So me and the lad set off to the game yesterday, nice and early so as to get a good parking spot and so the lad could get the last of his missing autographs. He was unusually quiet on the way and when questioned, he admitted that he wasn't looking forward to watching us lose again! This wasn't like him at all, as it's usually him who lifts my rather pessimistic Rangers spirits. Anyway, I tried my best to get his spirits up and we arrived nice and early and waited for the players to arrive. A good omen was that he was able to get all the autographs that he was missing apart from Bosingwa. The former Chelsea player arrived in plenty of time, but rushed through, refusing my request to sign for the lad with a dismissive gesture that tells you all you need to know about this lilly-livered twat. I hope we never see him in a Rangers shirt again!! Anyway. after some shop browsing and a leisurely lunch we got into the ground nice and early to watch the players warm up. We were just about to work out the team from where the players were warming up ( the subs all warm up together ) when a fellow ST holder showed us the team. Well, I have to be honest and say that I wasn't too happy that SWP was starting ahead of Hoilett again, nor that Green was in goal or that Fabio wasn't in ahead of Onuoha. I criticised MH for some of his selections and so I must be consistent. However, Harry knows best eh?!! 4-4-2? Every one seemed to think........Mmmm....I wasn't convinced and sure enough, as the game got under way, we were lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with M'Bia and Faurlin holding and Taarabt in the centre of the attacking 3 behind Cisse. Exactly what a lot of us were asking for. What an inspired move by Harry! Right from the off Rangers were right at it. Pressing Fulham all over the pitch and looking really energetic and sharp. What a change from the way MH's team used to start games. Taarabt was at the centre of everything from his central role and early on he performed a superb swivel on half way and released Cisse. The forward couldn't quite get away from the defenders and his weak shot, although requiring a diving save from Schwarzer appeared to be hampered by a slight clip on his heel from behind. Minutes later Rangers could and really should have been a goal up. A poor back pass was read by Mackie, who somehow managed to put the ball wide from right in front of goal. A bad miss and a lot of us wondered whether it would come back to bite us. As the half continued Taarabt was running everything and looking every inch a class act, not only linking the play but working back into that central midfield area to deny Fulham any room in there. He was making a complete mug of Sidwell who simply resorted to fouling him....over and over again. Unbelievably the terrible Atkinson chose not to book him during this first period. It also seemed very strange that there was no card at all when the impressive M'Bia was hauled down whist surging through the middle towards goal. From my seat I couldn't tell if it was goal scoring opportunity, but surely a yellow card? Atkinson was having a very poor game, missing almost every foul. The last 15 minutes of the first half became very scrappy with Fulham enjoying more possession, but looking totally toothless and not managing a single shot on target for the entire half. The half ended and we all hoped Rangers would start the 2nd as they had the 1st. They did. Taarabt, brilliant apart from his dead ball deliveries which were rather poor surged forward, running at the Fulham back 4 and hit a shot, which in all honesty didn't look likely to stretch the keeper. However, the ball took a deflection off Hangeland and we all watched with glee as the ball rolled into the net with Schwarzer left stranded. Cue jubilation, but we all knew that we needed a second. We didn't have to wait too long for it to arrive. Rangers continued to press Fulham all over the pitch, with Cisse putting in a real shift and working his socks off, whilst linking well at times with Taarabt. Now the latter picked the ball up from deep and again started to run at the Fulham back four. He got a little lucky as he got through a weak challenge from Hangeland, but that was where the luck ended and pure footballing genius took over. Running directly at the defence, Taarabt rolled his foot over the ball, whilst in full flow and then sublimely stroked the ball into the far corner with the outside of his right foot. What a finish!! The ground exploded and at last, I started to relax. Should have known better!! The one time that Rangers didn't close down their opponents quickly enough, they were punished. A long range shot from Substitute Petric took a wicked deflection off the lunging Faurlin and the ball evaded Green's despairing dive and nestled in the corner of the net. With just a few minutes remaining, I guessed this was going to be very nervy.....it was!! Cisse, who had been unlucky earlier with a shot that was inches wide, forced a brilliant save from Schwarzer with an excellent header. Fulham now had Hangeland up front and were repeatedly pumping the ball into the Rangers' box. Ferdinand was brought on to help repel this bombardment and after a couple of extremely nerve racking scrambles the game was over and we had won!! In conclusion, although one swallow doesn't make a summer, Taarabt was absolutely brilliant and