technically good, heart of a mouse but performance on loan should net us a fee.

So, 6 definitely out the door to free up wages. A further 10 to try to punt for fees where possible and to get them off the wage bill.
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Hopefully get £10M for Tav from Saudi. Everything else, agreed 100%
 
Gauche. said:
He is working with a squad no one else wants, who are also on contracts they would not get anywhere else.
No one is taking Scott Wright,Dessers, Matondo or Goldson and Davies off our hands.
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We can maybe sell them but we definitely won't be making any profits on any of them.
 
We better hope somebody comes in for:
Butland
Matondo
Hagi
Raskin
Lammers

That should net between £15-20 million. If we add £10 million net spend to that then we should have enough to add 5 or 6 genuine 1st team players.
 
Spine of the team to begin with - keeper (assuming Butland is sold), doninant CB to play with Souttar, top class midfielder who can control a game, top class striker who can finish - I’d rather spend on quality rather than quantity….we might end up with a relatively small squad, but we need to start utilising the “B” team….or replace them if they are not good enough - this might mean some players who should be going survive - but we can’t do it all at once due to financial restrictions
 
gazzgg said:
Agree with a lot of that...butKing and Mascauland are not near good enogh either in my opinion
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You’re probably right, although I felt McAusland did ok when he came on tonight. He did drive at their defense which is better than what was happing earlier in match. King maybe didn’t have a great spell at CH before, but again felt he showed some promise.

The thing is tho, is they are Rangers reared youth, so it should matter more to them, and they are cheaper too. Lawrence, Dowell etc are probably on way much more.

And mostly I’d rather take a chance with cheaper Rangers youngsters than the English Championship players we pick up.

I mentioned in another thread, we should also go for best young Scottish players too. McCowan for them tonight looked better than all our mids tonight. Players like him, Watson from Killie, the lad from Motherwell.

Most of this is just cause I think we need to breakup the team and this cycle of capitulations
 
I think key changes in key positions is more important than numbers to begin with. A proper left footed centre back for balance, a proper centre mid, a proper right sided winger/forward and a proper striker. Get that sorted early and start filling gaps as we move players on. No OOC players should be offered new contracts either and hopefully we can utilise the Bosman market sensibly.
 
They buy the best Scottish talent and have a nucleus of players who know what playing for Rangers is all about.

And get a nasty bastard in as Captain. Someone not afraid to bare their teeth at under performing players .

Can you imagine Barry playing with this lot? He’d be on the verge of spontaneous combustion!
 
The rebuild required is beyond our resources. Only one player that would demand a significant fee and he’s about the only one we can’t afford to lose.

Tav - not going to jump on the bandwagon however his time is up.
Devine - possibly worthy of a chance.
Sterling - build the team around him!
Barisic - Gone
Yilmaz - keep
Yfeko - no idea!
Goldson - time is up
Balogun - Gone
Davies - time is up
Souttar - with the right partner an asset
King - won’t ever be a first pick

Lundstram - should be gone
Diomande - keep however fee will be a chunk of our, currently, available spend.
Raskin - clearly not fancied, take what we can get.
Dowell - not good enough
Lawrence - might show better in a better team
Jack - gone
Cantwell - our best player on a good day but flatters to deceive more often than not and might command a reasonable fee.
Hagi - might be worth a chance but more than likely away

Roofe - gone
Dessers - sold at a loss!
Lammers - might get our money back
McAusland - keep
Matondo - squad player
Wright - the party’s over!
Danilo - keep but needs to improve to be a first pick
Cortes - keep but again fee will be impactful on our budget as things stand
Sima - probably too expensive
Silva - back you go son

Of our other young players who’ve had game time, I haven’t seen enough to say, however nobody looks a regular starter yet.

Like I said beyond our resources.

And here’s the thing. Speaking personally I’ve just committed to £43 per home league game for next season, which with Europe, domestic cups etc. will be well over a grand and I’m very close to the stage where I’m not willing to make the emotional investment to feel burst more often than not.
 
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sofa_kineazy said:
They buy the best Scottish talent and have a nucleus of players who know what playing for Rangers is all about.

And get a nasty bastard in as Captain. Someone not afraid to bare their teeth at under performing players .

Can you imagine Barry playing with this lot? He’d be on the verge of spontaneous combustion!
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Most of that squad would burst into tears with that kind of captain.
 
Boro_gers07 said:
Let's be honest who is going to take tav and goldson on roughly 60k+ ?

It's going to be really difficult to get rid of them however if we see either in the line up come the first game we are fu©ked before we even start.May aswell hand the other lot a 55th league title now!

A clear out of the old guard is needed, no mater how difficult it is...
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Both Tav and Goldson need moved on, I think most would agree, but if nobody wants to take them off our hands then even if Clement made the bold decision to appoint a new club captain and drop both players, they’ll still be stinking around the squad and that threatens to create disharmony and divisions.

And that’s assuming Clement even sees both players as the biggest part of our problems.
The signs would suggest otherwise.

