Zurab Khizanishvili

Hap Hapablap

Hap Hapablap

Well-Known Member
What's everyone's thought on this guy?

I liked him a lot but he never really seemed to settle into a position either due to his versatility or a poor game would see him on the bench for a spell.

Would someone of his ability be an asset, or even a starter in our squad today? I think he'd not be far away.
 
Was doing ok at CB and Eck randomly played him in midfield against Auxerre and he had a nightmare in a game we got hammered. Also seem to remember him being played at right back against them and having a poor game.
 
The image of him with his eyes shut v Hartson in the cup game(?) made a lot of folks minds up over him. A decent player overall though, imo.
 
Hap Hapablap said:
What's everyone's thought on this guy?

I liked him a lot but he never really seemed to settle into a position either due to his versatility or a poor game would see him on the bench for a spell.

Would someone of his ability be an asset, or even a starter in our squad today? I think he'd not be far away.
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He'd walk in ahead of Kent, Morelos, colak or sakala
 
Had high hopes for him after always being impressed with him at Dundee.

He was a decent player but no more. Never seemed like the confident, dominant type of CB who are the ones who really succeed at Rangers.
 
Disraeli said:
Had high hopes for him after always being impressed with him at Dundee.

He was a decent player but no more. Never seemed like the confident, dominant type of CB who are the ones who really succeed at Rangers.
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Was never Gough or Cuellar levels, or even Bougherra, but nowadays would he measure up to say, Ben Davies?
 
Good centre-half, but we kept making him look a complete tit by playing him at right-back. He was OK on the ball, but a full-back needs movement and he was as nimble as big Helander.
 
El Chapo said:
Was doing ok at CB and Eck randomly played him in midfield against Auxerre and he had a nightmare in a game we got hammered. Also seem to remember him being played at right back against them and having a poor game.
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I remember McLeish’s explanation for that was Ricksen was the best full back at the club equipped to deal with their left winger, but left out the fact that was leaving us with a central midfield partnership of two centre half’s to trade.
 
For me, there was always a wee lapse in concentration or bad mistake in him in every game.

Symptomatic of a good player not quite at the level required.

It didn’t help shifting him between centre half, defensive mid and right back to be fair.

Also, his partnership with Henning Berg at the start of the 03/04 season looked solid enough, and the season only went tits up when Craig Moore came back in to partner Berg:))
 
He was an ideal bosman who helped us rebuild a squad on a shoestring when we lost Amo, Numan and the rest in 2003.

His versatility was handy but probably his downfall too. He was right back for the longest spell in late 04 and started in the two wins in Nov, so for that period alone I’ve got good memories of him.
 
I must admit I wasn't much of a fan of his
He had a sort of style that flattered to deceive IMO

He always looked composed on the ball when most of the time he wasn't
He looked as if he was unflappable & could play himself out of trouble but often made just as many errors as those around him at the time - & could be guilty of loosing the ball in dangerous areas

I wasn't too bothered when he moved on - so that alone tells me he wasn't that great IMO
 
Really wasn't a fan, pretty average in my opinion. OK as a squad player but in truth not good enough for us as a first choice.

IIRC he arrived at the same time when we were persevering with an ageing Henning Berg and Bob Malcolm at center half, so competition was seriously poor.
 
I thought he was a very decent squad player at a time when we had a really good starting team and from time to time needed a few like Zurab to come in and give us the odd game or even a reasonable run without much fuss.

Actually, for that he was a bit like Balogun - not a starter when everyone was available but nice solid cover.
 
I liked him, had his name and number 15 on the back of the red and white striped away shirt.

Thank f*ck I didn’t get charged by the letter, or else I would have got Flo.
 
Interestingly, he replaced Amoruso at Blackburn and had a very good career there. He had a very good game against us in the Cup Final in 2003 and started well for us in the following season. But we were all over the place from early on as we had lost Numan, Ferguson, Amoruso and McCann in the close season then De Boer got a bad knee injury that put him out for months. Had we been more settled he might well have been more highly regarded.
 
Barryhopez said:
The image of him with his eyes shut v Hartson in the cup game(?) made a lot of folks minds up over him. A decent player overall though, imo.
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If you take a photo of any player at the point of any significant header impact, their eyes will momentarily shut, I don’t remember that but it’s harsh as f**k to bin him based on that.
 
SM™ said:
Good centre-half, but we kept making him look a complete tit by playing him at right-back. He was OK on the ball, but a full-back needs movement and he was as nimble as big Helander.
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Didn’t he form a decent partnership with Henning Berg until we signed Frank de Boer?
 
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