Harry must surely continue with him in that attacking central role? It was far from a one-man show though and Rangers were very good all over the pitch. From Cisse back, every player pressed and harried Fulham and wouldn't let them settle on the ball for a second. In possession the ball was moved quickly with much less sideways passing that we've become accustomed to. M'Bia and Faurlin were excellent in their holding role, although both gave the ball away too often, particularly M'Bia, although his overall commitment was a joy to behold. At the back, Nelsen and Hill were supreme, especially under that aerial bombardment towards the end. Traore probably had his best game for the hoops, with his defensive play matching his undoubted ability to get forward. Mackie and SWP worked very hard, but I wonder if we should start Hoilett instead of one of them for home games? Overall, we are still deep in the ****e, but we do at least have some hope now we have won a game and it's certainly very nice to see us get off the bottom of the table. Player ratings and comments: Green - 7 - A good punch towards the end and a good take in the first half, mixed in with some rather dodgy looking kicking. Onuoha - 7 - Very good defensively....strong and quick. Very limited going forward though......Fabio? Hill - 8 - Immense.....simple as. Nelsen - 8 - Ditto. Traore - 8 - His best all round game imo.......very good both defensively and when getting forward. M'Bia - 8 - Excellent cover and work rate. Needs to concentrate on his passing and needs new boots....with studs!! Faurlin - 8 - Great to see him back and his passing and ball retention will improve with games I'm sure. Mackie - 6 - A bit disappointing and should have scored. Worked hard as always. SWP - 7 - Tracked back well, winning the ball back repeatedly. Offers little going forward though and I'd prefer Hoilett, especially at home. Taarabt - 9 - MOTM. Our marvellous, maverick, mercurial Moroccan was simply on fire!! Made Sidwell look a complete mug. Worked hard off the ball too and a touch of genius about his second goal. Keep him in that position Harry!! Would have had a 10, but for his poor dead-ball deliveries. Cisse - 8 - No criticism of his work rate or attitude this time. Worked really hard, running shuttles between their defenders and linked well with Taarabt. Very unlucky not to score with a tremendous shot and acrobatic header. Subs: Fabio and Ferdinand....both didn't really have long enough to warrant a mark, but Ferdy did well under those late high balls and Fabio also played with lots of energy. Thoughts?
Good evaluation. Your 6 for Mackie was right, although I think moving him out wide has had a detrimental effect on him; the same could be said when he was moved to the wing vs. Wigan: totally took him out of the game. Obviously there's alot of disagreement over this, but I still feel that Cisse might be used more effectively as a second half substitute - after all the majority of his goals have come in the latter stages of games (and yesterday his two best moments were 2nd half), though this might have something to do with our lethargic starts under MH. Also Mackie's endless running really tore holes in the Wigan defence - something a centrally placed Adel could exploit effectively.
If you don't think Adel was man of the match yesterday, you have slipped from criticism into blinkered prejudice. Nice report Col. Fulham were pretty woeful, but I like to think the higher intensity of our game had something to do with that. M'bia has that Taiwo thing, he bonds with the crowd and it is impossible to dislike him. Saw him slapping himself in the face after a misplaced pass yesterday, and he was on the pitch way after the rest had gone at the end, once again singling out someone in the Lower Loft to give his shirt to. But he is clearly a very good player, with SOUL to boot. Did you see Yaya Toure's pass for City's first goal yesterday? At least we tried a lot more of those yesterday, which is really encouraging. The atmosphere was great yesterday as well - give us something to sing about and we will out sing anyone.
The TV feed gave some very amusing close-ups of Mbia when he had committed a foul or given the ball away - he was really berating himself. Seems very dedicated and just what we need since Diakite has been bit off the pace recently.
I thought Mbia was right dodgy in the first half, tried to do too much, missed passes and flubbed tackles - and obviously Arry had a word with him at the half and told him it was him AND Ale TOGETHER in the middle, so he needs to just calm down and play for the team and stop being a Hero every time it was his turn to do something, and so he played much better in the second half. Which also helped Ale, as he showed up much more in the second as he was able to get a hold of the ball from Mbia! I also wasn't quite sure about Traore, when he did try to go forward he didn't ever try any of his blazing runs down the flank, always trying to pull it back and I suppose that was probably a tactical thing to get the ball to Adel as much as possible and ram it down the middle as opposed to flicking it in from the wings. I still think Cissé is a better passer of the ball and assisting now, than as a striker as he just can't seem to find his shooting boots. But hopefully with Adel running amok he finds more space as well. Otherwise mostly a good report.
