coalman

Lots of energy in our press though which is nice to see.

Stephens with a trademark pass across the 18 yard box.

I sincerely hope so. Wouldn't want to start the season with this line up. Though I am very excited for Charles and Fernandes in midfield.

I feel like we've missed out on a player who would've slotted right into the two first names team thread here.

It's not just that - a defence playing in front of a 'keeper they are confident in play better and are less jittery and prone to mistakes.

2-0. Rangers cruising into the next round. A new hero is born at Ibrox.

A goal up and the other team down to ten. If this was Saints under any of our last five managers...

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule on the Rangers forum about how it will just take time to gel to post that.

When Martin said this game wasn't going to define his season he may have been a bit optimistic. Saying that I'm sure they'll come good in the second half.

Nice to see Still carrying out the Saints defence from last year to practice against.

You won't. The days of bluffing and excuses are gone. Russell Martin is a straight shooter and it's clear he wants not only to be the man at Rangers but to embrace the pressure and expectation. Come what may he's not going to waste time with junk talk. 😬 No need for that - from what I've heard out of Glasgow they've all trained really well this week.

As in "give us Donley or we'll send you Bednarek"?

By the same token - he did beat his man and move the ball forward instead of checking back to recycle the ball via his centre backs so 🤷‍♂️

The lack of news regarding to squad going to Girona is most distressing. How the hell are we supposed to whine about the club hierarchy until we know who is on the plane?

Bearing in mind he's trying to pass across his defence in the picture, who the hell is he trying to pass to? From that angle, even if he didn't get caught by the attacker for being too casual I struggle to see how it's not giving away possession in a dangerous area.

There's also one player who is likely to have a rush of blood and make a poor decision during a high pressure situation. I don't want the player who so casually passed across the box in the friendly the other day, got sent off for hair pulling and abused officials to the extent his ban was extended to be giving team talks. While he's fine as a squad player in the Championship we shouldn't be building a team around his captaincy.

Sam Edozie

Why do people get so triggered about people who get do triggered by people who get so triggered?

Anyone know when it's announced? This is the most exciting bit of pre season so far.

There's no quote from Sir Alex Ferguson in there just boasting about how he's been speaking to him. This is not the first time Martin has boasted about what someone said to him to try and show his approach is the right one. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24687881.southamptons-martin-reacts-praise-man-citys-guardiola/

Someone must have made a decision about the level of fitness to maintain. Whether that's the manager or fitness coach(es) or the players giving feedback. When we talk about fitness my mind always goes back to Pochettino and how his response to the players asking for fewer double sessions was to give them a triple session. Different managers are going to put a different emphasis on it and work with the fitness coaches to get the players to that level and maintain it. The trouble is - if you come into the season undercooked it's hard to build that level of fitness without compromising matchday performance.

Which is clearly shown by who did the most sprints. We also completed the second lowest number of pressing sequences of any team in the top flight and the lowest percentage of turnovers won by pressing resulting in a shot (21 shots created by pressing compared to the second lowest on 37 and highest being 68). It doesn't help when the manager's view is that his team runs the most out of possession even if the data says the opposite. "A team that's going to give everything. One thing that's always overlooked with our teams is they always run the most out of possession, because they have to if they want to dominate the ball and be aggressive."

Rangers aren't fans of signing Republic of Ireland players otherwise they could snap up Bazunu at the same time.