How far behind are they?

We focus on ourselves. We leave them behind as we would leave a jobbie in the toilet.
too true, its all about what we do. we play like last season, they wont be able to live with us. we have a very strong squad, would still like us to add another CM and keep the current group and Im not worried about them.
 
I honestly don't think they are as far away as what people think they are. They were the better team overall in both games against Midgetland, they just couldn't seem to take their chances. I think the question that is being asked by the OP will change MASSIVELY if Rangers reach the Group Stages of the Champions League giving us enough money to run away with the league for a couple or a few seasons at least.


They were absolutely brutal all over the park against a very poor Danish side mate.

McGregor aside, not one single player in their side would even make our 22 man 1st team squad.

They think their midfield is strong, yet Soro and Turnbull were absolutely invisible against a very ordinary team.

They will strengthen enough to finish 2nd, but they'll still be miles behind us.
 
Not that far behind. Just remember how quickly the tables can turn. That’s why we can’t get complacent, need to keep improving.
They are that far behind though.

The people who are saying ‘they’re not far behind’ must be making the wrong assumption that our board and football operations staff are as amateur as theirs.
 
Sadly for them SG is far more Rodgers than Lennon: pragmatic, and with an understanding of the nature of SPL. Just win it, no hysteria. Rodgers did what he was paid to do, no frills. He won SPL games using a better squad than everyone else. SG shares that slightly unemotional approach; he's not going to implode in a welter of anger, tears and recriminations.
 
Just thinking there, how far behind do you think they are? I reckon they’re where we were about 2 years ago, NOW!
So where will they be at the end of the season when they need 13 players? Where we were 3/4 years ago?
it’s Gona take more than 1 or 2 transfer windows to even get up to a par IMHO!
1. tgey can’t afford it.
2. Loads of new personnel behind the scenes.
3. New manager.
4. Time for players to settle and gel
5. They’re only looking at doing it half arsed because they’ll probably keep the back room staff.
There are more reasons but I think they’re in for a massive shock.
Hopefully we keep going and kick on again next season.
They can have as many transfer windows as they. The problem is they have no money.
 
Just thinking there, how far behind do you think they are? I reckon they’re where we were about 2 years ago, NOW!
So where will they be at the end of the season when they need 13 players? Where we were 3/4 years ago?

Further to this, they need Rangers to take our foot off the gas and eye off the ball. They need us to be as complacent and sleep walk into the same mistakes as they have.

Every Celtic fan on the planet is praying for one of two things to happen; 1.) Gerrard leaving and us making a pigs ear of the replacement or 2.) another financial meltdown.

2 exists only in their heads as fantasy and everybody knows Gerrard won’t be around forever. I don’t think SG is leaving for anything but the Liverpool job, and I don't think that’s happening without plenty of notice and plenty of good faith prep done between club and gaffer first. That’s not going to be a situation that leaves Rangers in a Howe shaped hole for 4 months like it has them.

They need at least one to happen ON TOP of their own rebuild efforts which could be a 2-3 year process itself.
 
I honestly don't think they are as far away as what people think they are. They were the better team overall in both games against Midgetland, they just couldn't seem to take their chances. I think the question that is being asked by the OP will change MASSIVELY if Rangers reach the Group Stages of the Champions League giving us enough money to run away with the league for a couple or a few seasons at least.
Pish, they're at least two years behind as at the moment, they've employed a manager who is well out of his depth with a backroom staff who are already failures in the Scottish game. We, as a club and managemt team are far more professional than them, we're improving in all aspects as a club, so much so that aren't going to need substantial investment in the
team as well as a more professional outlook on the coaching staff. We are well ahead of them
 
I honestly don't think they are as far away as what people think they are. They were the better team overall in both games against Midgetland, they just couldn't seem to take their chances. I think the question that is being asked by the OP will change MASSIVELY if Rangers reach the Group Stages of the Champions League giving us enough money to run away with the league for a couple or a few seasons at least.
we are better than we were when we humped the danes

the Danes that beat celtic are MUCH worse than they were when we humped them
 
Nobody knows how far ahead we are and how quickly things should change. Think April 2018 when we lost 5 1 and 4 0, pre Gerrard. We were even further behind then than they are now.
My concerns are Gerrards replacement ( will we attract decent players) and our financial position. I worry that we may over commit financially.
 
