Sands reminiscent of Bocanegra

FhillBear said:
Part of the indifference was people not knowing exactly what role he was expected to fulfil. He openly said in an interview shortly after joining that he prefers midfield, even though (I think) he spent a lot of the time playing CB prior to joining us.

He has rowed back on those comments though, interview on H&H this week just past he was neutral on his best position and said he's comfortable at CB - and it's pretty clear from recent evidence that is where he is going to be deployed.

I worried he would be some sort of utility player, so its good to see him excel in a specific position to justify a potential 4m outlay next season.
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I like your post but I really don't see us forking out 4million for the guy. This is going to be a Zungu season for James imo, i.e. bit-part then thanks but no thanks.
 
Theresa May said:
Sounds like you've been inhaling the old Novichok, sir.
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Absolutely not, ma'am.

I'll assume you don't agree. It would be interesting to know, even if just for the sake of conversation, why you don't agree.

He definitely needs a run of games in there to see what he can do. As I said, we are woefully short of creativity in the middle of the park.
 
347golfer said:
I like your post but I really don't see us forking out 4million for the guy. This is going to be a Zungu season for James imo, i.e. bit-part then thanks but no thanks.
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Zungu was crocked after a month lol how did ye even come to that conclusion?

I'm not a sands fanboy by any means but don't think I'm quite willing to write him off. Actually quite happy he can cover a few positions after seeing the state of our injury list last season.
 
Novichok said:
Absolutely not, ma'am.

I'll assume you don't agree. It would be interesting to know, even if just for the sake of conversation, why you don't agree.

He definitely needs a run of games in there to see what he can do. As I said, we are woefully short of creativity in the middle of the park.
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I had a similar exchange with poster yesterday re Sands. And it's in no way to suggest that I don't rate Sands btw - as I think he has potential - but I think the issue lies within the fact - and it's an issue I think Sands himself may have to face up to in time - is that nobody really knows where it is on the park that he is best utilised. This in turn is what causes the confusion.

In your original post, you say you'd have him in midfield ahead of both Kamara and Jack. Firstly, Kamara and Jack do not play the same role in our midfield, nor are they similar players in terms of style. And to suggest, at this stage, that Sands is ahead of either of them in their respective roles and what they contribute in our midfield is, at best, premature and, at worst, absolute nonsense.

You also suggest Sands would bring the necessary vision and forward passing that our midfield lacks - maybe he will in time. However, from what I've seen of him thus far, Sands is not the type of midfielder you're suggesting he is. As I said yesterday, I think Sands' role within any Rangers starting XI moving forward would be as a longer term replacement for John Lundstram, given their similarities in terms of athleticism, reading of the game, and ability to break-up the play and thereafter keeping it simple by passing to our more creative players.

So, in conclusion, he has yet to prove that he can bring to the team what a fit and firing Ryan Jack does - and he has equally yet to prove (if he ever could) that he can bring to the team what Glen Kamara does. Hence why I disagree with your assertion that he should replace either of them in a Rangers midfield.

You might, however, be suggesting that he's a hybrid of the two and is capable of doing both, in which case I think it's apparent that you're talking about a different James Sands from the one we have in our ranks.
 
Daleboy91Watp said:
Zungu was crocked after a month lol how did ye even come to that conclusion?

I'm not a sands fanboy by any means but don't think I'm quite willing to write him off. Actually quite happy he can cover a few positions after seeing the state of our injury list last season.
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Can you explain your response ?

Zungu participated in 19 games (17 as a sub) between Nov - Apr during Season 20/21,
If that is not a bit-part player then I don't know what is.
 
nateman said:
Very much reminds me of Bocanegra the way he plays at centre half. Looks very classy and cultured despite keeping things simple most of the time, and surprisingly strong in the challenge for a guy who isn't 6'4. I think Centre Half looks like his best position moving forward.
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This thread hasn't aged well
 
Haha, new this thread would be bumped.

Sands has it all to do, he was woeful tonight, they all were.
 
I praised him on here the other day, feel as though I’ve cursed him. Seriously though, i still think he’s a player but he had a mare tonight.
 
Wasn’t great tonight. A real reluctance to pass left, constantly returned it straight back to Goldson. Zero progression of the ball too often.
 
Never a centre half he’s a holding mid and we have loads of similiar players in his position, he’s one of the 4 strange signings we made last January that cost us the league and effectively had us playing a qualifier tonight .
 
brain said:
Wasn’t great tonight. A real reluctance to pass left, constantly returned it straight back to Goldson. Zero progression of the ball too often.
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Maybe something to do with who he was passing too, which looks like it may be resolved soon.
 
Theresa May said:
I had a similar exchange with poster yesterday re Sands. And it's in no way to suggest that I don't rate Sands btw - as I think he has potential - but I think the issue lies within the fact - and it's an issue I think Sands himself may have to face up to in time - is that nobody really knows where it is on the park that he is best utilised. This in turn is what causes the confusion.

In your original post, you say you'd have him in midfield ahead of both Kamara and Jack. Firstly, Kamara and Jack do not play the same role in our midfield, nor are they similar players in terms of style. And to suggest, at this stage, that Sands is ahead of either of them in their respective roles and what they contribute in our midfield is, at best, premature and, at worst, absolute nonsense.

You also suggest Sands would bring the necessary vision and forward passing that our midfield lacks - maybe he will in time. However, from what I've seen of him thus far, Sands is not the type of midfielder you're suggesting he is. As I said yesterday, I think Sands' role within any Rangers starting XI moving forward would be as a longer term replacement for John Lundstram, given their similarities in terms of athleticism, reading of the game, and ability to break-up the play and thereafter keeping it simple by passing to our more creative players.

