Has Warburton become the new Le Guen?

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Has Warburton become the new Le Guen?
 Article by Richard Fillingham

The only thing we can rely on Rangers to be is unreliable, as in current form, we cannot trust them to win three points against any team in the Premiership this season. Even most of the starting X1 are consistently inconsistent.

Some of the problems have stemmed from the penny-pinching summer recruitment policy, but Warburton has given himself a further problem by having too many permutations from which to choose. Rangers fans have no idea what the best starting line-up is, but more importantly, neither does he. We now have too many players to bed into the team and it is proving costly and detrimental to the results.

Our defence has been diagnosed and requires surgery.  But will Warburton bring out the scalpel or merely put a plaster over the haemorrhage? If we can blood 6’ 4” Matt Crooks to operate successfully at the back, then this would go a long way to patching things up. I would expect Warburton to choose 6’ 3” Senderos as his best centre back and Wilson has the potential to be a fine defender, but so far he has been disappointing. Hill will get match fit eventually and can do a job in case of injuries, but I fear that Kiernan is not going to cut it in the top league. 

Rangers will not challenge for the league with Tavernier at right back, as he is a liability there and MUST be a wing-back. You only have two choices: play with a back three or play Hodson in a back four and I don’t think the manager will do either. Wallace is not playing well and it is really affecting young McKay’s performances. My suggestion is: if the captain does not improve soon, make Halliday the captain.

But the boss won’t.

For the small amount of money invested, we have a substantial squad of players who must gel quickly and develop a different and winning strategy. Through our predictable play, opponents simply know how to negate our system, proving that good possession is not always the answer to gaining three points.

Currently sitting in seventh place in the league after playing seven games, today’s loss has Motherwell and Ross County ahead of us already. That didn’t bear thinking about prior to kick off, but it’s a reality now.

This end outcome of a massive week for Rangers has led me to compare Mark Warburton to Paul Le Guen who didn’t fully understand the mind-set of Rangers Football Club and due to continued unbearable fan and media pressure, led to his termination by “mutual consent”.

This is Rangers’ history repeating itself.

Paul Le Guen v Barry Ferguson
Mark Warburton v Joey Barton
Training ground rows: the wrong starting line-ups
Reprehensible results: on-pitch capitulations
Bizarre after game comments.
Stubborn persistence with the same ill-suiting formation

Hardly the calling card of a manager in full control.

His emotionally charged and ill-thought out media comments leave the loyal Ibrox faithful confused and annoyed. Especially when he said the Celtic game is only for three points then starting whining about decisions today and ignoring how poor up front his side was.

I’m also loathe to quote him but BT Sport’s Chris Sutton said about Warburton post Old-Firm “the job is too big for him.” then went on to say “They’ve just had their pants pulled down by their biggest rivals and he’s coming out moaning about negativity?

Such results are giving fuel to our detractors in the media.

Speaking of jobs. The management team’s naivety in the Premiership is beginning to tell and their refusal to change their inflexible 4 3 3 tactics could eventually cost them theirs.

But if it came to that, would King and Murray be brave enough to make that call?

At this point, what would you do?

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45 COMMENTS

  1. We're 3 points behind 2nd place and thought wallace was good today some valid points but cmon 7 games in and over the top comments let at least wait till xmas and see where we are my guess top 3 but time will tell

    • I admire your optimism but when you see Waghorn look a world beater in midweek to then not even looking a footballer by Sunday is perplexing. Garner – did this guy seriously cost £1.8m? He has not talent at all – there were plenty of chances yesterday and Aberdeen were pegged right in for most of the match so if money had been spent on one quality striker over the last couple of years chances would have been taken and the game would have been won – Kenny Miller is still a few times the player of these two combined are. Too much money has been squandered over the last few years on sub standard players – right now Europe is starting to look like a pipe dream. Barry Ferguson would be the man – if the ability is not there the fight certainly would be – the sooner Warburton is chased the better – I would actually have him gone before Partick as that game is a must win and I do not trust him to deliver.

    • Warburton will be fine,
      Talk of chasing him out is just stupid [ who are we gonna get, Billy Davies? or somebody like that] He is & will be a good manager we just have to stick with him.
      This is the 1st season up, Surely to FK u r not stupid enough to think we are gonna win the league straight away? The tims will win it with the sheep being 2nd, if we get 3rd i'll be delighted, Then roll on next year & see where we go from there.

