Match Thread Rangers v Spartak Moskva - 20:00 Thursday - BTSports

In summary we played well but our final ball was poor.

In saying that Candeias and Grezda had full-on chances and fluffed them disastrously.

Morelos is going to go loco in Moscow with their play acting. I didn't see anything to be scared off. I think we could get a result over there. If we draw and Villarreal win again we will be in a good position.

One thing that's for sure we are much better than last yeàr, with a bit of luck or a better referee we could have won tonight. Last year we would have been slaughtered.

I am proud of this team.
 
Thought we were going to nick it
Grezda chance
Ok in spells for me
Tempo looks to have fell out for large spells same v Hamiton

But we’re looking like a good team at times
Still wee things
Better care with final ball
Tav had 1 tonight on dead balls
It happens
 
Looks like it will be hard but not impossible to qualify. In Europe we must pass the ball better and also run off the ball more.
I said this would be difficult and took Rangers for a one goal win but to be honest we did not look like scoring. Feel for Grezda and do not blame him for not scoring with the one shot he had on goal. Both the subs should have been on earlier.
However as has been said in posts above we have come a long way and as this is a fresh start with Manager and team where we are in Europe is OK by me. We need to up our game in the league which I am sure we will and may well have a cup final to play after Sunday.
This is a season we can enjoy which makes a change and if there are a few bad league games along the way then I can accept that as we will still be there in the end and with luck back in the CL having won the league.


PS its a disgrace that Grezda is being written off having only played for around 10/15 mins.
 
I think it was not a bad game, despite the result. Moscow are no push-overs and i have seen faaaar better Rangers sides do worse than the team did today. I think Rangers are at a point now where they can compete with loads of regular European sides, which is great.

I thought Kent was great, Morelos too. Ejara good too. Flanagan was not good going forward and Grezda look "rusty" at least. Nothing to do with the chance he missed at the end. Maybe another good striker is missing. And i dont understand the Fans that were leaving the ground at the 90th minute mark.

The most important thing though is that Rangers try to play Football and dont have to hide from other European teams. Come on.
 
It’s a measure of how far the team has come that I’m gutted, angry and disappointed over a 0-0 draw with Spartak Moskva

Yes we were poor in spells and decent in others but I thought the manager got the game completely wrong and kept on Candieas and Coulibaly too long.

Coulibaly is a different player from the one pre injury, wtf was his lacklustre performance all about ?
Tav was honking and hopefully just a blip but we’ve gems in Ejaria and Kent who can turn any game.

Yes we’re moaning over a 0-0 but we’re still in with a shout
 
We absolutely dominated the Russian champions tonight at Ibrox and were very unlucky not to win.

We're top of our group section on merit and we will continue to get better as we're still a new team finding it's feet under a rookie Manager.

Yes, some of our passing was slack and my favourite player over the last few years Tav definitely had an off day and yet I still feel a wee bit disappointed that we didn't win by 2 or 3 tonight!

What a difference from last season is the understatement of the century!

The futures bright Bears... Lets Go!

Ps Anyone writing Grezda off already knows the square root of fùck all about fitba!
 
First half we blew hot and cold, we were the better team and should have scored when Candieas only had to pass the ball instead of skying it.

Second half was a shit show where we couldn’t string two passes together.

For the third time against Russian opposition, I got the feeling there was a nice envelope waiting for the ref. Gave us nothing and they only had to fall over to get a decision and 4 minutes of injury time after all that time wasting? Come on to %^*&!
 
I thought we were really poor tonight. We gave the ball away time and time again. We didn't really create that many chances. Saying that i thought defensively we were excellent apart from one or two crazy lapses in the 2nd half. Come a long way to be disappointed with a draw against Spartak Moscow. Realistically i think we need 4 points from the next 3 games to qualify. That's a big ask.
 
