“I can’t think of anything else tactically we could actually do”

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“I can’t think of anything else tactically we could actually do”

Before I begin this entry, I would like to take this opportunity to praise the response to the last piece. Emotions ran high last night, but the vast majority of the feedback, even the critical ones, were made with respect and little vitriol. Even though Rangers are struggling right now, fans still seem generally able to discuss it without throttling each other, at least here anyway, and that is admirable.

However…

“I can’t think of anything else tactically we could actually do”

Yes, I have quoted the headline again. Because I simply cannot believe a Rangers manager has said this. Mark Warburton, having been critical of his team’s performance last night, has finally admitted in plain English for the first time that he does not have anything up his sleeve – no plan B, no alternative approach.

That the primary tactical approach he employs is the only thing he can do; I will not speak for other fans but for me this is not the mentality of the manager of a team the size of Rangers. This is the kind of quote a loser makes, someone out of his depth, someone without answers, and any Rangers fan who willingly accepts this has lost every ounce of standard that it takes to be Rangers.

Not even Ally McCoist, in his darkest days would publicly go on record to effectively admit he did not know what to do.

It gets worse:

“If I knew why it was happening I would be a genius.”

No Mark, you are supposed to know why it is happening and resolve it.

These post-match quotes from last night are not just deeply worrying, they are unacceptable. Not from a Rangers manager.

I have no issue with a manager saying “I made a mistake”. That is fine. That is taking responsibility for something that went wrong and learning from it. We are all human and we all err. But admitting Rangers basically do not have anything else they can do, and there is no alternative method, no tactical tweaking available?

Not good enough.

Naturally a great deal of all this is post-match emotion, that a dreadful performance has, this time, been punished with a draw rather than scraping an undeserved win; but anyone denying the gravity of what Warburton said last night has their head in the sand.

There is no plan B, no contingency when plan A fails, and rather than saying the best plan B is to do plan A better, Warbs has finally admitted it is more that he knows nothing else.

As I said in a previous entry, when it works, it is good – great, even. But if it does not work, as it did not last night, we now know we are officially snookered because our manager knows no other way.

And that is great news for our opponents.

Whether Warburton has been ‘found out’, is having a ‘bad spell’, or whatever (and it has been going on since early April post-Old Firm, incidentally) something deeply worrying has now set in at Ibrox.

I take the point of many critical replies about ‘fickle’ – that when things go right this site praises everyone from Warbs to the tea lady – of course we do, we are football fans. Football is an emotive, fickle sport and results can be inconsistent. And when things are good, those who achieve deserve praise.

But if things start to go wrong, like they are right now, we reserve the right to call that.

And right now something is not right.

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69 COMMENTS

  1. I'd have the players one one touch, two touch maximum in the final third. By all means knock the ball around leading up to the goal but show some desire to go for goal. Barrie McKay has shown he can ping them from long, he needs to be tee'd up more often.

    We seem to hold onto the ball forgetting we should have a shot at the end of play.

    Personally we're clutching at straws with Senderos… he'll add presence but don't think he'll be the rock at the back we need. Seriously hope I'm wrong

  2. We have no money till we sork out the asley farce it will take time ano its hard to take but were miles better than wee were and miles to fo thats life

    • Just a thought ,and I'm sure I've seen it before somewhere when you go against ten men at 1-1 your opposition will go 441 and take the hit in the forward area ,so you go three at the back pushing tav in to a attacking position and go man for man in midfield giving you extra man either midfield or forward gawd help us

  3. anybody who can't see that the last bit of football we played was the first half in the semi against them is blind or self delusional

  4. We have not kicked a ball since the Celtic game and if hibs hadn't imploded the way they did not sure we would have won the league Warburton is not magic.

  5. Your last two posts have been spot on, the failings of the management and the tea have been glaringly obvious for many months.Forget winning the league or Europe this season. I hope there are not too many embarrassing games to come.

  6. 100% spot on
    Warbs is probably a decent guy but he's a boys coach
    Out of his depth is fair comment.
    Remember. .hes 53 years old and only actually been a team manager for 7 months previous at Brentford where he DID get sacked.
    It doesn't matter the player he brings in this doesn't get better

    • This will be his 4th Season as a manager he's still learning.

      He was never sacked by brentford he left due to the remodelling of the club's management structure. He said "I think the manager has to pick the team and have the final say, in my opinion."