Yes, but the moment before the bomb landed, the mayor of Nagasaki had remarked that the flowers outside his office were in spectacular bloom for that year.
At that exact moment was he wrong?
No!
And neither was I. ;)
I wasn’t laughing at you

Laughing at Timmy :))
 
List of necessary improvements just to match us:
1. Possibly their manager.
2. A DOF.
3. Probably the Nose & laptop carrier.
4. Probably McKay.
5. Euro performances.
6. A keeper.
7. 75% of their defence.
8. Edouard
9. Back-up for 6, 7 & 8. And probably midfield too.
10. Overweening, entitlement, delusion & arrogance.
If & when Charley the chimp jumps circus, they'll need to replace him too.
If they sort all of the above, next year we'll face a real challenge. Maybe
 
At the end of last season I honestly thought they'd be better this season but they actually look much worse. They have problems in every key area of the park, a manager who's already starting to buckle under the strain and two coaches in BJK and Strachan Jr who'll probably still be there in 10 years no matter how woeful they are.

Also once Edouard leaves and with Elyounussi already gone they will be down 28 league goals from seasons shambles of a side and be left with nonce Griffiths and Ajeti who's not played a full 90 minutes for them since signing. :eek:

They also seem determined to double down on Bain and Barkas rather then admitting defeat with these two donkeys and getting a half decent keeper in.

Flange will snap before we reach game 10 in the league and quit, last seasons meltdown could be tame compared to what happens in the next few months with them.
 
Has there been any talk re Christie? Ie are they trying to get him to sign a new contract or resigned to him leaving at Xmas?
 
Nobody knows how far ahead we are and how quickly things should change. Think April 2018 when we lost 5 1 and 4 0, pre Gerrard. We were even further behind then than they are now.
My concerns are Gerrards replacement ( will we attract decent players) and our financial position. I worry that we may over commit financially.
I think if we can qualify for the CL this year, and win the league this year guaranteeing CL for next year, we are all but sorted financially from here on out.

King made it clear the club would run at a loss to get to that point, but 2 years CL money would bring in what, £70-80M? There is no way we squander that the way Celtic have.

We were told it would take £100M for Rangers to catch Celtic. It’s completely changed. Celtic need £100M+ to catch us. Already spent £15M and they still need a GK, full defence, a couple midfielders and a couple of strikers. That’s not including subs and coaching staff.

I don’t think it can be underestimated just how much they’ve made an arse of the massive head start they had over us.
 
I think if we can qualify for the CL this year, and win the league this year guaranteeing CL for next year, we are all but sorted financially from here on out.

King made it clear the club would run at a loss to get to that point, but 2 years CL money would bring in what, £70-80M? There is no way we squander that the way Celtic have.

We were told it would take £100M for Rangers to catch Celtic. It’s completely changed. Celtic need £100M+ to catch us. Already spent £15M and they still need a GK, full defence, a couple midfielders and a couple of strikers. That’s not including subs and coaching staff.

I don’t think it can be underestimated just how much they’ve made an arse of the massive head start they had over us.
Let’s be honest, everyone of us seen this coming last season. The media are only just cottoning on now! Also some of their fans still don’t see it. This is the biggest rebuild since the stole all of the hibs players to get started!
 
I don't think you're ever necessarily more than a season or two ahead in this league, unless one of the teams gets close to every decision right and the other makes an arse of almost every decision. We all look back and laugh at their puppets in the media saying we needed to spend x number of millions to catch them and with that logic, the same will be the case for them trying to rope us in.

With all that being said, I fully expected them to have improved over the summer and if anything, they look like they've gone backwards. If we do our job we'll win this league at a canter and if we use the CL money wisely next year, we'll be in a brilliant position. If we get there this year, all the better.
 
