Yet another 90 minutes has come and gone, and Rangers’ first win of the league season sees us joint second in the table.
Here’s some player ratings of our latest match in Govan. How many do you agree with?
Allan McGregor:
Solid afternoon for the SPL’s best goalkeeper – forced into a save or two and looked pretty assured – the only shaky moment was when the ball hit the bar having beaten him all ends up. But a good show otherwise. We’re starting to get used to this. 8
Jon Flanagan:
Probably his scrappiest display in the shirt, which is ironic given he was in his natural position. Didn’t look too comfortable today, and was a non event in the opposing area. 6
Connor Goldson:
Despite one or two early poor passes, it’s another one he strolled. Bossed the backline as usual and no surprised he was sponsors’ MOTM. 8
Nikola Katic:
First match where he’s actually outperformed Goldson in our personal opinion, and that’s saying something. Dominated everything both aerially and on the deck, and put himself in the hurt yet again. This guy is going to be absolutely black and blue by the end of the season. Really awesome from him. Our MOTM 9
Borna Barisic:
A complete bargain at £2M, we really do have a Croatian international quality player here. Absolutely coasted it, albeit his pass for Murphy which exposed McCrorie was literally his only mistake. Has to be first choice on this showing. 9
Ross McCrorie:
Doing pretty well in the midfield three until his lack of experience showed and he made a rash rookie error. He has potential, but he also has developing to do and he just isn’t there yet. 6
Lassana Coulibaly:
If we thought he was a ‘messy wee player’ v Maribor, he was even ‘messier’ today. A real workhorse, covering every ounce of grass and stepped up to cover for McCrorie. After a slightly underwhelming start, he’s growing by match into a real star performer for this side. 8
Ovie Ejaria:
Odd one. He’s not playing by his natural position which is the 10, but today, as a deeper grittier ‘Ryan Jack’-esque mid he actually did quite well. Useful on the ball and worked hard to support the men behind him, it was probably his best display yet. Just not the sort of performance we thought he was signed for. 7
Ryan Kent:
Slow start but grew into it, and by the second half was running at them for fun. Still maybe needs to work on the end product but appears to be getting more used to this team. 7
Jamie Murphy:
Still underwhelming. Not really sure what he’s bringing to the side at the moment. 6
Alfredo Morelos:
Thanks to the overturned ban, Alfie started this one and was a mountain of work up front. Took his goal very well indeed, and as we said after Maribor, he is improving his attitude each match and more and more he’s dropping the negatives. Another really good show from him. 8
What would you lot give them?
And yes, we’ve not rated the subs.
Coulibaly was outstanding. Early errors from Ejaria and overplaying by Kent continues to frustrate me. That said, they are settling in and becoming better by the game. El Buffalo was awesome. Barisic and Katic are mind blowing bits of business for Rangers and at least when we sell them for £25million Liverpool will likely pay us full price. 🙂
On the week where 'hairline cracks' appeared in the East End of Glasgow with Brendan bleating about his bloated £60 million squad not being enough to compete this year with our £24.14 million one. It truly is the best week for me as a fan since the 90's.
The Champions lose Armstrong and Roberts, replacing them with Arzani, Izaguirre, Edouard and Bain and suddenly the double treble winning squad lacks strength in depth. Pmsfl.
They spent £3.15 million on Kouassi. He was flattened by the industry of the Jambo's. John McGinn was MoM in his debut for Vila. Pmsfl.
I have the right to be excited. Steven Gerrard wants me this way. he has our back, the team have his.
Roll on September. WATP. Lets go.
Hear! Hear!
To be fair on Murphy, he did well for the assist for the 1st goal. With 11 men, we'd have smashed them. Someone's gonna get a hammering soon.
Flanagan continues to be the weak link, honestly don't see what S G sees in him… the ease with which Mullen stepped inside him before clipping the bar makes me fearful for the Ceptic game and what Forrest and or Sinclair will do to him … praying he gets dropped as he really ain't good enough for us.
