Where was Katic?

[joseph]

Genuine questions as to why our best centre half so far this season was completely dropped

Don’t you think it’s worth discussing?

The gaffer said he has 4 centre backs and one will be left out for no reason other than he will pick the person most suited to the game- also said Edmundson will feature in sometime in the next couple of games, which means someone will be disappointed at not being included in the squad for no reason, no fallout, no injury nothing like that, just because they all have different styles and strengths they bring and I’ll pick the ones I think will suit at the time, so one of my four centre back is not going to be selected.

 

[Crown_Defender]

I never said i was offended. I said he didn’t warrant being out of the match day 18. Goldson has been the one of the two that’s form has warranted being dropped.

As for him coming back in at the weekend I think he should but I’m not entirely convinced he will. Helander needs games and Goldson looks like he’s going to play every game again.

Seems to be a common thing on here. Dare to question any decision by the manager and your accused of going into 'meltdown'.

It's a valid question and no one is getting upset about it from what I can see. Like you, I don't think anyone is really questioning Helander coming in it's more to do with the stubbornness of Stevie, to play certain players, regardless of form. Every manager does that though in fairness to him.

 

[Kirbys House]

This.

Thank feck we won or Katic Gate would have been unbearable. You can almost sense some folk wish we got beaten so they could be proven right and sit thrashing their keyboards for the next few days in anger.

The match thread was a riot when the team was announced (full disclosure, I did say I thought it was harsh if he hadn't even made the 18 assuming he wasn't injured) - the more extreme in his fan club would have you think how we play/perform revolves around the big man.

Some only see squad rotation as their favourite(s) 'being dropped', maybe because this is the first time in years we've had so much quality to select from.

 

[SuperGers07]

Will play in the St Johnstone game and against Livi. Lots of games coming up and there's been loads of football played already.

Can't see it, Goldson and Helander will start most games now.
Helander and Katic won't work as a partnership as they are too similar in style

 

[Aragorn]

Let the manager decide what's best.

Exactly...SG has said countless times with the number of games we have coming up, it’s important to rotate the squad.

 

[dt17]

Can't see it, Goldson and Helander will start most games now.
Helander and Katic won't work as a partnership as they are too similar in style

In what ways are Katic and Helander similar?

Genuinely curious.

 

[MarkieLoyal]

gaffer said before the game it was tactical, to get helander in to add more balance being left footed, that katic is good as an aerial presence but we needed to focus on play and movement etc

That is all well and fine. And it makes sense, and it worked. Thats how it will be remembered too.

But, not even on the bench.

Tough love again for Nico.

 

[mustn’t grumble]

I love Katic, I think in a season or two he could be a serious high-value player for us. There is no need to rush him. I really like the Goldson-Helander partnership, and I think Barisic was lifted by having another left footer playing alongside him (I know that sounds daft, but football is all about the small details).

 

[JayDee]

He was excellent tonight, but Katic has been great too, and offers more of a goal threat than any other player at set pieces. Goldson is a good footballer and played well too + I think Edmundson can feel very unfortunate as he has looked solid too. I think Helander is the oldest at 27 or 28 (?) so we are very well off in the CH area. If Borna keeps up that form, we won't need to invest in the back 4 for a few years to come. Great work by Gerrard and Allen.

Helander is 26.

 

[Drumchapel-Bear]

In what ways are Katic and Helander similar?

Genuinely curious.

Style wise, they look quite different to me.

 

[Its-Sebo]

How was he right? We kept a clean sheet because of McGregor - not because of Goldson (or Tav). This place would've had a meltdown if the Feyenoord player had scored that header where Goldson lost his man.

Your desperation to have a dig at Goldson simply because you prefer Katic is strange.

The whole defence played well last night and limited Feyenoord to very few real chances – it's not a pub team we were playing against, it's fücking Feyenoord. You don't play 90 against them without them creating something, the quality in their team was evident from some of the passing.

So, yes, McGregor was a large part of the reason we got a clean sheet but so was everyone else.

 

[dt17]

Your desperation to have a dig at Goldson simply because you prefer Katic is strange.

The whole defence played well last night and limited Feyenoord to very few real chances – it's not a pub team we were playing against, it's fücking Feyenoord. You don't play 90 against them without them creating something, the quality in their team was evident from some of the passing.

So, yes, McGregor was a large part of the reason we got a clean sheet but so was everyone else.

That's not the case at all.

I thought Goldson was very poor last night and I thought Tav was poor as well, in fact he nearly cost us the 3 points right at the end.

The issue is, they didn't actually create that much but they could've scored from a corner where Goldson completely lost his man and he had a free header...that would've been an error on our part, not great play from them.

 

[Sebo1872]

I love big Katic but the obsession with him on here is bordering on insane, You support Rangers not Nikola Katic.

