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Gerrard to Rangers?

Jockstar

By Jockstar
in Football forum

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hackjam Silver Member

hackjam

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Will have trouble unloading the high earners, as I cannot see anyone wanting them, they are mince. They will just want to sit tight until end of contracts.

So where is the money coming from?

By all accounts, the club is hemorrhaging money every month?

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smokie36 Star Member

smokie36

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8 hours ago, hackjam said:

Will have trouble unloading the high earners, as I cannot see anyone wanting them, they are mince. They will just want to sit tight until end of contracts.

So where is the money coming from?

By all accounts, the club is hemorrhaging money every month?

 

Do Rangers even have any high earners these days?

 

How much is high?

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Jockstar Star Member

Jockstar

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IBROX STADIUM will play host to two friendly matches against Bury and Wigan Athletic as Steven Gerrard fine-tunes his squad for the forthcoming season.

Ahead of the club’s return to European football the following Thursday, Bury will visit Govan on Friday, July 6 with a 7.15pm kick-off.

Then, before the Scottish Premiership kicks-off on the weekend of August 4, Wigan Athletic travel north to Ibrox on Sunday, July 29 with an 3pm kick-off.

Gers haven’t played either side previously, but both will games will come at an important stage in the summer for Gerrard and his new-look team.

Bury, who will start the new season in League Two having been relegated from League One, are managed by Ryan Lowe who still plays too having enjoyed a long career in England’s lower leagues.

A number of players have played for both sides through the years, including Jon Daly, Nicky Clark, Gregg Wylde and David Healy.

Their current squad features former Leeds United and Everton striker Jermaine Beckford, as well as ex-Aberdeen and Scotland-capped attacker Chris Maguire.

Wigan, meanwhile will arrive at Ibrox as a Championship club having won League One last season, gathering a tremendous 98 points, while they also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with an incredible 1-0 defeat of an exceptionally strong Manchester City side.

They have recently signed former Gers man Kal Naismith for their upcoming campaign, while they also boast the famous Will Grigg, who netted a terrific 26 goals last season including the winner in the win over Man City.

A number of players have been signed by Gers from the ‘Latics previously, including Lee McCulloch, James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn.

They are managed currently by Paul Cook, who also had a spell as a player at Wigan in the 1980s.

Ticket information for both games will be confirmed in due course.

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Jockstar Star Member

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THE simple notion of signing for Steven Gerrard at Rangers had Nikola Katić scrambling to get to Scotland as quickly as he could to put pen to paper.

The towering Croatian defender today signed a four year deal to become the fifth signing of the Gerrard era at Ibrox ahead of the players returning to training later this week.

One of the first duties he performed after signing his contract was to chat exclusively to RangersTV, and he couldn’t hide his delight at joining the Light Blues.

Speaking today in Hummel training wear, he explained: “It is a big pleasure to be here as this is one big club one of the biggest in Europe and in the world. It is good to be here and this is a big step for me.

“When they told me Steven Gerrard wanted to take me, I told my agent I’d get my shoes on and run to Scotland!

“He is a legend of football all over the world and I am glad to be here with him.

“It’s a big club in a strong league. I can play in Europe and play in front of 50,000 fans at every home game. It’s wonderful and a really good step for me.”

The prospect of playing in front of the Rangers support is something which greatly excites Katić, as is the idea of an Old Firm derby.

CLICK TO WATCH KATIĆ’S FIRST RANGERS TV INTERVIEW HERE

He also discussed the sort of player he sees himself as, and reckons that makes him ideally suited to playing in the Scottish game.

“I am the sort of player who likes a duel,” he continued, “and in Scotland, the type of football I think is for me. There are a lot of long-balls and a lot of duels, and that is what I like.

“I’ve seen the stadium on television and I have read about the fans and the rivalry with Celtic. It is really great and I cannot wait to play here.”

Rangers fans have a strong affinity with Croatian players, having adored the likes of Dado Prso and Nikica Jelavic in their spells here, and Katić knows he has work to do to keep that going.

Aged just 21, Katić too has been capped at full-international level for Croatia, a team packed with top-talent, and he believes by moving to Ibrox, his chances of selection for that side increase.

He said: “Sure. It will help me as Croatia has so many players at good clubs – Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool – and it is hard to come from the Croatian league to play in the Croatian national team.

“But Rangers is a good step to show to the national manager that I can play for the national team.

“Everyone has said they [the former players] did a good job here, and now I have a job to hold that tradition here.”

Now, Katić is desperate to get going, and added: “I want to train hard every day and help the team to get better results in every game, and to try and win the Scottish league and cup.

“Rangers needs to be in with the top European clubs, and I will try with the other players to move this club to the top of European football.”

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Jockstar Star Member

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CHAMPIONSHIP side Wigan Athletic were swept aside by a much-changed but rampant Rangers side this afternoon in the Light Blues’ final pre-season friendly.

Goals from Alfredo Morelos, Nikola Katic and an Alex Bruce own-goal secured a highly impressive win for Steven Gerrard’s side as they kept themselves ticking over nicely ahead of Thursday’s Europa League second leg with Osijek back here at Ibrox.

Youngster Glenn Middleton, who has impressed from the bench so far this season, was given the opportunity to show what he can do from the start this time, and he made a bright start to the game.

He firstly intercepted a loose Darron Gibson pass before charging forward and crossing for Alfredo Morelos, who although he headed wide, did well to get anything on the ball while under pressure from the giant figure of Dan Burn.

It was an open start to the game, with Connor Goldson doing well to deny the Latics’ James Vaughan on the edge of the area with an excellent block following some cheap concession of possession in midfield from the home side.