If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches,
the following criteria are applied in the order given to determine their rankings:
a. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the
teams in question;
b. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in
question;
c. higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams
in question;
d. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played
among the teams in question;
e. if, after having applied criteria a) to d), teams still have an equal ranking,
criteria a) to d) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the
remaining teams to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not
lead to a decision, criteria f) to l) apply in the order given to the two or more
teams still equal;
f. superior goal difference in all group matches;
g. higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
h. higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
i. higher number of wins in all group matches;
j. higher number of away wins in all group matches;
k. lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in
all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for
two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
l. higher club coefficient (see Annex D).

Does this mean we're top, based on d, as goal difference in the whole group is down at the f ?
 
We absolutely dominated the Russian champions tonight at Ibrox and were very unlucky not to win.

We're top of our group section on merit and we will continue to get better as we're still a new team finding it's feet under a rookie Manager.

Yes, some of our passing was slack and my favourite player over the last few years Tav definitely had an off day and yet I still feel a wee bit disappointed that we didn't win by 2 or 3 tonight!

What a difference from last season is the understatement of the century!

The futures bright Bears... Lets Go!

Ps Anyone writing Grezda off already knows the square root of fùck all about fitba!
Absolutely spot on.
Its a measure of how far we've come in the space of a few months that we are unhappy with a draw against a top Russian side because we quite reasonably expected to win.
We are still top of our Group and I'm confident we will play better and will qualify from it.
 
my tuppence on the performance

Shagger 5 - one save made, a couple of bizarre times he shephered it out when picking it up was the better plan - kicking was poor

Tav 5 - bizarro tav tonight, forward play let him down while defensively he was solid
Goldson 3 - awful, barely won a header, several poor passes & almost let them in a few times
Worrell 7 - solid, brave, rarely wasted possession
Flanno 4 - normally reliable but not quite there tonight

Ejaria 4 - nice touches now and then but too quiet
Coulibaly 5 - did ok without being as dominant as he can be
Jack 7 - played well

Candeias 6 - usual workrate and a couple of decent crosses
Morelos 7 - played well and got heehaw from the ref, their no14 was a pussy
Kent 6 - not as effective as he has been but did ok

subs
Middleton 2 - one good run but too often started slightly too close to the line and ran out of space to utilise the hit and run plan
Grezda 2 - look lost at times, won't blame him for the final shot - he had to take it and was close

ref 1 - would give one decent decision then 20 pish ones - they should've seen a minimum of 1 red if not 2, the tackles on Candeias being horrific
 
Looking at the fixtures to come, and the fact Rapid seem to have given up the ghost, I reckon we may need 9 points. What we cannot afford is for Villareal v Spartak on the last matchday to be a game where a draw sees them both through.
Quite possibly though I still need to pinch myself with how far we’ve come since last season lol
 
Quite poor result against a team that doesn't travel well. Again, we just never looked like scoring even if we had played for hours, and that cannot be allowed to continue.
 
Tonight certainly shows how much we rely on Tav to create. Tonight, he couldn't deliver a pizza. The whole team was slack though.
Did anyone notice our players slipping? Pitch was getting plenty of water, not including the rain.
 
*....looks in to chew the fat about the game.... sees the Debbie Downers are out in force.... retreats....*


See the thread about one year ago today for some perspective chaps.
 
Disappointed that we didn't win that but I won't complain too much as its still a respectable result for us and everybody put in a decent shift. We still have a great chance of getting out of this group.
 
16 months ago we were knocked out of the Europa League qualifying round by Progres of Luxembourg beaten 2-0 away FFS. Just think on that for a minute. 16 months on we qualify for the group stages undefeated and remain undefeated having played Villareal, Rapid Vienna and Spartak Moscow. I'll tell you what? I'm happy

Not even that- look how dug muck we were only 7 months ago still!
 
I thought we played some fantastic stuff tonight. Fantastic energy. Half time cam about 10 mins too soon. Kent was sensational. Ojaria not far behind. Worrel impressed me. Morelos still needs to keep his hands in his pockets. The Russians defended very well.

Compared with a few years back....night and day.

Play like that against Scottish teams and we will win the league.
 
*....looks in to chew the fat about the game.... sees the Debbie Downers are out in force.... retreats....*


See the thread about one year ago today for some perspective chaps.