Helander on last nights showing certainly justified his place in the team so if anything it's Goldson who will need to look over his shoulder.

 

[Its-Sebo]

That's not the case at all.

I thought Goldson was very poor last night and I thought Tav was poor as well, in fact he nearly cost us the 3 points right at the end.

The issue is, they didn't actually create that much but they could've scored from a corner where Goldson completely lost his man and he had a free header...that would've been an error on our part, not great play from them.

They didn’t create that much because of our defence, including Goldson and Tav.

 

[SenoraCuellar]

If we could just stick with a winning team and let the players build their confidence and bonds.

 

[Der Berliner]

SG went into some detail about his centre halfs after the game:

 

[Once a BEAR]

The whole balance in the defence is spot on becaise Helander is left footed and as said before this also helps Barisic who had a great game last night. But Helander and Katic are totally different the most obvious difference being one is left footed and the other is right footed playing on the left. For me our centre backs just now should be Katic and Helander, Goldson is making way too many mistakes in every game.

 

[RamlufBear]

Something not making sense in the Gerrard interview, says he has went with the experience of Helander as he has played at a high level and it was a tough game but what happens if either centre back got injured early on. You've got the relatively inexperienced Edmundson to come on where it should have been Katic, mystified.

 

[1914-18]

Let the manager decide what's best.

Close down the forum

 

[devilman]

I am sure the gaffer has his reasons but I don't believe he missed out completely because of tactical reasons. Katic has been one of our better players this season and certainly the better defender. I don't think Goldson offers anything that Katic can't do and I would trust Katic in our defence over Goldson actually (although, I do think Goldson is a good player).

I'd like to see a Katic/Helander central defence.

 

[The Huguenot]

Huge Huff

 

[Hammerhitstheslammer]

Duno where the “bombed out” is coming from he’s played just about every game so far and we signed 2 defenders in the summer. It’s quite obv he was given the night off. We paid £3mn for Helander he should be starting games.

 

[the count]

I reckon Sunday will see Katic and Helander start
It’s a squad game & Gerrard obviously felt for the way we were going to play that Helander and Goldson were better suited. The clean sheet backs that up

For me, Katic is the better player between him and Goldson

 

[Drumchapel-Bear]

I love big Katic but the obsession with him on here is bordering on insane, You support Rangers not Nikola Katic.

Helander on last nights showing certainly justified his place in the team so if anything it's Goldson who will need to look over his shoulder.

This is spot on but unfortunately people on here care more about their wee personal duals with other posters and being proven right than Rangers actually winning. It's pathetic.

 

[trueblue2022]

Willing to bet Katic has not taken it well and Gerrard has omitted him from the squad.

It is a team game.

Squad togetherness is vital.

Goldson and Helander were excellent.

Goldson really wasn’t excellent mate. I think you need to watch that game back.

 

[dt17]

They didn’t create that much because of our defence, including Goldson and Tav.

I'd argue it was more because we were on the front foot for large parts of the game and our midfield were better than theirs.

Duno where the “bombed out” is coming from he’s played just about every game so far and we signed 2 defenders in the summer. It’s quite obv he was given the night off. We paid £3mn for Helander he should be starting games.

The night off? In a big European game?

Also, going by your logic of 'a player cost a lot of money therefore he should start' - should Grezda be getting a game as well?

 

[JW1988]

For me, Katic is the better player between him and Goldson

Maybe sees Katic and Helander as too similar? No idea but it worked last night

 

[sulabear]

Gerrard was paying his ‘warrior’ style many compliments both pre and post match, simply saying it’s a game that Helander and Edmundson would be more suited to due to their composure and technical ability.

If he’s nowhere to be seen on Sunday then maybe it’s time to ask the question, but can’t say Gerrard got anything wrong last night.

 

[MearnsUnionist]

Problem is, Goldson is very sloppy in almost every game now. Our best centre backs are Katic and Helander. There's been rumours that Goldson and Katic had a bust up and that's why he wasn't in the squad tonight but who know's how accurate they are.

The thing is, our coaching staff (who work with the players every day and analyse every game we play) thought Goldson and Helander were the best partnership for last night.

We were playing against a very good attacking team, with BOTH central defenders making several important tackles and interceptions, on our way to an excellent victory and a clean sheet.

Yet we still have folk on here thinking they know better than the manager and still think he got it wrong.

You really couldn't make it up.

 

[Once a BEAR]

The thing is, our coaching staff (who work with the players every day and analyse every game we play) thought Goldson and Helander were the best partnership for last night.

We were playing against a very good attacking team, with BOTH central defenders making several important tackles and interceptions, on our way to an excellent victory and a clean sheet.

Yet we still have folk on here thinking they know better than the manager and still think he got it wrong.

You really couldn't make it up.

