Early assessment; how does Stevie Ger rate so far?

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Early assessment; how does Stevie Ger rate so far?

 Article by: Greg

Despite only taking charge of 2 competitive games, Gerrard has been at the helm for a couple of months now so we should be starting to see his stamp on the way we play and go about our footballing business. Given the amount of signings he has made and the countless hours he has spent drilling his methods and views into his squad, it is fair time to evaluate his progress so far.

As far as signings go, fans will never know the budget he was told he would receive when he first interviewed for the job therefore is it unfair to speculate whether or not he will be satisfied with the level of spending to date. It is fair to say that the summer transfer activity has been slightly underwhelming when we look at our business as a whole.

Despite appearing to sort out the central defence issue early on, the increasing number of unheard-of loanees being signed up is raising concerns across the fan base. Clearly we don’t have the cash to be able to go and spend a few million in every position and therefore the loan market is a necessary evil for us, but in my opinion it is not the way to go about challenging Celtic.

Arguably, the players moved on under the new regime is more impressive that the signings he has made. We have managed to shift a considerable amount of deadwood, with far less ‘failures’ from previous regimes on our books now. Sadly, a lot are out on loan and we may see them again, but at least the squad isn’t quite as cluttered with trash as it was last year; that is assuming that the signings we have made this year aren’t trash!

Clearly Gerrard is an inexperienced manager. Even the best of managers make the odd mistake, so fans can’t be too shocked when Gerrard makes mistakes at Rangers. There have been some to date: Making Tavernier captain, sending Docherty out on loan and playing Jack in an attacking midfield role to name a few. Tactically, at least, he seems to be able to change things quickly (whether for the better or not), which is a vital attribute in a football manager. We were sick of watching Murty standing on the side-lines.

On the park, displays have been mediocre at best. In the first qualifying round of the Europa League, we did appear to be more solid. However, the lack of cutting edge up front looks to be a major issue. Hopefully one that can be addressed imminently.

All in all, for me the Stevie G hype has worn off and now it is really all about seeing what he truly can do for us. It would be massively unfair to write him off this early in his career, but similarly it would be silly to ignore the negative aspects of the job he has done so far. Blind loyalty has plagued our support since our troubles in 2012 and I worry that we are continuing in that vein with the hype around Stevie just because of who he was as a player.

I really hope he succeeds and brings home the title, but to even give him a fighting chance we need a large amount of cash to drastically improve our playing squad.

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19 COMMENTS

  1. Extremely unfair to judge Gerrard until Christmas

    However I think club is making a big mistake not adding some real quality to the attack.

  2. He's said he'll be flexible with formation, but the only one we've seen so far doesn't look too great, tight defensively but lack of width in forward areas. Middleton has given us that width when he comes on though. Windass, Candaias and Murphy not used effectively.

  3. So far I'd say I'm happy. The defence needed sorted, early indications suggest that it is, however, we need back up & I'd prefer balance with a natural LB. Or 3 at the back. Didn't expect to see Declan john bumped out of the team, however, the boy said last year that he wasn't a LB, it would suggest SG wants better defenders, which does question why Tav is 1st choice RB and captain. I agree that looks like a mistake. It probably should have gone to McGregor, he's the only player that is likely to be a guaranteed 1st choice when fit. Too early to say loaning out Docherty is a mistake or not. If he's only playing one DM then the boy is probably not going to play, i fully expect coulibaly to be 1st choice. Don't know if jack was technically put in as a CAM very possibly it was just to keep possession better, the team isn't settled yet. Imo you cant say that was a mistake. Personally i don't like the look of the formation. I'd prefer an attacking 3-5-2 which could switch to a defensive 5-4-1. Performance wise, too early to criticise, yeah it's not been good, however, i was one of the few commentators that said we need to give the signing time and not get carried away. Well folk got carried away with the hype and are now losing the plot too soon. Last year progress aside we had a couple of good games and thought we'd have a chance and look how that ended up. I'd rather we're criticising in pre season so that the players up their game for the season kick off. I was fully expecting improvement from our attacking players this season. With a solid defence behind them they should have the confidence to go out and play, however, that doesn't look like happening. We need an older head up front, preferably a beast of a player like Prso or Cousins, not the most prolific, but someone to give defenders the fear, we have no attacking players that can do that just now. We may have to bide our time though, we seem to be getting rid of players without getting any money in. Therefore we have loan signings which are probably not going to be enough to the challenge for the title. I reckon we can say we've had a decent season if we finish 2nd, are more solid in defence and dont lose games at home. Then next season we can buy the £5m+ striker we're all hoping for

  4. Yeh wouldn’t u be happy. Our biggest problem was at the back and that looks to have been sorted. King always said he would have to rely mostly on sales until the new share issue. Neither have happened, mostly cause the English teams aren’t really buying atm, it’s to early in the transfer market to sell our dudds. Really two strikers and possibly that Kilmarnock lad on the left and I’ll be excited for the season

  5. I feel happy with choices. I would prefer a left-footer at LB and I think we are still lacking upfront unless Sadiq turns out to be a star, which he may.(wonder if we have a buy out price on any loan players?)
    Midfield congested, but plenty cover. SG will work out how best to use them in time, so that is a minor concern.
    Personally I would like to see Windass back in the hole, shine, then sold for good money and replaced by Murphy. We have good backup on wings.
    We move forward

