Match Thread Tranmere Rovers v Rangers, Rangers TV, ko 12 noon

Clay Davis said:
Are we thinking Kelly can be part of the squad this coming season.

Honestly think it would be better for his development to train with the first team and try to force his way in. Is he good enough is the question.
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Get him in that squad.

He can take it on the turn and ping a pass. That'll do me.

He really does look like a comfortable Rangers player. His style ticks all the boxes.
 
I can't understand people being animated about this.
It is just about getting football into the player's legs, getting their timing back in a full pitch exercise and shaking players free of pre-season cobwebs.
Winning is good, but only from a supporter's perspective.
For management and coaching staff this is about so much more and although the players play to win as always, they are not at a stage in the season where results carry any importance.
Getting our new midfielder onto the park and into the team shape was also important.
 
Not gonna over react to a friendly but that was poor . Shooting in both games so far isn’t a concern as of yet but something to keep an eye on.

reckon gerrard starts his best available team against Arsenal then rotates again for Blackpool

RTV - shambles . Will be emailing and asking for a refund on the 5.99. Ended up watching more on hesgoal
 
Of the fringe players only Kelly has done anything to make manager think about adding him to first team squad....lad has done well.

Also manager didn't look happy at all for those saying 'he won't care, it's only about fitness". Clearly some areas disappointed him .
 
It’s only pre-season. However, I have watched Tranmere being a local now and I could probably get a game for them at 50.
A couple of stand out bad players for us who I won’t mention but I think most will have clocked them.
Hopefully the squad have been partying since 55 and the performances will improve but so far after Thistle and Tranmere I have my concerns.
 
Good for the fitness but not much else to be positive about.

I’d imagine the gaffer will be looking to move Jones, Edmundson, Barker and possibly Middleton on permanently. None of them are good enough. Mayo looks awkward at both full back and midfield, not sure he’ll make the grade either.

Kelly is the dilemma, he’s shown up well so far and could be a squad option. He’d benefit from another season on loan though IMO playing 30+ games.
 
Clay Davis said:
Are we thinking Kelly can be part of the squad this coming season.

Honestly think it would be better for his development to train with the first team and try to force his way in. Is he good enough is the question.
Click to expand...
One of his problems is that he doesn't really cover any other positions where he might pick up some minutes as a sub or emergency start, so he's just the 7th choice midfielder. How much development does he get without minutes?
 
Dontwasteit! said:
Good for the fitness but not much else to be positive about.

I’d imagine the gaffer will be looking to move Jones, Edmundson, Barker and possibly Middleton on permanently. None of them are good enough. Mayo looks awkward at both full back and midfield, not sure he’ll make the grade either.

Kelly is the dilemma, he’s shown up well so far and could be a squad option. He’d benefit from another season on loan though IMO playing 30+ games.
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Kelly should stay. The kid has the correct attitude and desire to improve. I'd rather him with Davis, Kamara, Lundstram et all every day then 40 games at a Motherwell or Dundee under poorer managers.
 
Its only pre season. Quite a tough watch but nothing to panic about. If we went into the first game against livi or the champions League qualifiers Like that then yes maybe panic then.

Reluctant to pick out players for criticism in these kinds of matches as even some of the more established first team players didn't impress either. That being said it was an opportunity for some of the less established players to show something and not many took it.
 
bilkobear said:
I can't understand people being animated about this.
It is just about getting football into the player's legs, getting their timing back in a full pitch exercise and shaking players free of pre-season cobwebs.
Winning is good, but only from a supporter's perspective.
For management and coaching staff this is about so much more and although the players play to win as always, they are not at a stage in the season where results carry any importance.
Getting our new midfielder onto the park and into the team shape was also important.
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You only had to look at the coaching staff who weren’t barking out instructions but just watching on and observing the players.these first two games are about getting minutes in the legs and getting match sharp.play that game in two weeks and we would win 4-1
 
Clay Davis said:
Are we thinking Kelly can be part of the squad this coming season.

Honestly think it would be better for his development to train with the first team and try to force his way in. Is he good enough is the question.
Click to expand...
I would keep him with the squad. Looks like his development would benefit from being around our coaches. Could certainly bring him on for Davis or another midfielder to see out games that aren't very tight. If he's doing well give him a starting role. Looks like an upgrade on Zungu as a squad midfielder.
 
Not in the least concerned and although I always like to see us win, the main purpose of these games is getting physically and match fit.

Midfield is normally the strongest part of our team and the possession retention and control of Kamara, Jack and Arfield was the biggest miss.

Davis was the only midfielder on his game.
 
Typical sh*t pre season game, minutes for the squad and trying different roles in our formation.
 
Difficult to tell who is just joking and who is howling at the moon on here. :)

We actually did quite well controlling the match and creating chances but it's clear that a decent number of these players won't be getting a regular game this season.

Too many subs to take much away from the game.

Kent and Aribo looked like the only two who have real obvious quality about them but we already knew they are great players.

