Dismal Gerrard and Rangers got no more than they deserved

48
Dismal Gerrard and Rangers got no more than they deserved


For all the praise we’ve rightly lauded Steven Gerrard with these past few months, this afternoon his Rangers side and his management was brought back to earth with a crumpling bang as some reality hit home with a Livi side who 100% completely deserved their three points as manager Gary Holt completely outfoxed fellow rookie Gerrard.

Sure, Holt had a year at Falkirk, but then Gerrard had a year with Liverpool youth, and we can’t say a season at the Falkirk Stadium is much better prep for the SPL.

Certainly not to the extent by which Holt’s men completely suffocated Gerrard’s and looked every inch the better team.

Stevie had no plan today, and was left helpless to alter the proceedings, beyond bringing the admittedly impressive Ryan Kent on in the disappointing Lassana Coulibaly’s place, and such an outcome today rings echoes of how Dumbarton in 2015 figured Mark Warburton out before Tommy Wright’s St Johnstone came to Ibrox and destroyed us.

We worry teams are onto Gerrard already, certainly in the SPL – his success has definitely been in cup competitions so far – outstanding in the UEL, and impressive in the Betfred, in the SPL he’s been infinitely less so and away from home it’s been palpably diabolical.

While the display in Aberdeen was good, it’s been a steady decline since then, and today’s meek offering against a brilliant Livi was symptomatic of a truly poor start.

It’s worth noting that none of the flops who preceded Stevie did this badly – Pedro, Warburton, even Murty – they all struggled at Ibrox, yes, but they got results on their travels. Gerrard has beaten some weak teams (Dundee, St Johnstone and St Mirren) at Ibrox in the league and been well beaten away.

To say there is much work to be done is an understatement and once again this Rangers rollercoaster defies belief.

One minute you’re up, the next you’re right back down again.

No posts to display

48 COMMENTS

  1. no positives out of the game today, no pass marks for any player, embarrassing result, we should not be losing games to Livingston.

  2. I agree. Rangers were poor. Livingston played as if they wanted to win and should have scored more. Looks as if Gerrard is obligated to play the loan players from Liverpool whether they play well or not. Worral and Ejaria were disappointing today. Katic would have been a better choice than Worral. Morelos and Lafferty struggled too. Still think Morelos needs to go. These away games causing Gerrard problems. Hope its a wake up call for all.

  3. Horrendous today! Clueless! Not 1 player showed a glimpse of quality. Arfield non existent. Tav dreadful. Ejaria can't stay on his feet. Laff and Morelos? As dangerous as Sadiq! I thought it looked a strong team but they were shocking. Wouldn't make much difference but katic should have been playing. The league is the priority as Gerrard has confirmed so start with your best players! Piss poor all round. We can forget challenging if that's our standard away from home.

  4. Not sure what I think about his squad rotation. Players shouldn't be needing rested at this stage of season.

    Where was Dorrans, why can't Grezda get on, and why keep messing with the blossoming Goldson-Katic partnership? Great respect for Candaias but he shouldn't be ahead of Kent and Middleton based on current form.

    I think our mind was on Thursday, hopefully we learn quick and don't take these games for granted again.

  5. What happened to competition for places? If you have the shirt and play well then you keep it? If that's true then Halliday, Middleton and katic should have started. No point coming out with these sound bytes if your not going to go through with it!

  6. wheres all these great players ,f,f,s talk about moddycodling your players cant play here cant play there far too much changing ,thought mr gerrard had a idea about scottish football not got a clue, im afraid ,his run in europe will gaurantee him a job elsewhere ,katic must be sick how can he leave him out for a loanee ,disgrace, sick looking at moreloss on his arse ,could go on and on ,

  7. Yes agree why keep making so many changes understand still trying find best eleven but if it isn't broken why change it.
    Nobody deserves a pass mark today but some much worse than othersix so often mid field playing in line with back four what chance lafferty and Morelos got no one near then awful performance all round

  8. Anybody who knows a bit about the he should realise that living parked the bus, everybody was behind the ball when rangers attacked. Pitch didn't help.

  9. A wee reality check for us today. To many players off the pace today. Not to concerned,We will kick on and be up for Thursday. Let’s not be to critical lads.

