steelboy Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 I don't get why he's talking about the League Cup group stages that we wouldn't have been involved with. Robinson has hugely improved the fitness of the squad since he took over so let's hope this is just a blip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellwell91 Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 9 minutes ago, MelvinBragg said: Irrespective of opposition, pretty sure we could have arranged more games than we have so far. If the club feels that it's a better approach to play two games this weekend and one next midweek then that's fine. But to simply say 'Rangers are further ahead in their preparations' makes it sound like we are behind schedule... Against who ???? Unless we go abroad (France) like the Old Firm we can only play teams in our own league … having already played Dundee Utd, Killie and Rangers and apparently got games arranged against Accies, Hibs and Celtic Can you suggest who else we should play 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmac Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 As has been pointed out above, fitness questions are a huge concern. Rangers and ourselves start the league on the same weekend and had the chance to start training at the same time on the same regime - limited groups etc. There should be as little a gap between the teams in terms of fitness and sharpness as there ever has been given the circumstances but that wasn't the case. I can understand Rangers having better quality given the difference in budget but friendly or not, we are slow and sluggish. We play in the same league against the same teams but there were miles between us last night and that should never be acceptable, least of all now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, wellwell91 said: Against who ???? Unless we go abroad (France) like the Old Firm we can only play teams in our own league … having already played Dundee Utd, Killie and Rangers and apparently got games arranged against Accies, Hibs and Celtic Can you suggest who else we should play Can you suggest why 10 days before the start of the season we look so much less fit than another team in our league? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_P Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 8 minutes ago, steelboy said: Robinson has hugely improved the fitness of the squad since he took over so let's hope this is just a blip. Just on the fitness point about Robinson, I think you're right with the observation but I remember in pre-seasons past that that he occasionally had them going into games on the back of fairly extensive training sessions. The one that sticks in my mind in particular was the Barrow friendly that we lost and apparently they had a double session before we played them that evening. I have no idea whether that might have been the case yesterday or how rigorous the sessions have been for them this season but worth remembering that a flogged looking team in pre-season might appear so for a reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Robinson didn't say the difference was down to the number of games but the distribution of minutes. The question is if giving guys 60-90 minutes is better why aren't we doing that especially when we have a smaller squad. I think the real answer is probably just that Rangers have better athletes and they (and Celtic) have higher standards and demand the players stay in condition when they are away from the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gullane Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 For a pre-season test, I think last night's 0-4 drubbing from Rangers was far more useful than a 1-0 or 2-0 win over lower league opposition. They had to work hard and now know what level they need to reach to compete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 1 hour ago, steelboy said: Robinson didn't say the difference was down to the number of games but the distribution of minutes. The question is if giving guys 60-90 minutes is better why aren't we doing that especially when we have a smaller squad. That's an easy one. Rangers were giving guys more minutes earlier in their schedule because they didn't want to embarrass themselves in their French tourney. Our first game of any importance is Ross County, so our schedule is different to meet that need. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 1 minute ago, gullane said: For a pre-season test, I think last night's 0-4 drubbing from Rangers was far more useful than a 1-0 or 2-0 win over lower league opposition. They had to work hard and now know what level they need to reach to compete. Certainly a lot more useful than beating Edinburgh City in the Betfred Cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzyB Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 I thought we looked pretty fit last night, one or two a little off pace but not bad for the most part. We've also got 5 subs to use, so whilst it's not ideal it's not terrible if fitness isn't 100% at the start of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 5 hours ago, MelvinBragg said: Can I ask a question? I've seen lots on here about how Rangers are ahead of us in terms of preparation. Given we both start the league on the same weekend, why is this the case? Rangers have peaked and Robinson has timed our run perfectly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 1 hour ago, ropy said: Rangers have peaked and Robinson has timed our run perfectly We're going to be amazing in the 2nd leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_P Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Probably should have set this up a couple of weeks ago actually but well, kind of out of the habit a bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star sail Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 One thing I have noticed about Steven Gerrard's Rangers is that there pre-season record is very good. He seems to treat them