  6. To early to judge especially as some new players haven't played yet. My biggest concern is a lack of a creative midfielder we don't have anyone with real vision who can pick out a defence splitting pass

  7. yeah getting a bit worried with so many loan deals have we not been down this road before and does not work thats our young guns waiting again ,surely we need experience men not bhoys ,hope im wrong

  8. Very critical considering we haven't conceded a goal and players are short of fitness and sharpness and still to get familiar with Each Other. We havent had a pre season because of this UEL tie and 3 big signings (imo) are still to appear. The problem in the past is lack of positive support with players needing time to settle, being screamed at by 50000 fans. I get expectations and frustrations are high but lets stop writing negative press about Rangers, the media are obsessed with it as it is. Also Stevie 1 when you look at the past few seasons we've fielded 2 or 3 loan signings max in a regular starting 11. Also its spelt "boys" ;)…

  9. Excellent so far,we wanted a clear out thats we we got 10 new players and i dont think hes finished 💪
    I actually thought he should be congratulated as a new manager winning his first europa league game,well done
    He tells it as it is and takes action no pussyfooting about,if he sees a weakness then he sorts it 100%,
    As ive said before this man lives and breathes 3 points,if he doesnt get then good luck in the dressing room
    Hes just one thing to sort get that fuckin jacket off😂
    SOME TEAM THE RANGERS

    LETS GO WATP 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

  10. 1st Mistake : Appointing SG in 1st Place

    2nd Mistake : Making Tav The Cap

    3rd Mistake : Sending away Docherty

    4th Mistake : Signing Woman-Beater Flanagan

    5th Mistake : Fixing the Backline but not The Front

    If the Season goes like the Skhupi result will be looking for another manager by Christmas! 😣

    • Gee the guy a chance ffs,he's just in the door

      LETS GO WATP 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

    • FFS Stevo
      You don't have to be such an eternal optimist, you know. It's not always going to be sunshine and roses.
      1)Time will tell
      2)Jury's out
      3)Rather he played at Sunderland than watched at Ibrox
      4)People have to be given a second chance
      5)How do you know he is finished?
      If we win every home game, don't lose a match and don't concede a goal before Christmas, we will be looking for a new manager? Doubt it!

    • Let's stick with the worse back line in the spfl team that conceded the most goals and scored the most so your point baffles me sorry

  11. my god, we've not played a league game yet and we're giving the manager grief. We don't know how good our defence is yet but we do know that our forwards were top scorers last year. most players coming to a new league improve the second season. So lets get behind all the team (not just the ones you favour) give them confidence and a good environment to display their skills. last season our home record was dreadful, was that down to bad players, bad management or the bile that comes from the terraces? Weve got to have faith in this management team or we're really in trouble. things take time. might take this year or even the next but if you keep on changing the management team every time they do something you don't agree with, then nothing will get sorted. Follow follow, no surrender. surport them until you die. remember WATP

  12. To be fair, any time a new manager comes in, you absolutely must submit to blind faith (to an extent of course). Yes, there are some things that might be a bit curious at the moment, but I also think the manager is owed time to get his system online. I'm not saying that if we sit 20 points back at Christmas we just toe the line foolishly. Of course not, but the task at hand is a hard one. Rising from the ashes is hard, but Rangers is well passed the half way point in my opinion. At some point, a manager is going to have to be given a good run because changing managers every year is a big part in why the turmoil has hit such a fever pitch. I personally think Gerrard has brought a different class to managers role at Ibrox. Everyone knows his playing career was world class, and we also realize that that alone doesn't make him a successful manager, but with that said he has expressed his desire and his expectations very candidly. He admits that the Euro matches haven't been the greatest. After the draw, he expressly blasted his attacking players and I would look for some of them to sieze their chance and respond, because I firmly feel that this gaffer will bench underperforming players.

    At the moment he's done nothing but say all the right things. While talk is cheap, I'm backing Stevie G to make good on his words. I don't think he's done in the transfer market either, let's get a full Gerrard squad in the door and start laying the groundwork for our challenge to the east side. We were 30 points back in league play in our first year back, 12 last year and tops in scoring. Yes we were horrendous defensively but there is no way in hell that's happening again. We're closer than it feels, we just need the right Admiral plotting our course. I personally, am backing Gerrard hard.

  13. It is too early yet, for us to get rid of the dross, but get rid of them, we must. Let some other club, put up with El-Fluffallo. We need goals-in-net, this season. I don't think we should be moaning about LFC loan-ees, either. LFC have been decent to us & Man City and there's a quid-pro-quo arrangement, going on. So what? Our youngsters will have more time to 'develop'. He sorted that defence out and in time, he'll sort our front line. We have to be realistic and patient. Our time is coming, but there is a price to pay, for what Sir Cuntybaws Murray, done to us and we're still, paying that price. The important thing, is that we're going in the right direction, NOT, backwards. I think SG has the right attitude and won't take shite off the players. That's another positive. Because under Murty, those players (they know who they are) took the almighty piss. As soon as we can offload, our burden players, like Morelos, the better. That's Murty's fault, for having blind-faith in a flop and never, benching the top-hat. NOT, the SG's fault. Still think we should have taken that offer, from China, btw. I see positive things. Besides all that, you can't deny the fact, that some of those loan-ees, have got some real quality, from what I've seen of them on you-tube, so we shouldn't be complaining so much. Stevie Gerrard has done well, with what he has been given, to work with. Once we get right back on our feet, we can slow down the loanee, situation.

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