  2. We went to Aberdeen who are the second best team in Scotland were the be tter team and were robbed of a point considering we have been out of the premier league for four years give the a chance

    • Spot on, Give them a chance we aint gonna win anything this year so just keep the heid & hang on in there & hopefully the team will Gel

  3. You asked for it and here it is. Gilks, Hodson, Rossiter, Windass, Holt,with MOH and McKay on the wings an absolute priority in every game. Drop Waghorn, Tavernier, Kranjcar. Holt, Windass and Rossiter MUST, MUST sicken MOH and McKay with the sight of the ball. When they get it they are only allowed to touch it once after it is controlled before finding Crooks, Windass or Garner with the ball, either cut back or to the far post for our two big guys.
    This channel running into a brick wall is giving our striker a sore head and it is giving me migraine.The remaining four positions I couldn't pick.
    This group of players mentioned can do a real job for us, it is the present system that stifles our goal getting ability.BIG BEAR'S post today "Warburton's style of management makes possession more important than goals." Absolutely hits the nail on the head.

  4. this rangers team will win games,,but not titles,,the problem lies with the board full stop,,thats twice dk has tried to pump his shares,,and he has got previous for dumping money lossing buisness,s,unless some arab or very rich guy gets involved then scottish football will remain a 1 team league,,your chasing celtic with no petrol in the tank,,an institution collapsing again in front of all,,do you honestly belive in your board?,,its great to have you back but truthfully in this day n time it,s now classed as a major shock for rangers to beat celtic,,,changed days indeed,,

  5. give him to xmass very unlucky today robbed no free kick need a bit more gutts in the team were just back we have to find our feet if he cant turn it around by xmass well sack them we must get back up ther were rangers

    • George, Garner has Waghorn and Tavernier breathing in to his right ear with McKay and Wallace in his left.You could have grazed a herd of cattle on the right flank of Rangers team today. No one there.Acres of space but you would struggle to get a blade of grass through the middle. The Gers players are rotating like dodgems, bumping into each other and no particular place to go.McKay drifted from Left to Right wing then Right Back. Foderingham told him to fuck off when asked to swop jerseys.
      Rangers haven't changed tactics since the first win against Hibs at Easter Road last season. I don't think they are unlucky, I think Warburton is getting it all wrong.

  6. Possesion does not win games we need to be more clinical than try to walk the ball into net play two strikers and shoot when we see the goal if you dont shoot you cant score Mckay needs to get the ball into the box sooner we dont have a Messi to use Warburtons perfect football we need to win ugly or anyway we can before playing silky soccer

  7. The lion's share of possession doesn't guarantee you goals. Burnley defeated
    Liverpool by two goals to nil not so long ago with only 19% ball possession. It's what you do with the ball when you've got it and we're not nearly incisive enough when we've got it…

  8. Do my fellow bears think that Garner was a bad/panic buy? he spends a lot of the time either fouling or being fouled and reacting to it most of the time.
    Plus i do not think he will get even 12 goals this season, he was poor again today and at least old man kenny set up the goal with that through ball to wallace which was as much as garner did all day.
    Play waghorn through the middle?

    • Garner is proving to be an enigma. A round peg in a square hole. 99% of passes to him find him with his back to goal 30 yards from the opposition goal line. Until he gets a ball to run on to I don't think we can judge him. The way Rangers play he hardly has any room to breath. He is being suffocated by both opposing players and his own team. Tactics make Garner look like a fourth official. He would be as well watching from the stand.

  9. Come on did any fan really believe we would walk over teams in the league lets get real give mark the chance to turn things around when was the last time we watched this kind of football don't panic we will come good

  10. I can't say I want him to go Jst want him to play his strongest side and a formation that ll work for each individual game.Go and watch teams play so u can set yur team up for each match not the pigheaded way by saying we play the way we play n no other team will change that so no point wasting time going to watch yur challengers, rubbish! Well it's not working other teams managers are obviously watching us because we are not scoring many goals ,conceding to many n not getting enough points on the board. Same mistakes over n over warbs needs to stop being nieve n b honest to himself it not washing beating lower division teams convincingly need to b doing that against full time teams. I know there's 11 player turn around n need time to gel but its the system n tactics and the like for like substitutions that are to predictable. King is never going to sack him because the whole playing staff coaches from top to bottom are teaching this philosophy n that wud cost the club a fortune to change all that. I want to give warbs time but he's not learning from his mistakes a bit like the manky mob manager from last year n look wer he ended up. We must change!!