Good report col. Traore had an excellent game and combined well with Fabio at the end to put in a good cross that Cisse nearly scored from. It was only Schwarzer's acrobatics that prevented us from a having a pre christmas knees up for the last five minutes of the game. Traore is our best crosser of the ball and we should try to get him into those forward positions more often. Especially when Onouha is playing, as he ( rightly ) stays back to effectively form a back three when Traore attacks. Good stuff. Some relief at long last, and it wasn't as if we just nicked the win. We were the best side for 90 mins.
Thought in the first half Mbia almost single handedly shackled Berbatov, and took him completely out of the game. He's phenomenally athletic and must cover a crazy amount of ground, as he seems to pop up all over the pitch!
Great report Col, sorry I never got to see you. Agree with everything except Mackie I thought Mackie was a bit isolated over on the right....he was constantly calling for a ball that never came.....for which I blame the midfield (small blame here...they cannot get everything right straight off). But he kept the shape, didn't wander in looking for it too much and when the ball came on the whole he used it well (except for the miss of course). Adel...world class...no not yet, a very very good player...if he can play like that week in week out and against the big boys, rather than against a slightly out of sorts Fulham, yes he will be. Great performance, which would have been easier and less fraught if our strikers could put the ball in the net more...but it will come as the confidence grows Now we need an away win Come on uRRRS
I tried to look for the "beth" shirt but couldn't find you. I agree that Mackie kept the shape well and worked really hard. I also agree about Adel....I didn't describe him as "world class" in my report and I stated that "one swallow doesn't make a summer". I do think it helped immensely that he was played in his best position with less defensive duties. He truly was magnificent yesterday though, apart from the dead ball deliveries.
Always enjoy reading your reports, Col, even when we lose, so I took particular pleasure in this one. Can't fault it. My comments are: Green - shame about those two poor clearances. Quite why he decided to have a go at knocking off Rodallega's pony tail instead of hoisting it, I'll never know. He'd have deserved an 8 otherwise. Loved seeing Faurlin back. We had substance in midfield, quite different from Wigan the week before. Just hope we can keep our shape as well, against the Toons on Sat.
I think I'd probably go with the same team and formation against Toon Goldie, but replace Green for Cesar. (I'd take a draw now mind you)
Stupid comment it's time to unite and drag our team up to stay where we belong . Nice account but didn't like the comment about Bosingwa he will come good. Hope your lad is happy and helps you overcome your view that we're relegated
Bosingwa's attitude stinks Dave!! Compare and contrast with M'Bia's attitude. For the record I have never said that we are relegated, but that, IMO, we will be relegated. And that opinion was asked of me before the the Villa game. Ask me again at the turn of the year. If we can get another 4 points before the end of the year (something I have consistently said) then I may start to believe that we will stay up. Hope is certainly stirring. I suppose you'll now hijack this thread will your usual "infected" nonsense? Oh....and my lad thinks you're an idiot!
Col- Did Mbia have a chat with you at all ?? He is fast becoming one of my favourites and the way he gives his shirt away every game to a child in the crowd (and his comments about why he does it) have really made me love the guy already.
I am not hijacking anything thought your comments about Bosingwa are unfair . I also think your opinions at times are very narrow and counter productive . This forum would be a collection of moans!!!! If left to the opinions like your own! How dare you say I hijack people's threads I stand to put a few if you straight as if you were to track your own comments back you would see just a catalogue of fear and criterisms of our club. I couldn't care a flying **** about your little clubs on here You post a thread expect to get comments on it Your match reports have become a nice feature on here but you need to accept different views ... I think your dismissal of Bosingwa is wrong and shows just again you can't write anything positive you are without doubt part of the problem . Your son what in heavens has that to do with anything ... My sons no doubt would laugh at you zoned my Dad was better than yours . I know for a fact I know more about football than you and you don't deserve to drive a Saab I expect a full apology or I will report you directly to the mods and I also know I can count on a few others to do so and therefore they will have to act and you will be banned on behalf of your son who called me a idiot
For God's sake, after the nonsense we've all been put through between Fing and Queens the last we need is two more highly strung football 'experts' to fall out with each other. All this reporting and banning hype sounds like the playground.
