Will Ranger Ever Make The Grade?

After reading The Chronicles piece on Nile Ranger today - I got to thinking whether or not he'll ever cut it in the Premiership for us.

I had been a great supporter of the lad, who arguably, does have time on his side. But all that belief and support seemed to evaporate from my being on a recent Sunny afternoon in Birmingham.

Nile was given his first Premiership start at Aston Villa at the beginning of April and we were all optimistic of him notching his first top flight goal - but what we saw was dire!!

There was no pace, no holding the ball up and his decision making at times was appauling (not playing in McLoven for a one on one twice in the game). I just could not see how this lad (who by all accounts is a bit of a big 'ead!) could offer us anything of use in the next 3-4years - hope i'm proven wrong by him!!

Seems to me, the only thing on his side at the moment is that he is young, because his skills and attitude are not NUFC standard at present

 

Under Labour a 'U' was still classified as a grade

He still has time to improve but he needs first team football on a regular basis. Next season he has to be loaned out to get it.

 

I still have high hopes for him, but it is absolutely vital he is loaned out next season to the Championship (or even a newly promoted Prem side) IMO.

 

I've lost faith personally.

I used to really rate him and think that he just needed some time. However, he's clearly lacking football intelligence and acumen, so now I'm not sure if he'll ever make it.

I suppose a season long loan would help us find out.

 

His attitude need's to change and a loan deal next season would do him the world of good.

 

With Ranger, I think he did well in the reserves because of his natural skill. He could be in the right place at the right time and bang them in.

However, as soon as he's came up against very intelligent opposition in EPL-level players, he's lost. None of the simple stuff he used to do works anymore.

 

I'm not so sure about that.

Versus Chelsea in the Carling Cup he had a chance and buried it as it was instinctive but he seems lost when given time on the ball and running at defensive players.

Perhaps he's trying to think too much when given time so get him in the box and get crosses into his feet. Don't let him think

 

He's only got 2 other goals so we can review them as well. One was against Coventry (?) where Enrique put it on a plate for him, easy enough but he did have to be in the right place I suppose.

The other was against Palace where Routledge played him through and he beat the offside trap then slotted past the keeper.

I think you can put them down to instinct as well, there was nothing else he could have done really (no one to lay it off to etc).

 

That's the thing though. If you're just there in the right position, you can use your instinct and skill to bury it.

However, being a top class striker involves being in those opportunities a lot (like Shearer was) and also creating opportunities yourself. With both of these, footballing intelligence comes into play.

Any half decent striker can score goals if you get simple crosses over to him which land in the right places. We need a striker who can create more opportunities for himself and work with what he gets - even if the delivery isn't particularly good at times.

I just cannot see him being the type of player who will play a clever short one-two with other players to open up some space and get a shot on goal. I can't see him running into a space and inviting the ball through. I also can't see much ability to read the game and be in the right position more often than not.

 

I remember last season we used to think he had great awareness, remember his debut?

I honestly think he's just trying too hard in the PL and this is making him greedy, desperate to score (probably why he didnt set up Lover in the Villa game).

 

A loan to the Championship for a season (or half a season) could really help him. He's not shown much when he's started, in fact he's made Shola look amazing, but the impact he made against Arsenal at home was amazing. Had Nolan finished off that move and scored a winner it might have done wonders for him, unfortunately as he didn't he still has little end product to speak of (goals or assists), so a run in the Championship to build his confidence (a la Carroll) could do him the world of good.

He's got all the tools, just needs to know how to use them.

 

I agree but Shearer was world class. Ranger will never attain that level as very few ever do.

At present he just needs to score and if that means that Jonas or Barton play balls into his feet in the box then so be it.

His positional sense will never improve if he doesn't get games and amass 60/70 minutes on the pitch every game.

At present he comes on for the last 15 if he's lucky and tries to chase the ball down.

I do think he'll get better if he can get well over 1500 minutes a season in competitive matches as currently he's lucky if he's going to get 600 minutes.

Pardew says he has talent and so did Hughton.

One season loan and let's see afterwards.

 

He's only 20 FFS, some players are late bloomers.

 

He has great potential.
IMO he's just a daft lad that will take longer than others to mature

 

I haven't given up on him yet. He's had limited minutes, usually only getting 15-20 minutes at the end of matches, a period when frankly the entire squad has been **** all season. One amazing Arsenal afternoon aside, the last 20 minutes of matches have been the team's Achilles, usually looking exhausted (rightfully so considering how hard some of the lads work -- Shola a glaring exception), on the back foot, just trying to hold on to a lead, or failing to threaten when trailing, and certainly not attacking with any teeth. Nile's made some glaring blunders, yes, but he has also created chances out of nothing, and some of his misses were from scoring chances Loven or Strola never could have even created.

When he comes on now am I as optimistic that he'll score his first as I was months ago? No. But I agree with everyone that he needs a full season of full-time play, and I think he still has potential.