Just thinking there, how far behind do you think they are? I reckon they’re where we were about 2 years ago, NOW!
So where will they be at the end of the season when they need 13 players? Where we were 3/4 years ago?
it’s Gona take more than 1 or 2 transfer windows to even get up to a par IMHO!
1. tgey can’t afford it.
2. Loads of new personnel behind the scenes.
3. New manager.
4. Time for players to settle and gel
5. They’re only looking at doing it half arsed because they’ll probably keep the back room staff.
There are more reasons but I think they’re in for a massive shock.
Hopefully we keep going and kick on again next season.
I remember asking myself that when they lost the first two games under Wim Jansen. We won our first two.

We then went on to throw away ten in a row....

Thats what apathy gets you I guess.
Just thinking there, how far behind do you think they are? I reckon they’re where we were about 2 years ago, NOW!
So where will they be at the end of the season when they need 13 players? Where we were 3/4 years ago?
it’s Gona take more than 1 or 2 transfer windows to even get up to a par IMHO!
1. tgey can’t afford it.
2. Loads of new personnel behind the scenes.
3. New manager.
4. Time for players to settle and gel
5. They’re only looking at doing it half arsed because they’ll probably keep the back room staff.
There are more reasons but I think they’re in for a massive shock.
Hopefully we keep going and kick on again next season.
The minute we start looking at how far they are behind us. They will begin to catch up. Just as we did with them..
 
While it it good to enjoy where we are just now, let's not get carried away. Adopting the attitudes that they had over the last 2 seasons will not serve us well
I dont think we are, we'll have plenty tough games over the season as well as a real challenge to get into champions or the Europa league, neither is a given

But just looking at their squad and style, they need to some big changes, and a lot can change before the window closes!
 
well the best thing is Gerrard, the coaches, players and the Board wont matter what or where they are, they concentrate on us

we can see as its still fresh with us, this is the start of their Pedro era.

i recall a Goldson interview at the start of last season and when asked about how the team were gelling so well - he said we have been training to play like his for 2 years.

it will take them (sooner that they think) to realise Ange aint the answer, however just like Pedro - there will be many expensive mistakes in there to pay off, get rid and only when they appoint a UK or European coach who knows what hes doing and starts to build his squad from the back etc etc - easily add in another 2 years.

in that time though I expect us to push on even more, our club from top to bottom is run correctly simple as that
 
We are miles ahead now but so were they a few years ago. They are a shining example of what can happen if complacency sets in.

Thankfully we are far too professional at all levels of the club to let that happen. If we can complete the transition to a fully sustainable player trading model, this really could be the start of an era of domination.
 
Further to this, they need Rangers to take our foot off the gas and eye off the ball. They need us to be as complacent and sleep walk into the same mistakes as they have.

Every Celtic fan on the planet is praying for one of two things to happen; 1.) Gerrard leaving and us making a pigs ear of the replacement or 2.) another financial meltdown.

2 exists only in their heads as fantasy and everybody knows Gerrard won’t be around forever. I don’t think SG is leaving for anything but the Liverpool job, and I don't think that’s happening without plenty of notice and plenty of good faith prep done between club and gaffer first. That’s not going to be a situation that leaves Rangers in a Howe shaped hole for 4 months like it has them.

They need at least one to happen ON TOP of their own rebuild efforts which could be a 2-3 year process itself.
I agree 100% with this...we keep our house in order & keep improving.

Ge55ard is going no where until Liverpool come calling.
 
The best thing about our club at the moment is they we have a young management team they have the ability to do really well . They were questioned when they arrived by the Scottish media , but they have answered all questions. We now have a squad of players
 
As others have said, we need to focus on ourselves. Constantly improving our team domestically and in Europe. Football can change quickly these days. All it takes is a couple of good transfer windows while your opponents stand pat.
 
Not sure if they could catch us before that lego shitehole collapses, Would be slim odds each way.
 
I can't believe how quickly the situations have turned around.

Look at where we were under Warburton / Pedro / Murty compared to them with Rodgers.

In the space of a couple of years it's a complete 180 and now they'd struggle to get any players on our bench never mind starting 11.

It does show that we can't become complacent though. Cycles change quickly in football.
 