      People like you are not football fans and please keep doubting us it will only make it better when we win 55

    • Not sure of your information source he was Brentford Manager for two seasons, first season he won league 1. Second season he led Brentford to 5th in the Championship and a playoff place, Warburton finished his Brentford managerial career with 40 wins, 16 draws, 22 losses and a winning percentage of 51.28%, the highest of any Brentford manager. His contract wasn't renewed as the Brentford chairman wanted to use a compurtised, statistic driven selection. They parted he was NOT sacked.

  7. After only 4 games played, we have made things very difficult for ourselves to win the league, depending on how Aberdeen get on against Celtic. I truly thought that we would have a minimum of 10 points from Hamilton, Motherwell, Dundee and Kilmarnock, going into the Old Firm match.
    The fact that it is away makes it twice as hard, but if we don't get beaten and our new players get settled into the side better – then you never know what can happen.

    • Richard I know what gonna happen ,We will get beat by Tims & sheep,

      Simple as, we will end up 3rd as no one else is as good as those 2 too cause us much trouble,
      But thats what i think is gonna happen 3rd, Im being realistic

  8. Couldn't believe the words came out MW's mouth. Simple as that no manager should ever state he was tactically snookered, even if he was. Now I do think we will qualify for Europe but drastic improvement is required here. If the manager feels this way that comes across tenfold on the pitch. The players we have are more than capable of doing better the formation is fine for play in a a Celtic or Aberdeen bit not for a Killie or Motherwell side holding 11 behind the ball. If a team is going to attack us and leave gaps at the back then we will play well bit his current formation is falling flat as these sides are used to trying to hold of Celtic, we are not as good a team as Celtic…yet.

  9. supposed to play as a TEAM…..too many dont know have the desire,dont show the grittyness required to change games,sad…our chances of winning league is over.
    Warburton..is like our team this season..hasnt shown,that he has balls,to change necessary tactics during games….this will lead to only a so-so season.
    Very disappointed…cant see us beating celtic in two weeks time either,we dont have a team that knows how to battle…

    • The manager will be able to implement a more diverse range of tactics when we he has a full squad to choose from. Crooks, Windass, Holt, Waghorn et al will make a difference. I expect us to do well in the Old Firm because I think we have more "big game" players than Celtic have.

    • Are you funking dreaming? Take your blinkers off you idiot. That type of blue sky thinking 'in Warbs/king we trust' bullshit will get us nowhere.

  10. Something few seem to have picked up on is the number of signings we have made this summer. Everyone has been screaming out for new players in every position since June, and you just about got your wish. Some raised eyebrows at the number of signings we were making because history has shown it to be a largely disastrous policy to carry out in one transfer window. Signing 10 or 11 players in one go is a recipe for disaster. Steve Bruce tried it at Sunderland, Mark Hughes at QPR, Paolo Di Canio at Sunderland, and there are many other examples from over the years. Even Walter tried it at Everton. On each occasion it was a disaster. Alex Ferguson said it years ago that you can't bed-in 10 or 11 players in a matter of weeks or even months. And by the time they are bedded in, the club's league position will have gone to pot. Yes, we lost a lot of players, but I'd rather have seen 1 or 2 of these be given a 1 year contract to spread the squad overhaul over 2 or 3 windows, rather than cramming them into 1 window. These 10 or 11 players all want game time, so the team is constantly unsettled. How can we expect consistency of performance then? If you want 10 or 11 new players you have to accept the inconsistency, much as you have to accept inconsistency of performance if a team has a large number of injuries and suspensions. The principle is the same.

  11. Still better than MCCoist and McDowall! That said, if he thinks that Hill is anything other than a waste of a jersey then I will start to worry. That we are paying that guy is nothing short of a joke. He should be no where near Rangers and be honest neither should Kiernan. Unless by some miracle we find two quality centre backs before the Celtic game we are in for a roasting!

  12. I can't believe how you guys can sit here and doubt us after everything we have went through as a club. We don't have millions of pounds, Theirs no instant Fix.

    Warburton not only got us promoted but he's working on the whole club. Scouting network all the way through to youth. Be careful what you boys wish for.

