Two Innocuous Moments That Infuritated Me Tonight

First half we break from corner. Candieas breaking through with morelos on his right 2v2.

Aberdeen players bust a gut to get back and over crowd Candieas 6 to 1. We didn't have any other support.
That was noticeable at the game. We started that break 2v2, ended up 6v2 with nobody else in sight
 
The amount of brilliant runs grezda made off the ball was really frustrating.

Guy was constantly looking to get in behind , only to be let down by midfielders and centre halves running with the ball and looking at their feet, instead of looking for options and taking a chance on a guy trying to make something happen.

I thought he was awful when he came on. Offered zero on both flanks.

He wasn’t alone though, whole front of the pitch was miles off it
 
Middleton had one in the first half with acres of space to run into and he crossed it right to the keeper. It's little things like that that individually might not seem much but add it together and it just shows the mentality of the team at times. They played it like they were scared
Middleton was poor tonight, he knew himself he never had the beating of his man and his head went down and didn’t get into the game. We are expecting too much from him consistently.
 
Did anyone else notice in the first half, we chose to play a lot of long balls and completely miss out the midfield? Not like us and completely played into their rugby tactics
 
All these instances of players doing this wrong ,or making bad decisions etc etc.Why are we surprised at this? ,if you watch ,the same players do the same things most of the time.They are not trying to do it,they simply can't learn,because they are limited,they are mediocre and nothing will change that ,no manager,coach,trainer or whoever.The players are simply not good enough and it will take time to filter them out and bring better in ,that's just the way it is.
 
83 minutes or something in the clock and tavernier gets free running towards their box with the ball. Yes you are right footed but drive into the space and commit players to come out and deal with you but no he actually stopped and checked back into traffic to get the ball on his right foot. Utterly turgid.

92nd minute Middleton out wide right from a set piece that’s been cleared. He shapes to ship it into the box but the defender has given him the freedom of Ibrox to go on his right side but instead he just bangs it against the guy from a yard and it’s yet another throw in and game slowed down.

These incidents didn’t cause us to lose but they just absolutely typified for me where we lacked so badly tonight. Being brave isn’t always about putting hard tackles in etc but choosing the right option and backing yourself. Far too many players just took the safety blanket option over and over. Where is the leadership?

Oh and if the Aberdeen (or whoever) team are going to give McAuley or Goldson the freedom to stroll twenty yards forward. Bloody take it instead of banging the ball into a midfielder coming towards you with a man up his arse. Frightening selection of pass at times.
McAuley looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights tonight.
 
83 minutes or something in the clock and tavernier gets free running towards their box with the ball. Yes you are right footed but drive into the space and commit players to come out and deal with you but no he actually stopped and checked back into traffic to get the ball on his right foot. Utterly turgid.

92nd minute Middleton out wide right from a set piece that’s been cleared. He shapes to ship it into the box but the defender has given him the freedom of Ibrox to go on his right side but instead he just bangs it against the guy from a yard and it’s yet another throw in and game slowed down.

These incidents didn’t cause us to lose but they just absolutely typified for me where we lacked so badly tonight. Being brave isn’t always about putting hard tackles in etc but choosing the right option and backing yourself. Far too many players just took the safety blanket option over and over. Where is the leadership?

Oh and if the Aberdeen (or whoever) team are going to give McAuley or Goldson the freedom to stroll twenty yards forward. Bloody take it instead of banging the ball into a midfielder coming towards you with a man up his arse. Frightening selection of pass at times.

Your last paragraph is bang on.

My pet hate is the way we give away possession at throw ins. Fair enough if teams mark our players and force them into errors but why do we not do the same?
 
What about the Candeais break in the first half when he only had one defender between him and the goal but for some unexplainable reason waited for other players to join him rather than just trying to take the ball on. Ended up crowded out of course which was the story of the night.

Are you kidding? 6 Aberdeen players caught up with him, he had Morelos and that was it. He had no where to go.
 
