saintant

From recent events and comments coming out of the club I think you'll need to move Stephens to the front of the front line.

Ah, see you've changed your mind on this 🙂

Ok, then it's possibly your interpretation of what Spors said that differs from mine.

Fair point but maybe judge Spors if he allows the sale of Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling, THB and Bednarek and spends none of the money on replacements.

So you'd presumably be happy if we sell Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling, Bednarek and THB and spend only on one attacking midfielder because that's the only position you think is left to fill after comments from Spors. Can you imagine the outcry from the majority of the fanbase?

Spot on.

We'll see but I'd be amazed if we sell star players and don't spend the money. It'll be another way to turn the fan base against those running things that's for sure.

Well if the club was always right we'd not be in the current mess and wouldn't have had to sit through the complete debacle of last season. They have been known to make wrong decisions in case you've not been paying attention.

I'm fairly sure that statement would have been on the strength of the available squad at that time. Common sense dictates that, if we lose 2-3 star players, the money received will go towards replacements. It's what all successful clubs do so not sure why Spors wouldn't be smart enough to appreciate that - if he's not then he's in the wrong job.

If Bednarek and THB go we'll have money to replace them - no need for this to impact Stephens position at the club.

But why extend his contract? No need to do that as he is not a key player who will have sell-on value.

Stephens says how he's proud to be our captain in the recent interview after signing his new contract. Much to my dismay I believe he will be the on field skipper.

With due respect football is a little different. Will Still will have access to hours of tapes to show him exactly what each player at his disposal is either capable or not capable of. He doesn't have to rely on asking the opinions of those at the club as he can use his own eyes to come to his decisions. Anyone looking at footage of Stephens wouldn't take long to discover his limitations and his two sending-offs last season should immediately flag that he is not captain or leadership material.

I strongly suspect Stephens will be first choice for our opening match. How long he stays in the side is anyone's guess but most on here are in accord that extending his contract was both mistaken and not necessary. Should have been allowed to see out his contract and then released.

If Will Still is as thorough as I suspect then he'll surely have done an in depth look at each of our players. If so and it led him to believe Stephens is worth an extended contract and retention of the captaincy then alarm bells about our new manager are ringing loud and clear. Hoping he had little to do with this particular bad decision.

No doubt about that.

He's still the captain and my guess is that he'll be the first name on the team sheet when the new season starts. Got to hope Will Still works out very quickly that he should not be relying on Jack Stephens. Frankly this is a mess we could have done without and has pissed off a large chunk of the fan base.

Look, Jack Stephens is clearly not the sharpest tool in the box. He got a red card for hair pulling and also mouthed off at officials after another deserved red. In my book this lack of awareness and intelligence mean he should be nowhere near the captaincy of our football club. The contract extension is a complete joke but is compounded by the fact that he has retained the captaincy despite his obvious shortcomings when it comes to the attributes needed to make a leader. it reflects badly on those making the decisions.

No chance he's secured a three year extension on less money. This club never seem to learn from past mistakes.

Thanks for that 🙂

This is the bloke with the leadership qualities which saw him get sent off for pulling some Spanish geezers hair! Madness to give him a three year contract and a pay rise. Now he'll be the first name on the team sheet until, hopefully, Will Still gets wise to his limitations.

How about the team in general? Can't be denied.

Not sure where he's been slagged off for chance creation. More a case of being surprised that Ranger's fans don't seem aware that Martin's sides are notorious for getting the ball to the winger then turning back, recycling followed by rinse and repeat. We saw it all the time and it was frustrating to say the least. Maybe he's learned some new tactics but every time I've seen him interviewed he's repeated the same mantra and insisted he'll never change.

Read this on the Rangers fans forum today; "I'm excited by Russell Martin talking about players not wasting time dropping deep and looking for the ball when their job is final third chance making/shot taking/chaos creation. The new signings and targeted players are exactly what we've long needed to replace wingers who think it's their role to take the ball off the fullback, run 5-10 yards, check back/in and pass the ball to someone behind them to essentially kill all momentum of a move. I feel we have a Manager who at least understands how we need to play and who we need to help us achieve it - that alone is a major shift in the right direction." There was someone else suggesting Martin will play 4-2-3-1 They clearly have no clue about him.

Rustle Martin always did prefer a carthorse.