WHERE did I say the manager got it wrong exactly?????
And WHERE did I say I know better than him ??????
I stated MY opinion after all this IS a forum, fucking hell, wind your neck in.

 

[legalbeagle]

I like Katic a lot, but he does seem to benefit on here from some odd favouritism and Goldson gets the other side of that.

I thought Connor had a good game last night, his passing can be erratic at times, but that is through trying some creative stuff that others don’t.

I’m happy we have a number of solid defenders and don’t quite get why it has become such a concern to some.

 

[HarryBosch]

Helander was as good last night as Katic was against Legia. Goldson made a couple of errors - so did Helander. Goldson and Helander overall played well and kept a decent Feyenoord side out.

I do believe though that Katic dropping out completely would point to something having occurred behind the scenes - you dont completely drop a player from the squad who performed so well in the last European game just to rest him.

Katic is young and hungry - but no one is more important than the team.

It'll be interesting to see the selection come Sunday.

 

[Barker96]

I've had enough of the Katic chat to be honest.

For some people Katic getting game time seems to be more important than whether or not Rangers win matches.

Love the big man but he's nowhere near as flawless as some supporters like to pretend. Said in my thread earlier in the week it was time for Helander to be brought into the team and I was proven right by the performance & result last night. Nothing more to it than that.

Absolutely no reason to make Katic being dropped into any kind of issue or fall out when it's clearly not.

 

[MearnsUnionist]

WHERE did I say the manager got it wrong exactly?????
And WHERE did I say I know better than him ??????
I stated MY opinion after all this IS a forum, fucking hell, wind your neck in.

My post wasn't directed specifically at you.

More the general amount of moaning about why Katic never started, despite the manager explaining he felt it was a game for his most experienced central defenders and being proved right.

 

[BrooklynBlue]

I'd suggest Barisic benefited from having the steadiness of Helander alongside him.

There's a determination on social media to create a drama. Even when we win and keep a clean sheet, there are still these threads saying we missed Katic.

 

[nessboy8]

Gerrard said in an interview early in the season that Goldson and Edmundson are the centre halfs that will stay spare and sweep up and Hellander and Katic are the big ball winning centre halfs. So I doubt they will play Katic and Hellander together.

 

[The Golden God]

The thing is, our coaching staff (who work with the players every day and analyse every game we play) thought Goldson and Helander were the best partnership for last night.

We were playing against a very good attacking team, with BOTH central defenders making several important tackles and interceptions, on our way to an excellent victory and a clean sheet.

Yet we still have folk on here thinking they know better than the manager and still think he got it wrong.

You really couldn't make it up.

As I mentioned earlier, either on this thread or another. it honestly feels like people are gutted we won because they can't continue their vendetta.

 

[cyl1690]

For what it is worth and is my own personal opinion, when we brought in Worral last season and dropped Katic, we lost stupid points, that effectively went a long way to us losing the league. Only my opinion of course, but since the start of the season in the games we have started both Katic and Goldson, I think Katic has been the more steady of the two.

 

[Govanx]

Goldson, it seems, is undroppable by the manager. He would have been benched at least the last six to eight games of last season as his form dipped quite a bit and he looked to be carrying a niggle, but he wasn't. I think it's fair of people to be allowed to ash the question "where is Katic" rather than being accused of panty wetting.

 

[Danger Zone]

Some of Goldson's traits as well...I don't know what's going on with him lately but it seems as if he's towing a caravan at times - used to always think he had a decent turn of pace until recently.



What utter tosh.



How was he right? We kept a clean sheet because of McGregor - not because of Goldson (or Tav). This place would've had a meltdown if the Feyenoord player had scored that header where Goldson lost his man.

The irony there is that the same people would say Katic was poor against Livi (which is absolutely true) and we didn’t keep a clean sheet so that isn’t good enough. But we only conceded a goal against Livi because Arfield gave away a cheap penalty, so if that doesn’t happen and Livi don’t score does Katic get to walk off saying he did his job and it’s all hunky dory because we got a clean sheet, even though he blatantly didn’t play well? Because Goldson got lucky a few times last night and that seems to be more of less what some are doing here.

Gerrard is right, it’s nearly impossible to keep 4 CB’s happy, it’s even more difficult to do that when one of them is bulletproof and guaranteed a start. It’ll be hard to convince me that Katic isn’t being harshly treated, even more difficult when you’ve already seen the guy bombed out previously in favour of a bumbling loanee. Regular rotation of centre backs isn’t something that will work well (at the heart of all successful teams is a consistent and settled defence) so I’m sceptical about him getting much more game time too, in which case the end result will probably be the younger more promising defender (and the bigger financial asset) looking to get a move away.