As others have said, we need to focus on ourselves. Constantly improving our team domestically and in Europe. Football can change quickly these days. All it takes is a couple of good transfer windows while your opponents stand pat.
we aim for constant improvement in our european standards and the league will take care of itself, that was the tims downfall in part, they focused solely on domestic success, which in the grander scheme of things means little outside scotland, the true test of how good a team we are is europe, with teams mostly on a par with us in both financial and player quality terms more or less, beating teams in the league with only a fraction of the dough we have can only give you so much satisfaction
 
They need a goalkeeper, at least 2 full backs, another centre half, 3 centre midfielders, 2 strikers and they need ALL of them to hit the ground running straight away which almost never happens. This is all still needed after they've already spent £13 million this summer.

So aye, need at least 8 first team players ready to go immediately while we have 2, in some cases 3, quality players for every position.

Good times never felt so good B-D B-D B-D
 
The last couple of seasons show you how the power swing can change. At the moment i'd say they are a season away from us because they can improve and we can regress. Our strength in depth is our biggest asset right now.

I fully expect us to win the league this season and if we qualify for the CL group stages it'll be another successful season regardless if we drop out of the cups again.

56 and CL would make me a happy bear.
 
We have a board who invests in the club. They have a board who take money out of theirs.

Our board have a carefully worked out plan for improving the club in the short, medium and long term. Their board dithered for 8 months over sacking their previous manager and appointing a new one.

We have a proper structure in place for all footballing matters; recruitment, scouting, sports science, physiotherapy, coaching. They have iPaddy & a list of targets drawn up by someone who left months ago.

We have a young manager who has put much of the above in place in his time at the club and has achieved superb results in Europe. They have a 55 year old who has only managed in footballing backwaters and has a history of short term success and seemingly is unable to build anything long-lasting.

Our squad has 2 quality players for every position, with many of those players being assets who are increasing in value. They have lost most of the players who won their tainted trebles and, of those who remain, their values are plunging on a daily basis thanks to a combination of continuous poor form and contracts which are due to end.

Our club can rely on its fanbase to buy 40k+ season tickets, no matter what. They have a fanbase who will jump ship if this season goes badly. Also, our fanbase will gripe and moan if things go wrong but rarely protest. Their fanbase is already planning to take to the car park.

They have made a pigs ear of this season already. Even if they tear it up, start again and get it right next time (as we did with Gerrard), they are still at least 3 seasons away from providing any kind of challenge to us. The kind of hubris and complacency which marked TLB’s 2nd time in charge of them will simply not happen at Rangers as long as Gerrard is in charge.

The structural gap is huge. The managerial gap is huge. The playing gap is huge. The financial gap is closing and in 2 years’ time will be huge (in our favour).
 
well the best thing is Gerrard, the coaches, players and the Board wont matter what or where they are, they concentrate on us

we can see as its still fresh with us, this is the start of their Pedro era.

i recall a Goldson interview at the start of last season and when asked about how the team were gelling so well - he said we have been training to play like his for 2 years.

it will take them (sooner that they think) to realise Ange aint the answer, however just like Pedro - there will be many expensive mistakes in there to pay off, get rid and only when they appoint a UK or European coach who knows what hes doing and starts to build his squad from the back etc etc - easily add in another 2 years.

in that time though I expect us to push on even more, our club from top to bottom is run correctly simple as that
The scary thing about the difference in situations between now and our Pedro era is even though we were crap Celtic we’re ahead of us by a lot but they were slowly regressing . Our team today though still hasn’t found it’s full potential and is still getting better whilst they same to be getting worse .
 
They were absolutely brutal all over the park against a very poor Danish side mate.

McGregor aside, not one single player in their side would even make our 22 man 1st team squad.

They think their midfield is strong, yet Soro and Turnbull were absolutely invisible against a very ordinary team.

They will strengthen enough to finish 2nd, but they'll still be miles behind us.

I haven't seen them but i'm aware that they have been dominating possession in games. And that's keeping in mind you posted this before they were beaten by Hearts, when they again dominated possession and again lost.

Is the bulk of this possession passing around aimlessly in non threatening positions? Is it one of those situations where his plan might work if he had a Messi inspired Barcelona squad to deploy? But isn't going to work with what he has.

