Drumchapel-Bear
Well-Known Member
In any profession, you are set annual goals and targets which you are judged on at the end of your working year (or season with regards to football). When Steven Gerrard was appointed manager in the summer by Dave King, he would have been set certain goals/targets for the season - some being Non Negotiable and some Desirable. We can speculate what those goals might have been, we know that a desirable goal was King wanted Europa League Qualification but Gerrard didn't think we were ready for it at the time (he mentioned this in an interview). I would have thought Non Negotiable goals would have been finishing a clear 2nd in the league, beating Celtic and perhaps winning a Cup would have been somewhere between desirable/non negotiable.
If you started a poll on here during the summer and said the following will happen this season:
- Europa League Qualification
- Beating Celtic
- Clear 2nd in the league
Most people would have been happy with that for Gerrard's first season (no matter what they say now). For me, the only thing he has failed in so far is being papped out of both cups before the final stage but if you are looking at it from a goals perspective, he has only failed in 1/4 goals, so I would really love to hear what the actual case is for sacking the guy? Winning the title in his first season would not have been an expectation for this season.
If you take a step back and look at things objectively, it has been a decent first season for him. Imo you are mental if you want him sacked right now.
Now, before people start piling in about our win record against Killie/Aberdeen/Hibs this season, it is pretty poor, what I have posted above doesn't mean that I am happy with the games against them this season. Both things are not mutually exclusive. Would people rather we got a couple of wins against The Sheep this season like Murty done last season but ended up finishing 3rd? Of course you wouldn't. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head how many times we failed to beat these teams during the seasons we won titles growing up, because at the end of the day it's all about winning titles at Rangers. As I have mentioned previously, in our route back to being top dogs there is a process we need to go through which involves us becoming clear best of the rest (which we are now, irrespective of records against individual teams - we are 8 points clear of 3rd). The next step is making a realistic challenge for the title - that needs to come next season (and I believe it will). Most people would have been happy with that last summer as well.
When Juventus were demoted from Serie A, it took them 4/5 seasons to win the title again after being promoted and what they went through was nowhere near as bad as us in terms of players and revenue streams etc lost. We have no divine right to just come right back up and win this title right away just because we are Rangers, it is a process and we are on track. The next step in the process has been made this season with all the goals I mentioned above being met, next season is all about kicking on and making a proper push now. The manager knows what we need, he continually mentions the final 3rd and the quality etc.
It's time for deep breaths and calm heads.
If you started a poll on here during the summer and said the following will happen this season:
- Europa League Qualification
- Beating Celtic
- Clear 2nd in the league
Most people would have been happy with that for Gerrard's first season (no matter what they say now). For me, the only thing he has failed in so far is being papped out of both cups before the final stage but if you are looking at it from a goals perspective, he has only failed in 1/4 goals, so I would really love to hear what the actual case is for sacking the guy? Winning the title in his first season would not have been an expectation for this season.
If you take a step back and look at things objectively, it has been a decent first season for him. Imo you are mental if you want him sacked right now.
Now, before people start piling in about our win record against Killie/Aberdeen/Hibs this season, it is pretty poor, what I have posted above doesn't mean that I am happy with the games against them this season. Both things are not mutually exclusive. Would people rather we got a couple of wins against The Sheep this season like Murty done last season but ended up finishing 3rd? Of course you wouldn't. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head how many times we failed to beat these teams during the seasons we won titles growing up, because at the end of the day it's all about winning titles at Rangers. As I have mentioned previously, in our route back to being top dogs there is a process we need to go through which involves us becoming clear best of the rest (which we are now, irrespective of records against individual teams - we are 8 points clear of 3rd). The next step is making a realistic challenge for the title - that needs to come next season (and I believe it will). Most people would have been happy with that last summer as well.
When Juventus were demoted from Serie A, it took them 4/5 seasons to win the title again after being promoted and what they went through was nowhere near as bad as us in terms of players and revenue streams etc lost. We have no divine right to just come right back up and win this title right away just because we are Rangers, it is a process and we are on track. The next step in the process has been made this season with all the goals I mentioned above being met, next season is all about kicking on and making a proper push now. The manager knows what we need, he continually mentions the final 3rd and the quality etc.
It's time for deep breaths and calm heads.
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