Ryan Kent

That's true to a degree - but with us stretching defences wider in our 'new' formation he may well, hopefully, find himself with more space out wide. He has more natural ability than Sakala. I don't think beating 2 men instead of 1 will stymie him. I'm more looking for him to change mindset to 'I'm going to take these f*ckers on' and take that gamble rather than, too often, going for the safe option. He has the ability and he has the speed.

Absolutely agree.

He has that talent, as the Porteous match winning moment proved.
 
Absolutely agree.

He has that talent, as the Porteous match winning moment proved.
We saw him do it a few times in the Hibs game - albeit late on after a fairy ineffective first hour I thought. Maybe just a case of Gio's message taking a while to get through to him? Arguably, the 'new' formation is tailor-made for Kent.
 
We saw him do it a few times in the Hibs game - albeit late on after a fairy ineffective first hour I thought. Maybe just a case of Gio's message taking a while to get through to him? Arguably, the 'new' formation is tailor-made for Kent.

Yes, that was the strange thing, his last 20 minutes was his best, despite looking exhausted.

And agree on the formation too VB, in theory he has more space to attack.

I’d just love us to have him cajoled to peak fitness & form for January 2. He loves going at them.
 
I’m not entirely convinced by either those explanations.

On his day Kent is still the best player in Scotland so even if he didn’t start I’d have expected him to be on the bench at least - it’s a squad game and nobody should be looking at any match as a ‘gimme.’

He returned from injury over a month ago so needs more game time if anything.

I could be completely wrong of course, I just found it odd.
He's not the best player in Govan, far less Scotland.
 
He's not the best player in Govan, far less Scotland.
This season Big Joe probably gets that nod, but I still think peak Kent is better.

For a little recent example, first few minutes against Sparta the other week when he runs at their defence and jinks past two or three players before cutting back for Aribo.

That’s him at his best and it can be utterly devastating given his ability to do that at high speed.

His problem is one of consistency, but that’s true of most of our flair players, Aribo included.
 
I tried to find the clip but it must have been prematch on RangersTV, but I'm sure that Gio made a comment about both Kent and Davis and managing their loads.

In Kent's case, I think I'm right in saying he came back for Ross County then we had the international break, followed by four games in less than two weeks. It seemed sensible not to push him when he's still working back towards full fitness and give him a rest on Saturday. We shouldn't have, and didn't need him to beat Dundee.
 
Last edited:
This season Big Joe probably gets that nod, but I still think peak Kent is better.

For a little recent example, first few minutes against Sparta the other week when he runs at their defence and jinks past two or three players before cutting back for Aribo.

That’s him at his best and it can be utterly devastating given his ability to do that at high speed.

His problem is one of consistency, but that’s true of most of our flair players, Aribo included.

To be fair, I’m not sure we can say that Aribo has been inconsistent this season HH, but definitely in previous seasons.
 
This season Big Joe probably gets that nod, but I still think peak Kent is better.

For a little recent example, first few minutes against Sparta the other week when he runs at their defence and jinks past two or three players before cutting back for Aribo.

That’s him at his best and it can be utterly devastating given his ability to do that at high speed.

His problem is one of consistency, but that’s true of most of our flair players, Aribo included.
He should be our best player.
He has everything in his locker, two footed, a trick and he's quick. However, he over complicates the game, takes an extra touch or two, tries to beat one man too many, drops into areas where he can't hurt the opposition and until such times as he eradicates these flaws from his game we won't see the best of him.
Gerrard was like the majority of our support and had a blind spot where Ryan Kent is concerned, hopefully Gio will iron out those flaws and....then....we'll have a player, a real player.
 
He should be our best player.
He has everything in his locker, two footed, a trick and he's quick. However, he over complicates the game, takes an extra touch or two, tries to beat one man too many, drops into areas where he can't hurt the opposition and until such times as he eradicates these flaws from his game we won't see the best of him.
Gerrard was like the majority of our support and had a blind spot where Ryan Kent is concerned, hopefully Gio will iron out those flaws and....then....we'll have a player, a real player.
That’s more or less my point.

His inconsistency prevents him from being genuinely considered as such, but I still feel that at his best there isn’t another player in the country as dangerous.

As others have said, deploying him as a winger or wide attacker should actually be of benefit to him, rather than this floating 10 role Gerrard had him playing that saw him often dropping deep, I think to try and drag defenders out of position to make space for others, but all too often when presented with stubborn ten man defences who refused to oblige, it felt like a bit of a waste of his talents.

Like you, I hope this is where Gio can get the best out of him.
 
More than likely rest. Kent never stops in a game, even when he looks knackered he’s still going. Absolutely runs himself in to the ground, no point doing it against Dundee with a tight schedule coming.
 
It could well be he's felt a bit of tightness during a training session, or equally there's been quite a high level of fatigue measured in his muscles and a decision was taken to rest him, so as not to aggravate the situation and risk another injury.
How do you measure fatigue in muscles?

