Strangely happy despite going out

[YorkshireBlue]

We competed with three top clubs in Europe after coming through 4 tough ties in qualifiers.

Every game in the group stage could have swung our way with a bit of luck.

The team have that experience in the bag and will grow from it. Remember it's still a young squad newly thrown together.

Last two league results have annoyed me, mainly because we know we are better. Still a bit inconsistent but we've made great gains this season.

Europe has been a nice surprise and a great adventure. Let's appreciate what the team achieved and support them into a big domestic push from now until the end of the season.

 

[Rt. Hon. Bearman]

Now that we’re out of Europe there’s no excuse not to win the league.

People will say the gulf between us and Pacific Shelf is still too great, but we’ve already reached the top of the table this season and that was when we had Europa League games to contend with too.

There is absolutely no reason why we cannot win the title this season. That must be the aim now.

 

[Roger Smith Loyal]

I'm definitely not set fire to everything as plenty of other people.

It was a disappointment of course but we are still improving.

 

[The Lone Sniper]

I admire our young Gaffer and his team's performances this year in Europe.

We punched well above our weight.

 

[YorkshireBlue]

Now that we’re out of Europe there’s no excuse not to win the league.

People will say the gulf between us and Pacific Shelf is still too great, but we’ve already reached the top of the table this season and that was when we had Europa League games to contend with too.

There is absolutely no reason why we cannot win the title this season. That must be the aim now.

It's worth remembering we've clawed back a 4 point gap twice already this season.

Full focus on the league, no distractions and a couple of key additions in January and it's definitely on.

 

[tumsheeheed]

I Agree bit of what might’ve been but great experience for players and the younger generation of supporters going abroad for the first time seeing what it means to be a bear now we really have to kick on in the league with a settled side that brings consistency and trust amongst the team and with our backing which has been fantastic at times brought back to the table more often we have a big part to play in making the atmosphere better and more intimidating for opposing teams

 

[RFC97]

Last night was deflating but we were never going to win the thing.

All our thoughts and energies into the league now.

Squad is much improved, but there are still deficiencies to be addressed.

 

[Chastu]

We competed with three top clubs in Europe after coming through 4 tough ties in qualifiers.

Every game in the group stage could have swung our way with a bit of luck.

The team have that experience in the bag and will grow from it. Remember it's still a young squad newly thrown together.

Last two league results have annoyed me, mainly because we know we are better. Still a bit inconsistent but we've made great gains this season.

Europe has been a nice surprise and a great adventure. Let's appreciate what the team achieved and support them into a big domestic push from now until the end of the season.

last 2 league games have annoyed you? oh ffs we are bereft of any quality in mid and final third, not just last 2 games but for a while now, this group of players are not good enough and thats the cold hard reality

 

[Mad John]

last 2 league games have annoyed you? oh ffs we are bereft of any quality in mid and final third, not just last 2 games but for a while now, this group of players are not good enough and thats the cold hard reality

yet we are still within touching distance of the soapdodgers and came within a whisker of going through in europe .

every single one of us would have bitten the hand off to be in this position at the start of the season .

 

[wother1690]

I'm in the same place. A bit gutted we're not through as I felt we deserve to be, however we did ourselves proud and over-performed in Europe. Now to get in about the mhanks, who have only one striker.

 

[Chastu]

yet we are still within touching distance of the soapdodgers and came within a whisker of going through in europe .

every single one of us would have bitten the hand off to be in this position at the start of the season .

fine if your content with being punted out of the EL by a bunch of ordinary teams and second to the scum good for you, my expectations run a lot higher

 

[47blue]

Europe has been a terrific experience. I have enjoyed it.

 

[Foolback]

We competed with three top clubs in Europe after coming through 4 tough ties in qualifiers.

Every game in the group stage could have swung our way with a bit of luck.

The team have that experience in the bag and will grow from it. Remember it's still a young squad newly thrown together.

Last two league results have annoyed me, mainly because we know we are better. Still a bit inconsistent but we've made great gains this season.

Europe has been a nice surprise and a great adventure. Let's appreciate what the team achieved and support them into a big domestic push from now until the end of the season.

We have brought a lot of European credibility back to Glasgow Rangers and all the benefits that will bring. Delighted as to how far we got considering where we were last season and where we started from,

 

[Mad John]

fine if your content with being punted out of the EL by a bunch of ordinary teams and second to the scum good for you, my expectations run a lot higher

mine are high as well and we should have qualified but given the circumstances and where we have been , we were punching way above our weight getting to where we were last night .

we've been humiliated in the past with more experienced managers who had plenty more resources than a rookie manager .

