03 Mar 2026 00:22:43
Ave hung off with my issue. Danny knew they where going five in mid. Why didn't he put Tav on for Nadri and put Sterling into mid?
03 Mar 2026 07:57:14
James Tavernier is finished as our right back. Up against Tounetki he'd have got torn to pieces, and I've no doubt we'd have lost the game, never mind drawn it. Sterling is no midfielder either.
03 Mar 2026 09:08:26
If you remember a couple of years back, Sterling played CDM against Celtic at Parkhead and was MOTM. At the start of this season he said his preferred position was in midfield. Right now, Rangers could really benefit from having someone like him sitting in front of the two CBs as a ball winning midfielder. The Scott Brown role, if you will.
Rangers lack a number six at this moment in time. Midfielders like Raskin and Diomande want to get forward constantly. If Sterling was at CDM with Chuck beside him, it opens up the door for either Diomande or Raskin to play in a more advanced way, which is what they seem to like.
The midfield would keep its shape more and be much harder to play through.
I do think we miss a trick by not trying Sterling at CDM again. All we would be asking him to do is win the ball back out of possession and play a simple pass to either of the CMs beside him when in possession. He has proven he has some ability on the ball.
03 Mar 2026 09:37:04
Raskin wants to play 6. He is being asked to go forward more.
Tav has played in how many Old Firms, and Maeda normally has Tav in his pocket. Sterling kept Maeda quiet all game, barring a handball that no one saw in real time.
He had a good game.
Martin Oneill was crying about VAR re-reffing the game just last week, but now Tims are happy for VAR to step in and help them win a point.
03 Mar 2026 09:46:15
The best midfield performance recently against Celtic was Bajrami, who completely nullified MacGregor in a game last season (I think), and then he barely got another look in.
03 Mar 2026 09:53:44
Do the Bouncy, that's who I would have played in mid. Nullify Hatate.
03 Mar 2026 10:09:01
Ally, it's 100% a pen, and the fact you say no one saw it in real time means VAR can look at it. No one complained when we got a pen for the Ralston one. They aren't the same, but both were on target, and that is the reason the pen was given.
03 Mar 2026 10:13:14
Raskin is playing the way he has always played. He doesn't have that discipline required of a true holding midfield player to sit and protect the back 4. Nor does he have the ability to grab things by the scruff and be that on-field leader we have lacked for forever, it seems.
I like him further forward, as he offers so much more, but we need that number 6 to allow that. Or he needs to learn to just sit and recirculate the play.
03 Mar 2026 10:14:23
When Maeda gets pushed up top second half, then maybe Sterling should have gone into the centre to match his pace, as the two centre halves can't handle his movement.
It's a catch-22, right enough, which would have meant Tav up against Tounetki, or Djiga coming on to deal with Maeda's pace, as he handled the Motherwell boy really well.
I think we might see Djiga starting on Sunday, as hopefully Rohl recognises our defensive frailties.
03 Mar 2026 12:10:01
Ironically, many were convinced we'd sorted the defence out when Rohl came in, and all we needed to recruit was better attacking options in the window. Olson was being touted as a major coup.
Are we still waiting on the much-mentioned, experienced #6?
In my opinion, the defence needs major work. I get that in Jan we could only do so much, and we were conceding far less, so attacking options had to be the focus.
Jan signings have been a mixed bag for me. Out of the 4, Olson has been the most disappointing. Hopefully there's enough time for him to turn it on. Otherwise, I think he'll be regarded as another expensive flop.
03 Mar 2026 12:33:19
It was glaringly obvious that Hatate was starting to run the show in midfield, as Raskin was a bit below par, and Dio was not the guy to suppress that. Hopefully Danny lives and learns from some tactical errors, imho. ? The one guy who was missing would have solved that issue, the terrier that is Connor Barron. ?
03 Mar 2026 12:54:22
It's easy in hindsight, but if you remember, the manager got criticised for making subs against Motherwell when people said we were winning. He should have left it alone. The problem is the quality of the subs we would have been bringing on.
We maybe could have brought Tav on, and moved Sterling inside to a back three, because Maeda was terrifying Souttar. But again, as a manager, he is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
03 Mar 2026 13:23:52
Agree, Wsl, 100%. Also, the subs we brought on struggled to get into the game, purely because Celtic were in such ascendancy. Would either of Bajrami or Aasgaard have changed that midfield dominance?
03 Mar 2026 13:32:59
Wsl, you are just highlighting that Danny has made mistakes in both, though, and not got the balance correct.
03 Mar 2026 14:31:24
Angus, Bajrami had stopped McGregor before, so yes, putting him on Hatate could have changed the game. ? You don't need to back the manager every time. You can have your own thoughts; no one has to agree, so post what you actually believe.
03 Mar 2026 21:41:57
Storm, so out of interest, whose thoughts do you think I am writing here. No one actually agrees with what I write, so why would I write them if I didn't believe them. The hassle just isn't worth it.
Just a thought, if you truly don't like what I write, please, please use the ignore button as it will do us both a lot of good. I'm getting a bit sick of the regular digs just because I tend to want to support the manager, the players and the team, and think slightly differently to others. What was it about everyone being allowed to have an opinion; or is that just if they agree with what you think? Sad, really.
On football, if you want to ever chat about that, just because Bajrami managed to keep McGregor quiet doesn't mean he'd automatically do the same to Hatate. They're completely different players - Hatate is way more mobile and plays a different role. Plus, it wasn't that long ago that people were saying Bajrami was too lazy to even be in the team and isn't that type of mobile player.