Holmes_and_Watson

Thank you gio, for starting off our Scar Tissue Support Group.

It was pointless to discuss it. 🙂

Not sure how many posts would stand up to the pointlessness test. 🙂 Martin's distinctive approach is interesting to watch. Partly purely on footballing terms. But also to see the contrasts of how he does it at other clubs, to how it turned out here. Pep has got in an assistant to make changes to his approach. Will, or can, Martin make adjustments? Can he make it work with different personnel? and on a tight budget, with big expectations? Rangers will probably be on Sky a fair bit, making it easier to follow.

"Cashloul" at the time of his dumping Ipswich 🙂 But yeah, it's his career and he went where he'd be better paid for the same work.

Can't speak for others, but I'm interested to see how his system develops, assuming he gets the time, and call things as I see them. I can see the attractions to him of going there, but it brings a number of pressing challenges, he'd not have got at some other clubs. Following his comments, the player reaction in an important European match is going to also be interesting. They are going to have to buy into how he wants things done, for it to work.

The actual footballing bit, just loses it's importance with such great SR news as this. I guess it's just there to showcase our next couple of talents, before they are sold next summer.

My post started optimistically, but took a took a turn for the worst as I typed. 🙂

Life's too short Mr Dyson. Suck it up, and move on.

The way I read the quotes was simply that we can get in players for 3 positions they've identified as key, without having to sell. Players could be sold, as deals arose, but they weren't necessary. They got in 2 of the 3 and, as you said, I think the 3rd turned us down. At least this time, SR have got plenty of time to get someone else, and don't have egg on their face. If they get their first choice later on, then fine. But they should know not to hang around until the last week.

Oh, Jordan the country is the custodian of the site. I thought Katie Price had been drafted in to solve issues in the Middle East.

I'm sure I saw you comment on the mods not taking action, just in time for most of this page to vanish for some reason. 🙂 It would be odd for a whole new set of people to repeat the same recruitment errors as their predecessors. But they are working under similar SR principles. Player trading ticks a season on season goal for them, and selling Fernandes and certainly Dibling achieves that. It's then down to the quality of the new crop of players to come in for future sales. Baz - Saga - Edwards - Quarshie (THB) - Welington Charles - Downes AA - Aribo - Edozie (Robinson) Stewart (Downs) With Aribo and Edozie very possibly gone too, it really does have gaps.

I first thought I'd made a typo there. 🙂 It seems ridiculous after a match. But with so many I portant European games, so early, for CL progression, he has to hit the ground running. As for the league, there could be plenty of twists and turns. Celtic have by far the better players, and every dropped points is seen as a crisis. Fuelled by the media too. Think La Marca with shortbread.

It took them until 87 minutes, but Celtic got a winner against St. Mirren. Martin no doubt hoping to be remain on equal points with them. Even had St Mirren (quite changed with some strong, smart recruits) held on, the reasons would have been quite different. Celtic hit the bar, and the post twice. They didn't just dominate the possession (76% to Rangers 65%), they dominated the game. Rangers managed 1 more shot in their game, but it was Motherwell who nearly got the points. While St Mirren had a couple of half chances, Celtic were the team hammering for a win. That's what Old Firm fans, or any fans of clear favourites, expect to see. A big game already for Martin on Tuesday, as the club need as many Euro-pennies as they can get, in their long chase to get closer to Celtic.

Don't like Jamaica, oh no I love her

It's a great get-out-of-responsibility card. He had a go at players not being patient enough in their final third. That they are too individualistic and not making any of the right decisions. In defence, it will be individual errors undoing what he's asking them to do. In every scenario, he can play it back and find fault. In everything except the way he has set them out and the consequences of resetting on every move.

