James Sands [Midfielder] [HG]
- Thread starter Falastur
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I haven't seen that his play has been sub par. I watched a good bit of the first game, and he looked solid. Not sure about mid week.
Part of the issue this week is that Joe Aribo returned from international duty in Africa and slotted back into the midfield.
I use an app called sofascore which has really details statistics on players and teams (it's pretty cool) and they've been giving sands middle of the pack scores in the two games he played. I haven't had a chance to watch tho
i watched him play vs aberdeen and he looked solid but not stand out. the problem is, rangers don't play like the city style. Sands also doesn't exactly play a holding midfielder role when he played either. I also think part of it is he needs time to get used to the team and league. Hopefully we'll see more from him in time. i don't think he's been bad.. just not stand out enough to take the starting position.
I am only basing it on some of the reports and player ratings after the Livingston game, which were very critical and mostly 4s. I am hopeful they were overly critical or biased but was hoping to see some better reviews. It’s also early and far too early to judge so I am looking forward to better days.
Sands AND GMS bench warmers today. I think that’s the third game in a row ZERO minutes for James.
Forget about the questionable merits of a loan for the club, unfortunately the move is also hurting his own prospects of both call-ups and first tier aspirations. I hope that this takes a turn somehow.
18 months ...
from starting, key cog in a championship team to unused bench player... definitely not what the club or sands wanted.
i'm curious what's going on? he did start and get minutes right away and then dropped off the map.
can't imagine ramsay coming in was the entire reason.
Based upon what I had read, in his first run out he was shaky at times but not terrible, and some of it was as expected in a first game with a new club. I know many NYCFC supporters watched some of that and didn't think he looked out of place. However, the reports of the next game against Livingston suggested that he was really poor and overmatched (and was pulled in the 59th min). His ratings by various pubs (for whatever those are worth) had his play mostly at around a 4. I haven't seen any of the more precise tactical/statistical summaries of his play, but at least the eye tests were that he's not a starter. It seemed that they did give him an immediate try and then quickly pulled the plug. I wonder if that was a poor/unfair approach and he should have been allowed to assimilate/learn before making the 11.
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seems unfair to me, though it's not uncommon when players get loaned within leagues in europe.
from the game I saw, it didn't seem like he was playing at his best position either and seemed to be expected to play more of an 8 than a 6.
dome thought james was ready to play in europe and now he can't cut it in the SPL? i don't think so. kid is rock solid and as improved his game even more. but he's not an attacking/box2box midfielder. can't get the best out of him if he's out of position.
Its never easy to join a club in the middle of the year and often results in a bit of stall period, especially for a young player joining a new club for the first time.
I thought this was a mistake for Sands, and its starting to prove that way. His best shot of moving to a big league was by making the wprld cup roster. His chances have diminished greatly. Unless he breaks in at Rangers very soon, he is almost boxed out. Will a good start to next season be enough to get him back into the national team picture? Most likely not.
Come next summer when his loan expires, he will be a player that has fallen from the NT picture and maybe did well at Rangers. That's not good enough for one of the big leagues.
Staying in MLS at a club he is comfortable with may have got him called into the early part of the January camp and who knows, maybe he has a shot at the March window. Unless he starts playing at Rangers now and playing well, he is not getting called up.
Its sad. His stock was so high after a couple Gold Cup appearances, but his NT play really fell off and I didn't think he looked as solid in MLS after the tournament. Hopefully he turns it around.
I thought this was a mistake for Sands, and its starting to prove that way. His best shot of moving to a big league was by making the wprld cup roster. His chances have diminished greatly. Unless he breaks in at Rangers very soon, he is almost boxed out. Will a good start to next season be enough to get him back into the national team picture? Most likely not.
Come next summer when his loan expires, he will be a player that has fallen from the NT picture and maybe did well at Rangers. That's not good enough for one of the big leagues.
Staying in MLS at a club he is comfortable with may have got him called into the early part of the January camp and who knows, maybe he has a shot at the March window. Unless he starts playing at Rangers now and playing well, he is not getting called up.
Its sad. His stock was so high after a couple Gold Cup appearances, but his NT play really fell off and I didn't think he looked as solid in MLS after the tournament. Hopefully he turns it around.
It's been a month. There are 17 months left in this loan -- let's give the guy (and Rangers) a chance. They are in a title fight right now and shoehorning a young player into a championship fight isn't the right thing for the player or for the team. Give him a chance to get some time with this team, hopefully next year they can get him in more.
This is why, frankly, an 18-month loan is better than a 6-month loan. Look at our history of signing players midseason, not playing well, then they come storming into a starring role during their first full season here. This isn't unusual.
This is why, frankly, an 18-month loan is better than a 6-month loan. Look at our history of signing players midseason, not playing well, then they come storming into a starring role during their first full season here. This isn't unusual.
I think the point people have been trying to make is the timing. he probably would have had a better chance to head to the world cup if he had stayed with us for another 6 months and somehow convinced GB that he'd be indispensable on the national team roster for a world cup. he could have had more transfer/loan offers in the summer as a result of WCQ performances and first half MLS season/CCL performances too.
of course it'll be difficult to slot into a new team in a new league and different country. with his talent he would have had offers in the summer. but going so soon seems to have pretty much killed his chance at going to this year's world cup and raising his stock even more.
An 18-month loan is also better than a straight up transfer followed by paying $675K to get the rights to take him back.
Surprised this wasn't said earlier.
That and I thought he is in a battle for his spot with Aaron Ramsey, who's quite the veteran player himself (but I'm not gonna pretend I'm an expert on Rangers' personnel).
Alternatively we could have just....kept him here until the summer?
Right now this is a bad deal for all parties.
You kind of make my point. It takes a bit of time for a player and club to fit perfectly. My point was that Sands HAD to go right to Rangers and impress right away to have a shot at Qatar and his ultimate maximum potential value. If he starts to make an impact over there in August, will be have enough time to get back into the national team picture? No. Only a forward who starts scoring a ton of goals can move back in that late.
I hated this move at this time, for Sands, for his NT prospects, and his ultimate transfer value to us. Had this been the year after a world cup, then ok it makes much more sense and an 18 month loan is perfect.
I think it's pretty clear he (a) wanted to go and (b) had a gentleman's agreement with the team that he would be moved after the 2021 season. Could we have done better? We'll never know that. But I firmly believe David Lee did what he had to do and kept up his end of the bargain, even if he didn't get as good a deal as he could have.
It was just a cup game but all reports suggest that he played well today in an easy 3-0 win. He started at center back and then shifted into MF later in the game. I am glad he got some minutes, showed his versatility and hopefully built some confidence.
I don’t think there’s much to be learned from him playing against a team from the Scottish fourth tier. They’re barely USL level. Call me if he plays against Dortmund this week.
