There’s a frustration bubbling away in the support just now, and it’s not hard to see why. When players arrive and look miles off it, the debate quickly turns into excuses: they’re learning the system, they don’t suit the role, they need time. Truth is, Rangers don’t really get that luxury, especially when the margin for error in Scotland is tiny.
A right back asked to be a right back
The point about Aarons is fairly straightforward. If you’re signed as a right back and you’re playing right back, it’s hard to buy the idea you “don’t fit”. That doesn’t mean every full-back has to play the same way, because styles differ. Some are aggressive and high, some tuck in, some can’t cross a road never mind a ball. But the basics don’t change: defend your area, win your duels, make sensible decisions, and give the team something in possession.
And that’s the rub. When performances are consistently poor, fans aren’t looking for complicated explanations. They’re looking for competence. If it’s not there, folk will call it what it is.
Djiga and the cost of repeated errors
With Djiga, it sounds like the issue is even more obvious: errors, again and again. You can accept the odd mistake, especially for a player bedding into a new league and the Ibrox spotlight. But when it’s “error-strewn” for the whole spell, that’s not settling, that’s a problem.
Defenders at Rangers need to handle pressure. Most weeks you’re expected to dominate the ball, squeeze the pitch, and deal with the few moments where the opposition actually break. That’s exactly when mistakes get punished, and when supporters lose patience fast.
Chermiti: flashes aren’t the same as standards
Chermiti’s an interesting one because you can acknowledge improvement without rewriting the story. A couple of big goals, even in an Old Firm game, doesn’t automatically make you the finished article. Rangers strikers are judged on more than highlights. It’s movement, link play, occupying centre-halves, and doing it week after week when teams sit in.
If the fee is significant, expectations rise. That’s not unfair. That’s Rangers.
What went wrong with the bigger plan?
The strongest criticism here lands on Thelwell: too many signings, too many needing time, and an early-season head start thrown away. That’s the killer. In Scotland, if you start slowly while your rivals build momentum, you can end up chasing all year. You might improve, you might even play well, but you’re still trying to make up ground you never had to lose in the first place.
And if the manager call (R. M) was part of that wider strategy, fans will judge the whole thing as one package. Not on intent. On outcomes.
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