 

[Chastu]

mine are high as well and we should have qualified but given the circumstances and where we have been , we were punching way above our weight getting to where we were last night .

we've been humiliated in the past with more experienced managers who had plenty more resources than a rookie manager .

so im clear on your point, because we have failed in the past in european tournaments, and because we are for some reason "punching above our weight",no idea what that means, we should be content with being punted out of the comp, OK glad you cleared that up for me

 

[Gallant_Few]

I was disappointed as I thought we where the better side last night and the chance was there. But hey ho it is what it is, we got further than most of us expected when the qualifiers started.

Now we can hopefully get the boys back to the high pressing high tempo football we where served up at the start of the campaign as it looks like the amount of games finally caught up with them, they are a shadow of the team who started the season.

We are still on the right path despite being knocked off form the last few weeks. Gerrard will strengthen us over the next two transfer windows and next season we will be back and even more prepared for a shot at Europe.

 

[Bluenose68]

I'm gutted we never got through but, at the same time, proud of how the team performed in Europe.
But for a few breaks that didn't go our way, we could have done it. It was nip and tuck all the way and a great adventure. It's done now though. Upward and onwards and refocus solely on winning 55 and the Scottish cup.

 

[Mad John]

so im clear on your point, because we have failed in the past in european tournaments, and because we are for some reason "punching above our weight",no idea what that means, we should be content with being punted out of the comp, OK glad you cleared that up for me

as long as it's clear then you understand .

 

[artificialintoleranz]

My main hope for Europe this year was that we made a half decent showing of ourselves and didn't take any pumpings.

We went into the last match with a genuine chance to progress. We played some great stuff in the process of getting to that point, i am quite proud of this new, young team this morning tbh.

And watching Rangers in Europe again, competing, felt like another piece of the jigsaw falling into place. We are slowly getting the club we knew back.

We are moving in the right direction. You only need to look at last year's Euro disaster and compare to this year's campaign to see the progress (absolutely no pun intended).

 

[Rt. Hon. Bearman]

Given our achievement getting to the group stage and (sadly) Pacific Shelf reaching at least the last 32, does anyone know if European qualification will be any easier next season, or has their failure to qualify for the CL this season ruined it?

 

[BobbyShearer55-65]

We should have beaten them.

 

[Tumbling_dice]

Far better Rangers teams have failed worse in europe. It still doesn't make last night any easier though. We had 3 chances to pick up one result. We still had it in our own hands going into a more than winnable last game which is all you can ask for but they blew it. Yes it's great to be back and they did great getting there but by doing so expectations rise especially after the start we had in the group. The real frustration for me is we know we can be a lot better than what we have shown recently. The relentless pressing teams and great football we seen at the start seems to have stopped as teams know how to play against us now and the worry is he doesn't know how to change it. The real pressure starts now for Gerrard and he has to show he can start getting results now and he has to be backed by the board to bring in decent players during the transfer window. Our bottle seemed to go after we got to the top after the hearts game and we made an arse of it in the semi. we have have fucked it 3 times now in big big games and that simply has to stop. If we drop anymore points before the filth game then the pressure will build because we don't have European football as an excuse now. We can still do it but we must start showing a winning mentality especially in games we should be winning.

 

[Chastu]

as long as it's clear then you understand .

unfortunately its not clear and i dont understand your logic, and i use that term derisively, oops

 

[Chastu]

Far better Rangers teams have failed worse in europe. It still doesn't make last night any easier though. We had 3 chances to pick up one result. We still had it in our own hands going into a more than winnable last game which is all you can ask for but they blew it. Yes it's great to be back and they did great getting there but by doing so expectations rise especially after the start we had in the group. The real frustration for me is we know we can be a lot better than what we have shown recently. The relentless pressing teams and great football we seen at the start seems to have stopped as teams know how to play against us now and the worry is he doesn't know how to change it. The real pressure starts now for Gerrard and he has to show he can start getting results now and he has to be backed by the board to bring in decent players during the transfer window. Our bottle seemed to go after we got to the top after the hearts game and we made an arse of it in the semi. we have have fucked it 3 times now in big big games and that simply has to stop. If we drop anymore points before the filth game then the pressure will build because we don't have European football as an excuse now. We can still do it but we must start showing a winning mentality especially in games we should be winning.

spot on mate

 

[Dado's Bandage]

Now that we’re out of Europe there’s no excuse not to win the league.