  10. Ffs… why is there always a knee jerk reaction ? 2 losses in 18

    Yes it’s an absolute dire result against a piss poor team. Too many much players didn’t turn up today. But let’s get real, shit happens. Many teams will play like that against us. We have to figure it out. We’re a damn sight better team than we’ve been in a long time. We have much more quality than all teams bar Celtic in the league. We need to show it week in week out

    1. We need to dominate our own box more and nullify teams long-ball/set piece tactics

    2. We need to be more direct. Lots of possession today. But all in from of them with no penetration. Need to be quicker moving the ball

    3. Stick to 4-2-3-1. The balance was all wrong today trying to shoehorn both Morelos and Lafferty in today. We lost important wodtyvand directness from Lent because I f it.

    I know we’re all desperate to get back to the top and see success. But this is all part of a process of progression.

    We’re gonna get the occasional poor performance and shot result. The important thing is learning from it, sticking together and backing the manager and he team.

    We’ve got a top guy at the helm. He knows what is required. It’ll all come together ��⚪️��

    • Knee Jerk reaction? 4 games away from home, Lost 2 and drew 2, scored 4 goals but let in 6? Nothing knee jerk or occasional about that really is there??. If Warbs, Pedro or Murty has that kind of away from(which the didnt) then people would be calling for their heads already…

  11. Here we go again, we think we have turned a corner and/but once again we come crashing down with a big bump….Today I have opened my eyes and will be brutally honest to everyone, Gerard hasn't got a clue away from home when it comes down to tactics/formations….When I saw the starting eleven I couldn't believe we had left 3 natural wingers on the bench,especially with Morelos/ Lafferty up front with nothing to feed off,and yes we had barasic/tav on either side but were both ineffective and Gerard should have made changes before half time but didn't?
    I said to my friend earlier, the only reason he is getting an easy time of it is because of Europe but personally I couldn't give a fuck about European results as I only care about us stopping Them from winning 10iar,other bears can disagree/slag me if they want,I honesty don't care…Winning the league is and always will be no1 priority no matter what…. Gerard was Clueless today…watp

  12. This awful…Worral not good enough …Morelos…Lafferty doesn't work …Poor all over the pitch ..no heart..mental block with plastic pitch ??? SG ..got lots to think about

  13. Livi wanted it more today. We had no fight in midfield. They won every second ball and pressed us constantly. This is a game where we needed players like Jack and Mcrorie to break up their play and get a grip of the game. Worral was absolutely dire as well and Katic deserves to be playing ahead of him. Saying that we didn’t have any clear chances and we were trying to pass the ball into the net. Really poor performance all round and if anything Livi could have won by more. Onwards to Thursday.

  14. I agree that Gerrard is the big fish,and as it goes, he's saddled with a fair amount of the blame. But my issue is with the players almost exclusively. They took today off, plain and simple. Gerrard simply can't go out there and do it for them, they have to do it for themselves. There comes a time when the manager can't do anymore than he already has. Sure, you pick apart his team selection, but at the end of the day it's down to the 11 on the pitch make something happen. The attacking players should be taking this personal. Yeah, Livingston parked the bus, but so what? Good players find a way through… And they don't blow open chances, which Morelos STILL does way too damn much. It drives me insane.

    • You live/die by the sword…. Gerard was once again Clueless today???
      He is changing/messing about with the team far too much,especially with leaving 3 wingers on the bench today….Clueless watp

  15. We got carried away again by false dawns .Everytime we think we can go on a run we come up against a team better set up than ourselves. Stevie a cream cookie in management terms against a veteran in Holt as a manager its a no brainer .

  16. Livingston are a really poor team which does not say a lot for us. When you actually look at our performances since Gerrard came in they have been, on the whole, pretty poor. Have we beaten any decent teams? Answer is no we haven't. Watching the performance today was like watching the loafs team. Really poor. Hopefully Hearts can keep up their form and win the league because we don't have a chance.

  17. Ffs talk about an overreaction
    Today was as poor as we. ve played but give the gerrard clueless talk a rest get behind the team and manager we. re as close as we should be since coming back upto the league.

