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Having read a few forums and group chats this morning, it would appear that our team for Sunday and the remainder of the season should be : Butland anyone but Tav Anyone but Goldson Souttar or anyone but Souttar an unfit and injured Yilmaz Sterling (as well as playing right back and left back and left wing) anyone but Lundstrum McCausland anyone but Lawrence, Dowell or Cantwell anyone but Silva anyone but Dessers or Silva but possibly Sima

If he has I'm backing Clement, get rid of the players.

It's safe to say that since my last site editorial things have not gone well for Rangers... Despite a late draw against Celtic after an awful first 45mins in that game, the side have capitulated further in our subsequent matches at Ross County and Dundee to fall three points behind our rivals at the top of the table. Yes, the title hasn't gone yet and we've clawed back success from worse positions but with the team (and manager if we're being honest) looking a shadow of themselves in recent weeks, Celtic are now massive favourites. With that in mind and with supporters debating/arguing amongst themselves about who is to blame for poor results and who should stay or go over the summer, it's a good time to examine the general status of the squad which you can view in the image above. Please bear in mind these are my opinions only and I appreciate these will differ markedly from supporter to supporter (and perhaps from week to week for some people). Indeed, rather than calling for players to leave, it's perhaps easier to say who we'd keep so from all those who have featured at least once this season (or nominally considered a first team player), I've highlighted those I'd keep in white and those out of contract (or on loan deals due to expire) in orange and those I'd try to move on in red. If I'm not fussy either way, I'll leave them as grey. For info, there are 37 players on the graphic above so I'd suggest we really need to decrease that number to closer to 30 for next season. After some consideration, from this squad of 37, I have only nine players I'd really want to keep and it may well be from those, Butland and Yilmaz could be sold to help finance any new signings leaving us with just seven players plus Tavernier and Goldson plus another seven fringe/youth players, meaning we'd need to sign at least 12 players in the summer if we accept returning loanees such as Hagi, Cifu and Lammers will also be moved on permanently. I would imagine both Diomande and Cortes will be retained (I think the former is already agreed) so that takes us down to 10. If possible, I'd also be happy to bring back Sima and would actually give a (suitable) extension to Lundstram. That takes us to eight players; not an unrealistic amount to sign in one window given we did the same last summer but it could be more difficult if fans really want rid of Tavernier, Goldson and Lundstram - three key/influential players whether we like it or not. Who would you have as our new captain from the right hand column of retained players? It's also worth noting the poor performance (and/or utilisation) of our youth system. Ross McCausland was a surprise, and arguably forced, addition to the starting XI earlier this season but he's struggled to maintain his position since whilst other highly thought of younger players like Leon King and Bailey Rice have been unable to force their way into the side. There are few others we could consider likely to do so in 2024/25 so I wouldn't expect any wonderkids to magically appear. If we look at the right column of the graphic and make some admittedly strong assumptions (though they are popular amongst a vocal element of the support) then you can see how weak our squad could be for next season. Only one inexperienced goalkeeper of note, only one centre-half of note, no left back and just three senior midfielders means it's only really the attacking area of the side that looks reasonably competent. And even that relies on Sima and Cortes returning from their initial loans with the latter and Danilo also regaining full fitness in short order for the season starting. To say the squad would be well short of the standard required and would need significant investment is somewhat of an understatement. With that in mind, it's clearly crucial that we maximise the quality of those that come in but nothing is certain there in terms of contribution. Long term injuries to Danilo, Dowell and Cortes over this season show one unpredictable and negative outcome whilst the rest of our recruitment last summer really was abysmal with only Butland, Sima and Dessers (to a limited extent in his case) offering any kind of positive return and none of them may be here next season! In conclusion, I'm as annoyed and disappointed as every other Rangers fan with recent let-downs and emotionally agree we need to start again in many areas of the squad. However, this article shows such emotion is difficult to apply in a constructive, team-building manner. It's also very, very expensive with no guarantees. Nevertheless, we cannot afford another poor window - both in financial and sporting terms so the pressure is definitely on the manager and scouting department to deliver substantial improvement in an affordable, innovative fashion. That is very much easier said than done...

