Transfer: what are Rangers getting in Serie A star?

26
Transfer: what are Rangers getting in Serie A star?

You may not know Rangers’ surprise transfer target Bruno Alves terribly well other than the media’s hysteria over him being a part of Portugal’s Euro 2016 win, but the 35-year old is far more than just this honour.

Indeed, few even knew of the stopper before today, but having watched him a number of times for his Italian employers Cagliari, Ibrox Noise can tell you it is an impressive target for Rangers to be aiming for.

Alves is not the most refined of centre-backs, that much is true. If you want silky defensive skill and composure on the ball, he is probably not your man. If you want the kind of leader who puts his own self where it hurts as an example to those around him, he is more your cup of tea.

Alves is the kind of enforcer who is prone to the odd yellow or even red card now and then (he committed a last-man tug against Milan at the San Siro earlier this season which saw him off) but imagine the commitment of the kind of defender who is not scared of pain and blocking with his life, and it is worthy consolation.

Indeed, during that match against the Rossoneri, Alves managed 9 last-ditch clearances, 2 interceptions, one crucial block, and 5 vital tackles. He was the main reason it took the home side till 88 minutes to actually score.

And that has been the style of his career, to be hard, rough and ready but wily enough to generally keep on the right side of the law. Yes, he has a little bit of history of ‘over exuberance’ now and then, but Rangers fans have complained we lack tough enforcers in the team, and he really is one.

Is he Richard Gough or Carlos Cuellar? Maybe not quite, but he certainly has an honourable CV and is an upgrade of the kind Rangers need. With 90 caps for his country, Rangers could do worse than a Euro 2016 winner and experienced campaigner like Alves.

No posts to display

26 COMMENTS

  1. He is boody 35 ye ? And am i supposed to be happy about this, warburton 2. Here we go again.we seem to be going about in bloody circles here. If there's no money tell us we can handle that, but no more past the sell by date players or up and coming super stars. Like i said gettin fn pissed off now. Some home truth:from the board would be appreciated (a no am a gullible prat ) it just seems to be one fn cock up after another, we need some good class british players in this team before anything else. No twats like garner or that useless git waghorn, some proper no bloody nonsense players. WATP

  2. This particular article speaks volumes re- exactly where we (RFC) currently are and while I appreciate it is (I presume) intended as something of a positive there's no escaping the fact that the management and blazers now appear content to operate at this quick fix, unambitious, short sighted and ultimately with no financial return level of player recruitment and in reality screams out that current Rangers blazers are not up to the immediate challenges ahead and are gutless and simply setting up their stall for SECOND PLACE in Scotland (at best)

    This approach, I strongly suspect, will ultimately turn us into another Leeds Utd who have been wandering about in the wilderness for 20 years with no immediate indications of any revival, once your down there your well and truly f–K-D and thats the path this current band of waste of space, disingenuous, inept chairman and directors are taking our ONCE proud club.

    The last couple of years have proven beyond any reasonable doubt that these guys obviously know he-haw about he-haw re- how to run any club, (apart possibly from likes of Third Lanark or Meadowbank Thistle etc.) and are all basically hangers on with a couple of bob who love to play the big man with their tailored blazers with Gers badge to let all know how important they are (A first year apprentice shrink could figure out whats behind these needs in 2 minutes)

    This "target" is 35 at best and as such approaching the nursing home phase of his playing career and with the greatest respect WHO THE F–K is he, surely if he was as good as the media muppets profess we would ALL be familiar with this bloke, after all he is 35 and been about a hell of a long time,

    I do appreciate moneys tight at Ibrox but we are ARE, at the moment anyway, the second richest team in Scotland and should invest in youth, preferably Scottish youth, going forward and apart from relegation, write off all domestic ambition next season to bed these boys in (Intentionally no mention of Euro hopes as there ARE NONE)

    The manky mob are getting closer and closer to 10 and if DK and his band of no users don't wisen up the pressure will undoubtedly double on them on a weekly basis until their cherished blazers are on very shaky nails and they end up getting an emergency fast black out of Ibrox to save their skins

    I for one am honestly not 100% sure how I would take the beggars getting to 10, its a friggin nightmare!! and am sure that many many thousands of Bears feel exactly the same way but safe to say that if it did come around it would be a nasty and very ugly time to be associated with our great club and that scenario IS THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

    We have all already been to hell and back but even the Famously Loyal Glasgow Rangers Support can only take so much

    Its Time to stop giving these people (DK &his cronies) the benefit of the doubt all the time simply because they constantly bump their gums about how much they love the Rangers, WE ALL DO, and we must keep letting them know, in no uncertain terms, our feelings on a daily basis from here on in cause it looks to me like they dont really have a scooby about what to do

    WATP

    • Tam

      I feel your pain and your anguish, we are in very difficult times here, not knowing if we will even be able to pay wages, accept Direct Debit payments or goods invoiced for anything other than cash….that's the legacy of King I am afraid….10 in a row is pretty much guaranteed with these people in charge, so we better get used to that and get used to more of the same gash we have seen the past month, oh and more lies and spin from our 'Carpet-baggers' of a board.

