Lyon game 'Dead rubber'?

Good strong showing tomorrow.

Change keeper, Lundstram, Davis, Roofe, Bacuna etc coming In for Alfie, Kamara, hagi, Arfield and Co...

Hertz is the priority.
 
Hahaha. Half the first team shouldn’t even be travelling to Lyon and increasing risk of Covid.

The biggest issue is probably at CB as Simpson can’t play and Balogun doesn’t seem to be fit yet so means it’ll probably just be the usual of Goldson and Bassey which isn’t ideal. I’d probably have preferred us to have played MacKinnon ahead of Goldson and given him European experience but can’t see it given he played for the B Team earlier in the week.
 
There's no competitive edge to the game and that can't be replicated.

GvB has already said there will be changes.
 
Couldn't give a flying f*ck, Sunday is far more important. Was actually a bit annoyed when I saw Tav getting on the plane, has the full first team travelled?
 
There is a difference in making 3/4/5 changes to the team rather than fielding a fringe XI.

Roofe will start & he will need the minutes to get back his sharpness.

Giving Lundstram a start would also be a good idea.

With Morelos & Sakala there is no point in risking them.
 
Gio said in his presser that he would rotate the squad for this game and give game time to some players who have missed out. I think this is the correct approach due to the amount of vital league games we play this month.
 
Of course we want to win tonight and we will certainly try to do so. But its not a 'massive game' ny any stretch of the imagination.
 
Registered for a ticket for tonight when the emails originally came out , as soon as we went through decided I wasn’t going, love my euro trips but the buzz wouldn’t be there as much for me with nothing to play for
 
This game is not exactly dead rubber though.

Wouldn't want us rotating any players either, you still get decent money and coefficient points for a win.

Anything that strengthens the leagues position for us going forward, i.e straight into UCL groups, for £40m

Is worth playing for.
 
Casper Kent said:
Hahaha. Half the first team shouldn’t even be travelling to Lyon and increasing risk of Covid.

The biggest issue is probably at CB as Simpson can’t play and Balogun doesn’t seem to be fit yet so means it’ll probably just be the usual of Goldson and Bassey which isn’t ideal. I’d probably have preferred us to have played MacKinnon ahead of Goldson and given him European experience but can’t see it given he played for the B Team earlier in the week.
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If any of the youth central defenders were to start it would more likely be Kyle McLelland mate.

Don't think that will happen though, as the difference in quality between our first team and B team central defenders is massive.
 
The most important element of tonights game is the fringe players stepping up.

If Roofe bags a brace or Lundstram has a man of the match performance it will give GVB massive issues going forward.

In this formation whether its 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 we need a goalscorer who scores the dirty goals and thats what Roofe has done this season. In this formation, a penalty box / clinical striker will get 30+ playing for us.
 
EndOfDays said:
I don't know if we will go so wholesale with the changes, Defoe possibly with Sakala and Morelos sitting out but I think we need to keep some more established players in there.

Don't want embarrassed.
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I've just been informed by another poster that Defoe is not in the European squad.
I agree with your point about getting embarrassed, but I think Ryan Jack needs game time and he is usually very solid defensively, so I don't think he would be too much of a risk.
 
Queens Club said:
I've just been informed by another poster that Defoe is not in the European squad.
I agree with your point about getting embarrassed, but I think Ryan Jack needs game time and he is usually very solid defensively, so I don't think he would be too much of a risk.
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Roofe on from the start then I guess.

I suppose Jack needs to get a start sometime so maybe he will play.
 
tottie beck said:
I’d rather keep our best 11 fresh for the weekend. Play the fringe players and let them show they’re worthy of a jersey
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Spot on.

No matter who plays it'll be a strong team but, certain players should be rested for Sunday.

Guys like Jack, Lundstram, Roofe, Wright, Patterson, Sakala should all be in the frame for a start/decent game time. They are hardly diddies that are going to embarrass us.
 
Even if Lyon field a team of reserves tonight, beating them would be a big ask anyway, possibly risking injury to key players. So it's just as well we have second spot in the bag. Take advantage of that by giving firnge players the experience.
Also, £500k for a win is all well and good, but £40m for a league win is the main focus.
We go to a venue on Sunday we've had a bad run of form at in recent times. 3 points is huge!
 
There are two tests for me before a player should play:
1. Is the player a yellow away from a suspension?

2. If we win but the player picked up an injury that means missing league games would it be a big issue?

If the answer to either is yes, the player shouldn't play.
 
aghalee_hero said:
Anyone wanting our full team played tonight with Hearts coming up on Sunday is mental, especially given its the Christmas fixture pile up.
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We boast of having a stronger squad then people want to play (virtually) the same XI every game.

Doesn't make sense
 
Beer Belly Loyal said:
This is a massive game, yes it is a 'dead rubber' of course it is regarding progress, but from a personal and every other Rangers fans point of view we'd want a strong team out playing on the park for this.

Hoping for GvB to send out his strongest team for the match with the idea of securing a good performance along with the 3 points, it may not be Lyon's cup of tea but it is very much ours, like every other game Rangers play in.

Beating Lyon on their home ground would be a good gauge on our progress further in the competition, other than the UEFA pay-outs it also offers important co-ef points for the club into the bargain.