Teams seem to have figured us out. Tav and Sterling barely got out our half all match, certainly significantly less than they were a few weeks ago. Other sides realise how important both full backs are to how we attack and have changed tactics to prevent it. We need to have a counter to that. I assume much more was expected of Cantwell and Lawrence last night, creative players capable of producing something that wins you a match. Both were poor, losing possession regularly and slowing us down instead of upping the tempo. Goldson's 'passing' was horrible last night and on Sunday. But, if there's no pass to midfield and no pass to the wings then it's either back to the keeper or across to Souter. Eventually though it goes long. His passing should be better, but the long balls shouldn't be needed in the first place. So many players seem to have lost form at the same time you do wonder if there's an issue we don't know about. A problem in the dressing room, a bug that's swept through the squad and drained players of energy. I'm grasping at straws here because I don't understand how the entire side, with the possible exception of Butland, can collectively lose form simultaneously. Everyone was rotten last night, defenders, midfielders, forwards and subs. Amazingly, despite the collapse, we can still win the league if we win all our games. I mean I don't think we will, anyone with eyes can see we're so far off it. It's massively frustrating, but I can see why Clement is talking things up and putting a gloss on things. He needs to work with the players he's got, throwing them under the bus at this stage won't help.

I think they should abandon the game and award us a 0-3 win.

Have they changed your medication?

The chickens are coming home to roost. NEVER MESS WITH THE JUJU!! @Whosthedado had the title won two weeks ago...

Ideal situation.... Yilmaz comes back and performs to the end of the season, gets a place in the Turkey team and does well at the Euros, makes us some money and we replace him after the tournament

I agree, he's the only outfield player who I thought tried to put a foot in and win his duels.

I don't care: we've already bottled it as far as I'm concerned.

Really dont see the point of having these awards dos when there is a month to go of the season and all the important games still ahead of us. Apart from it being yet another way to fleece the fans of course. And as for Goldson winning some sort of achievement award, it makes a mockery of the whole event. A bit like when Ricksen & Hartson were joint POTY in 2005 when neither player was in the top 5 best players at their clubs.

If you’ve got a car to sell you don’t tell the market it’s near to clapped out. “It’s so good I don’t really want to sell it” is the line to take.

The Westfalenstadium was the inspiration for modern Ibrox. Most stadiums were oval shaped with a running track whereas Westfalenstadium was 'square' with 4 separate stands each close to the pitch. Rangers directors visited Dortmund and were so impressed they chose that style of ground for the new Ibrox.

Just read that since 2021 Dundee United have had 1 game postponed due to the weather, Dundee have had 14 games postponed in the same time period. Yip, climate change is a bugger on one side of Tannidice Street. That 200 yards makes a huge difference apparently.

It's starting to feel impossible to keep away from that lot in any area of Scottish life these days. They really have taken over and we are partly to blame.

So many poor performances in the 1st half. People picking out individuals, where it was the collective performance that was so bad / frustrating. I would say only Dessers got pass marks in the opening 45mins. The starting 11 was questionable, as we had no ballance or width, the press was all wrong, mid-field was missing and our wide players were too narrow. For once, our keeper looked suspect and shaky but did pull off a few decent saves. 2nd half was better, especially with Sima, Matondo and Cantwell on, we actually looked a threat. We got ourselves back level, then Sterling and Butland contrived to hand Celtic the lead again. Hat's off to Matondo for his incredible equaliser. All in all a hugely frustrating day, an opportunity to get our noses in front but can't help feel the team selection and then the woeful collective 1st half performance ultimately cost us 3 points today.

It's simply a must win game for us. If we have any aspirations of winning the league and becoming the dominant force in Scottish football, we must start to win / dominate these OF games on a regular basis.

I'd rather he was available and definitely want the Saudi interest to continue.

Someone's been taken in by a Nigerian Prince.

Thanks to both for their service but time for both to go.

Good luck filling the stands when he is sold.

Rangers fans: Why does he [PC] keep tinkering with the team?! Also Rangers fans: Why does he [PC] keep picking the same players?!

My issue with those wanting to get rid of Tavernier is that he's one of our best players. Surely you get rid of the rubbish first?

@CammyF's list: Yilmaz Yilmaz Yilmaz Yilmaz Yilmaz Dessers gets a bonus and a new 10-year contract. @der Berliner's list: Tavernier Tavernier Tavernier Tavernier Tavernier Scott Wright gets a bumper new deal, and is made captain.

Three points off the top...five games remaining, a cup in play, and it's all hands to panic stations... Am I saying we are gonna run the table? No. But shit man...watch till the credits.