      The transfer spin has been ratcheted up the past week or so…the same old crap from the same old liars to sell as many ST as possible….there will be no big buys, revolving door of players in, unless free or on loan, once again we will be looking for scraps and trying desperately to inflate them into something they are not….Tav, Wag and all the others 'knocking on the door for an England cap'…bulshit. The media is dancing and spinning the plates to fat boy Traynor's tune, who I am sure is working round the clock spinning the yarn and loading all the traps….

      I think there will be a few more 'eye-openers' coming out of the Craig Whyte hearing, and with the TAP sentence looming large, still 3 unfair dismissal trials to go, oh and a few more….its going to be a busy close season….but in the courts and not the transfer markets….

      GSTQ

    • Aye Samuel that's the thing all these guys above saying he's a nobody and past it, they've short memories.. Then again they might've said the same about Davie Weir but I bet a pound tae a pinch of shite they'd all say he was a trooper of a defender… Bruno Alves isn't British or played for British Club so he must be shite eh……

  3. Davie weir was 37 years old when he signed for us,and was absolutely superb for us,may i add!Bruno alves is 2 years younger than what weir was and at 35 years old could easily play for rangers,in this league for another 3 years!I totally agree with ibrox noise!We are crying out for this type of centre half!He's a very good,experienced,centre half and would really hope caixinha could sign him!!

    • Clint Hill at 38 but let's face it he's not the CB we need..This guy has got shitloads of experience who gives a fcuk if he's British or not.. Wake up smell the roses Rangers ain't getting John Terry and that's fact but this guy is the next best option.. Just my humble opinion

    • '73 am in total agreement wae you…( but please … please ditch that awful handle…)

    • Neil

      Whats wrong wae my handle lol… I'm an annoying so and so a bawbag fits rather well mate…

  4. I agree with the pissed off posts (I’m pretty grumpy anyway tho). Alves has a good pedigree, no doubt. The occasional short-sighted appointment is okay, but I’m seeing a pattern here at Rangers. Usually when fans say a player "Could be the next…" it's usually about a young player i.e. a 15-year old potential wonderkid who "could be the next Messi". How bad are things when every Grandpa we get linked with "Could be the next Davie Weir"?

    Weir was a brilliant EPL defender for many years before he joined Rangers. He also knew British football inside-out. Clint Hill and Senderos also knew British football. But even though Hill seems to be liked by many Bears, he for me has never been anywhere near the quality needed at Rangers at any stage in his career. And Senderos was a calamity throughout his British career, starting at Arsenal. On signing Hill, I remember Warburton saying, “Davie Weir joined Rangers at 37, and he did alright, didn’t he?”. It's one-dimensional thinking. Hill will definitely be hoping he can be kept on at Rangers on a handsome contract until he’s 42 too though. Bloody chancer, sorry.

    Alves would be completely new to Scottish/British football. What if he takes months or even a full season to adapt? If Alves had experience of playing in Britain and still had a point to prove, I’d take him as a short-term fringe player. But never a ‘core player’ (one we’ll be relying on to play 90 minutes every week). Could Alves cope with the frantic pace of Scottish football at his age? We have no idea. What does he have to lose if he’s not a success at Rangers? What do we have to lose? A heck of a lot of money I'd imagine, to start with. Weir cared about his reputation in Scotland. Will Alves lose any sleep if he’s not a success here? I don’t know lads, too many risks for me with this kind of player. As others have said, we could end back in this exact same spot a year from now. What happens if (as expected) we don’t win the league next year or the year after, and one of our core players (Alves) retires? Do we start to build another new defence and hope these new signings help us win the league in their first season (to stop the Unwashed’s 10 in a Row)?

    • Aye fair one Jorg and valid point tae.

      Any player being brought in is a gamble though mate. Take your mind back Prodan an outstanding defender but hardly kicked a ball through severe injury – Rozenthal another and Oleg Kuznetsov..Rangers must be one of the most cursed Clubs ever for bad luck with good players and injuries… A yrs contract and get young Liam Lindsley from Partick add that to young Bates Wilson that's all ready there.. A blend of youth and experience we might have a chance 🇬🇧

  5. Christ's sake, the rebuild must start somewhere and a defender who can hold his own in serie A is a decent place to start. After the pish we've all seen this season, how can any of us complain?

  6. Some people here need a good slap. He is still playing in portugals 1st team, his last game
    Being in Feb… how can we turn down a player from one of the better internal teams

  7. He will be as good as we have could be better than all of our CH but wages again will cost us me thinks.

  8. Stuart, you're welcome to slap me if you like. We're all here to give an opinion by putting forward something for discussion. I'm giving my opinion, which is to say that we should learn our lessons from the past.