    • Callam,

      At last, someone who is not blinkered by a perceived rubbish run. Your comments are spot on, this man is a breath of fresh air. He has changed everything in playing terms. Yes he has limited experience in management, however he is very well respected throughout England. We need to hold our nerve, four years ago I thought I'd be supporting Salisbury (my local team) but by the grace of God we still have a team and I'm ploughing miles north to support them.
      We almost folded and at times last year I thought the football was breathtaking, especially the first half against Celtic. I'm not concerned about Warburton, I did not expect to win the league this season, but I am still certain we will cause problems to teams. Undefeated so far and we are slaughtering the manager. Who do we think we are?

      Iain

    • Our under 21 squad got dumped from the IRN Bru cup by a team that trains 2 days a week…….what does that tell you about the youth set up.

  13. I have been following Rangers for many many years and last night was the worst yet—why does a manager not see that we need 2 centre backs as the defenders we have are not up to it
    Warburton keeps going to England for players whats wrong with French –Dutch –German–Croatia–Bosnia –and other places where i am sure he could get very good defenders for a decent price or on loan or on free
    I do like the style of football they are playing but because of that they need particularly good defenders that are quick
    I am frightened to think of whats coming from the Tic

    • Or what about developing young scottish players instead of poaching from the rest of scottish football?

  14. Im struggling not to agree. We havent kicked a ball since the semi, a dozen or so matches now. Barton isnt working, not in his current role – I hate to say it but part of me thinks he's just too big a personality for Warbs to control, a blind man can see that unless our only aim is not to get a humping Rossiter and Barton shouldnt be playing in the midfield?! We've not played our own style of football, Warburtons style, this season. Having Barton as some kind of quarterback, taking all free-kicks isnt working. Tav takes free kicks and it works dam well at times, as last night prove! For me the sooner Warburton addresses the midfield three, gives McKay a boot up the @rse, makes a decision on the centreback pairing and gets the likes of Holt / Windass in the team the better. I personally think Holts a necessity if we want to get back to where we were. Warburton's now finding out the harsh realities of managing a club such as ours, our patience has worn through since that fantastic Scottish cup victory 🙁

    Now dreading this Old firm and praying for favours from others, deary me…

    • If too many are dreading the Old Firm, we're screwed before a ball is kicked. I understand your anxiety and that of thousands of other fans, but it CANNOT transmit to the players on match day if we want to win anything. Keep the faith. The alternative is to create an atmosphere at Ibrox that's reminiscent of St. James Park…where players are scared to play in front of their fans. Happy players produce good results.

    • And what does the manager himself admitting “I can’t think of anything else tactically we could actually do”, never mind what the fans say mate. Keeping the faith is fine but you have to know when enough is enough. We're not talking about the fantasy of bringing in top quality managers, we know we can afford or attract very little but hopefully we can have someone who has ideas to try something else tactically, because what other manager would have made that admission 4 games in?

    • Agree that Holt should be in the side . We could have done with signing a few more solid Scottish players , as Walter would have done , and made sorting out that defense the priority . Tav should be playing right midfield with the Irish lad at full back . It's early days , hopefully we can turn things around . Get the feeling Warbs has lost some of his motivation since the cup final aftermath tho .

  15. When a leaden footed Kris Boys out paces both centre backs then there is a series issue to contend with. I dread to think what speed merchants like Sinclair, griffiths and Roberts will do in 2 weeks time!

    • This has been the most embarrassing goal yet. He couldnt get a goal for rangers and played the best game of his career against our back line playing loan striker. That is as blatant as it can get. Kiernan for waterboy

  16. Where is Josh windass?he was injured weeks ago,not heard what sort of injury he's got and why cant we seem to identify 2 good centre halfs

  17. Get a grip, we draw and its the end of the football world. Yea we where not that good but to get rid of the manager and give up is not supporting the club, good or bad, win or lose we are still rangers.

    • Here here bro. Already fannies calling for his head. Sack Warbs n get who? The guy needs financially backed. We need to learn to walk before we can run. Our back four cost less than £2m ffs. What do u expect to get

  18. Deila got the boot because he Cudnt put a consistent team on the park n had no clue when it came to tactics, wether to change formation to see a game or win a game if getting beat. I'm seeing the same happening here it's attack attack well thats the way he wants us to play like but it ain't happening with no thoughts going to defending. Warbs philosophy play attractive fast flowin footie pay no attention to defending n as long as we score more goals than the opposition wether it b 3-1 4-2 4-3 but we re not even doing that, n for me goals conceded cud cost u league at end of the season. If u don't want to end up like deila (sacked) then you must changed went on to long. How many points have been lost n defeats since last tims game n how many goals have been let it bet it won't b good reading. Sort it warbs change it!!