I think he may be discovering what it took even Gerrard around a season to discover. And that's how hard it can be to wear down the massed resistance of the SPL plodders.
 
As a club, it appears that we are aiming to become a Champions League regular (think Ajax, Porto, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk etc). We do this, then the rest takes care of itself. It'll be difficult but that appears to be what the club is aiming to do. We'll have poor seasons occasionally, both domestically and in Europe. Just as the clubs mentioned above do, but they'll be fewer and far between. Our board of directors have clearly realised that Europe has to be the main focus, if we are going to continue to evolve as a club.

They on the other hand, have always been incredibly arrogant and entitled with regards to this. Always played at being a Champions League club. They believe wholeheartedly that they belong there, simply by virtue of being who they are, but have seldom put the effort in to behaving or playing like one in the last decade or so. Winning it back 1967, doesn't mean you deserve to be there every year on name alone. They love to wax lyrically about 'magical' Parkhead European nights. Even bought special lighting to show off with. They've failed to qualify now for 4 seasons straight after having it installed.

When we came back into the league they became obsessed with rubbing our noses in it. They kicked the arse out of it at times to be honest. Despite being routinely humiliated in Europe, it didn't really register to them because they could laugh at or mock us. Well, they aren't laughing much nowadays. They threw everything into 'the ten'. In truth, the circumstances we went through, that made 'the ten' a possibility, damaged Scottish football overall, ruined the national coefficient and lead to them becoming complacent with regards to Europe. If they'd focused mostly on Europe, they would have in all likelihood, cruised to 'the ten' but they couldn't help themselves. They decided laying into us when were down and just about out, was more important, way more fun. In a perverse way, we should be thankfully that they did. Their obsession with our club, one that they claim is only '9 years old' killed their holy grail and has made them routinely a laughing stock in Europe.
 
As a club, it appears that we are aiming to become a Champions League regular (think Ajax, Porto, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk etc). We do this, then the rest takes care of itself. It'll be difficult but that appears to be what the club is aiming to do. We'll have poor seasons occasionally, both domestically and in Europe. Just as the clubs mentioned above do, but they'll be fewer and far between. Our board of directors have clearly realised that Europe has to be the main focus, if we are going to continue to evolve as a club.

They on the other hand, have always been incredibly arrogant and entitled with regards to this. Always played at being a Champions League club. They believe wholeheartedly that they belong there, simply by virtue of being who they are, but have seldom put the effort in to behaving or playing like one in the last decade or so. Winning it back 1967, doesn't mean you deserve to be there every year on name alone. They love to wax lyrically about 'magical' Parkhead European nights. Even bought special lighting to show off with. They've failed to qualify now for 4 seasons straight after having it installed.

When we came back into the league they became obsessed with rubbing our noses in it. They kicked the arse out of it at times to be honest. Despite being routinely humiliated in Europe, it didn't really register to them because they could laugh at or mock us. Well, they aren't laughing much nowadays. They threw everything into 'the ten'. In truth, the circumstances we went through, that made 'the ten' a possibility, damaged Scottish football overall, ruined the national coefficient and lead to them becoming complacent with regards to Europe. If they'd focused mostly on Europe, they would have in all likelihood, cruised to 'the ten' but they couldn't help themselves. They decided laying into us when were down and just about out, was more important, way more fun. In a perverse way, we should be thankfully that they did. Their obsession with our club, one that they claim is only '9 years old' killed their holy grail and has made them routinely a laughing stock in Europe.

Their whole being seems to be only trying to get one over us. Their twitter header alludes to that.
Last season really ruined them, even more so than the MoJo signing. It's going to take them a long time to recover from it, if at all. It's also cost them millions in merchandise sales, sponsor bonuses etc. They would have been dining on that for a long time had they won it.

We are streets ahead of them right now with our infrastructure, our management team, our squad and our stadium. They don't have an infrastructure, their management team is last years failures plus one, we could field two different teams and beat them with either and their stadium is in dire need of repair, it can't be facelifted anymore.

I'm seriously hoping we make the group stages of the CL to repay the board of directors who have put their money into the club but if we don't do it this season, we will win the league and have automatic entry next season, a benefit which we created due to our form in Europe and a benefit which we deserve due to this. I feel we'll do it this season though and leave them further behind.

