With our earlier two pieces rating Steven Gerrard’s work in the transfer market, overall you’d have to say he didn’t really make the best use of £11M. £3M on Goldson was ok at best, and the Croat 3 at £6M haven’t properly worked out. Meanwhile the NI three similarly at £700K total have either not worked or not been in favour. Jamie Murphy cost another £1M but this one is just damned luck.
However, while his new signings have been at best patchy overall, Gerrard has achieved a signing triumph of sorts;
He’s massively overhauled a number of Rangers’ players and got way more out of them than previous managers.
You only have to look at the primo examples of Ross McCrorie, Ryan Jack and Alfredo Morelos as three players who have stood out superbly this season and really delivered. And whatever you think of James Tavernier’s overall merits, his stats this season are ridiculous for a right back.
And these are all under Gerrard’s watch.
Ross McCrorie has gone from an unsure and ill-fitting defender to a superb defensive midfielder who has power, pace and reading of the game. He had very little of these before Stevie took over.
Ryan Jack has gone from a modest DM who had more reputation than apparent ability to a midfield colossus, not only breaking up play and reading opposition attacks, but adding his own support to our attack too – he’s even added goals. He is a serious contender for POTY.
While Alfredo Morelos might drive us nuts with his Mr Hyde displays, and we probably are done with the circus surrounding him, nevertheless when on his game he’s exceptional and drives defences to despair. He’s the top scorer and should go for a song this summer. And that’s thanks to Gerrard.
Meanwhile Tav might not be captain material, and his performances might be lacking in conviction, but his stats are surreal and from RB to nail 11 goals and 11 assists is extraordinary. And again, it’s under Gerrard’s watch.
So while Stevie’s acquisitions have been fair to middling, the impact he’s had on existing players cannot be underestimated and almost has them as new signings in themselves.
Well played.
Agreed. there has also been a fair few signings in the Unders and the policy of playing challenging matches, and winning them, will see us good in the long run.
Guardiola could not come into Ibrox and get everything right straight away. Ferguson was on the brink of the sack before he became the most successful manager in British History.
Replacing a manager every year adds to deadwood players and reduces the amount of money available for signings. SG needs a minimum of another year to make a realistic assessment of him. People shouting for his head are only betraying their own ignorance.
Could not agree more. Of course I am disappointed with Tuesday’s result. But the bigger picture is that we are much better than last season. A lot of deadwood will be cleared in summer and our finances may be better. Everyone moans about refs but I think any fair minded person can see Rangers have had more than their fair share of bad decisions and an incompetent SFA. Morelos,s yellow card won’t be rescinded. It’s not about justice more about politics. Onwards and upwards,
Kinda disagree. The money he has spend minus Goldson has been woeful. The wages on Davies and Defoe an absolute waste of time.
McCrorie – A young player who has always looked like a CDM and was likely to improve after his breakout year – IMO Kamara is an upgrade.
Jack and Morelos – You would expect improvement as 1st year at Rangers can be a daunting experience especially for an ex sheep. Alfredo is young so improvement is expected again and as much as i love him the red cards have cost us this year and you could argue Gerrard has no authority over the discipline this season
Tav- His scoring and assists have been consistent since joining. Personally a big fan of Tav and i think he gets a bit too much of a hard time. Scapegoat
Middleton – mismanaged and has gone backwards. Too much too soon
Lafferty – is not a winger
Flanagan – has he just been dumped altogether?
Katic – Mis managed,Loss of confidence. He had potential too
Doherty – poor Decision , he could have offered alot this year
Overall i am not overly impressed with Gerrard's man management. I think he is far too quite on the Touchline also.
I think he is learning , he doesn't rotate for the sake of it anymore but he also stopped making subs or making too many. I don't want him to go but i expect a big improvement in his second year.
He is not solely responsible for the signings but he will be judge by them. WATP
PS Borna is dugshite
Pretty much agree. Goldson & Kent success's but the rest not. Kamara showing early promise but will Jordan Jones improve the team? And what about the Croatian 3, did they come as a package? Are they all mismanaged? Seems there's plenty of potential but they are all stalling.
Clique?
Don't believe Jones will be the answer, decent squad player. I think the players maybe struggled in general the 1st 6 months. The team was assembled early in the window and started really strongly Inthe Europa League but early slip Inthe league put the pressure on. Stevie G rotated so much at the start, I know we played a lot of games but the players never got a chance to hit any form being in and out the team. He how has his favourite 11. Katic started the season really well , would prefer him over worral. Borna has not recovered from his injury , he's shitting it now. Grezda has potential, where ever he is 😂
well im old fashioned ,mr gerrard has had 3 bjtes at the cherry ,hes a loser ,so are his players .time for change .f,f.s this is scotland ,not the best of teams we are a laughing stock ,when aare we going to sign men that will stand up for themselfs and the team ,not bhoys .
I think that, as well as the improvements in McCrorie, Jack, Morelos, and Tav – all of whom have improved significantly and their value will also have increased.
I would add Andy Halliday to the list, maybe he isn't the most gifted footballer but he has certainly contributed far more under SG than under any previous manager.
And then of course we have Ryan Kent, unfortunately not our player but my goodness has he turned into a player under Gerrard and his team. Lets hope we can keep him at Rangers for at least one more season.
All in all, under SG there has been the biggest improvement in a number of players that we have seen at Rangers for a long time.
Good comments Alan and glad to see from some of the other posts that I’m not the only one who is getting a bit sick of the constant sniping at Tav.
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