Obviously we all want nothing but success and winning games at Rangers, this tie is no different, bottom line, we have to win it, food and drink for the club as always.

A victory in this 'dead rubber' will do nicely thank you.
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Practice and test for playing against a champions league level opponent.
 
We need to give game time to the fringe players and this game is the only game we have the luxury to do that.
We have a heavy fixture list of must win games coming up so at least use this one to give these lads the best chance of positively contributing in our upcoming league games because we'll need them at some point.
 
Beer Belly Loyal said:
This is a massive game, yes it is a 'dead rubber' of course it is regarding progress, but from a personal and every other Rangers fans point of view we'd want a strong team out playing on the park for this.

Hoping for GvB to send out his strongest team for the match with the idea of securing a good performance along with the 3 points, it may not be Lyon's cup of tea but it is very much ours, like every other game Rangers play in.

Beating Lyon on their home ground would be a good gauge on our progress further in the competition, other than the UEFA pay-outs it also offers important co-ef points for the club into the bargain.

Obviously we all want nothing but success and winning games at Rangers, this tie is no different, bottom line, we have to win it, food and drink for the club as always.

A victory in this 'dead rubber' will do nicely thank you.
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this game may be many things, but one thing it is not is massive.

beating a lyon team that already won the group and may play mostly fringe players would prove nothing. Getting beaten off them would prove nothing either.

yes I would like to win, but winning the league games is far more important
 
TN8 said:
Couldn't give a flying f*ck, Sunday is far more important. Was actually a bit annoyed when I saw Tav getting on the plane, has the full first team travelled?
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Why? What if Patterson starts and gets injured?

We cant just play a game with no right back after that.
 
It's a dead rubber. I couldn't care less about this game.

I regard tonight as a success if we can get minutes to players who need it, they stay fit and healthy and we get back to Glasgow COVID-free.
 
GovanFront4 said:
A lot of the same people wanting rotation and saying they don't care about the game will be screaming blue murder if we lose. It's always been the same.
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I like the brazen nature from some that a full strength side would apparently mean we beat Lyon, a team who made us look like a bunch of school children a few weeks ago.
 
TheMish said:
I like the brazen nature from some that a full strength side would apparently mean we beat Lyon, a team who made us look like a bunch of school children a few weeks ago.
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Thought we started that game pretty well, but two mistakes made and they capitalised on it. Felt they had quite a few gears to go up.
 
We are only playing for potentially £500k, there or there about?. Half of that if we draw.

Sunday is much more important. I'd rather we were refreshed for that. Other than Goldson/Bassey/Barisic, perhaps Kent (as he was rested at weekend). I expect rest of the team to be players in need of game time. The likes of Patterson, Lundstram, Jack, Wright, Roofe etc.
 
I’d have the ressies out. If Kamara/Morelos etc tore a hamstring in a match he didn’t need to play in it’d be especially awful.
 
I'm just happy to have a game where my heart wont be racing and i can hopefully relax a bit

I'd give 3 fringe players a chance...Patterson to start for sure and play a strong team

I'd rest Davis & Tav +1 and would like to see Wright and Lundstram start as these are 2 fringe players who have flirted with showing potential without setting the heather on fire hopefully at least one of them can make a strong first team case as we don't play them on important league games to show what they can do...
 
I couldn't disagree more, this is the rubberiest of dead rubbers. We have a far more important game on Sunday to look forward to. Whilst I don't want Rangers to lose ever, I want to see other players in the squad get a chance. No reason why a rotated Rangers side can't go and avoid defeat against what is likely a rotated Lyon side. Tonight could be the making of a squad player, grab your chance tonight and force yourself into the plans.
 
I'd rather rest players for Sunday whilst also getting a look at how some others for Gio's system.

McCrorie and Patterson would be two first names on my team sheet. The experience for McCrorie would be invaluable going forward and it's an ideal chmace to get him a game.
 
There aren’t many games for Rangers that aren’t “must win”. This is one. Squad rotation should be utilised with one eye on a huge fixture at the weekend. To do otherwise would just be reckless.

Doesn’t mean I won’t still be screaming at the telly later on hoping for a win. Once the game is over though I will be looking to Sunday.
 
Personally i would rather see mainly fringe players playing tonight ...

McLaughlin
Paterson
Jack
Lundstram
Bacuna
Wright
Roofe
Kelly

should all get game time - not sure what to do at centre back as we really don't have anyone so i assume Goldson will play with Bassey rested.

Sunday is where we need Kent / Aribo / Morelos etc to be firing.
 
I’ve taken Lyon in a 12 match accumulator that makes me £12k if it comes in. Never bet against us but they were 17/20 which felt was too good to not put in the line
 
MearnsUnionist said:
If any of the youth central defenders were to start it would more likely be Kyle McLelland mate.

Don't think that will happen though, as the difference in quality between our first team and B team central defenders is massive.
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Ah fair enough, my bad!

I don’t doubt that in terms of the difference in quality but what an experience it would be for them in a game that really just doesn’t matter in the grander scheme of things.

Yes, we’d all love to be here at FT tonight celebrating a win in Lyon but as long as we win on Sunday, tonight really doesn’t matter a jot.
 
Priorities are the league and to a much lesser extent the Europa league knockout stages. Winning the Scottish Cup would be good too, of course a win tonight would be good for confidence
 
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