The Light Blues showed in Thursday’s excellent win away to Osijek that they have been working on set-pieces in pre-season, and they came close to another goal from a corner with a Goldson knock-down finding Ross McCrorie, with his venomous shot slipping just wide of the post.

Wigan then had an effort from Vaughan cleared off the line superbly by Goldson, although the whistle of referee Madden also came to the rescue of Gers with Nick Powell fouling Jak Alnwick.

Unlike a typical pre-season match, there was a real bit of needle to this one, and a poor foul by Egyptian World Cup-man Sam Morsy on Daniel Candeias saw him booked, while Morelos also found his way into referee Madden’s notes for running 50-yards to square-up to Morsy for his tackle.

As half-time approached, James Tavernier tested goalie Christian Walton with a free-kick from 2-yards out, while Vaughan missed another chance, heading over from inside the six-yard box to leave the match scoreless at the interval.

Into the second half, and it was Gers who got on the front foot straight away, and came close to opening the scoring.

An intercepted Morelos cross just couldn’t be cleared by Wigan, as time and again, they found a blue jersey, with Greg Docherty having a shot charged down while Glenn Middleton fired over the bar from just inside the box.

Walton then made an outstanding stop to prevent Darron Gibson from turning an excellent Morelos cross into his own net, but seconds later, the Wigan keeper was beaten as the Light Blues scored a goal of real, high quality.

In a very similar move to the goal the Gers scored in Croatia on Thursday night, it was Daniel Candeias who delivered a wicked cross from deep into the box, and with Walton coming looking for it, Morelos bravely put his head in and beat the goalkeeper to it on the edge of the six-yard box.

It was all Rangers, and they were playing some excellent football on the lush Ibrox turf, and on 58 minutes, they made it 2-0.

Glenn Middleton’s delivery from a corner on the Main Stand side was wonderful, and travelled to the back post where half-time substitute Nikola Katic was waiting to head home.

Four minutes later, it was 3-0. A fine run from Ovie Ejaria from midfield ended with him spraying a terrific ball wide for Candeias. From there, the Portuguese’ cross was deflected up into the six-yard box, and before debutant sub Umar Sadiq could head home, Alex Bruce glanced the ball beyond Walton and into his own net.

It was an excellent showing from Gers who kept a very decent Wigan side at bay for pretty much the entire half, although they did begin to come into it late-on, and a Nick Powell header which was well stopped by Wes Foderingham.

Then, the visitors were awarded what looked a pretty soft penalty with former Hearts man Jamie Walker going down under the challenge of Middleton inside the area. Up-stepped Northern Ireland international Will Grigg to strike the ball towards the left corner, but Foderingham guessed the right way and eventually managed to hold onto the ball for a very fine save.

Gers came close to a fourth through Jamie Murphy, with a crunching Scott Arfield tackle finding Sadiq. He backheeled the ball back to Arfield, who found Murphy entering the box, and with only Walton to beat, his composure unusually departed him and he fired high over the bar.

 

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Jockstar Star Member

Jockstar

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STEVEN GERRARD wants his Rangers players to keep building on the momentum they have after they earned yet another win at Kilmarnock yesterday.

Gers are yet to lose under Gerrard in nine competitive matches – nor have they even been behind in any of those clashes – and he reckons the winning habit is driving so many factors in his squad at the moment.

“Momentum is key,” he explained, “and we want to keep building on that. The lads are really enjoying winning and getting good results at the minute.

“You get a lot of benefits from that: confidence, belief, togetherness – so the dressing room is in a good place, but there are many more challenges that we need to face.

“We need to keep building on it and keep growing together, but, so far, so good and we are really pleased with the boys at the minute. Every challenge that they have had to face, they have been committed and their application has been superb.”

The win over Killie in the Betfred Cup featured a hat-trick for Alfredo Morelos to move the Colombian onto six competitive goals for the season so far.

Gerrard has been thrilled with his efforts so far, and feels his commitment to everything the new coaching staff have brought to the club has been a major factor behind his stunning form.

He continued: “On the first day, when the boys reported back for pre-season, you could see straight away the player has ability and he is a fantastic player.

“It was our job to push Alfredo and push all the players physically in terms of fitness as we knew that was going to be the base for the rest of the season.

“In a short space of time, they have put in a hell of a volume of work, and it was tough for them, not just physically but mentally too.

“But they all committed to it and they all bought into it. Everything we tried to bring in – diet, new food, new regime and higher standards – and Alfredo bought into it as well from day one, and I think he is reaping the benefits right now, and the goals are coming now because of all the hard work he has put in from day one.”

The Killie clash again saw Gerrard make alterations to his starting XI, and he conceded if Rangers are to do well this season then they will require to have a squad they can rely on.

He added: “It is impossible just to focus on 11 players, or 13,14 players – it’s not about that. If we get the number of games we want this year – the numbers are going to be 50 or 60 games, and it is impossible to focus on a small number.

“We made it clear to the squad from day one that everyone who we keep will be important – it’s not just about certain players or certain teams, it is about a squad and everyone is going to be needed at certain times.

“The players are focused at the moment, and every player that we are calling upon is coming in and is ready to deliver. It is important we try and maintain that for the rest of the season.

“It doesn’t matter whether you play 10 games or whether you play 60 – everyone is as important as each other.”

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smokie36 Star Member

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On 8/22/2018 at 9:11 AM, Jockstar said:

Yes. Mostly. SG has brought the belief back. Some of the players who were originally here are stepping up.

 

Gerrard is just a total winner and always has been....surprising he can lead from the bench as well though!

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