    • As close as we should be since coming back up to the league, ur having a laugh…. Its Clueless with a Capital C…..unbelievable!!! watp

    • were as close as we should be ,your blind how long do you want us to wait for silverware ,my opinion is the league should be wrapped up by now if we had a better manager ,eastend mob have never dropped so many points in 7 games ,every time we get in front you can gaurantee we will lose next game shambles fuck a couple good draws in europe .we should have been all over livingston today ,we would have been if we had played our best players ,

    • Overreaction? 10 dropped points from our first 4 games on the road?

      It's not an overreaction when we have played 4 games away from home and won zero! – Lost 2, drew 2, scored 4 let in 6.

      That's worse away form than Warbs, Pedro or Murty.

      Its also not an overreaction to say that kind of form never had and never will win leagues..

    • Terrible performance and result today and a big wake up call for us. This team is undoubtably miles ahead of previous seasons and Gerrard is far from clueless. Is it his fault Morelos had a stinker today after performing superbly last week? Is it his fault Lafferty was anonymous? Or Candeias couldn't get a decent cross in all day? Or Couliballly was a shadow of the player he was before his injury? I could go on!
      The players let him down today with shocking performances across the team. The players lacked commitment. The players were pushed around. The players went through the motions.
      One criticism I would give is that Goldson and Katie are our best 2 CBS and should be played in every away match.

    • He's the manager so yes it is his fault! – He decided to sign Lafferty and put him up front with Morelos when clearly they can't play together and it's either the one or the other. It's his fault he watched Candieas the non dribbling winger run around in circles doing nothing as usual and failed to change it. It's his fault he split the two best centre halves we had up, it's his fault he changed half the team for no reason for this game. It's his fault he couldn't motivate his players to outsmart a newly promoted team and a relatively new manager in Holt. It's his fault he persists with Tav playing out of position pretending to be a fullback whilst leaving Flanagan on the bench who is a million times the RB Tav could ever dream of being. It's his fault we haven't won an away game, it's his fault we have picked up 2 points from a possible 12 away from home. His team, His tactics, His decisions, His subs, his fault…

    • And it will be his fault when he leads us to glory. Where have you been the last 5 years if you can't see the improvement in this team, squad, manager and background staff. It's night and day!!!

    • Let's hope he leads us to glory mate. Think that's looking likely with a possible 2 points out of 12 so far away from home? Answers on a postcard. I didn't say it hasn't improved. It clearly has. But can't also say it's not Gerrards faults who's away record is abymal as bad if not worse than Warburton, Pedro, Murty and Ally..

      Playing 4 games away from home, winning Zero, losing 2 and drawing 2 won't lead anyone to glory really will it?

      As I said earlier, take the Dons game out because we went down to 10 men early and tried to hold out. Even take the Celtic game out because Gerrard AND his team bottled it and are clearly in fear of Celtic. Let's look at Motherwell and Livingston…what do you notice about both of them? Gerrard tinkered with the team, split up partnerships and cost us points, its as simple as that! That's 2 points out of a possible 12 away from home! not even close to good enough. If you want to be one of these fans who want to follow blindly at not criticise when clearly something is wrong then be my guest. But for me I don't care if the manager is sir Alex Ferguson. If he picks up 2 points out of a possible 12 and has failed to win any of his away games due to tinkering then I'd be questioning him aswell…It's about Glasgow Rangers not Steven Gerrard!!

  18. Ok he Holt might not be a veteran in management but you must agree he does have more experience than our manager. We are still no better than last season with another youth manager in charge. And i do believe he is forced to play Liverpool loan players ahead of our own just to satisfy Liverpool for geting their players up here.It makes no sense to have players playing fantastic football but having to take a back seat to allow players onloan from Liverpool a game every week.If i was a player busting a gut and not being picked to play ahead of someone not pulling their weight or giving 100% i would be Joe the Toff.

  19. Little creativity and nobody with the balls to take on defenders. Midfielders should be pushing into box for crosses, not just Morelos, on his ownio. Far from impressed at our chances now, in the league, as things stand. Poor, all round. Not getting this Worral thing, one bit.

