Grim start again & was in control until they equalised, right after ht again & we always switch off, goal conceded very poor 3 crosses 3 goals
Celar’s performance concerning. He has no service but looked bewildered and didn’t make a nuisance of himself at all. Hopefully nerves. Frey has clowns feet but at least he was an irritant. Overall haven’t had high hopes so comprehensively crushed since that first day destruction by Swansea under Hughes.
Smyth and Frey are triers, impact subs preferably, Lloyd need to see more of, same for celar. I think many of us suspected we're not quite ready, Andersen was everywhere and best player by a good margin - Maja probably won't score again til Christmas
I thought our goalie could have done better for their first goal. Defence was poor which is odd as it was pretty solid against Spuds and Brighton in the friendlies. Celar had little service but seemed weak on the rare occasion he had the ball. I don’t get the criticism of Smyth, at least he has the bollox to run at the other side and take the ball into the opposite half and plays positively. He mightn’t be a striker but there’s little similar criticism of Anderson whose effort might be 100% but successful pass rate is nearer 50%. Colback is a reliable tool too, puts himself on the line.
Really poor showing today and miles away from performances that we finished last season with. Losing Willock, undoubtedly our best at holding the ball in the final 3rd and Chairs injury leave us lacking in the creativity department, so much so, that it's actually a waste of a player, starting a striker. Hopefully these new fellas sign and we use the loan market to our advantage. Felt sorry for Celar, he actually made one good run but Smyth hasn't the intelligence or ability to provide a final ball. I know it's only the first game, but up next in the league is Sheffield utd who I believe will win the league despite there 2pts deduction. There surely can only be improvement from this point onwards. In Marti we trust
After a very good two all draw with the Baggies that we might have won last season, I was left wondering whether we're worse or they are better? Perhaps a bit of both. The problems are self evident but the rays of hope came from Varane (hungry and perhaps unlucky not to score), Lloyd, Anderson as ever and maybe one or two others. Way too early to pass any sort of judgement on Celar. Maybe performance anxiety and getting used to the physicality of the Championship. Nardi is an upgrade from Begovich and I'm certain will improve. We applied quite a bit of pressure in the 10 minutes or so and I felt, had we scored, we were more likely to equalise than them score again. Cue Frey's air shot! Let's see where we are after the first five games after another signing or two and perhaps a loan or two also. Disappointed but not disheartened just yet.
Yeah thought he looked a bit stronger/fitter than last year. Most others did not. Our record without Chair over the last few years must be appalling. Seen a bit of moaning about Smyth online but I thought he did quite well. The only threat at times with not a lot of help for Forrest Gump.
Lessons of the day.. Dykes does a hell of a lot more for the team than simply (not) score goals. Celar did nothing, Frey slightly better, other than his embarrassing air shot. Neither full backs were effective. Paal was awful and really didn't look as though he wanted to be there. Dunne cared, tried...but was beaten for speed The CBs were exposed by their backs. We cannot score from corners...mainly because we only have one corner routine. Colback is not really good enough. Varane will make a difference. Smyth does all the right things... until he sees the goal...then he can't cross, pass or shoot. I hope the Japanese winger can. We need Chair....I have an awful feeling there is more to Chairs back, than the simple truth of a bad back. Bad day at the office...but we never win on day 1
I was hesitant on seeing us really kick on mate, we haven't really upgraded except for maybe the keeper and a striker unproven in English football I'm working on the 'lack of gelling' assumption and that El Cif will work his magic on Varane and Koki the incoming Japanese lad
I hope it’s all part of the plan to have not gone hell for leather in pre-season and we’ll romp home gloriously after Easter.
It's the Rangers way Other than that season under Warnock when we smashed the first 10 or so games, we never take the easy path
In local news Worthing came back from 3-0 down away at half-time to win 4-3 in the 97th minute. It’ll go mental when the town sees the news on Ceefax.
Typical Rangers home start to the season (or during). Their striker last season had one goal in twelve starts, then against us he magically secures his first hat-trick. At least it can only (hopefully) get better for us.
My happy thought for tonight: This side will look a lot better with Chair, Varane, and Dembele in it. Hopefully Saito too. Smyth then goes back to being what he's best at, an impact sub. A fit Dykes will give us another option, and Celar deserves more than one game against a very big and well organised defence before we pass judgement. There's a lot more to come than what we saw today.
Would l be correct and say that it was 0-5 against Swansea? We really do have a poor opening round record over the years.