  11. Warburton is like a rabbit caught in a car's headlights he has no idea which way to go. Well Mr Warburton I will be happy to tell you anywhere but Ibrox because this job is to big for you oh! and Dave King can join you the fans have put up with enough rubbish all we want is not to be embarrassed time and time again.

  12. Come on guys, Warburton is a fud and shouldn't be in charge of Rangers. There are no excuses he can't handle the scottish premier full stop. Ok we can't challenge for the title but ffs change the system to win SOME games.

    • I think this team will challenge for the league title next year. Mind you, rivals such as Dunfermline, St.Mirren and Dundee Utd. will mount a serious challenge.

  13. If anyone needed confirmation that our 'penny pinchin' summer signings were simply not up to the task at hand, today was another reminder for those who thought we could roll out a bunch of freebies, loaners and young lads in Rangers jersey's and everyone would bow down and roll over.

    This Aberdeen side is as poor as any I have seen in my quite considerable years, and we came off second best and went home with our tails shoved right up our own arses, not just between our legs, we were woeful, gutless and until Kranjcar came on we never created and looked like we could pass muster, never mind find a pass to open up a defence that was rarely troubled. Yes the free kick was never even a foul, never mind a booking, the ref had a stinking last 20min to be honest and that one capped it off, but Tavernier gets caught out so often we have to pay the price sometimes, he is useless defending and if you watch his position and reaction for the first goal …it tells you all you need to know about his qualities.

    I take your point seriously, in regards Le Guen, but Le Guen had not too bad a record when you look at results…. currently we have won something like 3 league matches since we won the Championship… yes something like three League matches…it may be 4, I haven't checked, but when you consider we are fast approaching the 'tattie holidays' it gives you a bit of an idea as to how poor we currently are.

    MW is not the right man for the job I'm afraid, any manager worth their salt would adapt and change the system and formation when you lose one or two games, and they would probably go with a 4-4-2 to tighten things up and stop leaking goals. Our manager has no idea how to change formation or style, he lives in an EA sports world where by default the game will let you win if you have most possession …. well sorry to disappoint you MW …. this isn't EA, this is SPL and we are getting creamed … so either toughen it up, or get the hell out, our season is already as good as finished….yet will be presented with the same shit next week and the week after…but yeah but we scored 5 against QoS…. we must be on the recovery trail!!!

    Time for some very harsh and hard decisions to be taken I think…strength comes from the top and runs through to the team on the pitch…so its no surprise we are where we are is it….

    GSTQ

  14. Can't judge so early, or with the limited resources and first season back etc.

    However we need to build from a strong spine. GK, 2 x CB, 1 x dominant CM, 1 x clinical ST.

    I can't say we have a decent spine at the moment (championship level we did but premiership we don't) – we have too many players who play well on the edges of games but without a spine to support them they are not strong enough.

    Warbs needs money. Get two centre halves and a tall striker with decent technical ability (in mould of Rickie Lambert etc)

  15. No one likes us we don't care reading these comments the only people that don't like us is us what happened to follow follow. Let's stand up be counted
    Never and I mean never hate THE RANGERS

  16. You do talk some shite you should be shagging that fucker sutton give the man a chance remember the shite we where watching under mccoist

  17. On a slightly different note Warburton was desperate to sign Barton and I wonder if part of the deal was he got three weeks off to promote his book. No details have emerged as to why he was mysteriously suspended and not sacked and with a town where there are no footballing secrets no word of what the deal is my bet after the three weeks he will be brought back in as though nothing happened

  18. For Gods sake! Give him and the Board a chance. Rangers were robbed today. We are building for next season. Even if we had a £1bn who would we sign. Finish 2nd and its job done. Then we can attract better players. Get behind the club. Until criminals are behind bars and their mate Ashley sorted the club cannot function at the level we want. We are a million miles from May last year.