As for the money they're "spending", I don't believe a single word that they're buying players for £4m and £5m, that will be the contract deal. This was proven recently when they said they had a £7m bid turned down for a player who later went for £4m. They are signing frees and £1m players. They are in seriously financial peril of that I'm sure but we'll wait and see what their financials say come the next accounts regarding that.
 
I remember asking myself that when they lost the first two games under Wim Jansen. We won our first two.

We then went on to throw away ten in a row....

Thats what apathy gets you I guess.

The minute we start looking at how far they are behind us. They will begin to catch up. Just as we did with them..
People always refer back to this, it entirely different. They didn’t require a rebuild and we don’t have an ageing team on its last legs. So yeah, don’t get too ahead of ourselves, we can’t, but also have faith we’re in a fabulous position.
 
I haven't seen them but i'm aware that they have been dominating possession in games. And that's keeping in mind you posted this before they were beaten by Hearts, when they again dominated possession and again lost.

Is the bulk of this possession passing around aimlessly in non threatening positions? Is it one of those situations where his plan might work if he had a Messi inspired Barcelona squad to deploy? But isn't going to work with what he has.

I think he may be discovering what it took even Gerrard around a season to discover. And that's how hard it can be to wear down the massed resistance of the SPL plodders.


The way their manager is wanting them to play means they have a lot of irrelevant possession when the ball is going back and forward between their central defenders, Soro and the goalkeeper.

Their support are now realising that Turnbull and Soro don't have the athleticism or ability to play his fast pressing, two touch football.
They take too many touches on the ball and Turnbull simply can't maintain the tempo needed, while Soro constantly gives away needless fouls, often in dangerous areas.

McGregor is the only quality midfielder they have and their support are now realising that.

Your summary is bang on.
 
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As a club, it appears that we are aiming to become a Champions League regular (think Ajax, Porto, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk etc). We do this, then the rest takes care of itself. It'll be difficult but that appears to be what the club is aiming to do. We'll have poor seasons occasionally, both domestically and in Europe. Just as the clubs mentioned above do, but they'll be fewer and far between. Our board of directors have clearly realised that Europe has to be the main focus, if we are going to continue to evolve as a club.

That's currently the way I see it, and why I believe they would indeed shell out a Kent like sum of money on Veerman who Gerrard would appear to have on a wish list. As it stands Europe is the only way for any Scottish club to make any substantial sum of money. And especially so Champions League.

I'm hoping we make it this time for multiple reasons. Firstly if we make it this time I think we're more likely to keep Gerrard longer. Though in saying that I fully expect Gerrard to see out his contract which runs till 2024. Unless Klopp leaves Liverpool before that.

If we can make it this time it will be the platform to become an ever present but I think Gerrard is crucial to that. He's the only indispensable on the team. Being an ever present is something Gerrard has actually mentioned was his base ambition for Rangers.

If he can create that situation before he goes we would then be in a stronger position to bring in a better quality of manager than we could have before Gerrard. And also in a stronger position to attract quality players.

How many players are there in that Rangers squad who wouldn't be there if Gerrard hadn't been there? I would guess a lot and some of them A list. We need to be able to attract such talent when the allure and glamour of Gerrard isn't around anymore.
 
There 3 points behind thats how far its that arrogance that contributed to there downfall never take anything for granted we just need to keep improving and we will be ok
 
I remember asking myself that when they lost the first two games under Wim Jansen. We won our first two.

We then went on to throw away ten in a row....

Thats what apathy gets you I guess.

The minute we start looking at how far they are behind us. They will begin to catch up. Just as we did with them..
Luckily for us we have two men in Gerrard and Wilson that won't like that happen always looking to improve always looking to be better that's the attitude that will make us a small spec In the distance to them
 
We should learn from their mistakes. The goal needs to be to continue to intelligently invest in the squad each year to bring us to the level of a consistent CL Group stage squad while at the same time not spending out with our means.

If we can do this 3/5 times over the next 5 years we will be in a good place & I believe this is realistic with the foundations we have at the moment.
 
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