One constant criticism of Rangers this season, particularly when they have played badly, is that the players seem to be nowhere near as fit as they were last season.
Strangely though, there never seemed to be any questions about their fitness after we beat Union Saint Gilloise so comfortably in the second leg or against PSV Eindhoven or when we were seeing off teams by four goals on a regular basis at Ibrox.
I’ve always believed that it was more of a mental block or tactical reason that we didn’t look as intense or anywhere near the team that played two 120-minute games against decent opposition back-to-back and came out on top in both games.
Writing in The Athletic, Rangers correspondent Jordan Campbell has revealed that underlying fitness numbers aren’t an issue but that subtle changes to training may have had an effect on mindset:
“Player fitness and the work done at the training ground during the week is one of the aspects that came under scrutiny.
“Two players returned from the off-season behind on their fitness and were given individual programmes to get to the right level to be part of the group.
“Pre-season saw Rangers incorporate the same five x three-minute runs that were a staple of Gerrard’s camps, but otherwise it was deemed to be a considerably lighter workload. One player even shared with a competitor that he felt slightly undercooked compared to where he would expect to be once the season had started.
“Training during the season usually started at 11am and would not consist of many double sessions, part of which was due to the heavy fixture schedule limiting the number of first-team players available. Nevertheless, some players found the sessions to be slower and less intense, with the content more focused on tactical messaging than the British staple of small-sided games.
“Rangers’ endurance was a major part of their success last season but that base fitness was put in place during the summer by Gerrard’s regime. It is understood that the running numbers being posted by the players did not show a decline but injuries reached a peak in recent weeks and that did not help Van Bronckhorst’s cause.”
The fixture schedule – 27 games in four months – would have affected the intensity of training but it is a vicious cycle. To operate at high levels players have to train at high intensity to reduce the likelihood of injury but, if you already have a lengthy injury list, the last thing you want is to risk more of them on the treatment table.
When players are physically capable of more, as their numbers prove, then there have to be questions asked about why they haven’t been hitting the same heights and why they have looked so abject on so many occasions.
A change of manager normally beings a “bounce” at least, if Campbell is right, extra work isn’t needed on the training ground to get them fit, they just need reminding who they play for and that a lack of effort simply isn’t good enough.
Yeah , I never believed our players weren`t trying or gave up , for me they just didn`t believe in what they were being asked to do so maybe it was the same off the field . They obviously carried out the training they were asked to do but it wasn`t doing enough for them and was not what they felt they needed.