He would be a star there. Had we been talking about Flynn Downes currently playing for a non old firm Scottish team, he could well have followed the likes of Scott Brown's career. Downes clearly works well with, and likes, Martin. Juric said he was unhappy with Downes reaction to a blocked move (I think to Ipswich) after Martin left, and he either didn't like the changes, felt the reasons to stay had gone with Martin or just saw the writing on the wall for us. With Rangers getting new funding, and Martin's relationship with Downes, there was the usual speculation, linking a move. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfer-news/rangers-could-break-six-year-35437572 We paid 15 million for him plus 3 million in add ons on a four year deal. Purely in amortisation, we'd be looking for at least 12 million. Considering he's one of our sellable assets, it's fair to think we'd be still in a position to get more than our initial outlay. Wages wise, a 40% reduction puts him on 36k ( all figs here pulled from websites). An attractive deal for a PL club, if he still wants a move. It's beyond the resources of Rangers at present. No doubt Martin would love him to be there. Downes could very well love the idea of playing for Martin again. They have a massive overhaul underway. They have an initial investment of only 20 million or so. The linked article points out that it was 2019, when Rangers last paid 7 million. Currently, their highest disclosed fee on wiki, in the squad is 5.6 million for Danilo in 2023. 36k a week would also make him Rangers' top earner. They are operating in a different market to one where they could afford a Downs. Even if there were circumstances where Downs was available to loan, there would be a number of clubs interested. Rangers' biggest draw would be European football, and a prolonged run in it. They are pretty weak right now, for that to be a great choice. As Downes contract goes closer to winding down, who can tell if he joins Martin? He'll be somehow managing Manchester United by then, having left a trail of baffled fans in mediocre teams. 🙂

Could have been. There's been nothing to clap about, watching the team, for a while. So the guy's now not sure when and how to do it. 🙂

In other news, a big shout out to the North American Saints, currently enjoying their annual get together in the...ah.. Carribbean...awkward. 🙂

I didn't watch long enough to hear the boos, but not surprised. Every point lost is keenly felt. Rothwell's default state is being red faced and looking unfit. Motherwell didn't need to press much. They just outworked a tiring opponent, struggling to adapt to a system, for much of the second half. At the other end, that tired Rangers team are going to have to turn possession into breaking teams down. They didn't look like doing it today. A good Euro performance will ease the pressure...until the next game.

MK Dons in League 1 Swansea in the Championship Southampton in the PL Rangers in the CL qualifiers. Brand Martin won't feel he has to get it anytime soon. 🙂

Just looking at the Old Firm totals in the last few seasons, to see what Martin is up against. 24/25 - 75 points. 17 behind. 23/24 - 85 points. 8 behind ( Beale got punted in October) 22/23 - 92 points. 7 behind. 21/22 - 89 points. 4 behind. 20/21 - 102 points. Winners by 25 points. It was their first title since 2011, breaking Celtic's 9 in a row. The team had Davis and Aribo in it, as well as the likes of Bassey. It's been a brutal time since Newco Rangers started up. Some more thoughts... It's very early on, but Martin's control will be beneficial in Europe. His comments of his players only gearing up for Europe may shortly come back to bite him, as they don't bother there. Hopefully not. He knows he needs a left back. Not sure if that means Tavanier is pushed up, so both he and Aarons can play. You'd think so, as they don't have the strength in depth to have them competing. If Dessers goes, they need a more physical runner to drop back and support, as well as finish. That's a priority, and a tough one on their budget. If they can get someone, then Danilo, Gassama, Bajrami and apparently the loan kid can provide attacking support. Cameron looked decent when he came on too. The centre half pairing did okay. While Rothwell and Barron can do a holding job. Butland is going to have to learn to pass short, or have clearer targets. The team have already started to pick up some of the controlled passing from the back. Like us, a lot more is needed further up to keep the transitions going. We had better players in the champ, to use creative skill above, and as part of, Martin's system. This covers a lot of the things Martin levelled at his team today. They will have to conform to his system, or it falls apart. That's going to lead to departures in a short space of time to get replacements. They could do with Baz, Manning and/or Will on loan. Players who really made a difference to his system, and fill gaps in that Rangers side. If he's learned one thing, it's hopefully fitness related. Our PL team were miles off their opponents. He was criticising them for their lack of running today. Partly, that's getting used to the lack of movement when his system isn't working. But if he lets the squad be anything less than have PL fitness levels, then he's knowingly repeating a failure. Martin knows full well he has to win games. A number of his quotes reflect that. But it's going to have to happen in exactly the same style as he always sets up for.

I'm not over the shock of reading yours and thinking we were going down to L1. 🙂

Again?! Oh, I see... 🙂

If he's smart he's negotiated better terms to stay, knowing that if his wages aren't paid for successive months, he can walk anyway.

Loved the links last season Christophe. Thanks for keeping it going.