Why Rangers Need Big Eck More Than Ever
In a week where the spotlight is firmly fixed on Martin O'Neill's presence on the Celtic payroll hanging over Gordon Strachan in Paradise, Rangers have been given a relative free ride by the press in their build up to their game against Strachan's Tormentors, Artmedia Bratislava.
We were assured by footballing experts, such as Hugh Keevins, that the Slovakians were a "pub team." Keevins, speaking on Radio Clyde, said, "They are a pub team." It doesn't get any more damning than that.
So it is to today's game that myself amongst others were expecting a goal feast for Rangers by seeing the Ibrox club give the Slovakians a right good gubbing, to cement their place in pole position for moving to a higher plane of European Excellence than ever Celtic could dream of supporting.
Indeed, with Porto being pretty much out of the picture having been mugged 3-2 by Gers and Bratislava, the thought of them playing Internationale next would be like the undertaker dumping their coffin into the dug out grave.
Going into today, Rangers were in such a commanding position that it was inconceivable that they could mess up as Big Eck had played it right throughout this season's Champions League campaign. Rangers truly were surfing to be amongst the Big Guns of European football.
So to see them crumble to a humiliating 0-0 draw at home is a shock to say the least. There are no excuses tonight as to why Rangers could not put the ball into the back of the net. I counted at least 15 goal scoring opportunities and misses, saves, and bungled sitters are too easy a get out which we never see Rangers fans use as an exit strategy.
What happened tonight is that Rangers are simply a team which has ran out of luck against inferior opposition. Luck isn't a one way street and Big Eck's lucky charm must have fallen by the wayside on the bus to Ibrox before the game.
If I am honest about the Rangers team, Big Eck has had to use his wits to bring in players of the best calibre possible but they are simply lacking the talent to play at the Champions League level consistently. You must be able to play against the diddy teams as well as the big teams. Just ask Internationale's coach about that from game 2.
But Big Eck is working miracles by managing to get Rangers into this level of the competition. He is the best manager Rangers can hope to have at their current debtedness. The pie in the sky ideas of building casinos and building other tiers on top of an already crumbling Ibrox are not the type of fantasy that is going to give Big Eck any more money.
It's not the type of situation that is going to give any Big Eck successor any better potential, either. What Rangers fans should do is be satisfied to be competing at their present level and applaud Big Eck for his working against all the odds and keeping his head above water.
If Rangers did have a blank checkbook to allow Big Eck to go on a spending spree then the only players good enough to survive the cull would be the failed EPL player, Bassa Ned, and the Croation striker Dado Prso.
The rest are well below the calibre of what can allow Rangers to compete. Even Prso is a poor player in comparision to the riches at Celtic. I'm sure any bear would take a winner like Chris Sutton over Prso any day.
But all is not lost, as the failure of tonight and the success of Porto at home have added a further twist to the group, Rangers can almost be guaranteed further twists that can propell them to European Greatness again.
Big Eck has that talent and indescribable abiity to coax that from Rangers as no other would in his position. In other words, McLeash is the absolute best that Rangers can afford in their present climate and he's doing much better than Strachan can achieve with the riches he has managed to screw up.
After all, could you imagine Big Eck losing 5-0 away in Slovakia like Strachan has? Not a chance, only the Strachan-dreamers haven't figured that out yet and woken up to the fact.
We were assured by footballing experts, such as Hugh Keevins, that the Slovakians were a "pub team." Keevins, speaking on Radio Clyde, said, "They are a pub team." It doesn't get any more damning than that.
So it is to today's game that myself amongst others were expecting a goal feast for Rangers by seeing the Ibrox club give the Slovakians a right good gubbing, to cement their place in pole position for moving to a higher plane of European Excellence than ever Celtic could dream of supporting.
Indeed, with Porto being pretty much out of the picture having been mugged 3-2 by Gers and Bratislava, the thought of them playing Internationale next would be like the undertaker dumping their coffin into the dug out grave.
Going into today, Rangers were in such a commanding position that it was inconceivable that they could mess up as Big Eck had played it right throughout this season's Champions League campaign. Rangers truly were surfing to be amongst the Big Guns of European football.
So to see them crumble to a humiliating 0-0 draw at home is a shock to say the least. There are no excuses tonight as to why Rangers could not put the ball into the back of the net. I counted at least 15 goal scoring opportunities and misses, saves, and bungled sitters are too easy a get out which we never see Rangers fans use as an exit strategy.
What happened tonight is that Rangers are simply a team which has ran out of luck against inferior opposition. Luck isn't a one way street and Big Eck's lucky charm must have fallen by the wayside on the bus to Ibrox before the game.
If I am honest about the Rangers team, Big Eck has had to use his wits to bring in players of the best calibre possible but they are simply lacking the talent to play at the Champions League level consistently. You must be able to play against the diddy teams as well as the big teams. Just ask Internationale's coach about that from game 2.
But Big Eck is working miracles by managing to get Rangers into this level of the competition. He is the best manager Rangers can hope to have at their current debtedness. The pie in the sky ideas of building casinos and building other tiers on top of an already crumbling Ibrox are not the type of fantasy that is going to give Big Eck any more money.
It's not the type of situation that is going to give any Big Eck successor any better potential, either. What Rangers fans should do is be satisfied to be competing at their present level and applaud Big Eck for his working against all the odds and keeping his head above water.
If Rangers did have a blank checkbook to allow Big Eck to go on a spending spree then the only players good enough to survive the cull would be the failed EPL player, Bassa Ned, and the Croation striker Dado Prso.
The rest are well below the calibre of what can allow Rangers to compete. Even Prso is a poor player in comparision to the riches at Celtic. I'm sure any bear would take a winner like Chris Sutton over Prso any day.
But all is not lost, as the failure of tonight and the success of Porto at home have added a further twist to the group, Rangers can almost be guaranteed further twists that can propell them to European Greatness again.
Big Eck has that talent and indescribable abiity to coax that from Rangers as no other would in his position. In other words, McLeash is the absolute best that Rangers can afford in their present climate and he's doing much better than Strachan can achieve with the riches he has managed to screw up.
After all, could you imagine Big Eck losing 5-0 away in Slovakia like Strachan has? Not a chance, only the Strachan-dreamers haven't figured that out yet and woken up to the fact.
posted by big tommy at
6:34 PM
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