So, in conclusion, he has yet to prove that he can bring to the team what a fit and firing Ryan Jack does - and he has equally yet to prove (if he ever could) that he can bring to the team what Glen Kamara does. Hence why I disagree with your assertion that he should replace either of them in a Rangers midfield.

You might, however, be suggesting that he's a hybrid of the two and is capable of doing both, in which case I think it's apparent that you're talking about a different James Sands from the one we have in our ranks.
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Appreciate the detailed response.

The role I had in mind for Sands was the Lundstram one you described there, where he sits deep, screens, drops into the back line during build up.

I wasn't really making a direct comparison to Jack and Kamara but I would play Sands in there in the above role over both, on current form. It would allow Lundstram to get a bit further forward and maybe give a number 10 a bit more license too.

The wider point really is, our midfield doesn't create enough, and actually at the moment isn't creating anything, so it needs shaking up, in my view.
 
Nyrmetros said:
Rotten tonight?
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His distribution was poor, lost most his 50/50 headers, couldn't shield the ball out of play.

On the plus side pulled out a huge tackle to save JM.

Def not the answer for centre half, and 4 choice cdm.

Will be good for the squad this season
 
Sands makes good tackles and reads the game ok.

But to succeed at Rangers he’ll need to do better on the ball and that goes for whatever position he plays.

Right now he looks shaky as hell in possession.

There’s a player in there, it just remains to be seen if he’s good enough for Rangers.
 
I like him but he is currently too rash in the tackle. Both USG games he could have been sent off and I'd worry about him there v the tims.

That being said he's absolutely the right type of move for us, and if he continues to develop I think we'll make it permanent.
 
nateman said:
Very much reminds me of Bocanegra the way he plays at centre half. Looks very classy and cultured despite keeping things simple most of the time, and surprisingly strong in the challenge for a guy who isn't 6'4. I think Centre Half looks like his best position moving forward.
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Without the left foot
 
He is young, versatile and will hopefully keep developing. He looks calm and assured most of the time but keeps throwing in a wee mistake. A decent squad man which is vital in todays game.
 
helicopter-sunday said:
Sands makes good tackles and reads the game ok.

But to succeed at Rangers he’ll need to do better on the ball and that goes for whatever position he plays.

Right now he looks shaky as hell in possession.

There’s a player in there, it just remains to be seen if he’s good enough for Rangers.
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Had some great tackles and interceptions, but he is averaging more than one hospital pass a game now.

Can’t be doing that at centre back. Perhaps better suited to holding midfielder

Jury is still out for me. Not writing him off, but certainly not rushing to make his move permanent
 
Made some reallly good interceptions and got his team mates out of trouble numerous times. Not the finished article but he’s sure got potential.
 
Had a decent game, Defended well but some of his passing was poor to say the least.

As for comparisons to Bocanegra the only one is his accent he is absolutely nothing like him.
 
Matondo17 said:
He wasn’t amazing at all. Made some absolutely bog standard tackles and gave the ball away on numerous occasions. Lost nearly every header
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How about we actually use facts and evidence rather than a dislike and overreacting on a player ahead of others who actually performed worse but get a bye somehow? Nobody was totally polished, but is Sands deserving of criticism?

This video shows you're talking absolute shite.


Loads of very good tackles and some quality passing whilst granted it could be better it was much better than some of his team mates, who he bailed out on occasion with some good rescue tackling. Have a watch again at the above, it might uncloud your judgement.

Tav, McLaughlin, Goldson and Kent put him in difficult positions with shite passes and he rescued the ball. All of these players played passes much worse than Sands on the night.

Every header you refer to? I count 4 and he won 3 of them?

Polished, nope I don't think anyone was.
But was he rubbish and deserving of criticism above others? definitely not.
 
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Brahim Hemdani's Granny said:
I like him but he is currently too rash in the tackle. Both USG games he could have been sent off and I'd worry about him there v the tims.

That being said he's absolutely the right type of move for us, and if he continues to develop I think we'll make it permanent.
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Not for me, saw enough on Tuesday to know he's not good enough to hold down a regular position.

If you can't play a pass and be confident on the ball by his age, it ain't ever going to happen. We need to be honest with ourselves.

Ok squad player, but pretty much played like Simpson against a pretty weak team.

Soutar we know can defend, just needs to get fit and also he's had a few personal issues
 
Arlo said:
This video shows you're talking absolute shite.
Loads of very good tackles often getting his team mates out of trouble and quality passing.

Every header you refer to?

Polished, nope, rubbish? definitely not. He was our better defender.

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Couple of observations:

1. It’s amazing how a couple of short passes can totally cloud your judgement on how a player performed. If he hadn’t played they passes we would have been raving at how good he played.

2. The poor bastard was hyper ventilating when he thought he was getting sent off. He knew that was a massive call in his career right there. Thank God it went his way.

I‘m gonna stick my neck out and say he will be a great player for us.
 
Wee Dick's Hairnet said:
Couple of observations:

1. It’s amazing how a couple of short passes can totally cloud your judgement on how a player performed. If he hadn’t played they passes we would have been raving at how good he played.

2. The poor bastard was hyper ventilating when he thought he was getting sent off. He knew that was a massive call in his career right there. Thank God it went his way.

I‘m gonna stick my neck out and say he will be a great player for us.
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I think the same as well, can't help like the guy and he's evidently improving all the time.
I don't get why others don't like or rate him, he's going to be a player.

Shades of the attitude towards Bassey when he was settling in from some.
 
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