People will say the gulf between us and Pacific Shelf is still too great, but we’ve already reached the top of the table this season and that was when we had Europa League games to contend with too.

There is absolutely no reason why we cannot win the title this season. That must be the aim now.

Is not having a good enough squad an excuse not to win the league or would that just be a fact? As painful as it is to say, they are better than us and barring some kind of disaster should win the league. A second place finish and a Scottish Cup win would be a very good season for us for where we currently are.

 

[YorkshireBlue]

last 2 league games have annoyed you? oh ffs we are bereft of any quality in mid and final third, not just last 2 games but for a while now, this group of players are not good enough and thats the cold hard reality

We're inconsistent. The quality is there.

This isn't Championship Manager. Changes take time to bed in, the team have had a high loading of games.

Now and again it has clicked brilliantly.

The consistency will come, and with a focus just on the league I think it'll come very soon.

 

[ItsInTheNet]

Proud of the team and management and how we are progressing. Look back on that record breaking Euro unbeaten run with great pride.

 

[Dado's Bandage]

This idea that Gerrard should change it is hard to fathom. What should he change? Tactics? Team structure? Management style? What is it he should change? Taking a different approach with the same players will provide the same results. The quality of player is the problem.

The only manager we have ever had in my lifetime who could overcome this problem was Walter Smith who in his second spell managed to get a limited squad to achieve incredible things by making them arguably the most well organised team in Europe. People moaned incessantly on here about that at the time too all the same. Pedro tried different things with the players and it never worked. In fact some of his attempts to do things differently resulted in some of our most embarrassing defeats.

Jose Mourinho is probably in the top 3 greatest managers of the last 20 years yet he can’t change anything to allow Man Utd to compete for the title, why is that? Is he clueless or tactically naive or is he in a position where other teams simply have better players than him? If football management was as easy as it’s made out on here we’d all be doing it for a living.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

We should rightly be proud of the team and the management and the support. Rangers were put firmly back on the map. The moments they gave us in the qualifying rounds, Gerrard and Halliday after the UFA away game, the welcome back at the airport when we reached the group stages, 2 goals in Spain, scoring for fun in Moscow, THAT night at Ibrox versus Vienna. The sheer noise that night, Gerrard jumping in the air at Morelos' clincher.

With 10 minutes to go in the last group game we still had a chance of making the knockouts.

After seeing the Caravan man hiding in the bushes last summer, You bet your bollocks I'm happy.

 

[The Ranger]

I will never give in until it's mathematically impossible. We have been there already . Remember standing at easter road with a radio earpiece in, turning round to my mate, because I was that excited, and asked who did McDonald play for till I realised, it was for Motherwell. I will never forget till the day I die. Rangers have done really well in Europe, but let's go get the league

 

[ArfieldsSalute]

fine if your content with being punted out of the EL by a bunch of ordinary teams and second to the scum good for you, my expectations run a lot higher

Expectations and reality are 2 different things. Gutted to be out as hate losing at anything but perspective once the dust settles says not having that extra game should allow us to get form back cos we’ve been stretched squad wise trying to cover both domestic and Europe - hoping now we can start putting consistent team selections out week to week!

 

[Bearnecessities]

I’m quite content, gutted as I feel we could have easily progressed had it not been for a Couple of below par performances. Time to knuckle down and focus on the league. Add a bit of quality in midfield and I reckon we can put together a real good run in the league .

We would have taken almost progressing to the knockout (most would of probably taken just making the group stages) and being in touching distance of top of the table - we need to build on this unlike the previous two spells where we have basically had to scrap and rebuild from scratch.

 

[Commentator]

Agree, we have a good bit still to go and Europe wasn't helping our consistency.
We have to split this into two, overall and specifics.
Overall, considering where we were we've been very good but worryingly, performances have deteriorated. Trends matter.
Specifics, we still lack the attributes Pedro was banging on about, we need to be more aggressive, braver and do things quicker. Last night saw way too much turning back or inside, surrendering initiative plus we take so bloody long to do what we must do that we allow the opposition to get into shape.
This window must bring quality over quantity.