  19. We did'nt give Le Guen half the backing we give MW. And Warbs has had a worse start to the season than Le Guen. I'd bring back Joey Barton and see how he fares under a no nonsence type of manager like Walter Smith. We'd see the real Joey then I'm sure.

    • Billy we didn't but le guen had More money and better player's at his disposal so your comparison isn't valid were on a shoestring compared to six years ago we won't get a manager of note signing to put his rep on line besides we don't have the money to pay his wages fans are being ridiculous with some of the comments you have a choice support or don't support

  20. We were done by a dodgy refereeing decision and a magnificent free kick. Have we forgot where we were last May. I cant believe that Rangers supporters are getting behind the the media that has shafted us for years by calling for Warburton to be fired. Quick fix was NEVER on the agenda. We ARE building for dominance and even the Romans took time to achieve this. In Warbs I trust. Rangers I will support you evermore, we shall not be moved because WATP!!!

  21. Dear BDG68,

    I agree that the management team are building the club from the youths to the U20's team, but they must change from 4 3 3 to get into the top 3 places. If we had played with a back three against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, the chances are you only have to score 1 goal to win the 3 points. With Warburton's preferred line-up, you have to score at least 2 goals just to get a draw, which loses you 2 more points.

    • No necessarily – 4-3-3 can quickly become 4-5-1 when we need to defend. The trouble is Warbs insists on attacking players staying up to make the opposition think twice about committing too many men forward.

      For games against teams in the top half, I'd stick with the formation but instead of McKay and Waghorn as attacking wingers, I would use Windass and Forrester as wide midfielders with more responsibility for supporting the central midfield and the wing backs.

      Can always bring wingers on later in a game if we need to…

  22. You will never convince me with that one up front system,we have some good players, 4 4 2 with waghorn/garner up front,mckay is tricky player but no pace and final ball is awful,and i could run faster than wilson,the game now is about pace,when are we going to stop giving away cheap goals,we have just been beat by a poor aberdeen side who's manager last statement before the game was that (we are playing for second place in the league here) maybe he disnae want tae win it.

  23. Yesterdays defeat was down to one man and one man only James Tavernier.
    We cannot afford to have him stroll around the park in the hope that he can score from a free kick. In fact yesterday his efforts were downright embarrassing. The ease with which he loses the ball, his reluctance to chase back after doing so and his obvious lack of understanding of what a defending role comprises has cost us goals in several games this season. Time for a long rest I think.

  24. If you actually check out the free kick, the ref was spot on the ball moved as Warbs said but it came off the Aberdeen player as his leg was knocked onto it by Tavs. regardless we need to take our chances and Garner is no the answer for me. He will pick up many cards this season.

  25. We need the investment promised by Dave King, circa £30 million… in order to strengthen the squad and compete at the top level.

    • A Dave King promise….are you for real.

      He's looking for a pay off to jump ship, it's the only reason he's here……..er in South Africa most of the time, like an absentee landlord.

  26. An interesting slant on things… oh and it doesn't matter what team they support…the content and questions asked are what we should all be asking….

    givemesport.com/879256-how-to-solve-a-problem-like-rangers-an-open-letter-to-the-board?autoplay=on

    GSTQ

  27. The SKy Sports commentator said " Garner really relishes the physical side of the game ", great but we need a lot more than that, a lot more.

  28. Too true on investment.

    This is the single biggest issue facing u and the board have failed the support.

    The Tims have £30m on the way from CL qualification.

    Over the next 2 windows Rodgers will add to his squad to ensure qualification next season as well……another £30m added to the pot.

    Dembele will be sold for north of £20m within the next year.

    Tierney will go for £15m such is his rate of progress.

    Out last audited annual revenue was £19m…………unless a real billionaire appears out of nowhere Celtic will coast to 10 IAR and benefit from further years of CL participation.

    We are a shambles on and off the park.

  29. Why are we expected to win the league against a team that've just got a £30m income for champions league? Our priority is Europa League with further transfers to come next january. I'm happy with Europa League, anything further is a bonus. Don't understand why everyone is bitching about it.

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