What should Pedro do about off-colour summer signing?

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What should Pedro do about off-colour summer signing?

For all the plaudits returning Bruno Alves got last week, and for the praise the defence rightly received for such a solid display overall, there has been a small murmur in the support over recent weeks regarding the merits of Fabio Cardoso.

Even against St Johnstone the Portuguese stopper was a little unsure of himself, and did not seem to dominate as well as he did in the early part of the season.

Indeed, fans and the site praised him for borderline overshadowing his more illustrious partner, and impressing supporters with his workrate, pace, and willingness to get stuck in.

Indeed, he looked every inch a long-term solution and gained plaudits almost every appearance during those first months or so.

Unfortunately, in more recent times, Cardoso’s form has tailed off a little. He looks less sure of himself, has made quite a few errors, and does not seem quite as reliable right now. He has received a lot of criticism from fans of late, some fair, some not so much.

The first reaction is naturally ‘drop him’. Give the guy a rest, give him some time to regain his energy and focus. Give him his hunger and concentration back and he should return to the solid force he was in July and August.

But equally, the performance of Carlos Pena v St Johnstone has given some renewed confidence to the idea that Pedro actually knows what he is doing – and the way he persisted with the Mexican while he was, frankly, borderline garbage, before then making everyone look silly with a superb display in Perth might just be the tactic Caixinha is going with in Cardoso.

Sometimes a player just needs to play off bad form – and if it continues and starts to cost Rangers, we have Danny Wilson fresh from injury recovery and the highly promising Ross McCrorie on standby anyway.

It is not like we do not have reasonable options in reserve.

But hopefully the renaissance of Cardoso begins at Hampden on Sunday – we saw how good he could be while his veteran team mate struggled in the early stages of life in Scotland – with Alves now seemingly getting the hang of the Scottish game, who better to guide his junior protégé?

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5 COMMENTS

  1. These articles are pure riddy please stop. Cardoso played well with Alves back in beside him. That will be our CB pairing for most of the campaign. Cardoso is considered one of Portugal's best defensive prospects after his performances last season, he has made a few error calls but as a young guy himself he had to become the senior CB beside McCrory and was not at fault for the goals against the tims. He will develop with Alves beside him.

  2. Actually he was at fault for the first goal against Celtic with a fresh air swipe when he should have cleared his lines. For me Wilson is the better defender and would show hois class alongside Alves rather than the rubbish he had to partner during the Warburton years. Personally I think we should be playing three at the back in any case – Wilson, Alves, Cardosa – with Tavenier & John/Wallace as the wing backs.
    With regard to Pena please do not get carried away – he might have scored a couple of goals but his overall contribution outside the box is still alarmingly poor. The jury is still out!

    • Actually, McRorie let the ball go through his legs that led to the first goal for the beggars (Hodson should also be shot for his part) and it was McRorie that was ball watching and let Briffiths in behind him for the second! Apart from costing us the game, he didn't play that badly. But his game against Hamilton was woeful. He needs to further development in the under 20s, no where near first team regular yet!
      Agree with article. Albeit I am not a great fan of Wilson, I think he does edge out Cardoso. Cardoso is woeful in the air and he ball watches at times too. He does play a bit better with Alves, so will Wilson.

  3. Be thankful for s/m/l mercies. Our defence is streets better than last season. Cardoso is still settling in to an extent and the defence has been disrupted to an extent by injuries to Wallace, Alves, John, and even Tav missed a game I believe. In fact, isnt Cardoso the only ever present defender this season? Mon the Gers

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