like competitive games insisting that the team plays with intensity. I find it difficult to understand the dynamics of pre-season games. Whilst the results can be unpredictable, this particular result has gone to regular season form. If the team are not yet fully fit they should be fairly close. In athletics a general rule of thumb is that you need six weeks to notice performance benefits from training. Also in athletics, the principle of doing training sessions and sometimes races fatigued from previous work is not uncommon. The danger of this approach is that if not managed carefully it can increase the chance of injury. Football is not athletics but there must be some overlapping principles. My theory in this particular instance is that Rangers were mentally up for the game (because Gerrard seems to demand that in friendles) and Rangers are simply a better side and it showed. I would like to think that we would do the same to lesser opposition in pre season friendlies but it rarely seems to work out that way and hence we get the arguments every pre-season about just how much we can read into these results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lan_Lad Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 11 hours ago, steelboy said: I think the real answer is probably just that Rangers have better athletes and they (and Celtic) have higher standards and demand the players stay in condition when they are away from the club. And if evidence of that were needed, Griffiths left behind when Celtic went to France. For not being in condition. Quote It is understood that Griffiths has incurred the wrath of manager Neil Lennon after returning from lockdown heavier than his optimum playing weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lan_Lad Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 Ten minutes of highlights. Not a pretty sight but did create some chances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well Well Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53524205 A few teams, including ours have been asked to explain to Scottish Govt about Covid results delays prior to recent friendly games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazilian Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 26 minutes ago, Well Well said: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53524205 A few teams, including ours have been asked to explain to Scottish Govt about Covid results delays prior to recent friendly games. Been asked to explain to footballs governing body, not the government Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthefringes Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 The governing body have been waiting on the test results of officials also in so much as a game recently (unknown between who) had no assistant referees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superward Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 Think that story is much a do about nothing for us. If we've done the tests and sent them away as we should have (which it seems we have) then it's a simple conversation. Quite fine with the SFA checking up on clubs to make sure all is as it should. Rangers playing a B team hours before our game was delayed due to delayed test results does however raise some questions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennyc Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 5 minutes ago, Onthefringes said: Bit of a non story? The governing body have been waiting on the test results of officials also in so much as a game recently (unknown between who) had no assistant referees. Very much so as far as Motherwell are concerned. All our results were back...if later than expected...prior to later kick off. So delaying the game was a wise move. Sensible given no spectators hanging around waiting. Unlike Hibs and County who postponed a game because no results received in time, Rangers are accused of pushing ahead with a game against Dundee Utd without test results for many players having been received. Totally against agreed procedures. Perhaps not a bad thing that procedures are being reinforced at this time rather than have cancellations/delays when the season kicks off for real. Downside is that tests have been upped to twice per week which has cost implications. It's up to each Club to arrange their own testing and to ensure results are received in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 Turns out the St Mirren situation isn't as bad as first though. From The Herald: Quote ONLY one member of St Mirren's backroom staff has been found to have contracted coronavirus after retesting discovered the other six cases were false positives. It was feared Scottish football's big kick-off was set to be thrown into disarray when the Buddies reported a major Covid-19 outbreak late on Thursday night. But we now understand that the initial tests carried out by a private laboratory have now been re-examined by NHS experts and only one member of Jim Goodwin's staff has actually fallen ill with coronavirus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 So it sounds like the private lab the SPFL have organised are cowboys. What a surprise. Doncaster earning his 8 grand a week again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unknown Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 4 hours ago, Onthefringes said: The governing body have been waiting on the test results of officials also in so much as a game recently (unknown between who) had no assistant referees. Rangers B v Dundee Utd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazilian Posted July 24, 2020 Report Share Posted July 24, 2020 18 minutes ago, steelboy said: So it sounds like the private lab the SPFL have organised are cowboys. What a surprise. Doncaster earning his 8 grand a week again. Why? you got any evidence whatsoever that the labs have failed in any way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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