I've got an even more innocuous one. There was one in the first half when Goldson, with nobody anywhere near him, let the ball trickle - literally trickle back to McGregor..... then McGregor touched it 2 yards to him. Boy next to me was out his seat screaming. I can't say I blamed him. Just bemusing.
 
First half we break from corner. Candieas breaking through with morelos on his right 2v2.

Aberdeen players bust a gut to get back and over crowd Candieas 6 to 1. We didn't have any other support.
That one caught my attention. Charge of the light brigade by I think six of them busting a gut like their life depended on it . A good few seconds later he comes the Rangers version.
 
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Did anyone else notice in the first half, we chose to play a lot of long balls and completely miss out the midfield? Not like us and completely played into their rugby tactics
Lost count how many times flanagan and goldson just launched it forward in the first half but cant blame them the midfield were hiding all night never actually looking for a pass.
 
It’s been a feature of our play all season.

The final ball and the decisions made in forward areas have far too often been poor.

It’s a recurring theme. We’re getting into really good attacking positions and just not seeing the right ball or snatching at chances.

Not being critical but it might be that the players we have are just not good enough to see these chances or make those passes.
 
Another moment that got me was a chance to counter attack in the second half. Someone passed the ball behind (and slow) the breaking Middleton, who then runs back, takes a heavy touch and loses the ball in a 50/50 challenge.
Yes seen that....very frustrating.
 
All of the above comments, however, being ultra critical, what is it with our ball boys/girls? When we are losing a game and the ball goes out of play they should be bursting a get to get it back to a player to restart the game, and the opposite when we are running down the clock. Must have been towards the end and the ball goes out in the Aberdeen half. Tav has to go searching for the ball, which is then flung past him onto the pitch. We must have wasted 30 seconds from that alone. Also, how come there was only 4 minutes of injury time played at the end. Either Tom or Kevin on commentary mentioned that McKenna had been down injured for 3 minutes alone, then you have 5 substitutions at 30 seconds each, time wasting by Aberdeen, and the red card. Just did my nut in at the time, however, we could have played for 110 minutes and not scored last night.
 
Diving and cheating aside, players checking back is one of the most frustrating things in football.

Players should be made, from day dot to practice on their weaker foot. It is a particular weakness in the British game. If a player can only play on one side, they are far too easy to defend against.

Luis Figo was always a favourite of mine as he could skin a player either side and I know every player can’t be Luis Figo but we should be forcing players to train for longer to focus on control and passing on their weaker foot.
 
Are you kidding? 6 Aberdeen players caught up with him, he had Morelos and that was it. He had no where to go.

They caught up with him because he hesitated and waited for support, when he received the ball he had one player in front of him and could have run directly at pace instead of procrastinating.
 
Lost count how many times flanagan and goldson just launched it forward in the first half but cant blame them the midfield were hiding all night never actually looking for a pass.

So true, the midfield were totally disfunctional and that shaped our whole approach.
 
Might be worth a try playing Grezda at number 10 give him a go at shooting or making something happen.
I would like to see him in this role also.
I think it's an option for both him or Kent to play in that role with the other out wide. We had no creativity in the middle of the park tonight. We missed Arfield's energy and link up play.
 
OP, how many decisions do you make each day in your job, do you get 100% correct?

That's the worst argument for having a go at someone criticising players I've seen in a good while.

Anyway in terms of the OP, the Tavernier moment was honestly ridiculous but the part that annoyed me the most was the Candieas counter attack in the first half. He's running towards goal with Morelos to his right and there's six, fucking six, Aberdeen players behind him so what does Candieas do? Cuts back right in to the oncoming Aberdeen players.

Absolutely infuriating.
 
The amount of brilliant runs grezda made off the ball was really frustrating.

Guy was constantly looking to get in behind , only to be let down by midfielders and centre halves running with the ball and looking at their feet, instead of looking for options and taking a chance on a guy trying to make something happen.