  19. If we can reach a cup final, and finish top 3 that's as good as it will get, opposition managers have sussed him, in saying that he tried to confuse Killie by bring on subs at the 58th min not an hour as per, but hey ho it can only improve.

  20. Some people might laugh at this but I can see Dave king syep in with the alleged January transfer fund here. Our defenders are all pants not just the 2 CBS. Even wallace can't defend. We need to start looking at tav and wallace for what they are, defenders first and attackers second. In that respect they're average SPL players not rangers quality. Look at wallace's pace and positioning its off! he has improved from the shocking performances of 2014 but captain he isn't.

    We were better last year regardless of what level we were at. The movement and as others have said 1 touch was enough. Its slack and slow now. Summer has made them lazy and brought doubt. Players not showing the same 1 touch confidence.

  21. Agree with most of the above. I fear Sept 10th! Kiernan is a liability, Id rather play with 10 men without him! We are giving goals away for nothing. Why is he getting a jersey every week?! Get Sandros and Hill together. Since beating shelic, we have been so woeful. I get the fact we have new players to settle, but Warbs was on record saying he wouldnt sign a foreigner because it takes time for them to settle?!, Contradicting himself there, if he feels the english lads need time to settle. I pray we will get better, but this league is very unforgiving as are us Rangers fans. We demand success and wont accept failure. I dont mind walking away from a game and say the players did well, but luck beat us,, but we cant!! I've watch Aferdeem, Farts and Shelic, and they will pump us on this form, make no mistake of that, no matter how much it pains me saying. Early days, yes, hope?, none!

  22. Firstly I would have liked a tall striker in for plan b ,barry mckay is off the boil why not play michael o hallo ran or even tav on the right wing and lee Hudson at right back,rangers need 2 centre half's, Al give it to end of October November and I will know exactly the way rangers r going

  23. FFS, Gers fans, get a grip. The sky has not fallen. 10 new players to bed in. This will take time. The squad is actually too big now. Warbs is an intelligent guy. However, he does show a worrying tendency of inflexibility in his starting team choices.
    We are crying out for pace and someone to control midfield. MO'H, Windass and Nico? Garner's a proven goal scorer. Give him a starting spot. Either Barton or Rossiter, not both.
    I agree with IN, his comments after the game don't inspire confidence.
    To expect to win the league this season is a big ask. Realistically we should be shooting for 3rd or 4th. That's a good achievement. Next season I would fully expect us to push hard for the title.

  24. This blog should be kept til the end if January, by then we will have had at least 2 OF games and played the bigger sides let's reflect then not after 4 games with a new team.

  25. Game was shocking as was Accies and Motherwell games. The manager can only be blamed for a small part of these team failings, you can only play your tactics on the quality of player you have for each position.

    It is becoming increasingly obvious we do not have the quality in all positions for this league. Not looking forward to the 10th, we don't have the defence to compete with the pace in that Celtic forward line.

  26. are we setting our sights on unrealistic targets in our first season in the big league?

    Maybe we should be happy with a top 6 finish and build on that for next season.

  27. People talking about Celtic hammering us, I dread going to Aberdeen, Hearts, St Johnstone and in cups away to United and Hibs potentially never mind Celtic.!!!

    Next season we will need to spend again to replace our older players, this season's signing policies have been shambolic. No resale potential imo.

  28. I was reading an article were the writer was saying that some of the signings that have been made might not be all the managers and have been given to him by the board ? I think it may be true because of the strangeness of the recruitment this season

  29. Attacking football is good, do we the players good enough to do this and win every time? I hope ten in a row doesn't come back to bite us on the ass. Winning ugly, or attractive is the sign of champions. Being able to grind out results like Rangers past teams. I like Warbs, However it was always going to be a gamble taking on relatively untried and tested managers. The guy is up against it here also… He has zero cash to compete with and we all expected to win the leauge this season, or at least most of us expected a challenge. The defense is going to be exposed repeatedly this season so I'd say buckle up!

  30. Pathetic all this shite. MW has took us to another level. Look how much disarray we were in when he took over. Again its down to money ffs. We cant be the mighty Rangers untill we spend some serious cash. That I understand won't happen anytime soon but look what MW inherited with pennies. Get behind. McCoist n McCall would've done better. Bollocks. Again where's Dave Kings promised millions. He deserves the flak not the magic hat. In Warbs I trust

    • There is no cash. The only source of income is from ST sales and Rangers 1872 DD'S.

