The most critical weekend of Rangers’ season?

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The most critical weekend of Rangers’ season?


There is little doubt Steven Gerrard made an incredible start to life as Rangers manager. We could barely fault a thing for weeks and all we could do was praise. It was a refreshing change from what we’d been so used to for six years.

However, there is no question there has been a dip in the past three matches. From the slightly slow defensive start at Rugby Park (which thankfully turned around well), to the ‘within ourselves’ display v UFA, to the definite low point of Gerrard’s reign in Govan at Motherwell, the crest of the wave we were previously on is not quite gone, but is undeniably a little flatter than it was.

When we look at the blazing performance in Aberdeen and the superb win in Croatia, the more stuttering recent form has come at a bad time, with arguably the biggest two matches of the season facing us over the space of four days.

There are a lot of causes for dispensation here. We’ve missed Lassana Coulibaly dreadfully – his ascension to essential coincided with the more convincing midfield we’ve seen in our colours since the days of Edu – and that rise in form saw some stellar displays and results.

The defensive lack of depth too is hopefully being addressed by the addition of Nottingham’s 21-year old CB Joe Worrall, while Osijek’s Eros Grezda will help give depth to attacking midfield and Gerrard more options.

We’ve also had to face Ryan Jack’s concussion and subsequent slight loss of form, while Jamie Murphy’s been lost altogether.

And we can’t forget the system on Sunday may have had a bearing on the outcome too, along with the curious decision to bring Lee Wallace on in the final seconds at the critical set play and the generally diabolical ‘defending’ from James Tavernier.

But that all said, whatever the reasons, while Rangers remain unbeaten and that is a cause of huge celebration and progress, the recent form has lacked the sparkle it had earlier this month, and with two massive tests upcoming, Gerrard will certainly hope his men regain that earlier shine.

The team selection for tomorrow is massive. It will be chosen with Sunday in mind, and passage to the group stage however it is achieved will give our men a colossal boost going to Parkhead.

It is a must win/draw match – to regain the previous momentum and boost it with the outstanding guarantee of plenty more European football.

One comment on the site said this one is actually more important than Sunday – we see that point – it’s a £3M match which is critical for Rangers to win. Celtic winning on Sunday would not be ideal but for Rangers’ long term growth that money and that European participation is vital.

Which is why recent mild form must be forgotten and our lads produce the goods in Russia.

So much depends on it.

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16 COMMENTS

  1. Agree with the the Majority of this Article.

    The game against FC UFA is more important than Celtic at Parkhead!

    Because if we lose to UFA,
    That is us F****d for another Season.
    If we lose to Celtic …
    It Sucks but 1 Loss to Celtic,
    We could Live With

    And for the next two matches,
    We MUST have 4 at the Back!

  2. Listen, we’re still unbeaten. The Eourpa Leauge is not essential and neither is 3 million essential if it was we’d be in a bad place. A win and a draw would be superb but on the whole we are definitely ahead of expectations

    • I know we are still Unbeaten Pal, But to be Honest the Europa League is kind of Essential simply because of the Cash Rewards that progress Brings

      We Have to get Through against UFA tonight …HAVE TO
      Or like I said F****d for another Season

      Also we could lose to Celtic a couple of times this season and still bring 55 back to govan! 😉

      #TheBiggerPicture
      #RTID
      🔴⚪⭕

    • 3m plus is absolutely essential to any buisness, secondly, a club like ours should always be looking to compete at the highest level. were NO scumdee utd.

    • Spot on Scooby! 👍

      Hope Scumdee United spend the next 3yrs failing to get promoted back to the big time 😂👊 …#Karma

  3. I would say that the Europa game is the more important of the 2 matches as it could unlock £5m plus income (not £3m) which we badly need regardless of results beyond this stage. Going to the piggery and losing is no real surprise as better teams than this one have lost there. Sure it would put us 4 points behind but look at the start we've had with visits to Pittodrie, Fir Park and the San Giro plus a cup match at Rugby Park. They still have to visit Ibrox and the other grounds.

    • or how about we follow n the footsteps of great RANGERS who went before us and win both. NEVER in my time of 40 plus years was it acceptable to consider one result over another more so where celtc are concerned. Their mindset is victory over us no matter what it takes. From struth to smith from greig to gough NOT THE RANGERS WAY!

    • Easy to say after the fact scooby. Winning tonight has given us the opportunity of playing better teams than Celtic which will stand us in good stead. Yes I agree that in the past it would not be the way we think you have remember the cash flow we have lost and the lack of brand awareness around Europe because of our 8 year absence. The sponsorship will increase , players values will increase , TV money will increase etc. Winning/losing on Sunday does nothing to the journey we are on. It does feel like we are finally seeing a rangers we can all be proud of and I don't fear Sunday for the 1st time in ages. Tonight was important for our club, Sunday is important for the fans because the implications of losing are minimal. Watp

  4. We have spent millions so we must beat UFA and on Sunday we want a win nothing less both we can beat i am sure of that.bring it on

  5. Today is more important, but a win on Sunday, would be great for morale. We've taken enough humiliation off Ceptic. If we can't win, at least a draw. So bloody typical, that with our most important games, the likes of Coulibally, are out injured.

  6. After watching Sundays game, it looked as if we bottled it in the second half, after a fantastic comeback in the first. It was evident to me we defended the one goal lead. We should have attacked Motherwell with the same vigour in the second half and we would have pumped them, but played far too deep. We simply cannot do this time and time again!! It was easy to blame Tav, but he was not the only culprit on the day. Gerrard put Halliday in from the start when there were far better options on the bench, and the system we played just does not suit Scottish football,, all said, this tells me Europe is more important to Gerrard than the league!
    3 points on match day and to win the league is far more important to me than Europa this season. More games will equal more injuries and less likely to even challenge for the league.
    Yes I take on board the argument for Europe and more money etc, however, for me, to prevent the beggars getting 10 IAR, should be our priority!! Win the title, then its Champions League cash we will be talking about!!
    But in relation to this article,,, I would love to see us win both games, but after Sunday,,,and with injuries to Coulibaly and Murphy, I think we just might struggle in both games. I sincerely hope I'm wrong and worrying over nothing!!!

  7. As I write this the game in Russia is over and we are through to the group stages no thanks to Morellos who was sent off in the first half. He is a liability and must be sold probably at January. Too late to sell him now but if we get five million or more surely we can get a good player who is level headed for that. He also should be fined a weeks wages

    • Hopefully he will learn more this time but to be fair it was massively harsh. He uses his body well and gets punished for perfectly fine tackles. He is a massive asset , especially with the call up to Columbia. Score internationally, Europe and domestic football then the price will skyrocket. No doubt the boy has issues but alot of the greats do. Gerrard will iron him out.

  8. CONGRATULATIONS RANGERS WATP🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧💪
    BOUNCY BOUNCY BOUNCY 🕺🕺🕺
    WINNING STILL WINNING 🏆

    LETS GO WATP 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

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