Great spot. The amount of movement this guys make his unreal and 95% he doesn't receive the ball
 
Middleton was poor tonight, he knew himself he never had the beating of his man and his head went down and didn’t get into the game. We are expecting too much from him consistently.
Part of the problem is Flanagan is too static and offers Glen no support or options. He is not a left back.
 
Seriously? We need a dumb player with an idiot, loud mouthed dad, who has substance abuse problems and likes to blow his nose in our shorts?

If that's all you saw then that's your short sightedness.

We need an attack minded MF'er who follows the striker.

I was no big fan of Windass by any stretch of the imagination, but when he was behind our striker he also offered goals from another position. No one was behind Morelos or Lafferty last night.

Péna offered the same.

So what I am saying is we needed a player who filled that void, there should always be a MF'er outside the 'D' at corners (Ian Ferguson, Mendes) to mention only two, as he should follow attacks for second balls when attacks breakdown.
 
If that's all you saw then that's your short sightedness.

We need an attack minded MF'er who follows the striker.

I was no big fan of Windass by any stretch of the imagination, but when he was behind our striker he also offered goals from another position. No one was behind Morelos or Lafferty last night.

Péna offered the same.

So what I am saying is we needed a player who filled that void, there should always be a MF'er outside the 'D' at corners (Ian Ferguson, Mendes) to mention only two, as he should follow attacks for second balls when attacks breakdown.

George Bernard Shaw was once asked by a beautiful young lady whether he thought they should have children together. "With my beauty and your brains, they might be remarkable!" she said. Shaw replied, "Indeed they might. But what if they receive my beauty - and your brains?"
Only a bit of fun, Steve.
Now if you're talking a hybrid Ian Ferguson, Pedro Mendes......
 
I knew opening the thread the Tav incident would be one.

Thought Ejaria passing the ball right out of play just after it while under no pressure would be the second.

The Ejaria one didn’t annoy me, as it was a genuine mistake. The others infuriated me as you could basically see the wheels turning in their head, as they tried to figure out what the hell to do with the ball. A few players last night just didn’t fancy taking the bull by the horns, which really concerns me.
 
At several stages we had Candieas, Grezda & Tav all within 2 feet of each other on the right real amateur hour stuff
 
He also passes it straight to where players are when he releases it as opposed to where they will be. Middleton had to check his runs a lot tonight.


This exactly. No anticipation or passes to latch on to while moving forward, always to feet or behind. Always losing any momentum or pace to our attacks.
 
First half we break from corner. Candieas breaking through with morelos on his right 2v2.

Aberdeen players bust a gut to get back and over crowd Candieas 6 to 1. We didn't have any other support.
I was raging at that. Despite their being a lack of support, Candeias still had the chance to charge on and try and score himself but in going with the theme of this thread i thought he bottled it and slowed down to try and wait to pass to someone else.
 
What about the Candeais break in the first half when he only had one defender between him and the goal but for some unexplainable reason waited for other players to join him rather than just trying to take the ball on. Ended up crowded out of course which was the story of the night.

I was speechless.

I mentioned it in the match thread, absolutely terrible show on non self belief, no excuse for not having skinned that defender and drawn the keeper out.

Shocking decision making.
 
All of the above comments, however, being ultra critical, what is it with our ball boys/girls? When we are losing a game and the ball goes out of play they should be bursting a get to get it back to a player to restart the game, and the opposite when we are running down the clock. Must have been towards the end and the ball goes out in the Aberdeen half. Tav has to go searching for the ball, which is then flung past him onto the pitch. We must have wasted 30 seconds from that alone. Also, how come there was only 4 minutes of injury time played at the end. Either Tom or Kevin on commentary mentioned that McKenna had been down injured for 3 minutes alone, then you have 5 substitutions at 30 seconds each, time wasting by Aberdeen, and the red card. Just did my nut in at the time, however, we could have played for 110 minutes and not scored last night.