    ‘Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.’

    Personally I'd rather we err on the side of caution rather than get starry-eyed by the experience Alves has. Trying to think of foreign DEFENDERS who came to Ibrox and were an instant success…

    Boli, a France international, had just won the CL with Marseille; instant success? Even after 25 games, was not a particularly memorable Rangers player. Frank de Boer is one of Europe’s all-time best defenders, a class act with 150+ Barcelona appearances and 110+ Holland caps under his belt before he joined us at 33. Huge and instant success at Rangers? Nope. I often forget he played for us. Amoruso, an ex-Fiorientina ace, took at least a full season before he came good…before that he was a disaster/bambi on ice. Alves’ compatriot, by the way, Nuno Capucho – had 32 caps for Portugal before he joined us. Capucho is one of worst players ever seen at Ibrox. A player can have all the caps he likes, but they often mean nothing when it comes to actually playing in this league. Barton, definitely a big name, thought he would stroll it and pick up all the awards this season.

    Tierney, Brown, Armstrong and Forrest have never played outside of Scotland. Neither have Wallace, McKay or Holt; 3 of our better players. Kenny Miller has played 250+ games in Scotland. A coincidence that he was our POYT? We’re falling into the same old trap by getting over-excited about big international names. Big names also cost big wages, which is exactly what we don't need.

    I thought when King was taking over that we were going to build a new model. Hell, a few weeks ago Pedro was saying how he was assessing local players who we could buy. But after his ‘technical meeting’ with the board, he changed that strategy to one with ‘minimized risks’, saying that he would be ready to sign local players once he’d been at Rangers for 5 years or so.

    But is he minimizing the risks, or maximizing them?

    That's my argument. And I managed to put it forward without insulting or threatening anyone on here.

    • ATM we have no one in the team that seems to take command at the back 4. Lots of the best teams have an experienced cb along with a younger player. It's something that works very well as long as they have the legs or can stay ahead of the game. That's what I would expect of him coming in. At times our defence have been all over the place and today's game was no different.

  9. Jorg

    Aye Basile Boli had his moments. So did Ammo – I can't forget his fcuk up against Monaco cost us big.. Yes it took him time to settle after his injury problems to start with that's agreed..

    My point is this who would you rather have Kiernan or Alves in your back 4?

  10. 73, I thought Lindsey played well today, which is good after we'd bigged him up so much! Kiernan is for the bin and have serious reservations about Alves. For the price of Alves' wages alone, we could get Considine and Lindsey (I know they're both left-footed players, but just an example) and still have change to spare. These guys are proven in the league and have loads left in the tank. This is the 3rd summer where we’ve had this argument. There was a big hoo-ha 2 years ago about bringing in John Eustace, and last year it was Hill/Senderos. Plenty of us were dead against signing them, and we were berated/told how Warburton knew exactly what he was doing, and these old heads were needed to mentor our young players. Beerman's tackle in the OF tells us that whatever he was told by these mentors before he stepped onto the pitch really didn’t hold much value once he was on it. Just my tuppence worth, but it seems to me our young players need to be mentored by guys who understand exactly what’s needed in this league, who’ve proved themselves in our game year-after-year and picked up POTY awards in the process. Players in the mould of Considine, Lindsey, Paterson et al. If these guys could contribute as much as the likes of John Brown and Stuart Munro did, we’d have a defence capable of winning the title.

    • Yeh I thought there cb were good today. But so was Gardner if we play him through the middle with another quick striker feeding off him. Been a poor season but the summer is something to look forward to. Can't wait until the end of June even if it's jist one european might at ibrox

    • Absolutely, Stuart. Garner was good today and would keep him for his aerial power alone. Been a hell of a year mate.

    • J C …Considine's a bottle merchant…haven't seen enough of the thistle lad but my gut feeling is …he's a no… that said …for me Paterson would be a great signing if we could make it so… I'm loath tae say this …but a see a touch o' the Tam Forsyth in him… a know what yer thinkin' lets no get carried away…( or stop talkin' s**t Neil…lol)

  11. Jorg

    Understood and aye your right I'd love to see both Lindsey & Patterson at Rangers as they've got a great futures in front of them. If Alves does come and that's a big if surely Senderos plus Hills wages would cover that..As for the boy from Ghana he's unproven in a decent league to be honest – work permit would block that move I think..
    Like you I hope Ped goes for Scottish boys but one or two imports of a decent experience might not be a bad mix for Rangers.. Let see what happens until then during pre season..

    See the Murray saga continues is he interested?

    • Absolutely mate, fingers crossed we can get a decent squad together this summer. I read Boyd's article about Murray in The Sun yesterday…dynamite:)).

Comments are closed.