      Sports Direct and Puma are about to sue us, more legal bills.

      Well done Dave, you won the battle, the war is lost and you have taken the fans for fools.

  31. Warbs is plainly out of his depth, just listen to some of the crap he comes out with after a bad result.

    The roof will fall in if defeated on the 10th, Warbs is thin skinned and has no idea of the criticism coming his way. He's praised the board for supporting him on several occasions as he's been allowed to bring in a completely new team.

    It's all down to him though I suppose with his financial background the uncertainty surrounding where the monies will come from after Xmas must be a consideration.

  32. Warbs is a nice guy, no doubt.
    I just read he has only been in management a few years and now it all makes sense.
    He is no better than those of us who have played a bit and watch a lot of football over the years, you learn the tactics.
    Warbs has had enough time to show what he can do (upward trajectory), look at the impact of rodgers even before they brought in any players he transformed the thinking. How many tweets have you seen from players saying they were impressed with the managers insights, methods, discipline etc.
    Like I said, probably a true gent but now showing signs that he has hit his managerial ceiling.
    And what of Davie Weir, he is a total statue.

    • I keep hearing the impact Rodgers has had, em news flash Red Imps and scraped into Champions league, hardly setting the heather on fire.

  33. Barton was a mistake. He has too big a mouth. We need a plan B. If we can stay up this season that would be great. That's it in a nut shell.

  34. Bet Barton was sitting at home this afternoon watching his old team Burnley getting a drubbing from chelsea thinking "what was I thinking !

  35. Celtic will destroy on on the 10th September.

    The league will be over by Xmas as Hearts, Aberdeen and Gers take points from each other and drop points elsewhere.

    When will realisation dawn with our fans that King has conned us.

    If it wasn't for Club 1872 contributions the lights would go out.

    Months of Level 5 crap which the fanbase has lapped up …………and what do we have at the end of it?

    Celtic with 6 IAR and £35m towards 7/8/9/10.

    What happened to King's investment promises?

    What happened to the Nomad?

    If you remember the Llambias interview at Glasgow Airport these were the two points he raised with the media……….he obviously knew something we didn't.

    Level 5 are running the Scots media, as a fan base we have no idea what's going on. ST money will run out at Xmas, then what?

  36. Poor Mark. We only need him to do his best and then we'll see. Feel sorry for him not knowing but we'll get over it.

  37. As long as we can hold things together and manage the overheads I think we'll be fine. The rats are ready to pounce so we need to be ready. WATP.

  38. Honestly were still at a transition stage as yet, First of all we had to get back to the top flight as Ally wouldn't have done it and MW defo would, This years all about getting our infer-structure correct with a top 3 finish and bringing the stadium back up to scratch. King has spent money as all these new plays need a pay check!!!
    Next season will be stage 2 and we will strengthen again next summer possibly with a new manager if MW doesn't improve the club, after all its a results business were in?!!
    I'm the same as everyone on here want my old Rangers back but we need to be realistic it "WILL" take time.
    Also anyone who thinks King has no money is on drugs, If he can pay £44M to the SA tax man at the drop of a hat how much do you honestly think hes got stashed in offshore accounts.
    Himself and other investors will put money into the club next year this year is all about selling the club to investors, The guests of Mr King in the executive lounges for both old firm games this season will be interesting.
    One word fellow Bears "Patience!"

  39. Sorry to say it but your first point will come true ,the rest is RUBBISH.
    The lights will NEVER GO OUT .
    I am sorry to read M W comments and if these are what he actually said then I think we should be starting to worry for the future under Warburton

  40. Based on nothing but body language and my gut feeling…..King is a BS merchant and Warbs is out of his depth (deila style). We need baby steps and do it quietly.

    It is hard to imagine this team playing well but who knows, the turnaround has to start somewhere.

  41. Loyal?…my arse. The other mob must be loving this. At the first sign of everything not being perfect straight away the boo boys and sack the manager brigade start the usual dross. After everything the club has been through we should all be sticking together…I doubt some of the whingers on here remember trips to Berwick and Elgin though?
    Warburton has given us the best football we've seen in years yet after a few poor displays people are turning on him? WTF? What message if loyalty and support are we showing him? I'd suggest it's more the fans who need to up their game.
    Warburton is magic….WATP

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