 

[TerrySilverLoyal]

I'm just amazed rapid went through

Dog shit

 

[Chastu]

Expectations and reality are 2 different things. Gutted to be out as hate losing at anything but perspective once the dust settles says not having that extra game should allow us to get form back cos we’ve been stretched squad wise trying to cover both domestic and Europe - hoping now we can start putting consistent team selections out week to week!

not having to play an extra game will make all the difference, maybe being in the last 32 would boost our confidence, did you think about that

 

[Rt. Hon. Bearman]

Is not having a good enough squad an excuse not to win the league or would that just be a fact? As painful as it is to say, they are better than us and barring some kind of disaster should win the league. A second place finish and a Scottish Cup win would be a very good season for us for where we currently are.

How do you judge whether a squad is good enough or not? It would be foolish to write us off when we are not even mid season yet.

Not many people would have considered Leicester City’s squad good enough to win the league at the beginning of the 2015/16 season and we saw what happened there. How did they win the title that season? They had no fear and plenty of self belief. They went into every match believing they could win.

Rangers winning a two horse race is perfectly plausible. Look at the league table. The scum are hardly running away with this. You mention that they have a better squad, so why aren’t they 10+ points clear, especially given that we have dropped stupid points ourselves?

If games are decided on who has the best players or more money, then I’m sure you’ll agree that we’ll pump Hamilton, Hibs and St Johnstone before the beggars come calling. If we do, the title race is most definitely on.

 

[Mad John]

unfortunately its not clear and i dont understand your logic, and i use that term derisively, oops

the reality is , is that we have 2 very good players in the squad , morelos and mcgregor . the rest are average . the european run was always going to be a bonus and to get as far as we did last night was a remarkable achievement when you take everything into consideration . even in the qualifiers we rode our luck at times to get us into the group stages .
on the domestic front we are within touching distance of top of the league . we topped it 2 weeks ago for the first time in earnest in 6 years . 6 f*cking years . do you remember playing away to the likes of brechin ?

at Rangers , second best is as good as last place , it's never good enough but we are making progress .

google perspective and that may clear it up a bit more .

 

[Chastu]

the reality is , is that we have 2 very good players in the squad , morelos and mcgregor . the rest are average . the european run was always going to be a bonus and to get as far as we did last night was a remarkable achievement when you take everything into consideration . even in the qualifiers we rode our luck at times to get us into the group stages .
on the domestic front we are within touching distance of top of the league . we topped it 2 weeks ago for the first time in earnest in 6 years . 6 f*cking years . do you remember playing away to the likes of brechin ?

at Rangers , second best is as good as last place , it's never good enough but we are making progress .

google perspective and that may clear it up a bit more .

Borna is our best player in my opinion, but couldn't argue with your choices, fully agree on the second is nothing issue, in terms of perspective, yes we have come a long way and why the hell shouldn't we, have you looked at our spending in comparison to every other club other that the scum, least we should expect is to mount a genuine challenge

 

[donka]

Some reflection from last night. I know we have done really well in Europe this season so not complaining but I do feel a bit disappointed in the last few games. I don't feel we lost to a better team last night but for me, only Jack and Barasic looked up to it. I do think the starting line up was wrong - the last time we played Rapid we beat them with two wingers. We needed the victory last night so not sure why Gerrard messed with a winning formula, even if our first two choice wingers were out - for me we should have started with Grezda on the right and Arfield in the middle in place of Coulibaly.
I also think losing Jack probably cost us the goal and Gerrard thought he was the best player to sacrifice given he was on a booking and just cost us a freekick on the edge of our box but for me it was never a freekick and he also shouldn't have been booked so a little unlucky there.

Now to focus on the league but Gerrard needs to find a winning formula and stick with it now.

 

[MrStruth]

We competed with three top clubs in Europe after coming through 4 tough ties in qualifiers.

Every game in the group stage could have swung our way with a bit of luck.

The team have that experience in the bag and will grow from it. Remember it's still a young squad newly thrown together.

Last two league results have annoyed me, mainly because we know we are better. Still a bit inconsistent but we've made great gains this season.

Europe has been a nice surprise and a great adventure. Let's appreciate what the team achieved and support them into a big domestic push from now until the end of the season.

As gutted as I was that our European campaign came to an end last night, it came as no real surprise.
Our performances against Spartack Moscow, especially at home cost us dear we didn't do nearly enough to merit a victory on the night.

lady luck was not on our side in the away leg and the goal wrongly disallowed and then hitting the post in injury time which would have gained us a deserved draw inevitably came back to haunt us.

