This is the fifth season that this squad has been together and out of 12 domestic trophies in four full seasons they have won two - GVB has been in charge for two of those and won one, the Scottish Cup.
Alfredo Morelos showed his dark side again in Paisley, giving away a cheap, pathetic foul after kick- off that started the passage of play towards St Mirren’s goal – this is something we haven’t seen for a couple of years, but it has seeped back into his play.
Ryan Kent looks bereft of ideas and has done for the last two seasons, he won the penalty after getting past Fraser for the first time in the match and it was no surprise that there was an end product there when he decided to actually take a man on, but he does not do this enough.
These are two senior players who despite having a huge role to play in the last five seasons or so, have still come up short when it comes to numbers and attitude.
It seems that this squad was content to win 55 and not bother showing up again, thinking that they made it and were somehow Rangers legends after that achievement.
I understand the calls to sack GVB, but let’s be honest, what we are seeing from this group of players is nothing new - we seen it post winter break in 2019 and 2020 and we seen it at the start of last season too under Gerrard.
The question is, why were fans so happy to give the squad and Gerrard time and patience back then despite letting us down consistently, yet when it has happened to GVB once the scattergun approach is out?
People will rightly say that expectation levels have changed, when Gerrard came in, we were hopeless, and he had to build something but now we’re in a position where we should be at the top and aiming higher.
That is a fair point in principle but my retort to that would be how can GVB be aiming higher when he has the same core squad as Gerrard did?
Surely the only way to judge GVB properly is when he gets the chance to have his own squad in.
I hear you saying ‘it’s Ross Wilson’s job to find Gio his players and sign them’ which is again a fair point, but when key assets are running down their contracts then it is difficult to sell and replace them.
People will point to us not selling Kent and Morelos at their peak and accuse Ross Wilson of having a ‘dereliction of duty’ because of this, but it’s not Ross Wilson’s fault that the board stuck by Gerrard who put his foot down and constantly demanded we kept our best players instead of selling.
Would you rather the board went against the manager’s request?
Check out our Podcast
Last night, we had another Gersnet Podcast live on Youtube discussing the draw with St Mirren and if the manager should keep his job. Don't miss it and remember you can take part via the chat facility!
Steven Gerrard wanted his cake and ate it; he was told post 55 that to spend money you must either sell a top asset or qualify for the Champions League – he did neither. How on earth is that Ross Wilson’s or Gio’s fault?
In my opinion, Gio is dealing with the Gerrard fallout from a support longing for those days to return.
I believe that most fans deep down would take Gerrard back in a heartbeat but are too scared to say so, that’s why the majority want Michael Beale in because you can have the best of both worlds in which it is a version of Gerrard but also something new to an extent.
It’s like being in love with your ex-partner that cheated on you, you want her back, but you don’t want to show her you care by saying you do. I genuinely believe a lot of fans and players are like that with Gerrard.
For me, it’s time to move on from those days, Gerrard did what he had to do but he wasn’t the man to take Rangers forward and that feeling should be extended towards his players as well.
The players done well to build something and win 55 but should have been ripped up that season because they clearly do not have the mentality to be a consistently good Rangers team.
That’s not a criticism as such, that is just their role in our history and whoever the manager is going forward must be given a new squad to work with in the summer to do that. The question is, should it be Gio?
I understand the issues that fans have with him and his tactics, but when you have 10 plus players out you are never ever going to be playing the way you want to play.
The only time he has had a fully fit squad was at the start of his reign and we all saw how well we played, that is the GVB that we want to see but we need to be honest and say he hasn’t had it easy since the start of the year with injuries and suspensions post winter break.
The problem lies in appointing someone else, for me the league is gone so even if you get someone else in now what is the point?
If we are going to bring in a new squad in the summer it makes no sense to pay a large compensation fee just now to bring in a manager to work with a group of players for six months who won’t be there come next season, it just makes no sense from both a financial and football side.
It angers me the amount of stick that the manager and this board gets over the players from most supporters, this board saved the club from the abyss and have put £85m of their own money in since 2015 and all they get is criticism.
I agree that the board could be doing a lot of things better, but people never think of the good stuff, they automatically go for the bad.
Players like Kent and Morelos seem to be held in a higher regard with supporters than GVB, even though GVB has achieved more than they will ever at Rangers in a shorter period and these players have consistently let us down over five seasons.
The lack of respect shown to a man who got us to a European Final/made us the most amount of money as any Rangers manager has and to a board that saved us from the Green and Whyte days is shocking and some ‘supporters’ really need to get a grip - give the manager a break and let him build his own squad before judging him.
The board are behind Gio, and it’s time the fans did the same.
Discuss this article
Enjoyed this satire? Disagree entirely? Found a spelling mistake? Whatever your opinion, it's welcome on our popular and friendly message-board.