Is McCall good enough to manage SPL Rangers?

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Is McCall good enough to manage SPL Rangers?

Stuart McCall’s Rangers record,
thanks to that ultimately comprehensive victory at the Bet Butler Stadium
yesterday reads:
9 matches; 5 wins, three draws,
and one defeat.
18 points of 27 have been secured
under McCall’s watch, compared to 15 of 27 in the previous 9 league matches
under McCoist/McDowall.

Now some will look and say that
sees a mere 3 point improvement; and that is absolutely correct.
However, there are a few key
factors to account for this:
Under McCoist/McDowall Rangers were
repeatedly throttled by Hibs, Raith and Hearts. Under McCall all three of those
sides have been put away with ease.
Under McCoist/McDowall there was
absolutely no plan, and most wins came from luck rather than quality. Few can
honestly say they saw a clear tactical approach and players who knew what they
were doing.
Under McCoist/McDowall those 9
matches yielded only four wins, and all four were against teams like Alloa and
Cowdenbeath as opposed to the best teams in the league. Add 3 draws and two
losses to Hibs and QoS (I know I know) and the McCall picture looks just a
little more impressive.
The team ‘feels’ a bit more
cohesive under McCall. Many will point to that ugly defeat at Palmerston, and
that equally dismal draw in Livingston, and
those poor performances are fully worthy of criticism.
But the bigger picture sees an
undeniable improvement. Youth is being given repeated chances (Hardie’s brace
yesterday is testament to this), and the average Rangers team selection now includes
Murdoch, Walsh, Hardie, Vuckic and Clark – all of whom have age thoroughly on
their side.
And with Hardie’s double yesterday
on top of Vuckic’s latest howitzer, the younger players are 100% proving they
are more than capable. While McCall has not revolutionised the youth setup,
seeing guys like Black permanently on the bench while the Murdochs of this
world play more often than not shows real progress in that area.
While the points tally of the
past 18 matches in the league are comparible from both regimes, promotion was
completely out of reach under McDowall. Few fans expected to be in with a
shout, but there is a true belief now that Rangers will snatch second place and
win their two playoff ties.
That just was not there with the
previous incumbents.
Rangers are far from the finished
product – the McCulloch shambles continues to haunt the Club – this blog has
gone on record to attempt to account for it, so no point being a broken record
on that one. And it remains disappointing that guys like McKay and
recently-announced Airdrieonians’ Player of the Year Luca Gasparotto remain on
loan as opposed to being recalled.
But the improvement from Law (not
night and day but definitely tangible), the flourishing of Vuckic and the
general rise of the youth players shows that McCall is going in the right
direction.
Whether he is good enough to
manage Rangers in the SPL is another question, but the signs are there of clear
potential.

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27 COMMENTS

  1. I certainly think that McCall should be given the chance but your being very unfair on McCoist and McDowell. Most of those previous 9 matches were managed by McDowell only and he very obviously did not want to be doing the job. As for McCoist he has managed Rangers through the absolute worst times in our history working for people who have had absolutely no interest in Rangers and only on lining there own pockets. And I would say that loaning the young players out could benefit them in the long run rather than having thrown them all in at the ages of 16 to 18 under the circumstances that Rangers have been in over the last few years. As for McCulloch you say "no point being a broken record on that" lol bit late for that.
    I do agree with you on Mcall though, I like what he is doing but I think you are the type who will turn on him when we get a run of bad results because it will happen, going to be a few years to get to the stage when we are winning every week.

    • Are you referring to his exploits in the lower leagues while pocketing fortunes and with a player wage bill in excess of all the other teams put together. Well actually, many of us were saying that. Handed the job on a platter by Smith, who by the way, must not be consulted in any way, shape or form regarding the appointment of a new manager. Please note Mr King.

  2. I agree with the above , i also think its too soon to be throwing a contract a Stu although i hope he gets us up in which case he must be given a year anyway ? . If however we do not go up ? i would not give Stu the gig ! . This is without doubt a VERY important decision for the board and its only correct we look at all options .