Had Goldson's header not hit the woodwork last night and we had went in front while we were the more offensive team it could have been so much different.
However its all 'ifs' and 'maybes' but the truth is we didn't put enough pressure on their keeper and the shocking goal we conceded towards the end ensured the curtains were coming down on our European journey.
However its been a highly enjoyable experience with some great nights at Ibrox and the players and management should feel proud of their efforts.
It's all about the league now.
Hopefully the Ibrox crowd can lift the team on Sunday and we can get back to winning ways again, onwards and upwards, it's all about the Rangers

 

[ArfieldsSalute]

not having to play an extra game will make all the difference, maybe being in the last 32 would boost our confidence, did you think about that

Boost confidence maybe but still doesn’t get us away from the overload on our squad. Tav and Goldson have played more or less every game (Tav every game) and it shows with their performances recently. We don’t have the quality in our squad to play Thursday Sunday and expect the same players to keep performing.

Oh and just to say - surely winning games in LEAGUE will boost confidence too.

 

[instructor]

We competed with three top clubs in Europe after coming through 4 tough ties in qualifiers.

Every game in the group stage could have swung our way with a bit of luck.

The team have that experience in the bag and will grow from it. Remember it's still a young squad newly thrown together.

Last two league results have annoyed me, mainly because we know we are better. Still a bit inconsistent but we've made great gains this season.

Europe has been a nice surprise and a great adventure. Let's appreciate what the team achieved and support them into a big domestic push from now until the end of the season.

We have been magnificent. My personal goal for the team was to make qualifying round 3 and they took us into the last group match with a chance of progressing. I thought we played well last night, didn't deserve a defeat.

 

[albionrose]

So very satisfied, here.

I have been since the start of the campaign.

That's because we are bang on track. (Slightly ahead of plan, actually).

Keep up the great work - lots to be done.

55.

 

[jaws73]

A tremendous effort over a 14 game campaign.

We have plenty to build upon, and build we will.

Now, let's get our league campaign properly underway.

 

[Chastu]

Boost confidence maybe but still doesn’t get us away from the overload on our squad. Tav and Goldson have played more or less every game (Tav every game) and it shows with their performances recently. We don’t have the quality in our squad to play Thursday Sunday and expect the same players to keep performing.

Oh and just to say - surely winning games in LEAGUE will boost confidence too.

im still struggling with the idea that being out of the EL is good for us because we dont have to play one more game and that for some reason will mean we win more league games, is Tav for some reason so irreplaceable we cant play without him?

 

[WestEndGer18]

If anyone had suggested last season that we would have achieved what we have, I would’ve had them sectioned.

 

[CaptainCourageous]

Didn't expect group stages, didn't expect any thing when I saw the draw.

After the 6 matches, I'm disappointed we've not progressed. Spartak at home, Spartak away and Rapid Wien last night should have been at least 5 points.

Shows how far we have come under Steven Gerrard in Europe that I am deflated after those three matches. Even 10 men Rangers could have won at home to Villarreal.

Just lacked that bit of quality, luck and could have been a bit more ballsy.

A turn around of 32 players and one transfer window and we almost made the last 32. Proud of our club.

Focus is now on domestic football and that had better improve as 17 points dropped is simply not good enough.

The next two/three weeks makes or breaks our season.

 

[DeeGer10]

I agree OP, I’m happy with the European aspect of the season.

I’d take where we got to for the next couple years or atleast until the coefficient goes up and we move up in the seedings.

We were supposed to be the Rosenberg of our group and didn’t have a team rated worse than us to take 6 points from.

 

[Wilbour]

We're inconsistent. The quality is there.

This isn't Championship Manager. Changes take time to bed in, the team have had a high loading of games.

Now and again it has clicked brilliantly.

The consistency will come, and with a focus just on the league I think it'll come very soon.

No, the quality isn't there. If the quality was there we would have beat that mob last night because they were crap. We would also have beat a 10 man Dundee team over 70 mins. Yes we are a work in progress but we need major reinforcements in midfield and up front.

 

[Papasmurf]

Now that we’re out of Europe there’s no excuse not to win the league.

People will say the gulf between us and Pacific Shelf is still too great, but we’ve already reached the top of the table this season and that was when we had Europa League games to contend with too.

There is absolutely no reason why we cannot win the title this season. That must be the aim now.

There’s about 30m reasons why