09 Mar 2026 09:34:30
Thoughts on yesterday:-
1/ As brilliant as Butland has been at saving penalties, I thought he looked half arsed compared to last week.
2/ Djiga and Fernandez are our best CH pairing.
3/ Souttar looked a bag of nerves when he came on.
4/ Chukwuani is better than Diomande.
5/ Naderi is wasted as Chermiti's goffer. He makes better runs than Chermiti so should be the focal point of the attack.
6/ Chermiti is never a Rangers No.
9.
7/ Olsen should not be signed.
8/ Moore was average yesterday. Last week he ripped it up first half. Yesterday there was no end product. But expecting him to be our saviour every week is unfair on an 18-year-old.
9/ The bench was very weak. No game changer.
10/ Tactically we just went like for like with the substitutions.
11/ We looked very nervous at the penalties. To me the players crumbled.
09 Mar 2026 09:55:43
I agree with a lot of that, mate, but for now I would like to see a wide man get to the bye line and cross a ball, rather than crosses pumped in from 25 yards out, making it easier for defenders.
09 Mar 2026 09:58:22
Only thing with Naderi is he doesn't have any pace.
09 Mar 2026 09:59:17
Olsen? Keep waiting for the boy from Brugge to show up. Don't think he's in there.
Naderi, as his fitness improves, he'll get better. A full preseason will help.
Chermiti? The boy has talent, but his consistency/decision-making lets him down.
Moore? Not all that, imo. Needless blind runs, poor set pieces. One gd run yesterday.
He has talent but makes wrong choices.
Back 4 should be our starting 4, fitness depending.
Souttar? Deal extension is a mistake; he's a back-up, nothing more.
Butland. Agreed.
I like Dio, but he seems fragile and invites trouble.
I also like Chukwuani, more robust, but seems as if he's carrying a bit of timber.
09 Mar 2026 09:59:48
The recruitment dept came under scrutiny for the Chermiti deal. They cannot follow that up by signing Olsen.
Unless it's for £3-4M and he drops his wage to the same level as Gassama or Bajrami - but that's never going to happen.
09 Mar 2026 10:00:24
Good post, Mr PH. Hard to disagree with any of the above, other than the Chermiti point. I think he has what it takes to be a success at Rangers, and there will be more improvement from him.
Like you, I thought our penalty takers looked well short of belief, which I found surprising.
We still have something to aim for, but let's do our talking on the pitch in order to stay involved in the title chase.
09 Mar 2026 10:06:19
I'll repeat this because I'm still baffled by it. We were all over Celtic, then Rohl takes off two forwards and brings on two defenders. Any answers?
09 Mar 2026 10:06:40
That was my next point. Our final ball into the box is generally pathetic. We now have 2 6ft plus strikers in the box looking to attack a ball and, more often than not, it does not reach them. It is over hit, blocked, etc. etc.
It needs to be so much better.
09 Mar 2026 10:20:22
Can't remember ever seeing a more one-sided Old Firm game.
We were in total control of the game, however we lack the balls to go and finsih off teams and lack a true goal scorer or even a leader.
Totally embarrassing display in the end with the penalties. Captain, who scores loads of penalties, bottles it, surely that must be him done for the season.
Souttar is a scare now; he makes Djiga look like Maldini.
Djiga looked comfortable yesterday, but that's not saying much when Celtic were absolutely rotten.
Though Araujo was lucky to still be on the pitch, considering Diomande got booked in the first 2 mins of the game.
I'm not sure Rohl is the man to win us trophies, especially with this current squad, as he makes too many wrong decisions during the game.
Overall, it's broken me.
09 Mar 2026 10:26:31
Moore is 18. He will get better.
09 Mar 2026 10:59:06
Chamberlain was a crapbag walking up to take that pen. He was going down the middle 10 times out of 10. Can't believe Butland didn't see that.
09 Mar 2026 11:31:38
Easy to say that in hindsight Mvg.
Good post. I agree with most of it, Mph. Moore was the only one trying to make things happen yesterday. No one else really did. The final ball yesterday was utterly honking.
09 Mar 2026 11:53:39
If only all the experts on here, all of us, were involved in running the team, we'd be absolute world beaters.
09 Mar 2026 12:28:17
I think Tav only came on because the delivery of others was so bad. Various players were used for set plays, and all were rotten, so we resorted to bringing him on instead of a forward. Almost worked too from his 1st corner. Not suggesting Tav should be starting, just a comment on lack of quality from others.
09 Mar 2026 12:28:32
Crosses and set piece deliveries were terrible all game. Either over hit, under hit, or without pace. Easy to defend against and almost impossible to score from. Players who whip balls into the right areas with plenty of pace. That's exactly what's needed.
09 Mar 2026 12:29:03
If we had won on penalties yesterday, we would all be feeling great about getting through. Ultimately, that's what mattered - but issues would remain. I agree with posters about the need to have better quality of delivery from wide areas. Sterling went past Scales and got him booked. Did we try to do it much again after that? When Rommens came in, he was getting to the byline and crossing.
Now he, too, has to play the safe pass inside too often. We take more risks 30 yards from our own goal than we do in the final third. No one really had a poor game yesterday, but several didn't do enough.
09 Mar 2026 12:46:10
Hindsight, Strom? I was shouting it at the time.
09 Mar 2026 13:27:00
Don't often agree with you, Mph, but I agree with every single point you raise.
I would add about the penalties. I was trying to work out who in that team would take them.
I was sure about Tav and Bajrami, but after that, who would step up? I was expecting our big game striker to take one, but, to be fair, maybe he was down to take No 5.
09 Mar 2026 13:48:00
We only have your word on that. That's why I said hindsight, mate.
09 Mar 2026 20:38:08
Ally, that's a bit of a half arsed compliment. Djiga was good, but he was playing against someone who was rotten, the same guy who gave Souttar a torrid time thru the middle last week.
We are quick to criticise players for not playing well, and rightly so, but credit where it's due. Djiga played Maeda really well yesterday, as he's rapid, he matched his runs, and Maeda's not easy to play against, as he always starts in an offside position then uses his pace to get onside, so you can't switch off.
Djiga and Fernandez allow us to play a higher line, as they have better recovery speed.
As soon as Tav and Souttar came on, we dropped 5 yards and looked shaky.