McGregor – 8 – oozes confidence and class
Flanagan – 7 – solid as always, he is not in the team to go forward all the time , he gives balance with an attacking full-back on the other side
Goldson – 8 – Rolls-Royce of a defender, nothing fazes him
Katic – 8 – prepared to fight and die for every inch of the pitch, every blade of grass
Barisic – 7 – looked confident on the ball, still needs time to gel with the team, at fault for McRorie's sending off
McRorie – 7 – did really well before his sending off, put fires out left, right and centre, had to take a risk after a mistake by Barisic
Coulibaly – 8 – put a shift in midfield as always, still needs someone who controls the midfield next to him as he himself is more of a workhorse rather than a proper leader on the ball
Ejaria – 7 – did well, but still looking for himself in the team, should have scored at the end of the game
Kent – 7 – confident on the ball, works really hard
Murphy – 7 – still a bit off, but getting there, decent squad player
Morelos – 9 – MOTM, I don't know what Stevie G is feeding him, but looks absolutely fantastic in pressing, build-up play and his finish today was absolutely clinical
Tavernier – 7 – came on for final 30 mins, solid at the back
Gerrard – 9 – boss used rotation well, game plan worked to a tee, team came out of the blocks aggressively and scored a great goal after high press, homework on set-pieces also seems to be paying off with another goal this time from Goldson, readjusted the shape and made all the right changes when down to ten men, never giving St Mirren a chance to get back into the game.
The team look confident and on their way to the top. Steven still needs another centre-back and attacker to provide cover, but this squad looks much better than anything since championship winning teams of 2000s. Rangers WILL challenge Celtic for the title this season as well as all the cups and I can see an extended Europa League run as well. Steven Gerrard walks on water in Liverpool and I'm sure by the end of his time in Glasgow his status here will be the same!
Pretty much spot on, only ones I disagree with are:
Ryan Kent – 6 -lots of good running and great crosses when and if he gets past his man, frustrating display kept over running the ball and giving away possession by doing one trick too many or trying to take 3 men on unnecessarily. Just get the ball in the box. Doesnt need to get to the by line everytime.
Jamie Murphy -7- Is doing more running and graft this year. Not in the box like last season but doing the dirty graft and closing down. Great assist for Morelos goal. Ran himself into the ground. Bit of an unsung hero at times easy to miss what he does off the ball pulling defences all over. Also difficult for a winger to dominate when team is down to 10 men. Needs a run of games, is a better option than Kent for me.
Ejaria – 6 – Frustrating the life out of me just now. Think his first team chances are about to become less with the return of Arfield and Jack, at least I hope so. Some lovely play one minute then a slack pass, or one trick too many. Same boat as Kent for me, decent player but decisions are needing a lot of work for me. Looks like a youth player to me not sure he is quite ready yet for the big role hes been handed.
spot on with the ratings for me, what i did notce yesteday is that if borna continues to deliver deadly balls into the box we need a goal grabber to feed off them. wee morelos is not the hately/jelavic type. so outwith the 2 i keep banging on about namely moult/maine i would consider the big no.9 of osijek or big laugherty. We need more strikers, i would'nt say no to morelos moult and maine going at that celik defence wth a laugherty added to it. i would offer big lee and halliday in exchange as much as i respect them both for their commitment, a perfect fit for both clubs?
It was Murphy's lack of skill and alertness in losing possession in midfield that caused the situation which got young McRorie sent off. Why is young McRorie taking all the blame while Murphy walks away scot-free of any criticism….???
Reasonably good observations form IN and from our contributors. I agree that Murphy did expose young McCrorie but he did lunge in he has all the right attributes to be a much better player and hopefully he will learn under SG, hopefully Ryan Jack back for Thursday . Both the CH's were outstanding today and Katic too should have had a goal that struck the post. I thought Goldson just edged the MOM as he has such composure and vision . We need to step up our efforts to sign Lafferty or another striker to give us another option. First time I have seen Barisic …top drawer !! what a steal at 2.2 Mill. All going in the right direction …Cant wait till 2 September to put that scum in their place !! Hearts played them off the park … SG and GMacca will watch that performance and see the opportunities BRINGITON LETSGO WATP
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