da gbg bet： There’s a lot of soul searching going on at Rangers right now, and for good reason. In the midst of poor results, shock cup defeats and the loss of discipline both on and off the pitch, serious questions were being asked of the club’s direction.
da betcris： The men in charge at Ibrox responded sharply on Thursday by sacking manager Pedro Caixinha and ending what has been a calamitous reign as Rangers boss. Fans are now looking back to consider where it all went wrong since the Portuguese arrived at the club in March.
One aspect of Caixinha’s role that is coming under severe scrutiny is his transfer policy. He wasted no time in putting his own stamp on Rangers in the summer transfer window, bringing in 11 players and ditching as many from the squad he inherited. It was a revolving door that raised plenty of eyebrows but also inspired hope in Light Blues supporters, was it their time to shine again?
Many of the players the former Rangers manager brought in were from foreign shores, players who had no experience of Scottish football and little knowledge of the football club itself. Ultimately it led to disjointed performances and scratched heads, especially when there was talent much closer to home that could have made an impact.
It’s not that Caixinha ignored Scottish players, he brought in the likes of Ryan Jack and Graham Dorrans after all, but in snubbing the top talents in the Scottish Premiership he made a grave mistake. That mistake is best highlighted by his failure to recognise the talent that sank his side’s hopes of League Cup glory on Sunday, Motherwell’s Louis Moult.
What’s missing?
A massive criticism levelled at Caixinha’s Rangers was their lack of physicality and desire to do the dirty work required to succeed in Scottish football. It’s a tough environment to flourish in and nobody makes any apologies for it. If you’re not up for the fight in Scotland then you’re going to struggle.
What the league lacks in flair, it makes up for in committed performances with a strong desire to win. Even Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, who are known for technical passing play, have to roll up the sleeves sometimes and battle hard.
Some of Caixinha’s signings have shown that so far. Declan John have adapted well to the rough and tumble of the game here, while Alfredo Morelos didn’t waste much time to get stuck in and score plenty of early goals. Outside of Morelos though, the Light Blues have had none of that fight in attack and even the young Colombian has shown a tendency to become withdrawn in matches when up against it.
Rangers need a talisman of a striker, someone who can let defenders know it’s going to be a tough afternoon. It’s not about playing dirty, it’s about having the right attitude to compete for the ball no matter what and providing a constant threat of running in behind to latch on to balls forward.
Unfortunately for supporters, while Caixinha was off spending significant cash on the likes of Eduardo Herrera, who has offered little and spent most of his time on the Rangers bench, he could have been signing that exact type of striker. What was he thinking?
What does Moult offer?
As shown against Rangers themselves at the weekend, Louis Moult thrives on the big occasion. He’s scored multiple goals against Celtic and his double at Hampden in a national semi-final came as no surprise to anyone.
In each of his last two seasons at the Steelmen he’s scored 18 goals and this term he is already into double figures, scoring 11 times in 15 appearances. He’s a natural finisher, a player who can produce magic from unlikely scenarios and above all, a player who is unafraid.
When Rangers fans look at him, they see the type of player they want leading the line at Ibrox; invested in every ball, bullying opposition defenders and having the intelligence to make runs and score the type of goal that was lobbed spectacularly over Jak Alnwick.
His double sparked the beginning of the end of the short lived Caixinha-era and while hindsight is a wonderful thing, it’s hard not to imagine how things may have played out had the Portuguese invested in his talent instead of someone like Herrera.
It’s a decision that could haunt them all season, unless they’re in the January market for him of course. Just as it was predictable he would play an important role in the recent semi-final, it’s likely he’ll punish Rangers again in the games to be played between the two sides.
It’s time for the decision-makers around Rangers’ recruitment get back to basics and recognise the affordable talents that are already getting the job done in Scotland, it’s only in that way they’ll begin to build the fighting spirit required to take on Celtic and Aberdeen.
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