Exactly right mate, just wonder what some folk want, the difference in a year, top of the group and 10 games unbeaten.
Basically a whole new team on a shoe string budget,playing for the shirt with 100% effort.
On another night 3 points but that's football,sometimes it's not your night.
Good team performance and I'm happy with a well earned point
 
Looking at the table a score draw in Moscow and another Villarreal win against Rapid would leave us in a very strong position. Spartak could then only finish above us on points. That means they'd need at least 4 points from two games including a match in Spain.

Rapid would also be 3 behind, after losing to VillarraV again, with 2 games to go including a game in Moscow. It's possible we could go into the last game playing Rapid for a place in the next round. Depending on how things go they may even have to beat us by two or three goals to get above us.

Beating Spartak or/and Villarreal would be a huge ask but it would be nice to qualify before Vienna.

I think we are capable of getting at least a score draw over in Russia if we get a proper ref (I'm thinking of our last visit to Russia here).
 
Apologies in advance not a regular poster. I read the forrum alot but now well enough to come on.

My assesment tonight was that we started with the same pace and tempo as against rapid. I enjoyed this and thought we would get a goal. At the back of my mind I'm thinking these players as good as they are are on the European night playing above themselves. What they lacked they gave in effort that first half and hats off to the home fans. Incredible yet again,what an atmosphere. We were aggressive without having the killer pass or move. I stopped for a second and realised that this is the europa league and we are watching a decent rangers side here. Result disappointing, although in perspective were coming on well. I remember where we were. This team has everyone off their arse believing. 1 point tonight. Could have been 3. I'm happy with this team, we can see what they are capable off, for the first time in a long time. My confidence is with gerrard.
 
If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches,
the following criteria are applied in the order given to determine their rankings:
a. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the
teams in question;
b. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in
question;
c. higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams
in question;
d. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played
among the teams in question;
e. if, after having applied criteria a) to d), teams still have an equal ranking,
criteria a) to d) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the
remaining teams to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not
lead to a decision, criteria f) to l) apply in the order given to the two or more
teams still equal;
f. superior goal difference in all group matches;
g. higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
h. higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
i. higher number of wins in all group matches;
j. higher number of away wins in all group matches;
k. lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in
all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for
two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
l. higher club coefficient (see Annex D).

Does this mean we're top, based on d, as goal difference in the whole group is down at the f ?
Yes mate, we are indeed top based on d, as I had initially thought.

This has been confirmed by @rangeral as well as the bbc and official uefa websites.

The bawbags on bt sport got it wrong during the game but have now corrected themselves on the highlights show. :cool:
 
Yes mate, we are indeed top based on d, as I initially thought.

This has been confirmed by @rangeral as well as the bbc and official uefa websites.




The bawbags on bt sport got it wrong during the game but have now corrected themselves on the highlights show. :cool:
Yes mate, we are indeed top based on d, as I had initially thought.

This has been confirmed by @rangeral as well as the bbc and official uefa websites.

The bawbags on bt sport got it wrong during the game but have now corrected themselves on the highlights show. :cool:


Yes I thought this at the time, knowing that those covering the game are top rank
Yes mate, we are indeed top based on d, as I had initially thought.

This has been confirmed by @rangeral as well as the bbc and official uefa websites.

The bawbags on bt sport got it wrong during the game but have now corrected themselves on the highlights show. :cool:

Yes noticed this myself, knew at the time it was alot of nonsense. I go to my work tomoro feeling disappointed with the result in the end. But watching this game and also the last 20 mins of the game before you can rest assured they are worried. You can hear it in their voices.
Yes mate, we are indeed top based on d, as I had initially thought.

This has been confirmed by @rangeral as well as the bbc and official uefa websites.

The bawbags on bt sport got it wrong during the game but have now corrected themselves on the highlights show. :cool:

Yes I noticed this too. I'm happy were in the europa. In ways it's reminded me of the road to Manchester in a way for me. People say we had better players.. im not so sure about that. Not in a silly way but in a way we raised our game in europe. For us it's great as all round the world They can see we are back and that's all I hear. Personally I would prefer us to concentrate it all on the league. I may sound daft now, but WE must end them now. This is the only way to properly say we are back, end their run. Stop them. We're top of our europa group. Bring these performances energy,gile and agression to the teams before us domestically. Do this and we finish alot of people off. Do this and we take back what is ours,something which can be sustained. I believe this squad have the balls and determination, I believe our manager may know this.
 