  3. Comparing like with like would help! How many of the Players did McCall sign? End of debate. McCoist was an unmitigated disaster who got things wrong at every level. Worst manager in the history of the club by a country mile. Still fleecing us today. Apologists blinkered

  4. McCoist may have managed Rangers at the worst absolute time in our History but that doesn't account for his glaring inadequecies as manager, not only that, the previous boards backed McCoist and his football vision with the second largest wage bill in Scotland, as far as I'm concerned every bit of criticism directed at McCoict in regards to his management ability or lack there of is more than justified.
    To be perfectly honest I'm not sure MaCall is the answer either.
    I believe we need a director of football to implement a new philosophy that revolves around a fast flowing passing game from the grassroots all the way up to the first team.
    Our young players need to be coached so that they can develop the technical ability to make space for themselves with their first touch, this will give them the confidence and that little bit of extra time on the ball required to make the correct decisions when passing the ball or beating a man. They also need to be willing to put in the extra training to constantly improve and master the basics. This should be actively encouraged at every level from the coaching staff.
    Spatial awareness, movement off the ball, passing and set piece taking are all basic skills that most of McCoists signings were severely lacking in and the type of players that should never again get near a first team Rangers jersey.
    The first team needs a coach that buys into the director of footballs vision and should be left to concentrate on purely football matters.
    And last but not least the days of continually playing young players out of position who are good enough to be in the first team on merit to accommodate a shit signing needs to stop.
    McCoist should've built his team around Lewis McCleod as soon as he unearthed that Gem.

  5. Super Ally as a player was given too much rope by fans. Simple. How much money was he, and MacDowall , being paid. And working out his notice at full salary when we have no money is a disgrace. Unless he were to announce that he will buy more shares when the next issue comes along. Otherwise he has lost my respect.

    • Don't want him buying shares or having any interest in Rangers. The Rangers fans have long memories McCoist. Suggest a wee flat in Panama where you can star on their version of that TV classic Peter and Roughie. You would probably make an arse of that as well. Still, the gardens in Panama are lovely I hear.

  6. We had this the other week, good result yesterday what about the bottom team Livingstone in midweek, as for the other two as far as I know McCoist still taking his wages since on garden leave,what I will say to my cost is the bookies have thrived under this worst gers team in history,it is still to early we all have our ideas, nevertheless the board needs to be more forthcoming in their aspirations , eg how much to invest and on whom,oh by the way any aliens reading this well done Inverness.

  7. Yes. But only till end of season. Good stopgap, nothing more. Better than the greedmonger McCoist but that's not much of a tribute. Our ambitions must surely be higher than McCall.

    Would he be able to win us a treble? Ah, the elusive treble. Many have tried and failed. Ah, indeed the elusive treble!

  8. Mate the boy gasparrato played for the under 20's during the week against Dundee Hibernian and scored, I am not sure if he is still on loan or not but I know our players that were out on loan could play in our under 20's cup ties, don't know about league games though

  9. Right now you have to think what could have been if someone else came in 3 years ago and how different the team could and probably would be. A mean am sick to death repeating myself about playing some of the younger boys. If we lost a game with them we would accept it because we would know that it was a work in progress. And a mean we need experience to mix with youth but the opportunity was there to do it. We had plenty of time to do it apart from McLeod and fleeting appearance's from a few others. Really not good enough coisty would give them 10 mins how was that going to do them anyway good. For me I say give McCall 1 season and see how it goes and who he brings in

  10. Let's get it right Mcoist was the worst manager we ever had he is the greediest manager we have ever had and still taking our money every month greedy bastard as for McDowell he's was never a manager and never will be so he doesn't count mcoll keeps picking mculloch or Boyd daily Miller then he won't do if any of these guys get offered a new contract be prepared for life in the championship

  11. Yes I would give him the job ,but he has to drop Law when he has too he has had a couple half decent games ,but has more bad ones just no heart or guts.

  12. I myself must admit I never fancied Mcoist for the job from the very beginning but anybody having a pop at him can eff off. I will never forget what that man did for our club. On and off the field.
    'SUPER ALLY'

  13. It's unfair for anyone to judge McCall on 9 games. When he took over, the Rangers team were as big a shambles as they've ever been thanks to the dreadful McCoist/McDowell regime. McCall, inherited a bunch of under-achieving, apparently disinterested players who seemed incapable of winning any games and turned them into a competitive team again. They've had a couple of bad games, but on the whole, the improvement has been pretty decent. Who's to say how good a manager he would be if he got to bring in a handful of his own players instead of having to do a patch-up job on someone else's?

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