The overriding narrative tonight is that the “old guard” are at fault. It is simplistic nonsense to pin a collapse like this on Tav, Goldson and Lundstram. Fans love a simple answer to a complex problem and that's what they've gone for. The sudden turn in our form since Hearts has been utterly mind boggling and I have no idea what has caused it, but I do know that the simplistic narrative being peddled tonight is not the answer.

I have no idea why people take pressers at face value. No manager tells the absolute truth when facing the press.

We've been playing poorly for weeks and there's no indication we'll improve. The game against them at Ibrox was when we blew it. That was a must win game and we couldn't do it.

This is the first stadium I ever seen the Rangers playing in Cathkin park home of Third Lanark

Here is a couple of interesting stats Today was Clements 24th league game and he has secured 59 points. That's exactly the same total that Beale collected in 24 league games (only 3 more than Gio did). If we win our last 6 league games this season, we will win the league, however it'll match our points tally for last season. Just reinforces we haven't improved, Celtic have regressed dramatically.

Ridvan and Davies need moved on. Davies another massive waste of resources. Our recruitment has been criminal.

I said it last week but some of our mainstays are not winners. We need to look at getting rid of Goldson, Tav and Lundstram - they're all past it.

Tav’s corners are garbage. Can the manager not see this?

Utter dross - if only we had signed a striker in January who could defend

I've been a bit disappointed with Butland recently. Possible he is suffering from not making the England squad but he needs to do better if he wants to make that level. He did have a couple of cracking saves yesterday but was dodgy a few times. As for Tav and Goldson, I have never subscribed to the serial losers mantra but yesterday was a different level. They are the 2 guys who should have been leading the charge for the league title and they were woefully inadequate. Time for a change.

Was 100% Tavs fault.

Tom English is quite fair at times but on that occasion he really made himself look like an idiot. McCoist said nothing of the sort - he wasn't specific at all and didn't even mention songs. Right, Rangers - let's get into these disgusting, paedo harbouring, terrorist loving scum!

We don’t rate the opposition.