Not trying to be smart btw, genuinely interested!
 
That's true to a degree - but with us stretching defences wider in our 'new' formation he may well, hopefully, find himself with more space out wide. He has more natural ability than Sakala. I don't think beating 2 men instead of 1 will stymie him. I'm more looking for him to change mindset to 'I'm going to take these f*ckers on' and take that gamble rather than, too often, going for the safe option. He has the ability and he has the speed.

One of Kent's strengths is that he identifies when to try and take a man on or when to keep possession quite well. His decision making is generally good.

Players who just continually run at full backs (even Sakala cut inside and kept the ball numerous times on Saturday) are generally a nightmare and pretty ineffective.
 
One of Kent's strengths is that he identifies when to try and take a man on or when to keep possession quite well. His decision making is generally good.

Players who just continually run at full backs (even Sakala cut inside and kept the ball numerous times on Saturday) are generally a nightmare and pretty ineffective.
I’d agree keeping possession came above everything else under Gerrard. I’m not sure that’s what GvB will be telling him, he seemed to enjoy Sakala repeatedly running at defenders on Saturday. Even late on at Easter Road Kent was doing it after an ineffective first hour.
 
I think Kent needs to regain his confidence more than fitness. He just doesn't seem himself at times. Davis definitely needs to be managed more just now and when we have the likes of Bacuna, Jack etc available then that can happen. I really think Bacuna could be an excellent addition if given more time. He is not scared to take a shot from distance either.

Yeah he does but very often fitness and confidence are closely linked for fast explosive players, particularly if they've had muscle problems and cold weather doesn't help. The coaches are also guided by a player's sports science data.
 
One of Kent's strengths is that he identifies when to try and take a man on or when to keep possession quite well. His decision making is generally good.

Players who just continually run at full backs (even Sakala cut inside and kept the ball numerous times on Saturday) are generally a nightmare and pretty ineffective.
I'd contend that decision making is a flaw in Kent's game as opposed to a strength.
 
I'd contend that decision making is a flaw in Kent's game as opposed to a strength.

If it relates to the way some attacks break down through him, I'd disagree in the sense that he makes the right decision often but the pass isn't good enough.

But I also believe the barometer people apply to this is unrealistically high. Attacking players try stuff that doesn't work often in a game, that's just how it should be.
 
How do you measure fatigue in muscles?

Not trying to be smart btw, genuinely interested!


Our medical team will have many different markers they can measure after physical exertion mate and are able to judge whether or not a player is suffering from fatigue.

I'm no sport scientist, but I know that when I was on the pro triathlon circuit there were a few tests we went through after races and throughout training cycles.

There was some scientific stuff that went over my head, but an increase in resting heart rate, a decrease in your ability with plyometric exercises and a saliva test, were 3 that I understood.
 
If it relates to the way some attacks break down through him, I'd disagree in the sense that he makes the right decision often but the pass isn't good enough.

But I also believe the barometer people apply to this is unrealistically high. Attacking players try stuff that doesn't work often in a game, that's just how it should be.
A reason Tav on the right often ended up with the space as he does, the ball has been released from Kent taking about 3 players out the game and shifting the entire shape the other team want to be in
 
I didn't say that, but it's not meaningless.

It doesn't matter that much if we lose, but it's clearly worth winning.
But in a footballing sense, it is meaningless and my point was that I doubt Gio will be considering the prize money.
 
No, but it's certainly not "meaningless" from a financial standpoint, is it?
£527K, think the concentration needs to go on the massive league game that could put us 3 points closer to the bigger pot of gold that awaits the League Winners this year, all games are important however some more than other IMO
 
£527K, think the concentration needs to go on the massive league game that could put us 3 points closer to the bigger pot of gold that awaits the League Winners this year, all games are important however some more than other IMO
Is the correct answer. 3 points, we’re on our best run of form all season and we have 3 home games to follow. I’ll take that, thank you very much. We lost it a few years ago due to completely overloading our players. We couldn’t get going after Christmas. I remain ‘interested’ in how that lot get on after January. 3 muscle injuries in a game doesn’t bode well!
 
Is the correct answer. 3 points, we’re on our best run of form all season and we have 3 home games to follow. I’ll take that, thank you very much. We lost it a few years ago due to completely overloading our players. We couldn’t get going after Christmas. I remain ‘interested’ in how that lot get on after January. 3 muscle injuries in a game doesn’t bode well!
56, Champions League revenue, it’s a must
 
The Hearts game is far more important than Lyon, absolutely no point in risking any of our main players on Thursday, £40 million more important than £500k.
I understand where you are coming from, but I think that there will be a bigger benefit in terms of confidence if we can keep the Gio winning run going
 
maybe just a "Mental Health"day. Christmas shopping with the wife or having a long lie before a coupleof pints with his pals.

They were on my day offs when at work.
 
Back
Top