Match Thread Motherwell v Rangers - 12:15 Sunday - Bt Sport

Ejaria cleared it, went out for a Motherwell throw in their own half. They took it short unchallenged and lobbed it all the way to our back post which led to the corner. We were far far far too deep.
 
The last half hour was torture to watch,sat far too deep,should have pushed the defence up the pitch,lafferty was excellent, morelos also had a great game,defence was poor.
 
If Motherwell played like that every week they'd be pushing for Europe.

As it is they'll probably be back to playing shite and getting beat next week off Dundee.

I wonder if their fans ever get annoyed - days like today show what they're capable of when they try their hardest - and then next week they'll be back to half assing it and looking turgid.

If I was a Motherwell fan (heaven forbid) I'd get very pissed off with that but these orcs don't seem to care. As long as they get a result against us every once in a blood moon then who gives a feck seems to be their mentality. So small time.

I doubt there's a more thuggish lot in the league. They're like a bargain basement version of O'Neill's mentally challenged team.

Just pure hammerthrowers from Hartley to Main. The constant elbows, the shoves in the back, the grabs of the shirts. The look of disbelief on Curtis Main's face the few times the referee blows up to give a foul against his thuggery.

Finishing the game with Main, Sammon and Bowman upfront in their absolute desperation to take something off us - when every other week against their fellow diddies they're not bothered their arse.

Their small town, inbred looking fans up off their seats, their ugly faces contorted in anger and poison as they hurled abuse at the nearest Rangers player every time the ball went out for a throw.

What a horrible lot.
 
Bad day at the office. Yes Tav lost his man twice, but we should rewind further to see where those goals came from rather than just the last act - I'd suggest the awkward nature of our positioning in a 3-5-2 meant the team weren't set up to defend properly most of the day. Outstanding shift from Lafferty in the first half in particular. Usual 100% from Morelos. Ejaria looks better and better.

Not diminishing how sore that one was today, but we win and lose as a team, including the manager and coaching staff. Pointing out Tav lets the others off.

One thing I'm sure of, we have a manager and coaches who will learn from that today.
By a week today we still have the possibility to have gone 13 games unbeaten, be in the EL group stages and ahead of the bog-trotters in the SPFL.
 
I don't understand how we couldn't keep a hold of the ball for the final few minutes, just keep possession and see it out.

Seemed we were just giving the ball back and allowing wave after wave of attack.
 
I cant help but feel it was better to get a bad performance out the way before the next two games, if we play like that next Sunday it will not be pretty.

Its a tough one to take but hopefully we learn, there's still 105 points to play for here...
 
It was the manner of how we allowed them onto us that annoyed me, just shelling the ball out each time rather than holding on to it & playing through them.
Seemed naive. Also really pissed off that we didn't fight them back more in the 2nd half. Elbows & shoves are all this team have & we didn't have enough to beat them.
 
Apart from Goldson not wearing the correct footwear for the conditions, he looked absolutely lost playing in a back three. He looked so uncomfortable being dragged out into wider positions (most centre backs are). I really hope we don't go with that formation against Celtic because I honestly believe their midfield & attackers will batter us if we do.

Judging from Gerrard's comments afterwards though, I think we'll be sticking with it.

Wee bit of perspective though...if it hadn't been for a slip in the first half, we would've still won that and we were miles from playing our best.
 
Poor display. First goal Goldson slips & Flanagan is too far away if we're playing back three. Second an utter farce. Tav seems to be culpable but it was really bad defending. As has been said third goal was coming. Defending too deep against a forward line with zero pace. As good as Greegs has been he was nowhere at the corner.
we got exactly what we deserved.

...and Tav had three assists last week!
 
Gaffer needs to accept responsibility for that. Change in formation and we looked completely lost, particularly at the back. Out of Goldson and Katic I would have thought Katic would have been the one who would struggle in a 3 but it was Goldson. Looked completely uncomfortable.

Thought the midfield played well, at least in the first half anyway. Lafferty and Morelos likewise.

A lot of bears won’t admit it, but losing Halliday probably cost us.

We move on.
 