Good point about the ballboys GD. Could earn us an extra minute per game. This could mean points over a season.
 
The Ejaria one didn’t annoy me, as it was a genuine mistake. The others infuriated me as you could basically see the wheels turning in their head, as they tried to figure out what the hell to do with the ball. A few players last night just didn’t fancy taking the bull by the horns, which really concerns me.

Yeah I meant to reply and say that about Ejaria. It was just an error rather than shitting himself.
 
There's a real element of being ponderous and often being overly obvious to our play.

It's surprising actually because guys like Candeias and Middleton and even Grezda have a bit of pace to them.
It's only when we see Kent on the ball that it looks as if someone wants to run it through them.

The process of out-passing opponents isn't necessarily wrong, but it only really works when you've got an entire team filled with people comfortable in doing it.
Of course it also requires at least a couple of guys willing to make runs and some others who are perceptive enough to see them.


The fact that we are still seeing players clearly favouring one foot to the detriment of our game is something that I'd hoped would have been sorted by now.
I hope that by the end of the season we aren't still seeing it.
 
83 minutes or something in the clock and tavernier gets free running towards their box with the ball. Yes you are right footed but drive into the space and commit players to come out and deal with you but no he actually stopped and checked back into traffic to get the ball on his right foot. Utterly turgid.

92nd minute Middleton out wide right from a set piece that’s been cleared. He shapes to ship it into the box but the defender has given him the freedom of Ibrox to go on his right side but instead he just bangs it against the guy from a yard and it’s yet another throw in and game slowed down.

These incidents didn’t cause us to lose but they just absolutely typified for me where we lacked so badly tonight. Being brave isn’t always about putting hard tackles in etc but choosing the right option and backing yourself. Far too many players just took the safety blanket option over and over. Where is the leadership?

Oh and if the Aberdeen (or whoever) team are going to give McAuley or Goldson the freedom to stroll twenty yards forward. Bloody take it instead of banging the ball into a midfielder coming towards you with a man up his arse. Frightening selection of pass at times.
I know Middleton is young but he was hiding last night. Maybe time for the bench and give him some sub appearences until he sorts himself out.
 
What really gets me is the fact that Grezda brings nothing to the side and is still picked or comes on as a sub. He must have something on someone

Harsh to blame Grezda for his contribution last night when we were effectively a collection of individuals huffing & puffing to no great effect.

Sometimes in a poor performance it's still possible to pick a player who had a decent game, that wasn't possible last night.
 
I don't want to sound like a poet here. look back on my post history but we need a lubo type guy in our team . An older player that will unlock a defence and has been around the block and in every back garden.

If fit, Ryan Kent may have been just that player.

We did have that type of player, Niko Kranjcar, who would have been ideal for the game last night.
 
Too many players not brave enough to be the one that tries something. All playing the safe option every single time as they don't want to be the one that loses the ball.
 
I've never seen shagger so animated with what was happening in front of him. He almost had an aneurysm.
 
Harsh to blame Grezda for his contribution last night when we were effectively a collection of individuals huffing & puffing to no great effect.

Sometimes in a poor performance it's still possible to pick a player who had a decent game, that wasn't possible last night.

He's not entirely to blame obviously. I just can't see why he continues to get picked. I am happy to be proven wrong
 
That was noticeable at the game. We started that break 2v2, ended up 6v2 with nobody else in sight

The thing was against Motherwell with the same situation, only two could be arsed even trying to get back. They simply play so much more honestly against us.
 
Ejaria must have read an article titled ..........How To Recycle A Football.
If you watch him he is always facing the ball.
Not good enough son, you have to learn to move beyond a football and learn how to receive it whilst taking the game forward and moving into dangerous places.

Really frustrating to watch and it not just Ejaria that’s guilty of this, from midfield forward all our players do the same, back to the opposition and needing to turn 180 to go forward so the ball is more often than not payed back or sideways and very easy to defend against. There is no fluidity going forward.
 
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