That’s getting ahead of things, but it’s entirely possible. I’ve said since pre-season, consecutive poor games will see Katic dropped for a replacement and low and behold! Not being in the squad at all still leaves me puzzled too. But the bottom line is, having one undroppable defender who keeps his place even when his form is ropey to say the least, sends out the wrong message and goes against what the gaffer says. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s said one thing and done another though, he also said the guys who beat Celtic in December shouldn’t lose their place when they’re getting the results then proceeded to mix it up and work a half fit Davis and Defoe into the next line up.

And the “you can just tell some wanted us to get beat” shite is just that, shite, perpetuated by folk who don’t like the gaffer being questioned or challenged on his decisions (coincidentally they also tend to be posters who backed Worral as first pick). But I mean it’s a Rangers discussion forum, if it winds them up maybe this forum malarkey isn’t for them.

 

[Monts1310]

Goldson and Helander is the way forward, for now.

 

[Dotty_84]

The lad again like last season played all 8 matches and helped us get to the group and he's not even on the bench this time around. It's insulting to the lad in my opinion.

 

[Jjbscotty]

The lad again like last season played all 8 matches and helped us get to the group and he's not even on the bench this time around. It's insulting to the lad in my opinion.

That’s what I was thinking last night very poor from the manager imo.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Is that him back to being dropped just for the sake of it again then? I'm surprised the manager lets so many FF posters in to the training centre every day to observe everything that goes on.

 

[Jase]

I’m a big Katic fan but tbh his absence didn’t weaken us last night.

Is this owt to do with the story about there being some words between him & Goldson?

 

[songsofglory]

We kept a clean sheet.

Helander strolled it.

Canny really moan about him being dropped with it turning out like that.

 

[standardbarger]

Hopefully just squad rotation and he will start on Sunday

Squad rotatation for certain players it seems, Don't see Goldson being rotated much except by our opponents strikers maybe.

 

[dt17]

The thing is, our coaching staff (who work with the players every day and analyse every game we play) thought Goldson and Helander were the best partnership for last night.

We were playing against a very good attacking team, with BOTH central defenders making several important tackles and interceptions, on our way to an excellent victory and a clean sheet.

Yet we still have folk on here thinking they know better than the manager and still think he got it wrong.

You really couldn't make it up.

By that logic then no fans can ever have the opinion that the management team get things wrong?

Do you think the tactics and team selection against Celtic were spot on then?

 

[RFC4ME]

Goldson is clearly more mobile, has a better pass than Katic and is likely a better communicator - hence his manager backs him to switch up CB partners with ease - and he does.

Hellander is Cuellar

Feel for Katic, sometimes you just find yourself in a squad with better players - the reality is though he just isn't the player some on here spoken themselves into believing he is.

 

[dt17]

The irony there is that the same people would say Katic was poor against Livi (which is absolutely true) and we didn’t keep a clean sheet so that isn’t good enough. But we only conceded a goal against Livi because Arfield gave away a cheap penalty, so if that doesn’t happen and Livi don’t score does Katic get to walk off saying he did his job and it’s all hunky dory because we got a clean sheet, even though he blatantly didn’t play well? Because Goldson got lucky a few times last night and that seems to be more of less what some are doing here.

Gerrard is right, it’s nearly impossible to keep 4 CB’s happy, it’s even more difficult to do that when one of them is bulletproof and guaranteed a start. It’ll be hard to convince me that Katic isn’t being harshly treated, even more difficult when you’ve already seen the guy bombed out previously in favour of a bumbling loanee. Regular rotation of centre backs isn’t something that will work well (at the heart of all successful teams is a consistent and settled defence) so I’m sceptical about him getting much more game time too, in which case the end result will probably be the younger more promising defender (and the bigger financial asset) looking to get a move away.

That’s getting ahead of things, but it’s entirely possible. I’ve said since pre-season, consecutive poor games will see Katic dropped for a replacement and low and behold! Not being in the squad at all still leaves me puzzled too. But the bottom line is, having one undroppable defender who keeps his place even when his form is ropey to say the least, sends out the wrong message and goes against what the gaffer says. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s said one thing and done another though, he also said the guys who beat Celtic in December shouldn’t lose their place when they’re getting the results then proceeded to mix it up and work a half fit Davis and Defoe into the next line up.

And the “you can just tell some wanted us to get beat” shite is just that, shite, perpetuated by folk who don’t like the gaffer being questioned or challenged on his decisions (coincidentally they also tend to be posters who backed Worral as first pick). But I mean it’s a Rangers discussion forum, if it winds them up maybe this forum malarkey isn’t for them.

Absolutely spot on.

Goldson is clearly more mobile, has a better pass than Katic and is likely a better communicator - hence his manager backs him to switch up CB partners with ease - and he does.

Hellander is Cuellar

Feel for Katic, sometimes you just find yourself in a squad with better players - the reality is though he just isn't the player some on here spoken themselves into believing he is.

There's absolutely no danger that Goldson is more mobile than Katic.