After another match saw yet more dilly-dallying in defence from Connor Goldson, the Englishman has come under fire again for not producing a level high enough, consistently.
Fans have been more than a touch upset that the likes of Nikola Katic and the ‘finding-their-feet’ pair of Filip Helander and George Edmundson have all had to fight for a place alongside the vice-captain, who, like James Tavernier, appears to be completely untouchable.
This was effectively confirmed by the manager when he named the ex-Brighton man among those he couldn’t improve upon this winter in the event of delving into the transfer market, an assertion supporters would probably disagree with on the whole. And that’s just via his peers in the squad.
We keep getting messages on the site complaining about Goldson’s untouchable nature, while the trio beside him have to jostle for that one space rather than four men competing like men for two spaces.
Goldson has rarely to never been held to account for any of his poor performances by the manager, which is curious given Gerrard has been quick to criticise individuals in the past for poor performances or tangible errors.
Just not Goldson. Not by name.
But this is getting away from the point – on Sunday he (and Tavernier) were massively culpable for the opening goal – in his case for not closing down on either occasions particularly well and being caught in no man’s land.
And yet he will start on Thursday in Porto for the first part of the Portuguese double-header, and who can trust him (or indeed Tavernier for that matter) not to bungle again and cost the side goals or a point.
We can’t quite fathom why Goldson has always had a free pass at Ibrox – initially he did justify his selection with some composed and intelligent defending, but since around November last year, more or less a full 12 calendar months, something about him has just failed to convince us on this site, and while we were criticised by some for this stance, time has sadly proven it correct and most supporters seem to want others given a chance.
But, them’s the cards the manager deals with. He lives by that decisive sword and he’ll die by it too.
The big problem is there's no one to challenge Tavenier at right back. Polster has only played a few games and hasn't impressed and Flanagan when he's played at left back has done well but at right back has been disappointing. I'm a fan of Goldson but his lack of talking was partly at fault for the goal on Sunday which was completely preventable. Hopefully Edmundson gets more of a chance in the next few weeks and can push Goldson for a starting place as the manager has already said he doesn't want to play Katic and Hellander together as they are too similiar
These issues with Goldson & Tavernier, are starting to irritate me. I think SG has made the classic mistake, of getting too 'pally' with certain players. He is blinded towards Goldson & Tavernier's short-comings. This is a crucial season for us, which Tavernier & Goldson, I can see 'ruining' for us. I suppose it might be the 'Gerrard effect' that people are maybe scared to let him know how they really feel, about these two. But if we come 2nd and NO silverware this season, they will take the full-force, of the blame!
It's always interesting how different people can see the same players in entirely different ways. I am a fan of Goldson, who in my opinion is the best central defender that we have. He isn't perfect, but none of our players are perfect. IN rated his performance on Sunday as 3, and a different rangers forum rated him as 7. Personally, I would have given him 6.
The goal on Sunday was Tav's fault. I am also a fan of Tav, who has contributed a lot to Rangers since Stevie arrived. But I cannot ignore his massive blunders in recent games, which have cost us 5 points. Tav's position is a problem area, I would probably play Flanagan at RB against Porto although I agree with nessboy that Flanagan hasn't looked as good at RB as he has looked at LB.
Comments are closed.