  20. 18 games played and 2 losses is very respectable so far, given how far we had sunk by the end of last season. It's not fantastic, nor is it disasterous. But it is definitely progress, the trouble is that the expectation level of many supporters has grown much more rapidly than the actual results justify. But that's normal at Rangers, we all know that, and when we have a bad performance and bad result then suddenly everything gets blown out of perspective.

    Today was a very bad performance and result, the only player I would give pass marks to was Mcgregor. The outfield players, with the exception of Kent when he came on, the rest were poor. But in the previous 3 games we scored 13 goals and conceded 1, which was good and I am sure most Rangers supporters were happy with that. Today was a bump, a painful bump, and I am sure there will be more bumps along the way. But 18 games played with 2 losses… these results indicate progress.

  21. Playing Worrell was a massive mistake, he messed up the entire defence. arfield was anonymous, didn’t want to know when up against a tough no nonsense midfield and playing Morelos and Lafferty together goes nit work. The team is totally lobsided with these two guys together. Play either one or the other!

  22. Our away form has been pitiful as has Gerrards tinkering. Breaking up the defensive partnership, rotating better players for worse players, standing on the touchline watching us being innefective and not having the sense or urgency to change it… Playing 4 winning 0 drawing 2, losing 2, scoring 4 and leaking 6 is nothing short of emarassing for the money he has spent!

    Take Aberdeen out as it's was first game of season and we were down to 10 and take Celtic out as they clearly scare Gerrard and his players. But Livingston and Motherwell both have the same underlying problems….Gerrard tinkered and it cost us points, it's as simple as that! You don't win league by constatly changing half the team and breaking up partnerships, especially if that team have just had an excellent winning game the previous match.

    His inexperience is now evident for all too see and he when managers like Gary Holt and a team just promoted can outsmart and outclass you then you definately have a huge problem..

  23. I dont want Stevie bagged but if we drop more points by the celtic game cones round and they continue to get away with one nil wins a want him gone.

    • Behave yourself. And get who? Jose Mourinho might be free. And if you're gonna make stupid comments then put a name to them.

    • We’ve had to filter out hundreds of Celtic fans. If we didn’t put yours through Taura, and it was a reasonable comment, our apologies. Some do get lost.

  24. Grow a pair ffs. It's football. There will be ups and downs but suddenly the manager is clueless and now McAllister is getting it in the neck too. Sick of all the moaners on here. If you like we can turn the clock back 5 years and bring Ally back on board. Support your team we are doing just fine.

    • We are doing fine? I take it that is supposed to be humour aye?

      6th in the table, let in more goals than any of the 5 above us, failed to win an away game and dropped 10 points from out first 7 games and it's fine? Maybe in the twighlight zone.

      Gerrard has done well with the signings and brought in a better calibre of player than Warburton and Pedro did sure, And the players look fitter and stronger without a doubt…so that being the case what's his excuse for dropping 10 points away from home then?

      What is obvious is that his half time team talks seem to be useless, his tinkering with the team is causing problems, his tactics away clearly aren't working! at Livingston for instance they were rendered null and void after the first 15 mins but he changed nothing. We sat to deep against Celtic and let them bully us, We sat too deep against Motherwell and let them bully us, we sat too deep against Aberdeen and let them keep attacking us, we got outclassed and outplayed by the league newcomers and a manager who's had less games with Livingston than Gerrard has had with Rangers.

      Kudos for staying positive and I really hope he can turn it around, which I actually do believe he will. But that is nothing to do with what has happened so far unfortunately.

      WATP

  25. By your own words we have a better calibre of player who are fitter and stronger. I would throw younger in there too. So there you have it we are doing fine.
    I never expected us to win the league this season and still don't. We need to look at the bigger picture and get better each season to build something that will last. Too often we've tried to build for now and had to bin it 12 months later. Gradual improvement is the key and we have made great strides this season.
    As for our away form I was gutted about how badly we played on Sunday but to drop points at Aberdeen, Motherwell and Ceptic is not a disaster and better Rangers teams than this one have lost there. And don't forget it was 2 injury time goals in 2 of those games (regardless of how well or bad we played).

Comments are closed.