Derek Underwood obituary: Spin bowler considered one of England’s all-time greats Nicknamed Deadly, he had a unique style that made him almost unplayable new The Times Monday April 15 2024, 2.30pm, The Times Derek Underwood obituary: Spin bowler considered one of England’s all-time greats (thetimes.co.uk) Fresh-faced, courteous and polite to a fault, Derek Underwood appeared to be too nice a man to excel against rough-hewn Australians and bouncer happy West Indians in the cauldron of Test cricket. This was deceptive. Geoffrey Boycott, his longstanding England team-mate, described him as having “the face of a choirboy, the demeanour of a civil servant — and the ruthlessness of a rat catcher”. Indeed, Underwood’s nickname was “Deadly”, bestowed because in helpful conditions he was exactly that. On rain-affected pitches his sharp left-arm cutters, delivered from a flat-footed run at near medium pace and allied with metronomic accuracy, made him almost unplayable. Even on placid pitches his immaculate control and subtle variations of line and length could frustrate and undermine the best batsmen. Although he possessed great determination and pride in performance, both for himself and for his county and country — and would glare at fielders if the batsman pinched a single — Underwood’s personal ambitions were confined to his own game. “Why do so many players want to be captain?” he asked plaintively. Cricket politics were not for him and his essential decency was such that he tended not to take sides in disagreements. The ability to bowl came so naturally that if he fretted over any aspect of his profession, it was whether he could cope in retirement. Given that he was a world-class cricketer, Underwood was woefully underpaid. This resulted in his joining the two highly contentious breakaway events of his era: Kerry Packer’s World Series and a tour to South Africa in 1982. Both were unofficial and, because he was so highly regarded, Underwood gave them some respectability. This did not prevent the authorities from implementing lengthy bans, which curtailed his England appearances. Underwood and Alan Knott, his Kent and England wicket-keeper with whom he formed a telepathic understanding, were initially both sacked by their county for joining Packer, a decision which Les Ames, their former cricket manager and mentor, described as “repugnant and distasteful”. Until their retirements in the mid-1980s they were not even consulted over changes of captaincy at Canterbury: county committees were omnipotent. Derek Leslie Underwood was born in Bromley, Kent. He was given an early taste of cricket from his father, a useful club bowler, who was so determined that he and his older brother, Keith, should take up the game that he built a net in his garden. Derek’s ability soon emerged. At Dulwich College Preparatory School he took nine wickets for ten runs in an under-tens match and continued to shine at Beckenham and Penge Grammar School, making 96 in a match against the staff and taking all ten wickets against a rival school. He was recommended to Kent after attending a cricket school in Croydon, where he was coached by two England players, Ken Barrington and Tony Lock. He had started as a quick bowler but realised he would be more effective if he reduced his pace. He took easily to spin. At 16 he was in Kent’s second XI, taking nine wickets against Hampshire in his first match. He was only 17 when he made his first-class debut in 1963, taking four wickets against a strong Yorkshire side, and he went on to top 100 wickets for the season, the youngest player to do so. His arm ball, which dipped in to the right-hander, won many lbw decisions. He was the outstanding English spin bowler of his era and, with the arguable exception of Jim Laker, the finest to emerge since the Second World War. His 86 Tests brought him 297 wickets at a respectable average of 25.83, and he would have taken many more had he not decided to join Packer and tour South Africa. A tail-end batsman, he was often deployed as an England night watchman and as such showed great courage against the ferocious West Indian pace attack. He was a reliable outfielder who missed little. The supreme professional, he always kept his feelings under control. Even quixotic captaincy decisions, such as not bowling him at the right time in a Lord’s one-day final which Kent narrowly lost, were accepted without complaint or rancour. At the Oval in 1968 he helped England to a remarkable win against Australia which squared the series. At lunch on the final day Australia were 86 for five and heading for a heavy defeat. A cloudburst then flooded the ground, making further play seem unlikely, but thanks to the valiant mopping up efforts of the ground staff, helped by volunteers from the crowd, the match resumed just before 5pm. Getting the ball to turn and lift from the damp pitch and with every England fielder crouched round the bat, Underwood took four wickets in 27 balls to secure victory with minutes to spare. He finished with seven for 50. From then on, though occasionally left out to make way for an extra seamer or for Norman Gifford, who bowled at a slower pace, he was England’s premier spinner. Shrewd enough to adapt to different conditions, he was often as effective overseas as on English pitches, which would normally be expected to give him more help. In Australia, where he got little turn, he took pace off the ball and relied more on flight. He had some spectacular figures. During the home series against New Zealand in 1969 he had match returns of 11 for 70 at Lord’s and 12 for 101 at the Oval. In New Zealand in 1971 his 12 for 98 at Christchurch included his 1,000th first-class wicket. He was 25 and only George Lohmann and Wilfred Rhodes had reached the landmark younger. On a rain-affected pitch at Lord’s in 1974 he had a spell of six wickets for two runs as Pakistan collapsed from 192 for three to 226 all out. In 1977 he was one of the first batch of England players to be recruited for Packer. This dismayed some admirers and he admitted that the decision had been a painful one to make. Indeed, he, along with Colin Cowdrey, his Kent and sometime England captain with whom he had an excellent relationship, had been lone voices in saying they would be prepared to play an additional Test match on the 1970-71 tour of Australia without extra remuneration. But cricketers, even established Test players, were not well paid and had little security. A generous contract with Packer was too good to turn down and offered Underwood and his family a chance to secure their financial future. After a High Court decision thwarted an attempt by Lord’s to ban the Packer players from all first-class cricket, Underwood was able to continue playing for Kent, and in 1979 he was restored to the England side. Of the players who had signed for Packer, he missed Test cricket the most. But in March 1982, directly after playing a Test in Sri Lanka, he joined the breakaway tour to South Africa, earning a reported £40,000 for five weeks’ cricket. This time a three-year ban from Tests was unchallenged and it ended Underwood’s international career. He went on playing county cricket until his early forties, retiring at the end of the 1987 season. In all first-class matches he took 2,465 wickets at an average of just over 20, conceding barely two runs an over. His one century came against Sussex at Hastings when he was 39. Appropriately enough, this was on the ground on which he had taken his best figures, nine for 28. Underwood, left, with fellow cricketing heroes Geoffrey Boycott, Bob Woolmer and Alan Knott NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD

Got what we deserved from that with a performance as bad as anything I can remember. Don't think we had one player that can say they did what they were asked to do and the lack of quality was stark. All is not lost but if the players don't believe, I doubt many fans will either.

Right, I'm ready for an uneventful hammering of the Stags with no fuss whatsoever. Who's with me?