Apologies in advance not a regular poster. I read the forrum alot but now well enough to come on.

My assesment tonight was that we started with the same pace and tempo as against rapid. I enjoyed this and thought we would get a goal. At the back of my mind I'm thinking these players as good as they are are on the European night playing above themselves. What they lacked they gave in effort that first half and hats off to the home fans. Incredible yet again,what an atmosphere. We were aggressive without having the killer pass or move. I stopped for a second and realised that this is the europa league and we are watching a decent rangers side here. Result disappointing, although in perspective were coming on well. I remember where we were. This team has everyone off their arse believing. 1 point tonight. Could have been 3. I'm happy with this team, we can see what they are capable off, for the first time in a long time. My confidence is with gerrard.
Keep posting mate, no need to apologise.

Btw I always use "preview" under "more options" before posting, keeps my rantings readable!:cool:

Edit comes in handy as well when I still make a James Hunt of it.
:D
 
The 94th minute of games hasn’t been good for us this season:

Dropped two points at Aberdeen
Dropped two points at Motherwell
Missed a good chance to take three points tonight.
 
my tuppence on the performance

Shagger 5 - one save made, a couple of bizarre times he shephered it out when picking it up was the better plan - kicking was poor

Tav 5 - bizarro tav tonight, forward play let him down while defensively he was solid
Goldson 3 - awful, barely won a header, several poor passes & almost let them in a few times
Worrell 7 - solid, brave, rarely wasted possession
Flanno 4 - normally reliable but not quite there tonight

Ejaria 4 - nice touches now and then but too quiet
Coulibaly 5 - did ok without being as dominant as he can be
Jack 7 - played well

Candeias 6 - usual workrate and a couple of decent crosses
Morelos 7 - played well and got heehaw from the ref, their no14 was a pussy
Kent 6 - not as effective as he has been but did ok

subs
Middleton 2 - one good run but too often started slightly too close to the line and ran out of space to utilise the hit and run plan
Grezda 2 - look lost at times, won't blame him for the final shot - he had to take it and was close

ref 1 - would give one decent decision then 20 pish ones - they should've seen a minimum of 1 red if not 2, the tackles on Candeias being horrific
You watched a different game to me
 
Absolutely correct, never knew that.

Head to head goal difference, then head to head goals scored, then head to head goals scored away.
We absolutely dominated the Russian champions tonight at Ibrox and were very unlucky not to win.

We're top of our group section on merit and we will continue to get better as we're still a new team finding it's feet under a rookie Manager.

Yes, some of our passing was slack and my favourite player over the last few years Tav definitely had an off day and yet I still feel a wee bit disappointed that we didn't win by 2 or 3 tonight!

What a difference from last season is the understatement of the century!

The futures bright Bears... Lets Go!

Ps Anyone writing Grezda off already knows the square root of fùck all about fitba!
Excellent summary sir.
 
In summary we played well but our final ball was poor.

In saying that Candeias and Grezda had full-on chances and fluffed them disastrously.

Morelos is going to go loco in Moscow with their play acting. I didn't see anything to be scared off. I think we could get a result over there. If we draw and Villarreal win again we will be in a good position.

One thing that's for sure we are much better than last yeàr, with a bit of luck or a better referee we could have won tonight. Last year we would have been slaughtered.

I am proud of this team.

This sums up my thoughts exactly.
 
We played well. Spartak were very good defensively last night. Spartak lost 2-0 to Rapid in Vienna and drew 3-3 at home with Villarreal. So, we are doing fine in the overall scheme of things. I was surprised that we had so much possession given that they were playing 4-3-3 and we clearly dominated the game. It was all about taking chances. I wrote before the game that if we could control midfield it would be about taking the few chances that came along. Nonetheless, Spartak closed us down in all areas across the field. They were quick. That's 11 games unbeaten. Now for Aberdeen.
 