Motherwell had 85% possession in the last 30 according to SSN. Shows it is not just the defence at fault today
 
playing 3-5-2 you really should have more of the ball,but in the second half we couldn't keep the ball for any length of time
their first goal was bad luck with Goldson slipping,but it seemed to affect him for the rest of the game
2nd goal was piss poor marking,and the 3rd I think Shagger should really be dealing with that,its in his area ffs
the amount of crosses we let them get in the box is a worry,and im not sure why Barasic was subbed,was he injured because I thought he was doing ok.
think young Middleton substitute was a mistake,in a physical game like that he wasn't what was needed,Candais should have come on,he doesn't shirk his defensive duties
again I thought we played a bit too many long balls,sat too deep,seemed to miss the midfield out the second half
that's two games we have been winning in the last minute and cant see it out,another worry,its early season yet,so no major harm done,but we have to start addressing the obvious
 
That third goal only gets worse over time. How does their player score at the back post through a crowded six-yard box, at this level?
 
They’re just saying Motherwell had 85% possession in that second half. 85% for a team of hammer throwers. That is terrible for Gerrard to allow that to happen. There were big issues that had to be addressed and they weren’t. If the scum get a result today, the pressure of coming away with points at the glitter dome is immense.
We have to take something from the Brendanbau next weekend. We need to.
 
playing 3-5-2 you really should have more of the ball,but in the second half we couldn't keep the ball for any length of time
their first goal was bad luck with Goldson slipping,but it seemed to affect him for the rest of the game
2nd goal was piss poor marking,and the 3rd I think Shagger should really be dealing with that,its in his area ffs
the amount of crosses we let them get in the box is a worry,and im not sure why Barasic was subbed,was he injured because I thought he was doing ok.
think young Middleton substitute was a mistake,in a physical game like that he wasn't what was needed,Candais should have come on,he doesn't shirk his defensive duties
again I thought we played a bit too many long balls,sat too deep,seemed to miss the midfield out the second half
that's two games we have been winning in the last minute and cant see it out,another worry,its early season yet,so no major harm done,but we have to start addressing the obvious
Barisic looked hurt when he cane off. Maybe a precaution with thursday in mind. By god can that guy pass a ball. Great signing
 
he cant play on Thursday,cup-tied,that's why I asked why he came off ?
Couple of reasons why he came off I think. He appeared to be stretching his legs as he walked off. Maybe cramp or a minor niggle? Also, and to a lesser extent (because I think you can trust this boy not to do anything stupid), he was on a yellow.
 
I just canny get ma heid around all the high ball stuff, it was like going back to the pre-Warburton days. Big boots up the park is not going to get us anywhere. It surely is not a SG tactic is it ?
 
McGregor/Katic/Goldson and Flanagan were completely bypassing the midfield with the long balls up the park.

That works as a change of tactic every now and then. But not continually.

McCoist predicted it on the commentary. He could see how deep we were sitting.

I highly doubt we would have been doing that if it was just Morelos up front (not s knck on Lafferty btw)
 
We drew 5-5 with the HIV’s now 3-3 with Murder well.

A bit harsh but right after the game my mate said we’ve learned nothing and not improved. In my view harsh but been thinking about his comments ever since.

What do FF think?
 
We drew 5-5 with the HIV’s now 3-3 with Murder well.

A bit harsh but right after the game my mate said we’ve learned nothing and not improved. In my view harsh but been thinking about his comments ever since.

What do FF think?

Have to admit, i was thinking of the hivs game when watching it.

There’s no doubt we’re better defensively though imo
 
Not saying anything I haven't already said. The hype about a totally untested (until yesterday) Connor Goldson has been way over the top. He has still to prove that he is the real deal. Also as long as James Tavernier is part of our defence we will leak unnecessary goals.
Have we improved.? Undoubtedly.
Do we need to improve more to challenge for the title? Definitely
 
Lessons should have been learnt from the first half and the formation changed accordingly for the second. 3-5-2 was clearly an experiment, and one that had positives and a lot of negatives. Lafferty, Morelos and Barisic together with Ejaria seemed to thrive in it. The defence were at sixes and sevens whilst the midfield were literally 'caught in the middle' in two minds what to do. Add in the fact of tired legs already (I know, it is early in the season, but it looked more like tired minds than bodies), a wet, slippery surface and we were all set for a pantomime. I thought we would hang-on, but we should have reverted to a back four and brought on Arfield earlier. Easier said than done. The key to all this was not the defence, nor the forwards, but the midfield losing control and backing off. There lies the real problem.
 