Jones is just not going to work out for us. He can deliver a good cross and can beat a man sometimes but he's not going to get his chance unless we have injuries.

Not sure what the idea was with Barker? Centre midfield role? Another one who obviously won't be getting a start.

Stream was quite dodgy in the first half but we did look OK and created a good few chances. Then everyone got subbed. :)

Very difficult to keep quality across a squad so obviously when you field 22 players it's going to be a bit dodgy.
 
Can't read too much into it, but the past couple of games shows us we need our starting eleven of last season to be a side that makes the difference from being an average one to one that is dangerous yet solid. Players like barasic, kent , kamara and morelos would be a big loss to us if they were to move on. And with the CL qualifiers coming up we need to really be adding quality not just having back up players.
 
Sounds like I should be glad I forgot about this and stuck the cricket on.

I hate preseason anyway. Friendly games are guff.
 
Chris the Bandito said:
One of his problems is that he doesn't really cover any other positions where he might pick up some minutes as a sub or emergency start, so he's just the 7th choice midfielder. How much development does he get without minutes?
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He's the ideal man to come in and replace Davis. Whether that's when Davis gets rested for a game or its just to 'spell' him for the last 20-30 minutes that will be better for him than elsewhere. His style of play is ideally suited to our passing game. I don't see him learning any more elsewhere with the ball flying over his head. He knows he can fit in at this level (the SPFL), he has the confidence and ability, its just about developing everything to a higher level now.

Of the two games we've seen so far, he and Bassey are the two that can be most satisfied they haven't let themselves down.
 
Only thing I got for it was the players lacking that match fitness, to be expected and its what these games are for. On a positive note, if they can beat us in a friendly..... can we beat Real Madrid?
 
OK, we should probably have been 3 up in the first half, but I don't agree with the playing it down, it'll be alright on the night sentiments - at the end of the day we've just lost to Tranmere Rovers & that is not a good look. We are not too big, or too good simply to shrug it off.

No need to panic as such, but there are some things we need to be wary of at this stage of the season - sloppiness setting in & becoming the norm, complacency, and 2nd season syndrome, where having now won the league, some players drop their levels and/or start to think about looking elsewhere - am sure the management will be on it.

As for the horrific RTV coverage, the least said the better...
 
Match Fitness, Sharpness, trying out different formations etc.

The only slight concern was how poor we were in the final third.

Still, three weeks to work on it and a bunch of friendlies in between now and the first game of the season.
 
Laudrup is God said:
Song snobs and police out in force today what next don’t sing blue sea of Ibrox because we are next to the clyde ffs
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A bit disingenuous to compare Blue Sea of Ibrox to "f*ck Bobby Sands" etc.

Some supporters just aren't into that stuff and I think it's fair game for criticism.

Our first match since March 2020 with some of our supporters in the ground and the lads and singing about Bobby Sands before the game has even gone 5 minutes.

It's embarrassing and maybe it should be called out for what it is.

Why is Bobby Sands being referenced at all?
 
RedWhiteBlue said:
Difficult to tell who is just joking and who is howling at the moon on here. :)

We actually did quite well controlling the match and creating chances but it's clear that a decent number of these players won't be getting a regular game this season.

Too many subs to take much away from the game.

Kent and Aribo looked like the only two who have real obvious quality about them but we already knew they are great players.

Jones is just not going to work out for us. He can deliver a good cross and can beat a man sometimes but he's not going to get his chance unless we have injuries.

Not sure what the idea was with Barker? Centre midfield role? Another one who obviously won't be getting a start.

Stream was quite dodgy in the first half but we did look OK and created a good few chances. Then everyone got subbed. :)

Very difficult to keep quality across a squad so obviously when you field 22 players it's going to be a bit dodgy.
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All joking aside today told us nothing new.

Most of the big hitters weren't there or just back from injury.
Edmundson, Middleton, Jones, Barker were destined for the chop. Still are IMO.
Simpson/Edmundson are not a patch on Katic never mind the main three CH's right now
Bassey and Kelly have the correct attitude, effort and desire to stay with the squad.
 
bilkobear said:
I can't understand people being animated about this.
It is just about getting football into the player's legs, getting their timing back in a full pitch exercise and shaking players free of pre-season cobwebs.
Winning is good, but only from a supporter's perspective.
For management and coaching staff this is about so much more and although the players play to win as always, they are not at a stage in the season where results carry any importance.
Getting our new midfielder onto the park and into the team shape was also important.
Click to expand...
Bilko agree with the essence of your point and accept players have been playing who will be nowhere near the team. But the performances, the passing and interplay have been miles, miles short. We are so far behind we have a lot of work to do before the league starts.

that first half was an utter disgrace regardless.
 
Nothing to panic about. It’s a pre season game and the players will be rusty after a heavy season that demanded a lot.

Typical performance from a turgid person season friendly. Gets the boys a wee run out. We’ve got some great matches ahead that are more representative of the club with the type of opposition we will be facing. These will be the matches I will be looking at in closer detail.

Any defeat is hard to take, but it’s not the end of the world!
 
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