On another night we walk off the park with all three points and a convincing win.

It just never happened for us in the final third - just lacking that bit of quality and composure. It will come, especially when the standard of player improves.

Defence was rock solid last night, Jack and Ejaria were tremendous, Kent and Candeias were a threat, Morelos bullied them at times.

Say a it all about what Steven Gerrard has done that we walk off the park disappointed that we've not beaten Spartak Moscow.

Another positive display. We continue to move in the right direction.
 
Exactly right mate, just wonder what some folk want, the difference in a year, top of the group and 10 games unbeaten.
Basically a whole new team on a shoe string budget,playing for the shirt with 100% effort.
On another night 3 points but that's football,sometimes it's not your night.
Good team performance and I'm happy with a well earned point
Yes and we had European home ties like that in the good old days, ie their city rivals CSKA.
 
We played well. Spartak were very good defensively last night. Spartak lost 2-0 to Rapid in Vienna and drew 3-3 at home with Villarreal. So, we are doing fine in the overall scheme of things. I was surprised that we had so much possession given that they were playing 4-3-3 and we clearly dominated the game. It was all about taking chances. I wrote before the game that if we could control midfield it would be about taking the few chances that came along. Nonetheless, Spartak closed us down in all areas across the field. They were quick. That's 11 games unbeaten. Now for Aberdeen.

This is the thing everybody seems to be overlooking, they were very good defensively and gave our guys no time at all.
We did make chances and should of nicked it.
 
my tuppence on the performance

Shagger 5 - one save made, a couple of bizarre times he shephered it out when picking it up was the better plan - kicking was poor

Tav 5 - bizarro tav tonight, forward play let him down while defensively he was solid
Goldson 3 - awful, barely won a header, several poor passes & almost let them in a few times
Worrell 7 - solid, brave, rarely wasted possession
Flanno 4 - normally reliable but not quite there tonight

Ejaria 4 - nice touches now and then but too quiet
Coulibaly 5 - did ok without being as dominant as he can be
Jack 7 - played well

Candeias 6 - usual workrate and a couple of decent crosses
Morelos 7 - played well and got heehaw from the ref, their no14 was a pussy
Kent 6 - not as effective as he has been but did ok

subs
Middleton 2 - one good run but too often started slightly too close to the line and ran out of space to utilise the hit and run plan
Grezda 2 - look lost at times, won't blame him for the final shot - he had to take it and was close

ref 1 - would give one decent decision then 20 pish ones - they should've seen a minimum of 1 red if not 2, the tackles on Candeias being horrific

Do you work for the Daily Record? Those ratings are too harsh, we weren’t at our best but we were better than this post suggests. In particular, Ejaria was very good last night, certainly better than Jack who I personally thought understandably lacked sharpness after a spell out.
 
Don't understand the negativity.

I thought some of our crowd turned up complacent last night. This is why I warned against the 'they've left 7 players at home' line.

Spartak are a better team than Rapid - yet there seemed more patience and realism that night that we were up against a good team and the game could go either way - than there was last night.

A lot of fans seemed to turn up last night with the same mindset you see when we're playing a St Mirren or someone shite; impatiently expecting the win like it should be a formality.

People actually booed last night on the half time whistle - and then at full time there was plenty throbbers around me shouting "shite, Rangers shite," and blowing a gasket over feck all.

I think many still think everything post 2012 didn't happen.

I thought we played reasonably well, particularly first half, we just couldn't get that goal against an experienced European side who came to frustrate us.

Whilst we'd obviously all have preferred a win, a draw is an okay result - we're still in contention to qualify. Tbh we've over achieved massively to even qualify for the Group Stage to begin with. Some of our fans should remember that when venting absolute shite like I heard last night.
 
Do you work for the Daily Record? Those ratings are too harsh, we weren’t at our best but we were better than this post suggests. In particular, Ejaria was very good last night, certainly better than Jack who I personally thought understandably lacked sharpness after a spell out.


work for the record - how dare you!
maybe a bit harsh in the sense i felt we should have destroyed them last night

shows how far we've come in a short time

one of my main gripes tho was that most of the Russian play came via our mistakes/slackness
 
We will qualify from this group, we were the better team for most of the game despite a few of the lads being off the boil, we stopped them creating too many chances and could have had a few goals but for our decision making. The crosses from wide were a let down but it happens.

