Those are three things I've been asking myself recently so it's time to
review recent evidence and wonder what McLeish will do as he tries to
save his skin at the club.
For the past few matches Alex McLeish has been playing a forward line of Lovenkrands (advanced mid/forward-left wing), Prso (roaming centre
forward), Arveladze (all over the place) and Novo (forward-right wing), using Nacho in exactly the same position as Cannigia used to play.
Since he moved to Dundee I've seen him on numerous occasions and I've
never seen Nacho Novo look anything other than a hard-working and difficult player who would try and try but had never had much success against the Old Firm.
To me he looks a bit like Billy Dodds as he always puts a good shift in
and that makes him popular, but he's just not good enough to depend upon as an important first-team member. His first touch is suspect, in the style of Jonatan Johannson, and his goals to chances ratio can't be anywhere near as high as it should be.
When we seemed desperate to get wee Ignacio from Dundee in the summer I
thought he'd be a handy addition to the squad, the sort of player to
play anywhere across the front when our other forwards weren't available. In no way did I think he was the kind of player to seriously improve the side but at least an extra man would ensure we wouldn't see Vanoli used as an attacking left-midfielder.
Obviously Nacho's a striker and he's hopefully only filling in but he
has neither the skill or creativity a player in that wide-right position needs.
However, given Lovenkrands dreadful form you would think the Dane will
make way for Burke when he returns meaning the strikers would be shuffled around again so we'd see Arveladze in that wide-left position he's always seemed clumsy in but loved since at Ajax, Burke on the right, Prso dropping off the front into the area De Boer filled for us and Novo used as an out-and-out striker.
Given the previous occasions when McLeish could've and should've but
didn't change team formation, and also given we have no midfield to speak of anyway, he doesn't seem to have many options open to him.
So are we now looking at a manager whose growing number of mistakes are
being more and more seriously criticised putting his entire stake on
Nacho Novo to prove me wrong, become the deadly goal-scoring saviour of the team and rattle in 30 goals a season?
If Eck is thinking Nacho Novo can rescue both him and Rangers, we will
be witnessing Rangers backing a modest Premier player signed from Dundee being charged with firing a dreadful Rangers side from doom to glory.
Personally I think Iain Ferguson was a far better player than Nacho
Novo and he couldn't do anything like that 20 years ago when he was the Premier League striking sensation signed from Dundee.
The future may look bleak but it doesn't stop me wondering what's going
to happen.