The situation he’s in in terms of the clear out needed to make this work moving forward is far from as easy as it may look, IMO.
 
Slightly worried if they think Fabio Silva was the answer. Shankland was a must

Said it when he signed Silva is not a striker. What does he have 2 goals? Shocking our recruitment is a shambles and tbh don't see it changing without CL money. Catching them will be even more difficult with the rebuild required AGAIN
 
In my view they don’t.
Posted a lot that we need radical new owners I joked “Red Bull Rangers” not so funny now. Need to clear out players and question this manager also bizarre team selections even more bizarre substitutions so is he the right man? Personally I have my doubts but maybe he deserves a chance to get players in and out.
Then we need to address the stadium capacity in a meaningful way and there are a lot of other infrastructure issues around the stadium.
The current owners may be well meaning “Rangers men” but to operate in modern football we need far more money. As it stands we are fast becoming Hearts with a bigger stadium and support and that IS NOT The Rangers.
 
The only way it happens is with a Saudi backer. It's never going to happen. We are going to be delt with english championship duds again and we will finish 2nd again.
 
Without stating the obvious the team is and has been stagnant for to long. It needs drained somehow in the summer. That’s where this so called magic stick will be needed.
It’s always the manager that walks before the 3 Amigos. It needs to be a brave decision to move them on by whatever means.
 
londonbluenose said:
Slightly worried if they think Fabio Silva was the answer. Shankland was a must

Said it when he signed Silva is not a striker. What does he have 2 goals? Shocking our recruitment is a shambles and tbh don't see it changing without CL money. Catching them will be even more difficult with the rebuild required AGAIN
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Shankland makes no difference last night mate, we created very little.
 
Cooper's left peg said:
I'm praying that Stevie G comes in with some Saudi mental millions for some of our players.
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Why would he want any of our dross?

We are stuck with them and will head into another season with Tavernier, Goldson, Lundstram and co.

I don’t know how the manager can even contemplate offering Lundstram a new deal.
 
CaptainCourageous said:
Why would he want any of our dross?

We are stuck with them and will head into another season with Tavernier, Goldson, Lundstram and co.

I don’t know how the manager can even contemplate offering Lundstram a new deal.
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I know. Not going to happen unfortunately but i am trying to convince myself that he'll take a Tav or a Goldson for a big pay day in the sun.

I've made it clear on my thoughts on Lundstram for a while. If Clement gives him a new deal, I'm done with Clement.
 
At least you ar asking the question, but the responses are going to be sensationalist nonsense at the moment.
 
For us to get rid of players in contract they have a choice so most wouldn’t want to leave unless their wages were matched, Tav and Goldson ain’t good enough for teams who can pay 30-40k in wages, There’s probly 25 right backs alone in the prem better than Tav, It would need to be a Saudi move but even that’s unlikely
 
The usual suspects can stick around as squad options if they cant be sold for decent enough money, its the total lack of depth thats the issue, we lose one player in each position and the whole squad suffers, the drop off in form of these players means they should be swapped out but we have nothing available to swap to, lundstram needs to play every bloody game because jacks injured and raskin hasnt kicked a ball all season, yilmaz drops out, borna is a joke and sterling nulified on the left.

Up front is a riot, Sima has had to play off the right because wee mcausland had prettt bad burn out, cortes out and we stuck with Silva being asked to play as a winger.

Goldson should have been dropped last night but Balogun comes down with a sickness bug and Davies is a man down.

Tav needs dropped and rested but we cant because sterling needs to play left back.

We can carry one or two off form unfit players and make changes at half time and get away with it like we have done but when its half the team its just too many.
 
It’s easy enough to say don’t renew any of the out of contract players, then sell the rest.

Fact is we have a big problem in the way contracts were given out over the past few season; particularly the length and value of them.

Not including those currently out on loan, we will have 20 senior players under contract at the end of this season. I believe only 2 of them will be in their final year. Now we might be able to find a club willing to offer comparable wages and suitable transfer fee for 5 or 6 of those, but even still it will mean the majority of our squad next season will be made up of players currently here.

The huge challenge for Koppen and Clement is to use every available penny to ensure that very few of those remaining are playing a prominent role in the team next season, and that is going to mean signing 7 or 8 for the starting 11.

How they do that on an uncertain budget which will be reliant on player sales I don’t know, it’s a real worry. We’ve lost out on some cracking players over the past 5 years due to not having the funds to make it work, we can’t have another summer like that. Investors will have to dig deep and the recruitment team will have to get every signing spot on as well as get as much cash as possible from existing player sales
 
1) focus on getting as many players off the wage bill. Transfer fees would be great but the loser mentality is like a virus that we have to get rid of asap.
2) sign some unfashionable mentality monsters. Shankland being one. Yea others might do fancy flicks and step overs but we need someone who will score from 3 yards out against Ross Country.
3) Play players with high energy. It’s not a coincidence that we have dropped off without Ridvan, Sterling further forward and even McCausland who at least runs around in an attempt to make things happen.
 
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