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WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO RANGERS? 5-8-08
Shaun Dennis, with response from Jeff
For outsiders looking in, it must seem that such a change in fortunes has
occurred for Rangers in the last three months.
From the highs and lows of last season, culminating in the UEFA Cup Final defeat against Zenit St Petersburg, losing the League title to Celtic, and winning the Scottish Cup, to a scandalous draw against Lithuanian minnows FBK Kaunas after a
lacklustre pre-season, which produced one feeble performance after another
that have deeply worried the majority of Rangers fans.
Most football people would put this down to a bad start due to a lack of
match sharpness; their argument being that "You were in a UEFA Cup Final
three months ago so you can't be that bad".
But when you examine last season
closely then you realise that there is a wider problem.
We were told that last season was going to be a transitional period for the
club. We brought in a whole new team more or less.
A sense of excitement
surrounded Rangers and the fans. If anyone knew how to win the League, it was
Walter. And with Ally by his side, it was the perfect partnership.
It all
started well, with us safely negotiating two qualifying rounds to reach the
Champions League group stages. The team was also beginning to gel.
The
League also started well. There was a bit of inconsistency but that has to be
expected from such a newly formed squad.
The Champions League went well, with good
results against Lyon, Stuttgart and Barcelona, which had us dreaming of the last
sixteen. Unfortunately it wasn't to be but we were still in Europe as we
entered the UEFA Cup.
Our domestic form was good and got even better due to
the break in European competition, with a long winning streak that took us to
the top of the League.
Even when the UEFA Cup resumed, everything was still rosy on
all fronts. Well nearly...
The press and rival supporters were beginning to
lament the formation and style that Rangers were playing. The 4-5-1
defensive formation Smith was using was labelled as "Boring" and
"Anti-football". However, at this point, this was dismissed as jealousy by most Rangers fans.
But deep down I believe we all knew it was
boring!
This was put to the back of all our minds simply because we were
winning. And we all know that that is the most important thing.
Hard fought wins
in the UEFA Cup had us all dreaming about a possible final, as we seemed to
have the luck with us for a change (McGregor's save against Werder Bremen
away springs to mind).
And a final it was to be. So everything was still on
course.
That was until that night at Parkhead when things suddenly took a turn
for the worse. Cuellar was sent off, McGregor was injured and losing to Celtic in
the last minute all had an ill effect on our title aspirations.
We went on
to lose the League on the last day of the season.
In reality we had lost it
a few games earlier as poor displays against Motherwell and St Mirren -
where we needed to score a bucket load of goals to leave
ourselves with a slight chance of still winning the title - had cost us dear.
Fifteen points from a possible thirty in the last ten League games tells
the true story. We had also lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Zenit.
But on the plus side, we had won the two domestic cups, although those wins were far
from convincing as one was in a penalty shootout and the other was a very narrow success
against a First Division side.
Looking back, there were lots of factors as to why we didn't win more last
season.
First of all a major disadvantage was having to play a shocking
amount of games in an extremely small space of time, although this was absolutely no
fault of our own.
But we cannot ignore the fact that one massive problem was the
tactics of Smith. 4-5-1 worked well in Europe, no doubt about that. But it
did not work in the League.
Playing the same formation against Barcelona and
Kilmarnock is just not on. It showed that the team had no creativity and
relied too much on graft. Last season's UEFA Cup run papered over a lot of
cracks.
The whole season proved that graft will only get you so far. It also
proved that Walter had to improve the creativity of the squad.
This is why a lot of fans are now becoming so incensed at the goings on at
the club. We were told that all this defensive, negative football was just a
transitional period and that next season we'd be better and can build on the
previous campaign.
In the close season, Martin Bain stated
that funds would be made available for quality signings. But this has not
materialised. Miller? Lafferty? Velicka? The latter, the best of a bad bunch.
Also Walter has come out and said Boyd would not be leaving, as he had him
in his plans. But so far that's not true.
After all, this is from a man who
played Darcheville and Miller in an important Euro qualifier instead of the
more natural goalscorers we have at the club. This has been done even though neither of them have scored in pre-season and every time they have played together, they have looked
terrible.
We now have eight strikers on the books. And Walter still plays one up
front. He knows, as well as every Rangers fan and even every football fan,
that we lack creativity and need an attacking midfielder.
But his stubborn
attitude will not let him concede to other people's opinions. Walter strikes
me as arrogant man who thinks he's always right no matter what and this is
being shown in abundance.
The poor result and performance against Liverpool has stoked the fire of
doubt amongst Rangers supporters. Another poor performance tonight, like last Wednesday, would surely see us crashing out of Europe
altogether. This would be another catastrophe.
If this comes to fruition,
the blame will quite rightly be placed on the shoulders of Smith,
Murray and Bain.
Could this be the straw that breaks the camel's back? If
not then the potential sale of fans favourite Carlos
Cuellar to compensate for the loss of the Champions League TV revenue
would surely do it.
If those scenarios come true, Rangers will witness a
severe backlash, the likes of which the club has not seen in a long time,
maybe even ever.
We all live in hope that we progress past Kaunas to the Champions League
Third Qualifying Round, where hopefully Walter can sign the kind of players
we are crying out for and turn the team's fortunes around and this whole
rigmarole will be a distant memory.
But one thing is for sure - this coming week is of great importance for
Rangers. They are a club walking a tightrope. One wrong move and an
almighty fall is on its way.
But if they can keep their bottle, they'll live to fight another round and hopefully another one after that.
Jeff's reply
I know that Rangers fans have major doubts about the media.
This letter I received is from a young man, who is an avid Rangers fan and who is hoping to become
a journalist.
If we read its content, it would be easy to say that this was
another Celtic fan having a go. Actually, putting loyalty to the club to one
side, I think what he says makes a lot of sense in the main.
I came up half a dozen times last season, mainly for European games, and the
negativity of the tactics in home games amazed me.
I know the fact that
Rangers cleverly won the away legs to make brilliant progress proved that
the tactics worked.
However, on many occasions, I commented that it was football like
that that made Steve McClaren unpopular at Boro, even though he brought us
our first ever trophy and got us to the UEFA Cup Final.
Hutton was not replaced and some players that have the honour to wear the
shirt at present are clearly not up to the standard of past players.
I know
that there is not the money in the SPL that there is in the English League
but with full houses every week and a vast income from merchandise, I cannot
understand why Rangers appear to be unable to compete in the transfer market.
I know it is only pre-season, Champions League qualifiers apart, but I too
share the concerns of Shaun.
Rangers being booed off at Ibrox is unheard
of and it must be music to the ears of Celtic fans, who are not
exactly looking like world beaters themselves this pre-season.
One in a row looks a long way away at the moment. Let's hope that someone
at the club listens to the fans - 4-5-1 is not the way to win the home fans
even if it sometimes wins football matches.
Better football brains than mine tell me that Kris Boyd does not have the
abilities that the purists and coaches want but he scores goals and that
wins matches. Or am I missing something?
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