Kent and Alfie were excellent, Ejaria done a hell of a lot of spade work and Ryan Jack just sat and looked solid. We are more than capable of getting a win over there and I really think we will finish 2nd overall... with a slice of luck we may even top the group (why not)

The Ref tonight let play go on which i’m usually in agreement with but he let some bad challenges go unpunished which should have seen cards, in another game we could have had a couple of penalties and Spartak down to 9 men but it says a lot to how far we have come that we are disappointed with the result.
 
The only thing I see wrong is Subs come on to late,should have at least 20 - 30 mins to warm into the game, I am sure if grezda had of had more game time he would have put the ball in the net.
 
Glad I didn't come on last night as my frustration with Jack, Grezda and Flanagan would have boiled over. Sometimes we need that wee bit of time to calm down and stay rational.

Overall we dominated the game and are sitting top of our group after 3 matches and 11 games unbeaten. No one but no one saw that coming after last year's debacle!
I'm a very happy and proud Bear at the minute, roll on Sunday!!
 
I'm not as negative in the cold light of day with all things considered. To still be unbeaten in Europe halfway through the group stage is great. I just hate when we can't convert in the final 3rd, especially when we do have chances. If we can still keep clean sheets when playing below par, that's a good sign but a goal lifts the crowd and the team.
 
work for the record - how dare you!
maybe a bit harsh in the sense i felt we should have destroyed them last night

shows how far we've come in a short time

one of my main gripes tho was that most of the Russian play came via our mistakes/slackness

Haha, was just kidding mate! I think it was a slightly frustrating night at times but stepping back it wasn’t a bad a result or performance. It’s just one of those where you come away feeling like it could have been more.

Like you said, we’ve progressed a lot in a few months to the point we’re now expecting to win these games.
 
my tuppence on the performance

Shagger 5 - one save made, a couple of bizarre times he shephered it out when picking it up was the better plan - kicking was poor

Tav 5 - bizarro tav tonight, forward play let him down while defensively he was solid
Goldson 3 - awful, barely won a header, several poor passes & almost let them in a few times
Worrell 7 - solid, brave, rarely wasted possession
Flanno 4 - normally reliable but not quite there tonight

Ejaria 4 - nice touches now and then but too quiet
Coulibaly 5 - did ok without being as dominant as he can be
Jack 7 - played well

Candeias 6 - usual workrate and a couple of decent crosses
Morelos 7 - played well and got heehaw from the ref, their no14 was a pussy
Kent 6 - not as effective as he has been but did ok

subs
Middleton 2 - one good run but too often started slightly too close to the line and ran out of space to utilise the hit and run plan
Grezda 2 - look lost at times, won't blame him for the final shot - he had to take it and was close

ref 1 - would give one decent decision then 20 pish ones - they should've seen a minimum of 1 red if not 2, the tackles on Candeias being horrific

An average of 4.8 for a back 5 that got a clean sheet and conceded 1 shot on target against Spartak Moscow

6a77cc8527c3e92b24d5020ee3c70555.gif
 
Thought we were going to nick it
Grezda chance
Ok in spells for me
Tempo looks to have fell out for large spells same v Hamiton

But we’re looking like a good team at times
Still wee things
Better care with final ball
Tav had 1 tonight on dead balls
It happens

Agree with your assessment. My one complaint about last night is that I think SG should have put Middleton on a lot earlier. He showed in the very brief spell that he got that he was very capable of damaging that team.
 
was it a penalty on grezda?

i thought our passing was off last night and at the weekend

we seem to have real trouble creating anything clear cut right now
 
Agree with your assessment. My one complaint about last night is that I think SG should have put Middleton on a lot earlier. He showed in the very brief spell that he got that he was very capable of damaging that team.

I thought the game was crying out for big lafferty
IMO he’s the most composed finisher we have

All the rest seem to go for pure power
 
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