If Motherwell played like that every week they'd be pushing for Europe.

As it is they'll probably be back to playing shite and getting beat next week off Dundee.

I wonder if their fans ever get annoyed - days like today show what they're capable of when they try their hardest - and then next week they'll be back to half assing it and looking turgid.

If I was a Motherwell fan (heaven forbid) I'd get very pissed off with that but these orcs don't seem to care. As long as they get a result against us every once in a blood moon then who gives a feck seems to be their mentality. So small time.

I doubt there's a more thuggish lot in the league. They're like a bargain basement version of O'Neill's mentally challenged team.

Just pure hammerthrowers from Hartley to Main. The constant elbows, the shoves in the back, the grabs of the shirts. The look of disbelief on Curtis Main's face the few times the referee blows up to give a foul against his thuggery.

Finishing the game with Main, Sammon and Bowman upfront in their absolute desperation to take something off us - when every other week against their fellow diddies they're not bothered their arse.

Their small town, inbred looking fans up off their seats, their ugly faces contorted in anger and poison as they hurled abuse at the nearest Rangers player every time the ball went out for a throw.

What a horrible lot.
Absolutely agree with everything you said and I said same yetserday. Absolute hammer throwers.
 
Motherwell had 85% possession in the last 30 according to SSN. Shows it is not just the defence at fault today
Absolutely. Arfield, jack and Ejaria needed to recycle the ball and slow things down, but they were awol. And Middleton might as well have stayed on the bench.
 
We drew 5-5 with the HIV’s now 3-3 with Murder well.

A bit harsh but right after the game my mate said we’ve learned nothing and not improved. In my view harsh but been thinking about his comments ever since.

What do FF think?
Your mate is talking pish.!!
 
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We drew 5-5 with the HIV’s now 3-3 with Murder well.

A bit harsh but right after the game my mate said we’ve learned nothing and not improved. In my view harsh but been thinking about his comments ever since.

What do FF think?
That's the kind of guff my old next door neighbour comes away with.
Every other week he makes a point of coming over to see me to say "what did you make of that bliddy rubbish?"......regardless of the result!
He's an Old School Rangers man, Masonic Past Master, ex BB Captain, a Kirk Elder and 86 years old so I'll let him off for his repetitive ramblings! :)
Your mate however should know better!
 
That's the kind of guff my old next door neighbour comes away with.
Every other week he makes a point of coming over to see me to say "what did you make of that bliddy rubbish?"......regardless of the result!
He's an Old School Rangers man, Masonic Past Master, ex BB Captain, a Kirk Elder and 86 years old so I'll let him off for his repetitive ramblings! :)
Your mate however should know better!

Well he’s not 86! He is however a qualified coach and he’s never rated TAV as a defender. We really didn’t defend much better than at HIV’s did we but I agree with you. However I don’t see us winning the SPFL sadly.
 
Well he’s not 86! He is however a qualified coach and he’s never rated TAV as a defender. We really didn’t defend much better than at HIV’s did we but I agree with you. However I don’t see us winning the SPFL sadly.

A qualified coach could simply mean he turned up to the course to get his first couple of SFA badges.
 
Well he’s not 86! He is however a qualified coach and he’s never rated TAV as a defender. We really didn’t defend much better than at HIV’s did we but I agree with you. However I don’t see us winning the SPFL sadly.
I bow to your mate's superior knowledge as he's a qualified coach but has he in any way acknowledged the massive improvement in absolutely everything about our club since Gerrard's appointment or does he just prefer to try and equate a draw from last season to an unfortunate draw yesterday and claim that we haven't improved?
 
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